Rainy Weekends and Books

It's been raining steadily here for the last two days - and at least once a day for what seems like at least the last 10 days. But that's not all bad. Not leaving the house since Friday afternoon has allowed me to get in some extra reading hours, watch a movie or two, and watch some of the Civil War documentaries I've recorded from the History Channel.

In fact, I finished three books in the last two days: Lit by Mary Karr, Death on the River by John Wilson, and Daylight Noir by Catherine Corman. Lit is the Mary Karr memoir I wrote about last week, the volume that chronicles Mary's struggles with alcoholism, her marriage problems, her surprising turn to prayer, and her literary success. Death on the River is a Young Adult novel about the famous Andersonville prison where so many Union soldiers died during the Civil War, and Daylight Noir is a photograph book filled with pictures of buildings and locations mentioned in various Raymond Chandler novels.

I have a movie to recommend, one that I stumbled on this weekend. It's called A Family Thing and it stars Robert Duvall and James Earl Jones, a hard-to-beat combination of great actors. It involves a man in rural Arkansas who learns something shocking about his birth shortly after his mother dies. I won't say anything more because it is difficult to describe this movie without leaking a spoiler or two. Let's just say that if you enjoy great acting, lots of drama, and a few tears with your movies, you will probably love this one.

And speaking of a few tears, it's time for me to get back to the football game between Houston and the Arizona Cardinals. It's going to be a long, long football season for Texan fans.