The Week in Review: 01.26.2018

Between the Covers

Finished last week:

I saw the first Star Wars movie in the theater years ago and enjoyed it but didn’t keep up with the franchise after that so I wasn’t all that sure THE PRINCESS DIARIST by Carrie Fisher would be for me.  I keep reading good things about it, though, so I decided to give it a try and I really enjoyed it.  Fisher kept a diary during the filming of the first movie and this book is based on that diary.  Fisher and the other actors had no idea the impact this movie would make and she reflects on that and her relationship with her co-stars.  She also contemplates her relationship with Princess Leia (and her iconic hairstyle) and her mixed feelings about it.  Her descriptions of encounters with fans are hilarious.  Fisher reads the audio herself and does a terrific job – it felt like an old friend was telling me a story – but hearing her voice like that did make me sad at times.  If you’re a fan of Fisher and/or Star Wars or enjoy memoirs, you’ll want to pick this book up.  (Review copy provided by Penguin Random House.)

I’m not familiar with the Paw Patrol television show so the characters in PAW PATROL: RESCUE TIME! by Cara Stevens were all new to me and I thought they were adorable.  The Paw Patrol is a group of dogs with different skills who work together to help people.  In RESCUE TIME!, they help Alex find his lost tooth so he can leave it out for the Tooth Fairy and they help the mayor of Adventure Bay find some missing Symphony Songbirds who should be sitting on their eggs.  To make this book even more fun, there’s a small wrist projector that projects images on the wall or ceiling.  I thought the story was cute and I’m sure young fans of the series will adore it!  (Review copy provided by Media Masters Publicity.)

I decided to pick up PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee when I saw the author is going to be at one of our local indie bookstores in February and, boy, am I glad I did.  It’s a multi-generational saga set in the years between 1910 and 1989 and centers around Sunja and her family.  After Sunja’s father passes away, she and her mother run a boarding house in their native Korea.  After Sunja becomes pregnant, she discovers her lover is married.  He offers to keep her as his mistress but she refuses.  Isak, a kind, gentle minister who stays at the boarding house offers to marry her and she accepts.  The two move to Japan and make a new life for themselves.  Their life isn’t easy but they’re determined and devoted as their beliefs, family, and identity are challenged.  I adored PACHINKO and was always anxious to get back to it.  The writing is top notch as is the story and characters, who were very real to me.   I expect PACHINKO to make my list of favorites for the year.  (Review copy provided by Hachette.)

Currently reading:

• THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn
• TRUE CRIME FROM TEXAS MONTHLY by Various Authors

On the Screen

I went to see The Post with a friend who is younger than I am.  There were more people in the theater than I’ve seen in a long time and all of them, except for my friend, were older than me.  I’m sure most people know The Post is the story of Katherine Graham’s and Ben Bradlee’s decision to publish articles about the Pentagon Papers in the Washington Post in 1971.  With Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks playing the lead, this intense movie is very well cast.  I knew the basic story of the Pentagon Papers but my friend did not and she said she had a little trouble following the movie, especially at the beginning.  Having said that, this movie is very timely and relevant and needs to be seen.

Off the blog

• Our weather has been up and down – the low one night was 58ºF one morning and 31ºF the next – but seems to have settle down into more seasonal temperatures.
• We walked at least three miles every morning and I averaged almost 18,800 Fitbit steps a day.

What’s going on in your corner of the world?