I broke the cardinal rule of being a book nerd. I saw the movie first. Let me plead my case first: I had every intention of reading The Martian prior to it’s theatrical release; I had my name on the wait list at the library but by late August I was still sitting in the low 30s. After my sister declared I had to read it sooner rather than later I went ahead and bought a copy. But then Careless People took forever to read […]
Lilli, Greta and Einar
Like The Aviator’s Wife, The Danish Girl is based on real people and real events but is a fictional account of what really happened. Einar Wegener was an artist, who in 1920s Denmark, leads a simple life with his wife, Greta, who is also an artist. One day Greta asks her husband to sit in for a portrait when her female model has to cancel. Although Einar is a bit reluctant, he puts on the pantyhose & ladies shoes and steps into the beginning of […]
The Anti Gus and Hazel
I had not heard of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl until I saw the previews for the movie that was recently released. I probably won’t see this one until it hits Netflix or HBO; but that is more my husband’s aversion to indie films and less a testament to the novel. Greg Gaines is a high school senior who has tried his whole academic career to fly under the radar of his school’s social hierarchy. Everyone “kind of” likes him and “sort of” […]
Oscar Bait
I heard about Still Alice throughout Julianne Moore’s Academy Awards campaign. I’ve always liked to read the books movies (particularly critcally acclaimed movies) are based on- even if I never get around to watching the final film. Still Alice is the story of Alice Howland: a happily married, mother of three. She is a professor at Harvard University whose story is told as her memory declines following an Early Onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis. As her memory fades the narration becomes less focused, the passages shorter and […]