Pick-a-Shelf discussion

May's Shelf is hollywood

What did you read? Is it actually set in Hollywood?

I'm hoping to read Wishful Drinking. So I clearly put this on the wrong thread, but I have completed this book. It was interesting and written more in a conversation type mode. It's all over the place and the timeline is hard to follow and get things straight. It was funny though. A shame to see her struggles and know that's what was the result of her death as well. People never stop struggles with addictions and mental health. We need to be there for our friends and families!

I would like to propose Summer

I just finished the first one I want to read for this shelf, it was Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher! I reviewed it here and I would recommend it to any Carrie Fisher fan. Her sense of humor in this makes everything a quick, light-hearted read rather than what I imagine could've been written with far more emphasis on tragedy and addiction.

Unfortunately this book couldn't be used for any challenges for me, but the next one fits one!

Shelf nomination: Humor

I read Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher
⭐⭐⭐

I really liked Carrie Fisher's autobiographies so thought I'd give her first novel a try. It was fine but nothing special. It's about Hollywood actress Suzanne Vale in rehab and making movies. The Hollywood you expect is there; stars, drugs etc, but while her flaws and insecurities could have easily seemed shallow, I definitely found Suzanne to be relatable. There is plenty of dark humour and dry wit in this novel, but overall it was a bit depressing.

Used for seriously serial
I nominate science

It's been so long since I actually finished the monthly shelf's book with time to spare that it feels like a huge accomplishment. I read Landline, and I'm glad the shelf prompted me to do it, because I'd been a bit put off by its chick-lit shelving. But I really did like it. My review here.

I used it for prompt 1 (read only because it was on the month's shelf), as well as the May-July mini challenge.

I nominate Asian Literature.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The audiobook knocks this out of the park. By having the book read by a host of narrators, the rockumentary style comes through perfectly. I actually had to go look up whether this was fiction because it was so believable. This is an ode to 1970s rock bands--the music, the times, the journalism about them. The characters felt like real people with complicated, sometimes infuriating, thoughts and actions.

This is an author to pay attention to. Her previous book, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, was similar in structure: a journalist writing about an aging film star. In both of these books, there are unexpected feelings among these stars, c0mplete with nearly too cute twists, but I was willing to forgive these slight quibbles because the books were just so much fun.

Highly recommended, particularly in audio format. I read that this is going to be turned into an Amazon TV series with Reece Witherspoon. I'll be looking out for that when it is released.

Used for Bookopoly, Bingo, and Just Read It
I nominate friendship

I've read Ghosted [15-may-2020] ★★★★


After a few chapters I knew this book was going to be good. I wanted to keep reading. The balance between drama, romance and sadness was just right. Great plot and lovely well-rounded characters. I'll certrainly read more by this author.

It's about a single mom and her five year old daughter. The girl's dad is a hollywood star and wants to get back in their life.

Used for confort reads and bingo
I'd like to nominate: chick-lit

I read Only the Dead Know Burbank by Bradford Tatum.



With Lon Cheney and Boris Karloff among its characters, this sweeping and stylish love letter to the golden age of horror cinema tells the wonderful, tragic story of Maddy Ulm. It takes readers through her rise from the complicated shadows of Berlin’s first experiments with expressionist cinema to the glamorous deserts of Hollywood. For Maddy has a secret. A secret that has given her incredible insight into the soul of horror. A secret that has a terrible price as well.

I really liked the main premise of this book and all the parts that dealt with movie-making. It could have done without all the sexual abuse and the entire Nazi holocaust section felt squeezed in. An interesting take on real horror vs horror films.

3/5 stars

I nominate vampire

I also finished Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?. As always I found her fun with a variety of styles in her writing but a quick easy ready. She lays it all out even the controversial thoughts and jokes and ranges from serious thoughts on serious topics to food, clothes, and even her euology. This is a really fun read.

I will nominate Summer again!

I listened to Daisy Jones & The Six. I've had this one on my TBR for awhile, so it was good to have a reason to get it read. The interview format was different, but I enjoyed how you got different characters perspectives on the same subject. Thought it was a little slow in some places, but at times I couldn't stop listening. I struggled with the rating, but after the ending I went with ★★★★!

Nominate award-winners

I read Notes from the Teenage Underground by Simmone Howell ★★★★

my review

Used for MM20 & JRI! (own)

I read...well, listened...to The Late Show. I think I would have enjoyed this book even more, if I had read it. Although i gave it 4* on GR, it was only about 3.5* for me. I could not keep my attention focused enough to remember the secondary characters well.

In this book, the late show is the night shift for the police. The setting for the book is the Hollywood division. None of the story had anything to do with theater, movies or any of the entertainment industry unless you count the small part a pornographic producer played in the overall story.

I recommend noir

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
★★★★

I was worried this would be a trashy romance, but it turned out to be a decent read with romance only a minor part of the story. The story is told from many different points of view and jumps around a lot in time and place. The stories were woven together well, so it was never confusing, but there were a few times it went a bit far from the main story which made me feel impatient. A light and entertaining read.

Used for bookopoly, just read it, found
I nominate past-and-present

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes and Joe Layden
★★★

I managed to speed through this 7 hour audiobook in a day!
I love the Princess Bride, both the book and movie versions. But the making of the film turns out to be not that interesting. This short book is a series of anecdotes about things which I'm sure were lovely and funny in real life, but don't make for a great story. We are constantly told that everyone who worked on the film was wonderful, talented, and very nice to work with. There are all these testimonial style cameos from co-stars and crew throughout, which made it feel more like a documentary than a book. The highlight of the audiobook was Cary Elwes's beautiful voice.

Used for found
I nominate unreliable narrator

Book: Misadventures of a City Girl ~ 05.14 ★★★
# Tags: 1

Review:
This was okay. I had higher hopes. I thought it would be a fun, funny, full of banter light read - perfect for the times right now. It was light and had it's funny moments but the characters, their development, were just ho-hum. If it were a continuing series I probably wouldn't read the next one.

Challenges: n/a

Nomination: opposites attract

I *thought* I posted this but I guess I didn't: My two books for May...

Bad Apple
Shelved Hollywood x 4

I read this book on 5/5/20 and rated it *2.5 STARS*. It wasn't set in Hollywood but the hero was "Hollywood's biggest bad boy". I really wanted to like this one more than I did. But the male narrator RUINED this one for me. His nasally voice was so annoying and so not worthy of a leading man in Hollywood that it drove me nuts! NUTS!!! It's all I could think about while he was doing the male POV parts. It was terrible. And it's such a prime example how narrators mean everything to audiobooks.

***Used for: Just read it! (prompt 5)

We Own Tonight
Shelved Hollywood x 3 and Hollywood-romance x3

I read this on book on 5/7/20 and rated it *4.5 STARS* It wasn't set in Hollywood but the hero was a Pop Star and Actor. I felt like this was a solid *4 STARS* for the story which I enjoyed immensely but the narrators bumped it up to *4.5 STARS*. Loved them and loved the way they did this story. I wish we had gotten more of an extended epilogue. I'd love to know what happened after. The two of them, Heather and Eli deserved a million years of happiness.

I ugly cried during this one when I didn't think that I would but despite all the loss it was a fantastic story.

***Used for: Seriously serial 20 (part 3) and Just read it! (prompt 5)

Shelf nomination: Friends-to-Lovers