| Author |
Message |
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Saturday, November 28, 2020 - 8:21 pm 
Sugar, is the book The Flight Attendant associated with the HBO show of the same name?
I wonder, because I just made it halfway through the first episode, stopped the recording, deleted the recording and cancelled the series on my dvr.
Yikes.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Sunday, November 29, 2020 - 1:03 am
Sea, the HBO series is based on the book, yes. And whereas Sugar stopped reading after a couple of chapters, I actually read the whole thing and it was breathtakingly bad. I’ve recorded, but have not seen, the HBO adaptation. I saw the trailer for it and that thing seemed to be as hideous as the book was. I’m going to start watching it this weekend though I don’t think I’ll get very far, especially now that I know you couldn’t make it through the first episode. Yikes indeed!!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Sunday, November 29, 2020 - 3:33 am
Yeah, not too enjoyable. I quickly thought I wouldn't want to watch another episode, then realized I wanted to stop watching this episode.
I did like seeing Rosie Perez, but not enough to watch the main character.
I think the show must be like reading the book while hallucinating. 😵
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Jimmer
Board Administrator
08-29-2000
| Sunday, November 29, 2020 - 10:30 am
Your posts about this are making me laugh!!!
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Monday, November 30, 2020 - 5:35 pm
These posts are making me almost want to read and/or watch The Flight Attendant just to see the spectacular horribleness of it. I think I'll just settle for enjoying your reviews, though!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, November 30, 2020 - 5:37 pm
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, November 30, 2020 - 5:51 pm
If you are lining for a "stylish murder mystery" that is "fizzy", "dark and funny" , "so much freaking fun", a caper that soars..
I am just not that into dark humor, but that is just me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/the-flight-attendant-review/2020/11/24/690a3f60-2e04-11eb-96c2-aac3f162215d_story.html
Ric, did you watch yet?
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, November 30, 2020 - 9:29 pm
First, there was zero humor in the book — zilch. I was able to sit through the first episode, mostly because Seth (husband) found it slightly amusing. BUT - there are 8 total episodes (how they managed to get that many episodes out of such ghastly source material is one of the great mysteries of 2020). The first 3 were available for viewing last Thursday, two more are available this Thursday, two more on December 10 with the series finale being released on December 17. I’ll be shocked if I make it that far. Interestingly (and perplexingly), the star of the show, Kaley Cuoco, bought the rights to adapt the book for television BEFORE it was even published! I’m guessing she recognized its awfulness and hired the teleplay writer and instructed that person to turn it into a dark comedy — that’s the only thing that makes sense to me. (They also changed the locale to Bangkok for the show - it was Dubai in the book.)
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, December 01, 2020 - 3:24 am
Before I stopped watching, she had made it onto the flight from Bangkok to Dubai.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, December 01, 2020 - 3:14 pm
Dipo posted an interview and it seems that they filmed the Bangkok scenes on location just before the COVID shutdown.
I imagine filming in Bangkok would be easier than in Dubai.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, December 05, 2020 - 12:31 am
Yes, I think so, too, Sea.
Tonight I finished Dark Pines, the debut novel by Will Dean. Who is Will Dean, you ask. I had no idea who he was either until I came across a rave review of his 4th novel (to be released next year) written by the infallible Steve Cavanagh. So I naturally tracked down his debut to see if I would like Mr. Dean's style of thriller -- the reader is introduced to Tuva Moodyson, a deaf newspaper reporter in a small rural town in Sweden - she gets herself wrapped up in tracking down a serial killer. I was tempted to give up a few times along the way because the repetitive details were a major (and irritating) distraction. I hung on until the end, though, and I'm glad I did because the big reveal was actually quite satisfying. I will read the follow-up, also featuring the same heroine, to see if I like that one a little better.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, December 08, 2020 - 10:31 am
I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning to finish the latest by Michael Connelly, The Law of Innocence. I'm very sleepy as I write this, as a result. It's another excellent Connelly offering - this one focuses on Mickey Haller (the Lincoln Lawyer) and the big trouble that comes into his life after he's charged with murdering one of his ex-clients.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Sunday, December 13, 2020 - 12:41 pm
Uncle_ricky, I read The Defense last week and did like it. I plan to start the 2nd book, The Plea this week. Thanks for the suggestion, I always enjoy finding a new author and series.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, December 14, 2020 - 11:18 pm
That’s wonderful Sugar! I’m thrilled and relieved.
