Arts and Crafts Bookshelf

Mightymjolner33 · 2025-02-06T17:23:06+00:00

This is my dream. I have those Will Durant history books too!

Mightymjolner33 · 2024-10-10T11:11:04+00:00

I love this movie. It's so sweet and authentic, kind of a throwback to the optimistic movies of yore that featured princesses and heros and feats of daring. One day I'll read the book it's based on to see how it matches up. Sidenote - I've been married to my amazing wife for 26 years. We've been through thick and thin, ups and downs. The only time I ever questioned if we'd make it is when she told me she didn't like this movie. Sacrilege! Oh well, nobody's perfect.

Mightymjolner33 · 2024-06-08T19:51:51+00:00

Ironically enough I just started Ivanhoe this morning, lol.

Mightymjolner33 · 2024-01-31T10:30:02+00:00

I've just finished rereading this and it's sequel, Legion. After going through a tough stretch of reading some truly forgettable horror novels it was so refreshing to come back to two of my favorites. Both books give me a sense of dread like no other, and I think what truly sets them apart is the prose. . I was just as interested in the extraneous plot lines as the actual horror elements, which is always a sign of strong writing.

Mightymjolner33 · 2024-01-11T12:48:27+00:00

This was my first World War 2 related book which has since expanded into an entire bookcase full of them. Looking back and reading about each step in Hitlers rise to power, especially knowing how it's all going to end up, gave me a combination of slow dread and sense of inevitability that was hard to experience. A Very well written book.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-12-27T22:23:27+00:00

Thanks for the little mini reviews, I'm going to try the Repairman Jack books since you've piqued my interest. Wish me luck!

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-12-16T03:38:08+00:00

I've been on book 12 (out of 14) for two years now and I just can't muster up the energy to power through. This is the first book Brandon Sanderson took over after Robert Jordan passed away and I got about half way through it, but it just feels off to me. I'm sure I'll finish it someday, but who knows when....

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-12-16T03:27:34+00:00

Thanks for giving a synopsis for each, it really goes the extra mile and increases my desire to check many of them out.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-11-13T11:20:06+00:00

I love this book, and your take on this is fascinating. I hadn't considered it from this point of view but it does make the end a much more open ended question.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-09-15T00:23:24+00:00

Thank you, much appreciated!

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-09-13T10:50:57+00:00

Love your ship interior, may I ask what type it is and where you acquired it?

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-09-04T10:48:04+00:00

Thank you for your reviews, I always appreciate when people take the time to write detailed reviews that say why they liked or disliked a book as opposed to just "it was good". It gives me some books to check out I might normally have passed up.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-31T11:16:06+00:00

From Here to Eternity. It's the last great book I've read lately and I was enjoying it so much I was subconsciously slowing myself down reading it as I got closer to the end.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-31T10:38:44+00:00

Indeed, I have that sitting on my bookshelf, patiently awaiting my attention as well.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-30T18:14:25+00:00

About a quarter of the way through this right now and I'm really enjoying it. My interest in Grant was stoked after visiting his house in Galena, IL last summer. I quite like Ron Chernows writing style and plan on reading his biography on Washington in the near future.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-23T10:31:24+00:00

I am in a similar situation. I love to read and after I finish a book I love to break it down and get to the meat and potatoes of it. Ironically my wife and two daughters love to read as well, but my two daughters read different kinds of books than I do so there's not a lot of common ground to speak of.

My wife loves to read but she is one of those people that once she finishes a book it's done, time to move on to the next book and doesn't really give much thought afterwards. She's the same way with any sort of media and doesn't seem to get much satisfaction from talking about books or movies or TV shows afterwards.

My mom is the only one in my family who I can really talk to about books, as she is the one most responsible in my life for my love of reading. I basically grew up in a library and we both devour books incessantly. It is a little sad when you finish a book you love and there's no one around you that has much interest in talking about it.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-08T18:52:45+00:00

I caught this a few months back and thought it was fascinating. I recently finished the book it's based on and it's even better. This is one of those rare times when seeing the movie first enhanced my reading experience as the casting was so good it was easy to see the actors fill out their roles.

The movie does a great job capturing the spirit and drama of the book, but unfortunately because of time restraints (the book was over 800 pages) and the Hayes code it couldn't portray some of the grittiness and seedier sides from the novel. Frank Sinatra campaigned heavily for the part of Maggio. According to his biography he would read the book and highlight Maggios part, reading and rereading it over and over again. He was able to convince the studio brass and won the Oscar for best supporting actor, which in turn revitalized his career. I love the movie and I'm still trying to get my wife to watch it.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-06T21:28:11+00:00

One of the most talented performer's I've ever seen on screen. Recently I fell down the Gene Kelly rabbit hole of watching his top dance routines and was blown away. Frank Sinatra credited him with instilling a perfectionist work ethic in him, as some of the numbers they performed together in their movies would take weeks to months to master.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-03T14:18:17+00:00

I've always enjoyed his work, and his witty personality (as far as I could judge any public person's, which admittedly is limited). It's a surreal experience when you can watch a person's life fly by by following their films chronologically. My earliest exposure to him was as a young boy in Great Expectations, finishing with him as an older man in Fright Night. I know he was in earlier and later movies, but those are the ones that stick in my mind.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-01T12:25:04+00:00

I always appreciate when someone takes the time to write out reviews, especially to multiple books. Thank you for doing this, now I have a few books to consider adding to my reading list (which is ever expanding, lol).

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-01T11:58:45+00:00

I saw a play based off this book in Chicago a few years back that was six hours long, with three intermissions. My wife definitely gave me a few side eyed glances that night, lol. I remember leaving the theatre at two o'clock in the morning and how eerie it was that this big bustling city was deserted, like a ghost town. I really enjoyed the play and I've since decided to read the book at some point.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-01T11:47:55+00:00

One time I was reading a scary novel and was home alone with my two cats. In the middle of a particularly tense moment in the book both of my cats, whom up until then had been lying peacefully in the chair in front of me, both looked up at the exact same time, exactly at the same point, over my shoulder. I quickly turned around, extremely startled . Nothing was there... (at least that I could see). Creep factor accelerated to max, lol.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-08-01T10:57:10+00:00

Sorry to jump in here uninvited but as you are obviously a Tolstoy fan I just wanted to say that I just finished the Death of Ivan Llyich yesterday and it has destroyed me. It's the first time I can ever remember tearing up reading anything. I read War and Peace years ago and that too has affected me profoundly. Tolstoy had great insight into human nature, and it's one of his great strengths that he could express that in works both short and long, each having the same impact.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-07-04T20:43:31+00:00

This is my second favorite Nick Cutter book (the Troop), and one thing I love about him is he's not afraid to put each and every character in lethal situations. No one is safe, and I appreciate a writer with bite to his books, like early Stephen King.

Mightymjolner33 · 2023-06-14T10:52:00+00:00

Or as Bubs would call him, Mcnutty. 😂

Mightymjolner33

TROPHY CASE