August

Summer is coming to an end.  I had all of August to read whatever I want (and no school assigned books).  Here is what I read (and their place in my book count for the year):

61. Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok 8/5/14 ✰✰✰
62. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith 8/5/14 ✰✰✰✰
63. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 8/6/14 ✰✰✰✰
64. Writers and Their Notebooks by Diana M. Raab 8/12/14 ✰✰✰
65. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot 8/13/14 ✰✰✰✰
66. The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear 8/15/14 ✰✰✰✰
67. Cavewomen Don't Get Fat: The Paleo Chic Diet ... by Esther Blum 8/19/14 ✰✰✰✰
68. Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican 8/26/14 ✰✰✰
69. Perfect Peace by Daniel Black 8/27/14 ✰✰✰✰✰

Although August isn't done, I think that this will be it.  I'll try to finish one book I'm working on, but this is the holiday weekend, lots to do.

* * *

I have started the Paleo Diet.  I started on August 9, 2014.  It has been 20 days, and a short vacation in between.  I've lost 10 lbs.  With very little exercise and I'm not hungry.   I need to lose between 35 and 50 lbs. It is a big spread I know, but I'm not sure where my normal weight is these days.  So if I don't get to the 50lbs.  I will know that my base weight is higher than it had been when I was in my 30s.  I have no time frame, but I hope by next summer, I'll be there (or close).

* * *

My sister-in-law (former) got married this weekend.  We traveled down to North & South Carolina for it.  People in South Carolina are so nice and slow.  I'm not used to that.  Here is my post about it on Facebook:

My impressions of South Carolina: I couldn't live here, why? The people are too nice, it is unsettling. I am a New Yorker to the core. Don't talk to me, don't wave to say hi, keep it moving. I realized I should be thrilled there are nice people in the world with manners, but I am a product of my environment. The people are lovely, I am not. Now I understand why people think NYers are rude. It is the culture. We are not rude, we are just living in a different reality!

I truly believe it.  They were very sweet people, helpful, waved hello everywhere, good mornings all around.  But I'm from New York.  You keep your head in your book/newspaper/phone.  You don't speak to people you don't know.  You NEVER offer anyone a lift.  You don't escort them around JC Penney to make sure they can find what they need!!

What the Store workers think they are doing:

What New Yorkers feel like the Store workers are doing:

Every day in the South, people are friendly.  The acknowledge your existence:

No! I'm not used to that.  Every day in New York, people invade your space and don't acknowledge you are there:

I'm not complaining about New York.  For my entire life, this is what I know.
But it was an experience.  One I wouldn't like to experience daily, but nevertheless, it was one for the books.

Paul Muni Day on TCM - Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Paul Muni (born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund; September 22, 1895 – August 25, 1967) was an Austrian-born American stage and film actor who grew up in Chicago. 


6:00 am   The World Changes (1933)

7:45 am   Hi, Nelli (1934)

9:00 am   Bordertown (1935)

11:00 am  The Good Earth (1937) *

1:30 pm   Juarez (1939)

4:00 pm   Angel on my Shoulder (1946)

6:00 pm   The Last Angry Man (1959)

8:00 pm   I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) *

9:30 pm   Scarface (1932) *

11:15 pm  Black Fury (1935)

1:00 am   Dr. Socrates (1935)

2:30 am  The Story of Luis Pasteur (1936) *

4:00 am   The Life of Emilie Zola (1937)

I haven't seen all of these and I am very glad that they are showing them all in one day.  The four of these I've seen (*) were very very good. I recommend them.

Ulysses by James Joyce

I understand what Joyce was attempting here. I got all the refrences to the Odyssey and Hamlet and all that. I just didn't care for it. Didn't enjoy the stream of consciousness, didn't enjoy the artistic approach at all. I believe I'm the type of person who likes books that are less experimental. 

To be honest, if my professor wasn't so adept at teaching I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much out of it. If I read this on my own, it would have been abandoned. I'm glad I read other things, because this is the type of book that would turn me off of reading for good.

I know there are those who rave about this and its unique quality. It just wasn't for me. For anyone who hasn't read Joyce and wants to, go for Dubliners or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man , and leave this one alone.

My professor is going to kill me if he reads this, but it is nothing on him. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read it and make my own decision

I utilized 3 formats in order to get through this book.  Paperback, ebook and audiobook.

★ out of ★★★★★