Tom Hanks son is getting to be a good Actor also. Looks a lot like his Father

I forgot about A League of Their Own.  I liked it a lot! Not sure, but I think that Joe vs The Volcano, was a box office flop?  I didn't see it, and have never seen it playing on any of the movie channels.     

In recent years, Tom Hanks has starred in movies where he plays a real person . . . Bridge of Spies, Sully, and Captain Phillips.  A new one is in the works, where he plays former Washington Post editor, Ben Bradlee.  Meryl Streep is also in it, but I don't know who she plays?  The name of the movie is The Papers. 

Good ones, FlaJean. I've watched both Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail numerous times. I think Hanks and Meg Ryan made a good on-screen pair. Didn't she do Joe and the Volcano with Hanks too?

Hey, I forgot "Bridge of Spies" - - guess because it's so recent.  Sleepless in Seattle also goes on my list, alongside You've Got Mail.

Hanks is exceptionally versatile in his acting roles, so I will hope he can do the role of Captain in News of The World with his usual authority.

I've seen Bridge of Spies several times, that was also way up there in my estimation.  I love movies about real people and history, and Tom Hanks does that so well.

Nice here again today. Just getting ready to go over to the grocery store. Don't want to go far n my car as something seems to be wrong with the lock as when I put my key in it just needs  a lot of work turning it before it starts. It is going into the shop Tuesday while I go to movie next door. Car need good check up. I may be looking at what they have in on their Honda Lot.
Now I am reading a book at the moment. It not bad. About a girl 21 gets in a little trouble and the Child service talks her into signing her 4 year and a 6 month children away. She was going to prison for 10 months. Sort of goes through all their lives. The up and downs. Called "Somewhere out there" by Amy Hatvany. Never heard of her but then never heard of 3/4 of the writers now. Seems like all can get book printed.
Off I go.

JeanneP - I agree with you, that there are just too many books being published now, compared to in the past.  So many that I would like to read, but I know I'll never get to even half of the ones that are on my order list. For now, I'm sticking to familiar authors that I know and like.

Which reminds me of Elizabeth Berg.   I was looking at her Facebook page over the weekend, and really enjoyed reading her short essay on joining Weight Watchers. LOL  Here it is, if anyone would like to read it.
https://www.facebook.com/bergbooks/

FlaJean - I also liked Bridge of Spies,and will probably watch it again well.  I also liked Sully a lot, and thought Tom Hanks did of great job of portraying the real Sully.  I don't know if you and Larry would like Hacksaw Ridge?  We watched it over the weekend, and thought it was a good movie.  It is another true story of a real person - a heroic American during WWII.

I enjoyed Sully a lot.  Hacksaw Ridge sounds good.  We usually rent movies from Apple iTunes and it isn't on rental chart yet.  They try to sell for a few months before renting.  I'm sure Larry would enjoy it so will keep it in mind.

I am close to finishing Daniel H. Wilson's new book, The Clockwork Dynasty. Here are my thoughts. Make human-like automata, breath some life, anima if you will, into it, add a generous helping of philosophy (think Plato), an ancient history, yin and yang, a little mythology, and superstition, oh, and maybe a little horror scene or two, and you come up with a very interesting tale. The female human lead, who is a research specialist on automatons, is a little slow to pick up on what the other characters are  which I thought that made her a little less convincing as an expert in the subject.

All of that and you might think it is a bit much, but Wilson pulls it off. It is not Wilson's usual high-tech, robotic/AI tale. I am enjoying it.

I finished Artemis Fowl last night. It is an entertaining and fun story. Since I am not up on Fairy lore, I am wondering about some of the relationships and behaviors attributed to trolls, fairies, pixies, and leprechauns in the story. Fantasy is not something usually read, but I did like this book. However, now that my curiosity about the book and character has been satisfied, I doubt I will read any of the rest.