And speaking of thrills, just today I finished the 5th (and latest) in that Eddie Flynn series, Fifty-Fifty. It was another riot of a ride, this one pits two sisters against one another as they accuse each other of brutally murdering their father. Eddie has to defend one of the sisters — is his client the one who did it or the one who didn’t? The writing is wildly clever and the thrills get served up clear up to the end.
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Tresbien
Member
08-26-2002
| Saturday, December 19, 2020 - 12:17 pm
Finally finished Fredrik Backman's Anxious People and enjoyed it as much as his other books.
Next up is Jody Picoult's The Book of Two Ways. I haven't read any of her novels so am looking forward to that one.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Saturday, December 19, 2020 - 7:37 pm
Finished "Dangerous Tides" by Christine Feehan. Just okay. Too much romance and sex. The sisterly love is nice. Started another DG novel, Dead On Arrival. by Matt Richtel. It's been compared to Stephen King and Michael Crichton. Really interesting so far. I've read the first 100 pages already.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Tuesday, December 22, 2020 - 12:06 am
Add me to the list of folks who loved Anxious People — so preciously charming — it was much too short. My favorite bits were the passages that elicited shriekish laughter (primarily because they were so unexpected— they added so much joy to the overall experience). The Netflix adaptation (with an all-Swedish cast) is due to premiere sometime next year.
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Tresbien
Member
08-26-2002
| Wednesday, December 23, 2020 - 8:06 am
I feel like I need to add for anyone sensitive to the subject that a major theme of Anxious People is suicide. Backman handles it with as light of a touch as you can such a devastating subject. In light of the season and challenging times, I thought it was worth noting.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, December 23, 2020 - 8:17 am
Finished listening to Marina by Carlos Luis Zafón and am now listening to Ready Player Two.
I didn't make it through my library Kindle version of Wow, no thank you in time (why did I EVER think I'd make it through a book in 2 weeks during research paper and final exam time???), so I'm now reading my own copy of Shuggie Bain and Tana French's The Trespasser. Both are fantastic! I'm taking the rest of the week completely off of school work simply because my mental & physical health demand it, so I'm hoping to finish these as well as Monkey Beach that I started months ago.
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Jimmer
Board Administrator
08-29-2000
| Wednesday, December 23, 2020 - 10:06 am
I’m curious to hear what you think of Ready Player Two.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Saturday, December 26, 2020 - 1:29 pm
Anxious People was not my favorite Backman book but it was an ok read.
I just finished The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I liked it and can easily see it being pursued for movie rights.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Sunday, December 27, 2020 - 12:27 pm
Yay! I'm so glad you liked TML, Sugar.
Yesterday I finished Joe Hagan's biography of Rolling Stone magazine founder, Jann Wenner, Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. It's exhaustively researched and very well written. Because I've always detested Wenner the man (but not the magazine), it was very gratifying to read all of the negative details the biography offered. And, even though Wenner personally assigned Mr. Hagan to write his official biography, after it was published in 2017, Wenner proceeded to trash it in the media and denied many of the claims contained in the book. What kind of a lunatic gives a writer full interview access to himself, his archived mementos, his family, his friends, and his business associates and *then* denounces the factual book that results from all that? He's really a nutburger's nutburger.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Sunday, December 27, 2020 - 2:44 pm
Trump.
He gave full access to Bob Woodward, and even let Woodward tape record him. And Trump still denied everything. 
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Sunday, December 27, 2020 - 2:45 pm
Or was that a rhetorical question, Uncle Ricky?
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Sunday, December 27, 2020 - 3:53 pm
That’s so funny, Grooch! In the Wenner book, the writer devoted a paragraph to explain how similar Wenner is to Trump — they apparently have the same type of narcissistic personality disorder! 😂
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