Here are some of the hottest, most buzzed-about books this week. Download them on your Kindle, read them on your iPad, or go to a bookstore if you like to keep things old-school.
Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography by Errol Morris
Contrary to this book’s title, most people believe that ‘seeing is believing,’ but when it comes to photography, how can we be so sure? Morris, an Academy Award-winning director of such films as The Thin Blue Line and The Fog of War, takes on this question in his new book. Believing is Seeing is a compilation of essays examining iconic documentary photographs with the intention of discovering the truth behind them. Morris uses his background as a private investigator to look behind photographs like those from the WPA photography project, snapshots of soldiers at Abu Ghraib, and a photograph from the Crimean war. The book sees Morris explore the difference between what we perceive to be the truth from a photograph and what truth is behind it, or not.
Kill Me if You Can by James Patterson
In this high-stakes novel, a young (and poor) art student named Matthew Bannon unexpectedly makes off with a duffel bag filled with $13 million in diamonds during a chaos-filled attack at New York’s Grand Central Station. Dreaming of an easy life, Bannon doesn’t realize that his newfound wealth has put a target on his back. A high-profile assassin, who was supposed to retrieve the $13 million in diamonds, is soon on Bannon’s trail. Soon a rival assassin joins in on the hunt for Bannon and a thrilling game of cat and mouse begins. This novel packs a punch of adrenaline and a page-turning pace for any reader who enjoys a good chase.
In My Time by Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney has been on the country’s political radar for nearly four decades, and in that time he’s been subject to criticism, scrutiny, and full-fledged hate. His memoir, like many, is his way of setting the record straight. Political memoirs are always tricky because, well, they’re political. While it’s hard to know what is a truthful admission and what is spin, political junkies are sure to find the book an interesting read. According to the few sources that have been privy to an advance copy, Cheney shares many small new (and probably interesting) details about well-known events, but no shocking revelations.
If you’re looking to add to your movie collection, we’ve selected a few of the best titles coming out this week on DVD and Blu-ray.
For those who like a helping of knowledge and food for thought (no pun intended) with their movies, Forks Over Knives comes out riding on the coattails of movies like the influential Food, Inc. The low-budget movie aims to examine the claim that most modern degenerative diseases can be controlled or reversed by rejecting the current common diet of animal protein and processed foods in favor of a plant-based whole foods diet. The film centers around two different doctors whose research has led both of them to the same conclusion. If you didn’t like Food, Inc., you probably won’t like this movie, but if that film had any influence on you, Forks Over Knives might be a welcome dose of further information.
This action-packed thriller features The Lovely Bones’ Saoirse Ronan in a role as the daughter of an ex-CIA agent played by Eric Bana. Bana’s character raises his daughter in the stark wilderness of Finland, training her everyday to become a skilled assassin. When her father thinks she’s ready, Hanna is sent out into the world (at an adolescent age) on a mission. Journeying across Europe, Hanna skillfully evades intelligence agents who are sent after her by a scheming operative (played by Cate Blanchett) who is full of secrets. Along the way, Hanna learns secrets about her own life in this suspense-filled thriller.
Fringe: The Complete Third Season
If you’ve never seen the latest TV series of J.J. Abrams’ creation, be warned: things get weird. In what is an intellectual take on a science-fiction cop show, viewers follow agent Olivia Dunham and her close-knit team as they attempt to unravel mysterious events and make sense of a discovered parallel universe. The team discovers alternate versions of themselves and must work to keep the two parallel universes from colliding and essentially destroying their own world.