Here is a list of 18 books titled "The Best Books About Books". http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/books-about-books?aid=randohouseinc19836-20&ref=PRH745BDD28FA28&linkid=PRH745BDD28FA28&cdi=13F0CB1F062E09D7E0534FD66B0A73BA&template_id=6803

I read five of them. In addition, I may have read The Haunted Bookshop. If not, it will still be on my Paperwhite. This is the sequel to Parnassus on Wheels which I do remember reading. Eight of these books I never heard of, and I saw the movie The World According to Garp. Several of these books I didn't know were about books, like The Fault is in Our Stars. At least three of the books that I haven't read are likely to go on my library wishlist.

MarsGal - Interesting list of  "Books about Books".  I’ve read five of them, my favorite being, The Book Thief. That was an unusual and well written story.  I also liked The Fault In Our Stars.  Didn’t care much for the Jane Austen Book Club.   I notice that they left out a recent book about books - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Kevin.  It was a very good, if a little bit implausible.

I see that the Penguin Random House site, is similar to the one that I go to a lot called Off the Shelf, which is a Simon & Schuster site. Set up in a similar way. Some excellent selections there as well.
http://offtheshelf.com

I get those two newsletters, Marilyne, plus Publisher's Weekly, Harper Collins, Book Page, and one from a SciFi site for new and independent Science Fiction and Fantasy writers. Book Page is the one that our library gets free give out copies each month. https://bookpage.com/


I noticed that there were books missing from the list, way too many to list. Among a few I can recall are 84, Charing Cross Road, The Name of the Rose, Dewey, The Bookman's Tale (very good), Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (also very good), A Novel Bookstore (another thumbs up), and The Bookseller of Kabul.

Marsgal,  is there a charge to subscribe to the bookpage on-line?

Callie, the print edition is available free through bookstores and libraries. Subscriptions for individuals are available but cost $30 for 12 issues. The online version is free as are past issues which can be viewed from the website.

They have a list of libraries and bookstores where you can find Book Page:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9OKSeUVsRTnVy1HSHdaTG1BREU/view

Thanks.   I've picked up the free BookPage in past years and always enjoyed reading it.   However, I don't go where it's offered any more.    I often look at the web site to get ideas for books TBR but had never investigated the subscription possibility.
Your link made me wonder....so I asked.     Thanks.  Now I'll sign up! 

If you enjoyed watching The Carol Burnett Show, back in the day, you might like the book she's written about the show.  It's called, In Such Good Company, and is written by Carol, herself.  It's not an autobiography. It's only about her show, and all the wonderful actors who worked with her every week, as well as some of her favorite guest stars.  It was fun to read, and brought back lots of good memories from the long, long ago.  I hope she someday writes her entire life story, as I'm sure it would be very interesting.

I like celebrity memoirs or autobiographies, and have read quite a few over the years.  Some that stand out in my mind as being very good, were by Patricia Neal, Ann Baxter, Mia Farrow, and Jane Fonda.  I know many of you don't like Fonda, but needless to say, her life story is fascinating! The way she was raised, her mother, her father, her many husbands, and her lifestyle, all make for a very interesting story.   There are a number of books that have been written about her, but this is the only one that she wrote herself.  It's been many years ago that I read it, and can't remember the title?  I'll have to Google it, or look on Amazon.   

Thanks for the tip on the Carol Burnett book Marilyne.    I'm going to send that on to Debby.    She still enjoys reruns of some of those old shows and has recently started reading some biography.    Even though you say this one isn't just that it sounds like one that she would enjoy.

I've been reading (as I haven't been posting    )    I brought home another E. Berg book called Say When.     Don't think I read this one.    While I was browsing her shelf at the library I notice a book nearby that caught my eye.   This one is called Trophy House by Anne Bernays.   Never heard of her but this is a light, quick, chick lit, good for easy summer reading.    When the weather turns to fall I will be interested in getting into something a little more serious.

Marilyne,  I was able to get the e-book for "In Such Good Company".   Finished it in one evening.  It was entertaining.

I just got "Three Tales From The World Of Cotton Malone" by Steve Berry.  I've read almost all of the Cotton Malone series and am enjoying these "prequels" to three of the stories.   However, I may have to reread the books because I can't remember the details.

Also have two "chick lits"  -  "First Comes Love" by Emily Giffin and "The One That Got Away" by Bethany Page,  I won't read "thrillers" at bedtime so have dipped into "First Comes Love".  So far, so good. 

