My Blog
Books
"Bridge of Spies" Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks
Any time you start out with Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg, you know it’s going to be worthwhile. It’s a true story of a Cold War prisoner exchange. Tom Hanks plays insurance attorney James Donovan, who is recruited to defend recently captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. The idea is to show the world – that is to say, the Soviets – that even a spy gets due justice in the United States of America.
"Room," the Movie
If you read last week’s Book of the Month, you know I’m doing Movie of the Month for the next few weeks. This week it’s Room and ya gotta go see this movie. It is not a true story, but it is drawn from true stories. You won’t recognize the names of the two leads, but get to know them because you’ll see them again. Brie Larson plays Ma and 7-year-old Jacob Tremblay is 5-year-old Jack.
"Trumbo" the Movie
I’m not going to be doing a Book of the Week for the next month, I’m going to do a Movie of the Week. As you may remember, I am, among other things, an actor and a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). SAG has its own awards ceremony for actors that only other actors can vote on. So, I have to watch all the movies and TV shows that there are nominees in so I know what I’m voting on.
"Gypsy, A Memoir" by Gypsy Rose Lee
I remember Gypsy Rose Lee as a talk show host. I had no idea who she was, but my mother told me she had been a very famous stripper. I believed her, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I just didn’t understand how this really nice, fun lady could take her clothes off in front of people.
"And When She Was Good" by Laura Lippman
One of the reasons I like Laura Lippman’s books is that I recognize the places she talks about. I’ve seen them, I know where they are and what they’re like because she’s from my hometown and the city figures prominently in most of her books. he other reason I like her books is that they’re really good. Like all of her books, the characters in this one are very well drawn, they are not the overdrawn superheros so many authors try to pass off as “ordinary people.”
"I Don’t Want to be Your Bridesmaid" by Adina Ferguson
Last week I interviewed, Adina Ferguson, a recent graduate of a Creative Writing and Publishing Arts MFA curriculum. Not surprisingly, the thesis for the degree was a book. Students had to do not just the writing, but the page design, cover design, choose the paper and the cover stocks, all those little things you don’t think of when you pick up a book, but that are all critical to the success of the book.
"Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People" by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein
What makes someone creative? And if you’re not creative, can you learn to be? To answer the second, yes, you can. To a degree, of course, but you can absolutely increase your creativity if you work at it. The Root-Bernsteins liken it to cooking. We can all cook, if we have to, but not all of us cook equally well. But we can all learn how to cook pretty darned well, if we work at it.
"Powered On: The SOUNDS I choose to hear & the NOISE I don’t" by Sarah Churman
You may have seen Sarah on Ellen or the Today Show, or seen her viral video on YouTube. On September 26, 2011, Sarah heard clearly for the first time in her life, thanks to the Esteem® implanted hearing device. For the first 29 years of her life, she heard little more than indistinct sounds. In this book, she talks about her life on both sides of 29. I have to say right now, though, I have no idea where the subtitle comes from.
"Who’s in Your Orbit?" by Mike Muhney & Max J. Pucher
This is a book review as well as a business post. It talks about VIPorbit, a new contact management program developed by Mike Muhney and Max J. Pucher. Contact relationship software (CRM) is a type of database that helps salespeople – and others – keep track of whom they called when, what was said, what’s the next step, etc.
