I don’t know what this says about me, but I’ve read all 50 of the selections Kevin Smokler recommends we reread. The 50 books are grouped by theme: “Youth and Growing Up,” “Identity,” “The Inner and Outer World,” “Love and Pain,” etc. with a short essay on each book. As usual, I would have made different choices. Obviously, some Political Correctness is in play in the book choices. But many of the books are well worth reading or rereading. Here’s the list of the 50 books:
1. Huckleberyy Finn-Mark Twain
2. Candide-Voltaire
3. A Separate Peace-John Knowles
4. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter-Carson McCullers
5. I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings-Maya Angelou
6. Reservation Blues-Sherman Alexie
7. The Autobiography of Malcolm X
8. The Age of Innocence-Edith Wharton
9. Surfacing-Margaret Atwood
10. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?-Philip K. Dick
11. Labyrinths-Jorge Luis Borges
12. The Bell Jar-Sylvia Plath
13. Portnoy’s Complaint-Philip Roth
14. Cannery Row-John Steinbeck
15. And the Band Played On-Randy Shilts
16. Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen
17. A Doll’s House-Henrik Ibsen
18. Their Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neale Hurston
19. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?-Joyce Carol Oates
20. The Scarlet Letter-Nathaniel Hawthorne
21. Billy Budd and Other Tales-Herman Melville
22. The Hound of the Baskervilles-Arthur Conan Doyle
23. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again-David Foster Wallace
24. “Master Harold”…And the Boys-Athol Fugar
25. Fahrenheit 451-Ray Bradbury
26. To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee
27. The Bluest Eye-Toni Morrison
28. The Joy Luck Club-Amy Tan
29. The Metamorphosis-Franz Kafka
30. Maus-Art Spiegelman
31. The Phantom Tollbooth-Norton Juster
32. Against Interpretation and Other Essays-Susan Sontag
33. The World of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction-Walter Benjamin
34. As You Like It-William Shakespeare
35. Understanding Media-Marshall McLuhan
36. The Catcher in the Rye-J. D. Salinger
37. The Stranger-Albert Camus
38. The Lottery and Other Stories-Shirley Jackson
39. Slaughterhouse-Five-Kurt Vonnegut
40. Bastard Out of Carolina-Dorothy Allison
41. Song of Myself and Other Poems-Walt Whitman
42. Complete Poems-Emily Dickinson
43. Miss Lonelyhearts & Day of the Locust-Nathanael West
44. Pilgram at Tinker Creek-Annie Dillard
45. The Things They Carried-Tim O’Brien
46. Animal Farm-George Orwell
47. The Crying of Lot 49-Thomas Pynchon
48. The Remains of Day-Kazuo Ishiguro
49. Things Fall Apart-Chinua Achebe
50. The Great Gatsby-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Pierce Brosnan plays a rich businessman whose life is filled with anger because his beloved wife was killed in an random auto accident. Trine Dyrholm plays Ida, a married hair stylist who is battling cancer. Out these unlikely elements writer-director Susanne Bier fashions an entertaining and thoughtful movie. The chemistry between Brosnan and Dyrholm is intriguing (opposites attract) and genuine. This Danish movie has some subtitles, perhaps 20%, but that didn’t bother me. Much of the movie takes place in Italy. I’ve never seen Italy look so good. If you’re in the mood for an unlikely love story, give Love is All You Need a try. GRADE: A-

Rumor has it that Jeff Smith, former DAPA-EM member and huge Stephen King fan, bought a copy of Under the Dome the day it was published and stayed up all night reading it until he finished the 1000-page tome. Tonight, the TV version of Under the Dome begins on CBS. A mysterious dome appears and encloses the town of Chester’s Mill, Maine. The early buzz on this 13-episode series has been positive. Check out the trailer below. I’m curious so I’ll be watching tonight. How about you?

Mad Men finishes its most surprising season tonight and Copper returns for its second season. I’m a big fan of both shows. Mad Men has managed to astonish me weekly this season. I can’t believe next season will be the last for Mad Men. Copper left some significant plotlines hanging at the end of Season One. I’ll be glad to watch what happens tonight. Check out the trailer below:

Every year about this time, the AAUW puts on a book sale. I go every year. This year, the local TV crew interviewed me for about five minutes. But they only used 10 seconds! Fame is fleeting! Check out the video below!

Hundreds pack enormous book sale

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/erie/hundreds-pack-enormous-book-sale

Back in the Sixties, I binged on Robert Van Guiik’s Judge Dee mysteries. The Judge Dee mysteries were just appearing in paperback. I loved the Chinese sensibility of these books and the clever detection by Judge Dee to solve the crimes. The format of these mysteries features Judge Dee working on three cases at the same time. In The Chinese Bell Murderers, Judge Dee investigates “Rape Murder in Half-Moon Street,” “The Secret Door in the Buddhist Temple,” and “The Case of the Skeleton Under the Bell.” The Chinese Maze Murders presents even more baffling cases: “Murder in the Sealed Room’ (a locked room puzzle), “The Hidden Testament,” and “The Girl With the Severed Head” which involves a solution of a maze puzzle. Judge Dee operates a lot like Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe: he sends his agents out to collect evidence and information and then he solves the cases. These books delight me!

We’ve all been there: too many books, too little time. At any given time, I have about a dozen library books stacked up. And new books arrive almost every day from AMAZON via UPS. So at the certain point, I give up on some books because of the press of due dates or a change in interest. Here are the books I’ve returned to my local public library unread. Did I make a mistake? Was I too hasty? What books have you given up on?

After several years of daily use our trusty Kitchenaid toaster died and we replaced it with a new Kitchenaid toaster: the KitchenAid KMT2115CU Contour Silver 2-Slice Toaster. What I like about the Kitchenaid toasters is their simple design and their performance. Notice the minimal controls: a bagel button and a CANCEL button. That’s it. There’s a temperature dial (Number One works for me). And there’s a lever to start the toasting process. The slots are wide enough to accommodate the largest bagels. I don’t need a lot of bells or whistles. This new Kitchenaid toaster beeps when the toast pops up. Nice!

Joan Hickson will always be Miss Marple to me. Hickson captures the essence of the character. This collection of DVDs has been digitally re-mastered. There are nine Agatha Christie classics included in this box set. Over 15 hours of delight!
Here’s the line-up:
Caribbean Mystery
4:50 from Paddington
Moving Finger
Nemesis
At Bertram’s Hotel
Murder at Vicarage
Sleeping Murder
They Do It with Mirrors
Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side

I’ve read all of Michael Pollan’s books (I consider his The Omnivore’s Dilemma a masterpiece). Pollan takes a scientific approach to food. In Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation Pollan explores the traditional ways of cooking. He travels to North Carolina to discover the “real” way to barbecue. Trust me: slathering on some BBQ sauce on a slab of pork ribs does not cut it with Pollan. A baker teaches Pollan the secrets of making delicious bread. Pollan explores the science of non-pasteurized cheese. Pollan learns how to home-brew beer. If you’re interested in cooking and improving your nutrition, Cooked is loaded with practical, sensible advice (and recipes!). GRADE: B+