Hi all, I’ve recently returned from playing in the senior tennis nationals in Vancouver, B.C., which was a fun event that included many hard-fought battles from players all over the country. Even though I made it through just a couple rounds this year in the singles and doubles, I enjoyed some tough, close matches and spending time in that beautiful city. Hopefully I’ll be back to play the tournament again next year, if my knees hold up, though the event will move to Montreal and clay courts in 2018.
As for Vancouver, it was wonderful. The water, sights, and weather couldn’t have been better. They were all gorgeous days in the Northwest while I kept hearing all the dreadful news of flooding in Texas, holy smokes that’s been unreal. They have a lot of bookstores in Vancouver too. Check out this one at left that I saw. I admit I’m not a huge fan of fantasy and sci-fi, but I have to give a thumbs up to White Dwarf Books for its displays and exuberance for the subject matter. It’s a cool place with a catchy name. Check it out if you’re ever in the area.
Meanwhile it’s time to discuss what’s coming out in September — wahoo! — one of the biggest release months of the year. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the major upcoming books, namely John le Carre’s “A Legacy of Spies,” which I’ll give to my husband to read. He’s a big fan of the spy master, who is 85 now and has completed with this one his 24th novel. So far his followers are liking it quite a bit according to Goodreads, so my husband will be eager to get his hands on a copy of it.
Also, I can’t say I’m not curious to read some of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s book “What Happened” about the 2016 election. Usually I wouldn’t go near a politician’s book or believe much of it, but the country blew it on election day (with a capital B) — just my own view — so I’m interested in getting an inside perspective on this major debacle of our times. Granted, I voted for her so I’m in that camp.
As for literary fiction, is anyone game for Salman Rushdie’s new novel “The Golden House”? According to Publishers Weekly, it’s set during the Obama years and is about a mysterious billionaire from overseas and his three adult sons who change their names and move to New York City in an attempt to reinvent themselves after tragedy. Hmm. It’s supposed to be a bit reminiscent of “The Great Gatsby” and “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” but is it? I can’t recall the last time I read a Rushdie novel, so perhaps I will give this one a try.
Next up, I will likely check out Celeste Ng’s second novel “Little Fires Everywhere,” which explores the lives of two intertwined families in a suburb of Cleveland. Like her highly touted debut novel “Everything I Never Told You,” this one seems to be packed with a lot of issues including — as Publishers Weekly says — “the complexities of adoption, surrogacy, abortion, privacy, and class, questioning all the while who earns … and who loses the right to be called a mother.” Ouch. I liked aspects of her first novel, which I thought was quite grim, so I plan to read this one to see how it compares.
Also on my September list is Rene Denfeld’s new novel “The Child Finder,” about an investigator on a case to find a missing child in a remote forest in the Pacific Northwest. Admittedly I’m getting quite wary of the numerous missing persons kind of stories, but I was quite impressed with Denfeld’s debut novel “The Enchanted” from 2014, so I want to follow up with this one, which I’m told is “intense” and I’m sure will have some of the same tragic, sad elements to it as her first novel did. Apparently the investigator / protagonist in this story must try to overcome her past traumas as she goes about solving the case of the missing child. Sound a bit alluring to you?
Last up in books, I’m curious to read Jesmyn Ward’s new novel “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” which tells the story of three generations of a struggling Mississippi family. Granted I don’t know too much more about it than that, but BookPage says: it’s an intricately layered story that “combines mystical elements with a brutal view of racial tensions in the modern-day American South.” Oh my! I haven’t tried Ward before, but she won the National Book Award in 2011 with “Salvage the Bones.” So maybe I should start there first.
As for September movies, Stephen King fans will be ecstatic that the adaptation of his 1986 novel “IT” will finally be coming out. The trailer creeps me out, just seeing those evil clowns!
