Whatever Wednesday - An Inside Job by Daniel Silva

 Daniel Silva's An Inside Job continues the brilliant legacy of Gabriel Allon. He's a brilliant art restorer. He's also a lethal warrior.  He has a commission to restore a lost masterpiece of Leonardo Da Vinci. 

But a dead girl is found in the Venetian Lagoon. 

She's a mysterious key to a lost painting, ruthless mobsters, Vatican theft. 

cover blurb - The action moves at breakneck speed from the galleries and auction houses of London to an enclave of unimaginable wealth on the French Riviera - and finally, to a shocking climax in St. Peter's Square where the life of a pope hangs in the balance.   Whew!!! 

Silva knows how to write and his hero, Gabriel Allon, is intriguing.  This is a page turner.

Very entertaining.  Very current. Very on point.   and I say again - Whoa!  and  Whew!

Monday Moments - Is This Thing On?

 So, I was kinda done with the world on Friday and needed to escape.  How about a marriage falling apart movie?  Yeah, that's the way to go. Popcorn and a soda - escape for two hours watching some misery.  Ha!

Is This Thing On? is directed by Bradley Cooper and he does a good job.  Will Arnett (Alex) is superb and Laura Dern (Tess) is always glorious  to watch. They've been married for over twenty years and are pretty much fighting all the time.  So they agree to split and divorce. The movie basically follows them struggling to make the divorce amicable for their two sons. 

Incredibly well acted and very realistic. Alex is in finance by day and then finds standup comedy by night. It's sheer happenstance that he goes into a comedy club. To not pay the entrance fee, he had to sign a sheet and do some comedy bit.  Turns out it's a bit therapeutic and he gets some laughs. He finds himself "alive" and challenged. It's a new world with some new friends.

What happens when Tess coincidentally sees him perform and she's the butt of his jokes?  Sorta a turn on? Are they kidding themselves? 

The  movie  feels very New York City real... like not really normal folks, but movie folks real.  I enjoyed it. The acting is really good and the difficulty of navigating  marriage is spot  on.  It's work.

Finally Friday - All the Broken Places by John Boyne

 All the Broken Places by John Boyne is a powerful book. It moves back and forth in time between Nazi Germany and 2022 London.  Gretel Fernsby is ninety-one years old. Opinionated,  but lives a quiet life until emotions are stirred up by her downstairs neighbors. 

Her memories are churned up as she thinks  about her  escape from Germany at age 12, knowing her father was killed  for being  a Reich commandant of an extermination camp. She managed to start a new life and create a new identity after time in Poland, Australia, and  now  London  - oh so many years later. 

But she hears and witnesses abuse by the husband living below her to his wife and young son. 

cover blurb - Back then (in Germany), she denied her own complicity; now, she must interrogate her guilt, grief, and remorse and risk revealing the secrets she has  spent a lifetime protecting. 

Whoa!  As each chapter builds and  connects, back and forth in time, the tension rises. Gretel is a complicated woman, wise and strong. What will she do as she confronts the bully husband? What secrets could spill out?  Lots of twists and turns and then a dramatic wow.  Well done!

Whatever Wednesday - Song Sung Blue

 Christmas afternoon I caught up with my pickleball gals and we enjoyed the film, Song Sung Blue. 

Based on a true story, Mike (Hugh Jackman) is a barely eking by singer. At a gig, he meets Claire (Kate Hudson) and they just  mesh. She's a single mom and also trying to get by in life. They connect with song and pull together as a Neil Diamond cover band..."an experience".

Slowly, they gain a following. They sound great and hey, you can't  go wrong with Sweet Caroline...so good, so good. 

Mike and  Claire marry. The kids get along. They get better gigs and even open for Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder is a fan.  But this is a real life story and unfortunately, there's a huge set-back. (I'm not going to say what, but it's a shocker).  The movie takes quite the  dramatic turn. They are living some song sung blues. 

I'll stop there. Just have a tissue handy. Hugh Jackman is  great as Mike Sardina.  Kate Hudson just glows as Claire. They have chemistry and  their voices are awesome together.  Neil Diamond's songs are fabulous.  The story might sound like a soap opera, but it's movie type true. Thumbs up per me and my friends. 

Monday Moments - Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

('nuff said)

Her Book of Lives, A Memoir of Sorts is almost six hundred pages.  It's a weightlifting challenge for the arms. It's a mind blowing challenge for the  brain. 

cover blurb - Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking key moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel school year that would become Cat's Eye to the unease of 1980s Berlin, where she began The Handmaid's Tale. 

As she explores her past, Atwood reveals more and more about her writing, the  connections between real life and art - and the workings of one of our greatest imaginations. 

I enjoyed this memoir immensely. Yes,  I  skimmed a bit on some of her parents' history, and sometimes there was almost too much detail on  some camping  trips. But, all in all, this  book is a hoot.  She has  a wicked sense of humor, knows how to convey it on  the page, and I could sense the  twinkle in her eye as she added to this life tale. 

Too many great little turns of phrase to copy here. I chuckled out loud at times. I  was also amazed at her steadfast energy and honor in the craft of writing.  I appreciated her Canadian background, fortitude, and I think it counts for a lot in her makeup.  She's  a tiny person but a force of nature. She had a great love (Graeme) and that shines through. She absolutely knows who she is and does not buckle.  And she's still writing.  She has opinions on the current state of the world. 

She is Margaret Atwood.    'nuff said.      Read her  works and be astonished. 
 

Finally Friday - Your Inner Writing Soul 2026

2026  Fresh Start:

 Here's a good book for writers, dear blog friends - Writing Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd

She wrote The Secret Life of Bees, The Book of Longings, and more. 

Now she imparts a part memoir, part philosophical investigation, part advice to aspiring writers, and touchstone for the spirit.   "If you encounter writing infused with soul, you know it".  "It feeds you somewhere inside...our internal revolutions, our reach for our true selves, our struggle to write unsayable things with brave voices".  cover blurb. 

If you love Sue Monk Kidd's writing, then you need to enjoy this book. She writes about her struggles to become the writer she knew she could be, while she was a mother raising kids. She writes about her doubts, her fears, and the time it took to truly acknowledge herself as a writer.  She imparts some writerly wisdom, but it's really just common sense.  You - if you truly wish to be a  writer- must do the work.  Think, sit, write, research, read and repeat.  And repeat.  And repeat.  It's hard work.

Sue Monk Kidd said she has to work from an outline.  She has to really know her characters - what do they want?  Where shall the story end?  

She bares her writerly soul in this book and as you read this, it is as if you are hanging at a kitchen table and just talking.  I really enjoyed this memoir and it has inspired me  to take up the pen again.  We'll see what happens in 2026. 

Happy Writing, my friends. 

Whatever Wednesday - Happy New Year's Eve and then 2026

Greetings all on New Year's Eve Day.  I've been a good  girl this holiday season with workouts at the YMCA.  However, I've been naughty in the volume of cookies eaten.  'Tis the season. 

I hope you've stayed healthy, enjoyed family, and had some rest and  relaxation too.  

And here's Snoopy to greet you on Thursday with a Happy New Year!

All the best to my blog friends.  2025 has been a roller coaster.  Will 2026 be a tilt-o-Whirl?

Good luck everybody.   Cheers