I subscribed to the Bookpage monthly e-mail  (Thanks, MarsGal).  "The Locals" by Jonathan Dee was listed in the August Top 10 but it isn't available (yet?) in e-book.  So I'm trying "The Privileges" to see what I think about him. Haven't started it, yet.

Callie - I'm glad you enjoyed In Such Good Company.  It's not a book that will win any lit prizes, but fun for those of us who remember The Carol Burnett Show.  I do hope that she writes a book someday, that's more of a personal memoir.  She's led an interesting life, with lots of highs, and lots of lows.

maryc - Debby will probably like it also, especially if she has been watching the old reruns. I've never been able to find reruns of her shows on any of my channels.  I doubt that they would seem dated, after all these years.  Her style of humor, and the way the show was set up, is timeless, I think?

I've also been reading some Elizabeth Berg books, that I would recommend to anyone who likes good character driven stories.  Durable Goods, is excellent!  It's short book, about a military family in the 1960's.  I know that Berg herself, was an "Army brat", (as she likes to call herself), so I wonder if some of the events in the story were based on her life?  I just started The Pull of the Moon, and looks like it's going to be another good one.

Marilyne,  Carol Burnett also wrote "This Time Together".  It has more biographical material and more detail about her co-stars and special guests.

Thank you Callie.   I'll see if my library has This Time Together. 

Now reading Dead Virgins, the first of the India Sommers Mystery series, by K. M. Ashman. The chapters flip back and forth from 2010 to 64AD. The story is interesting but not great. The author spends some time explaining the historical background of the goddess Isis and her connection (incarnation?) to Vesta. I am puzzled that the author says the Isis myth, along with Set and Horus came originally from the Black Sea area, not Egypt. Huh? Ok, I need to research that. Literary license or new research findings? The main female character is a librarian and amateur historian.
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/kevin-ashman/dead-virgins.htm

Also, I've begun reading a new book called Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan. It is okay, but after five chapters, I still haven't warmed up to characters.The author worked in several bookstores and is married to a librarian. http://www.matthewjsullivan.com/books.html

MarsGal - I love the titles of the two books you recommended!  Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, and Dead Virgins, certainly did get my attention!  I've always been attracted to catchy titles and attractive book covers . . . although I have to admit that many of them didn't live up to my expectations.

I just finished reading another Elizabeth Berg book, The Pull of the Moon.  I liked it okay, but not nearly as much as EB’s other books that I’ve read.  It was about a fifty year old woman, who suddenly realizes she is getting old.  She just up and leaves her home and husband, to go out in the world and “find herself”.   During her travels, she meets many people who help her to see and appreciate her life, etc., etc.  This same basic story line has been done by other female authors, and a few male authors as well. (Anne Tyler and Larry McMurtry, to name two that I can think of, although I can’t recall the titles of the books.)   Anyway, there were some things about Pull of the Moon that I could relate to.  She has few profound things to say, that I agree with about family, husbands, etc.  However, it's not one of Berg's best novels, IMO.

I now have the book that some of you recommended, called Brought to Our Senses, by Kathleen Wheeler.  It looks good, and I'm looking forward to reading it.     

Marilyne,  I hope you will enjoy Brought to Our Senses as I did.   I suppose it wasn't so much enjoyment as it was hearing how other families deal with issues of aging as compared as to my personal opinions.    I happen to have two good friends  with husbands suffering with dementia.   Both now are in care facilities and each family has their own unique set of circumstances due to location of children and differing opinions on what is the right and wrong of the care plan.   When you wrote of The Pull of the Moon,  I realized that I had just borrowed it from the library on my Kindle.    Just before that I had brought home her book of short stories called Ordinary Life.   The first story of that book was about a woman age 70 who decided that rather than spend money for a retreat away from home that she would spend a week locked in the bathroom.    She stocked the room with comfortable bedding for the tub and plenty of her favorite foods.   The story is funny in the conversations she had with hubby but after that and then The Pull of the Moon I had to wonder if this author has a strong urge to get away and "find herself".   The short story was good and enough but I'm not sure I'll plod along with this lady on her sojourn.      Meanwhile my request for Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman came in at the library.    At the beginning I wasn't too sure about this story but it has turned into quite an interesting tale.    I'm not sure if it was mentioned here or if I read about in The Book Page. It is different!

