Books
I’m heading straight to my Books & Video category today to try to block out news that a new Covid variant has been found in South Africa. It’s ok because I’m only planning to visit three of the eight countries the US and Europe have just put on the no-fly list. (Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe). Big sigh. We’ll see (again).
Back to Books and Video where it’s oldies but goodies time.
When Mike, our boat Captain (we only rent this guy by the hour so don’t think I’ve got the Queen Mary on the pier), mentioned his main hobby was Bass fishing tournaments, my thoughts immediately turned to Double Whammy, one of Carl Hiassen’s first books. I know nothing about Bass fishing (nor care) but I pulled its crumbling yellow pages out of the Florida section of my bookshelf and decided to give it another whirl. If you’re looking for spot-on characterizations and a great laugh at the expense of Bass fishermen, you could do worse than trying this epic comedy. Skin Tight and Tourist Season are two other Hiassen classics, well worth another look.
Another oldie is The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. It’s about a down on his luck bookstore owner on Martha’s Vineyard who finds a baby on his doorstep. You’ll want to be up to date on this story since a movie version is being filmed right now in downtown Hyannis for release as a feature movie in 2022.
Many of you read Alice Seybold’s book The Lovely Bones when it was published in 2002 (yikes, that long ago?). Before the Lovely Bones, Seybold published a memoir called Lucky detailing her rape while at Syracuse University. Lucky was being adapted as a movie earlier this year when the producer noticed discrepancies between the memoir and the script as regards the trial of her accuser. In real life, Seybold had identified Anthony Broadwater as her attacker. He was convicted and served sixteen years. In a truth is stranger than fiction ending, Broadwater was exonerated for the crime because of the information uncovered while making a movie out of Lucky. If you want to read more, this story was published in the NY Times on November 23.
Video:
Let’s check out some oldies from Great Britain…
MI-5 (Britbox). Some of the topics are a little dated but the series is intense.
House of Cards (Prime). The English version which gave rise (and fall) to Kevin Spacey.
Line of Duty (Britbox). It’s been going about six seasons now. Start at the beginning. It’s the story of the London Police Internal Affairs and their investigations. Those English writers really know how to put a show together.
