pontalba

Muggle, we went to see Jersey Boys yesterday. Loved it! Eastwood really has a nice touch.

Sorry about the former, but delighted about the latter. I have started the third of the Roman series, Fortune's Favorites by Colleen McCullough. Door stoppers that they are! No review yet, probably write one for however many more I read in this stretch. I don't want to be too repetitive. Although I do want to get to the reading circle book for July soon as well.

The book was better.

On a slight variant of this subject, some actors advertised private lives have put me off watching them. Tom Cruise for one. I heard him talking about Brooke Shields taking anti-depressants for her post-partum depression. He thought she was terrible for doing so. Really tore into her about it. I don't care what his private beliefs are, as long as he doesn't try to ridicule another for theirs. The old Hollywood studio system was, in many ways, awful. But, they did keep a lid on scandals of their stars.

I was wrong about this ^^^^ For some reason I had Sulla mixed up with Catiline.

Oh, I can understand if you feel betrayed. That is not stupid, at all!! Totally understandable.

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that! And, yes, I know what you mean.

Lol. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._S._Naipaul Anna, maybe he used to live over here? Nope, but I looked on wiki, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Child His wife is from New York.

Hey...great Thought I would post that corrected link over here. V.S. Naipaul, misogynist. http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelellsberg/2011/06/09/misogyny-is-alive-and-well-v-s-naipaul-on-female-writers. Anna, which author is yours?

Weirdness...I'll try again. http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelellsberg/2011/06/09/misogyny-is-alive-and-well-v-s-naipaul-on-female-writers/ /fingers crossed/. It's a great article. Edit: tried this link, it worked.

Great question...would probably make a good thread. One that I can think of off hand. V. S. Naipaul. Admitted and committed misogynist. http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelellsberg/2011/06/09/miso

muggle, hope the doc's go fine, and you drive carefully! We love D.C. too. I've only been twice, but husband spent quite a lot of time there before he retired. Have you ever been to the State Dept;'s annual book sale in October? Marvelous! Athena, take care today, I'll be thinking of you. LOL, Virginia, I don't blame you a bit, I'd hide too!

A great picture, of a darling, sweet cat. I'm glad you took it also,

I've seen your posts on jogging for a bit now, and really, you are doing wonderfully!

I posted about this over on the "looking forward to" thread, but forgot to post here. We saw the new Godzilla last week. Loved it! They go back to the roots on this one, and I thought they did a great job. We saw it in 3D, but I was not impressed with that aspect. Wasted, IMO.

I do as well. I did take an Ancient History class in High School, and fell in love with the era. Especially Cicero. In this series, I agree about Sulla, wow, what a contradiction of a personality! It'll turn out to be his son that is so horrible later and is the one that Cicero's Orations are against. I love the assassin that Jugurtha's half brother hires in the beginning of the first book, and how that assassin turns up late in the book! Just wonderful.

I'm just starting it, about a hundred pages in. Just finished the first one yesterday.

I go though stages, I do love some of the so-called cozies, myself. But I do tend more toward the noir and sort of adventure/detective stuff. And that's mostly males.

Wow!, I thought I'd read a lot this year, 65 at the moment. But you and Athena have me beaten by many miles. Good on ya!

Thanks, Gaia. Lots of times I read other reviews on GoodReads after I've posted my own. I noticed with this book, that many people thought McCullough went off on too many tangents. But I'd counter that argument with the fact that she is necessarily explaining the surrounding people and events that affected how the Roman characters acted. And, really, I like lots of tangents and details. It makes it a more rounded piece, IMO. I'll be glad to read your opinion, when you get to it. Whoa! Right, no fun at all!! I can imagine she is a very strong person. When I was a child a cousin came over, so yes, but only the one. In doing some genealogy, I've found that parts of one side emigrated all over, The U.S., Canada, New Zealand, etc. I'd like to follow up on that one day. Ahh, well. Neon Rain is the first in the series, and like most series it is a bit heavy on explaining, and background stuff. If you can get a sample of the second one, Heaven's Prisoners and read the opening paragraphs, you'll read the most beautiful description of the Gulf of Mexico I've ever seen. We live about 135 miles north of the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. It's just beautiful!

I've finished The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough...review over on my thread along with review of Dixie City Jam by James Lee Burke. The McCullough is a huge tome, but honestly, it flew by. I'm sorely tempted to start the second one immediately.

Dixie City Jam by James Lee Burke 5/5 Vintage Burke. If noir married beautiful prose, and was couched in some of the most beautiful countryside in the world, you'd have James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux detective series. This 7th in the series finds Dave Robicheaux battling both the bad guys and the corrupt police. Everyone seems to be after a sunken Nazi submarine off the Louisiana coast. What does it carry, and why do so many polar opposite types want it? And, why are they all converging on Dave? Robicheaux has to defend his life and his wife's life and sanity in this complicated tale. Recommended

The First Man in Rome by Colleen McCullough 5/5 An absolutely riveting telling of Gaius Marius, a "New Man", who became The First Man in Rome. He is the leader, with a capital L that drove back the Germanic Tribes that threatened to overrun Rome. He was Consul of Rome an unprecedented 7 times. Not told in scholarly tones, it is set forth in up to date vernacular. It calls to the modern reader, and makes the Roman world come alive to us. We hear all the back room political gossip, the undermining of fellow Senators and Generals. We learn of the prejudices and undertones of the aristocracy. The battles are told of in a manner that I can understand easily, and appreciate. We see the reasons why Rome was great, and why she fell. We experience the underbelly of Rome in all it's gritty realism. This is the beginning of a 7 book series that will continue through "the" Julius Caesar, and through Antony and Cleopatra's demise. McCullough's attention to detail is fascinating, her research impeccable. She helps us see what made Rome tick, and it isn't much different from what makes the "modern" governments tick. Fascinating. Highly recommended.

That is a great story, Julie. And, I do indeed have a new list!! I know a lot of people do that, but my Paternal Grandmother was the last in our family to do so. For one thing, our family plot has perpetual care. Had it from the beginning......almost 100 years ago. My Aunt and Uncle were the last of the close family. And she passed five years ago. Some cousins are around though, we are not close at all. All my Mother's people are in England. Gaia! You are not stopping anything! Jump right in with your stories.

I counted up a few months ago, and I believe my ratio was about 2/3rds male, and 1/3rd female authors. I think the male count goes up more than that in other years though. Gaia, I really like the sound of Quirkology. Great reviews, all!