Which reminds me: I’m not sure if I ever fully recovered from seeing the film version of King’s “Cujo” in 1983 or for that matter “Carrie” from 1976. I also saw King’s “Misery” from 1990 and “Delores Claiborne” from 1995 — and maybe even his “Children of the Corn” from 1984. But the mastery and scariness of “The Shining” from 1980 stands out to me. So many quotable lines in it! I haven’t decided if I will see “IT” on the big screen or just wait for the rental. What about you — which is your favorite adapted King movie and do you plan to view the twisted clowns?
As for other movies this month, there looks to be a bit of a weak one about the life of author J.D. Salinger called “Rebel in the Rye.” Judging by the movie trailer, it just doesn’t seem like Salinger to me and I’m sure the famous reclusive author would be rolling in his grave if he knew about it. So I think I’ll stick with his books instead (his later life seemed a bit creepy to me, but I’m a fan of his fiction.) So far, the film versions of his life, haven’t fully captured the elusive Salinger for me, though I still haven’t seen the 2013 documentary about him.
But I might be interested in seeing the upcoming sports film “Battle of the Sexes” based loosely on the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. That looks quite good to me (is it just because I’m a tennis fan, or is it more the feminist aspect of it?). Emma Stone plays Billie Jean King and Steve Carell plays Bobby Riggs — what more do you want? And were you watching the match in 1973? I was quite young, but I remember it on TV. Go King!
Lastly in albums for September, there’s a number of news ones by such old rockers as: Neil Young, David Crosby, Van Morrison, Bruce Cockburn, Cat Stevens, Ringo Starr, and even a posthumous album by Gregg Allman. Quite a lineup! But it’s a bit hard to say which among them — that I’ve heard bits of — that I liked best, or for that matter among the new albums by such acts as: The Killers, The Foo Fighters, The National, or even Tori Amos and Jack Johnson. But since Neil Young is releasing a long-lost acoustic album called “Hitchhiker” recorded in 1976, I’ll go with that. I was once a big fan of his music.
What about you — which September books, movies, or music are looking forward to?
I have the Ng book too. It looks really good.
IT. I love love love Stephen King. I plan to see it in the theater and I am hoping it does the book justice. That horrible made for TV version really did not. The IT scare house is in Hollywood right now. I saw a clip on the news. You have to sign a waiver to go inside. I would SO do this if the lines were not 3-4 hours long. Fave King adaptation to the big screen is The Shining although I know he hates that version.
I am also looking forward to Hillary’s book as well as Obama’s! And with that, the new American Horror Story kicks off on 9/5 and it’s all about the election. Look for the trailer. It’s terrifying.
Hi Ti, I knew you were a big Stephen King fan! You’re the expert on his works. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the new movie and if it does the book justice. I like that American Horror is all about the election — funny & scary too. I’ve watched the trailer, now I might have to see it on 9/5. thanks.
I am jealous of your time in Vancouver, BC. I have only been there once but I wanted to move there.
Looking forward to Sing, Unburied, Sing. Also The Child Finder. Rene Denfeld rocks!
Last night I finished The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy. A challenge but I loved it! Now I am going to take another stab at Midnight’s Children so that will by my Rushdie book for the fall.
I am VERY interested in Battle of the Sexes!
Did you ever see Hello, My Name is Doris? It came out in 2016 and I never heard of it until I saw the preview on Netflix. It is wonderful in so many ways but especially for me because Sally Field plays a 70 year old woman and my goodness the woman can act!
thanks Judy, I will have to check out the Sally Field movie on Netflix; if you liked it — I know it’s good. I’m impressed you made it thru the A. Roy book — I heard it was quite tough to get through. I’d like to reread her first one. And I agree Denfeld rocks! so I must read this one. I’m going to add some more pics of Vancouver next week and I think you’ll probably want to move there again — I did while I was there. Wow!
Among the books releases I think I would go with Le Carrè’s, though I typically have misgivings about his cynical style of seeing the spy life. I’ll watch It when it comes out for rental. This year there has been a wave of releases in the horror genre; hopefully this one will be above the norm.