I think I could live in my Bedroom for a week if all I need in there. Sure could not do it in a bathroom.
I am waiting for some of the books you suggested to be in the library. Not gotten any good reads for the past week.  2 I brought back from last week I found I had already read.

Marilyne and Mary,  on your recommendations,  I've begun reading Elizabeth Berg's books and like her story-telling - although the recurring "theme" (avoiding tough decisions by refusing to deal with reality) puzzles me.

So far,  I've finished "Pull of the Moon" and "Brought To Our Senses".
 
Now, I'm reading "Home Safe" - about another woman who is having a problem deciding who she is as an Independent Individual.
This one is a new widow with one adult never-married daughter.
The contrast between the description of the woman's writing career and her struggle to make decisions on her own is puzzling to me.
(That's probably because I have never in my entire 81 1/2 years had that problem, including after my husband died at age 59. )

If anyone reads it,  I'd love to exchange opinions.

Callie & mary - Elizabeth Berg seems to have an endless variety of books!  I haven't read them all, but have liked everything so far.  I know I criticized The Pull of the Moon, but I still enjoyed it . . . just not one of my favorites. So far, I think my favorites are What We Keep, and We Are All Welcome Here.  I recently finished Durable Goods, which was her first book.  I liked that one a lot.  Also, Dream When You're Feeing Blue, was pretty good.  It takes place during the War years of the 1940's.  Generally I don't care for "home front" stories of WWII, unless the author is old enough to actually remember what it was really like.  Since EB wasn't born until 1948, she is too young, but she did do a good job with this story.  Be sure to look at her Facebook page, in case you haven't seen it.  She posts a lot of interesting messages, and there is also a list of her books that you can click on and see.  https://www.facebook.com/bergbooks/

Tomorrow we're going to visit my brother, so we went to Barnes & Noble today, and picked out a couple of books for him for an early birthday present.  One that I thought he would like is News of the World.  Both AJ and I really enjoyed that one, so I hope he will too.
mary - I remember that you also liked it? 
Callie - if you haven't read it yet, I think you'll like it too.  I plan t o check out Home Safe, ASAP.

Marilyne,  "News of the World" is on my "wish list"  (library e-books I don't want to reserve but would be interested in reading).
However, I'm a bit about "white person rescued from Plains Indians in the 1800's" stories as I am about novels set during the reign of Henry VIII.  As I told a friend who recommended yet another one of those,  "I think I've learned just about  as much as I care to know about that subject."   
Thanks for the recommendation.

I looked at the synopsis of "Dream When You're Feeling Blue" and felt much as you did.   Plenty of other Berg books available so I think I'll work my way through them first.

I'm also reading two other books. 

Somewhere I saw mention of James Michener's "Caravan" as being "au courant" (so to speak) about Afghanistan.  Hadn't read it in years so checked it out and am amazed at how similar the beginning chapters set in 1946 are to the current day.

I saw "At Home In Mitford" listed as the Hallmark movie last Saturday night.   The Mitford books
are among my favorites and I actually own most of them.  So, of course, I tuned in.  What a disappointment!!!!!

It's obviously a vehicle for Andie MdDowell because it begins with Cynthia and her cat moving to Mitford. The book does NOT center around these two.  In fact,  they don't appear until Chapter Nine and Father Tim is NOT a handsome young Hunk.  He is a 50-year-old balding, slightly overweight parson!   GRRRRRRR

So I decided to read the real thing instead of staying with the movie.
I was afraid that, if Andie McD. coyly tossed her hair or uttered that insipid giggle she did as the Judge in the Cedar Cove  Hallmark series......I'd throw my shoe at the screen!!!!!   

I read "News of the World" a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I didn't read any reviews but knew all you who had read it liked it.

Callie, I own all original Mitford Years books.   When we moved and downsized I got rid of most of my books but kept them (but they are still packed  )  I read a couple of her later books after Father Tim retired.  I had hoped she would start a series with the oldest boy becoming a vet but I haven't really kept up with what the author, Jan Karon, has been writing in the last few years.