Hi Carmen, yeah there’s quite a lot of horror flicks this year — none of which I usually watch. Even Jennifer Lawrence is in some spooky looking thing called Mother! (dating the director too – what’s with that?). But not sure it interests me much. IT looks pretty unsettling to me. Still I was hoping Sept. would bring some bigger or better? movie releases. I guess I’ll wait for Oct./Nov. ones.
It sounds like you had a lot of fun at playing tennis. That is awesome!
There are some really interesting books coming out. I think that Hillary’s book may be a little too hard to take, but I may read it anyway. I think that we did worse then just blowing it. I believe that that we are barely staving off a national catastrophe.
The Salman Rushdie book sounds good. I have only read Satanic verses and Midnight’s Children. I thought that they were both excellent.
Thanks Brian — the tennis was a good challenge; now I’m caught up watching the US Open, lots of tennis! 🙂 I think Hillary’s book will be quite hard to take — reading it / re-living it all over again, ugh. I agree with you that this presidency spells disaster all over it. Makes my blood boil everyday. (and I live in Canada now). I just hate it. I think I might delve into the Rushdie book / maybe it’ll offer an antidote to these days.
I am so impressed by your tennis prowess. You rock! You mention a bunch of books that I had not heard of in this post, so I thank you for that and I will add all of them to my list, though I may not include the Hillary book: too painful to relive!
Hi Molly: So glad you stopped by! Gosh are you back home now from the East? Summer must be over, ugh! Hope you had a great time. You’ll have to let me know what you read these past months & what’s really good. I have been so busy with tennis life / not enough time for reading! But now hopefully it’ll be less tennis & more book time. I agree with you: the Hillary book might be TOO HARD to re-live. That’s an excellent way to put it. Do I want to go there? I feel like strangling somebody. Cheers.
Vancouver and the tennis tournament both sound like great fun! I think Little Fires Everywhere will be the next audio I listen to.
Thanks Kathy. Vancouver was awesome. I’m glad you’ll get to the Ng book soon — I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it. I will get to it.
Great selection of books! Sing, Unburied, Sing and Little Fires are both on my reading list this month. The Child Finder also looking intriguing. I missed that when I was doing my fall book research.
I loved the first IT movie but I don’t think I have the nerves to watch the remake. I probably wouldn’t sleep for a month! I don’t really like tennis at all, but I definitely want to see Battle of the Sexes. It’s such an amazing story!
Hi Kate, Yeah the IT movie looks scary but I wonder if I should see it? The Battle of the Sexes movie looks a bit fun. I’ve put myself on a wait list for The Child Finder at the library / hope to get it soon. I look forward to hearing what you think of some of these fall novels.
That bookstore is so cool, Susan. I don’t read a lot of sci-fi too. But I love their name. I am looking forward to reading all the new releases too. I read Salman Rushdie’s interview in a local newspaper, and the book sounds intriguing. Also, Ng’s book. I adored ‘Everything I Never Told You’. I was just reading an article on this month’s releases, and learnt that ‘Afterglow (a Dog Memoir)’ by Eileen Myles, on her pitbull called Rosie, will also be published on the 12th. Since we are dog-lovers, I thought we would love it. 🙂
Hi Deepika — thanks so much for telling me about Afterglow. I missed seeing it but of course we both need to get that! I will check for it at the library. Sounds perfect, but sad? I hope to get to the Rushdie & Ng books. Hmm. It should be a good fall for reading! Enjoy your week.
It sounds like you had a good time in Vancouver. Are you thinking you might come all the way to Montreal next year?
From all those great books, I especially want to read the new Ng and Denfeld books. Even though I haven’t yet read Denfeld’s first. But I will…
Battle of the Sexes looks like a good movie. And a little slice of history I didn’t know about!
Hi Naomi, glad you are back after your summer time away. I will stop by your site soon. Yes I’m on the waiting list at the library for the Ng and Denfeld books. They look good. I am thinking about maybe going to Montreal next August, but we’ll see. It would be fun but it’s so hot there then! A few years back I was in Montreal in August and it was over 30C easy. Hmm.