2014 Book Review

I'd wanted to read 40 books in 2014 - and ended up reading 50, thanks in large part to books-on-tape (AKA the commuter's saving grace) and a newfound Agatha Christie obsession. It was a good year!

Abani, Chris - GraceLand 
Barbery, Muriel - The Elegance of the Hedgehog*
Bardugo, Leigh - Ruin and Rising
Barnes, Jonathan - The Somnambulist
Barry, Max - Company 
Brown, Pierce - Red Rising 
Castle, Richard - Heat Rises* 
Christie, Agatha - And Then There Were None* 
Christie, Agatha - Appointment with Death* 
Christie, Agatha - Crooked House* 
Christie, Agatha - Endless Night*
Christie, Agatha - Murder at the Vicarage*
Christie, Agatha - Murder on the Orient Express*
Christie, Agatha - The Body in the Library* 
Christie, Agatha - The Mysterious Affair at Styles* 
Christie, Agatha - The Pale Horse*
Cleave, Chris - Little Bee* 
Connolly, John - The Book of Lost Things
Donally, Claire - The Big Kitty 
Eckel, Sara - It's Not You 
Eugenides, Jeffrey - The Marriage Plot* 
Flynn, Gillian - Gone Girl
Gabaldon, Diana - Dragonfly in Amber* 
Gabaldon, Diana - Outlander* 
Gabaldon, Diana - Voyager
Gaiman, Neil - The Ocean at the End of the Lane 
Green, John - The Fault in Our Stars* 
Greenwood, Kerry - Cocaine Blues* 
Hirahara, Naomi - Summer of the Big Bachi
Hyman, Mark - The Blood Sugar Solution 10-Day Detox Diet 
Jamison, Leslie - The Empathy Exams: Essays 
Moore, Christopher - Fool* 
Nicholls, David - Us*
Niffenegger, Audrey - The Time Traveler's Wife* 
O'Connor, Joseph - Redemption Falls* 
Orlean, Susan - The Orchid Thief
Potzsch, Oliver - The Dark Monk
Quick, Matthew - The Good Luck of Right Now
Rilke, Rainer Maria - Letters to a Young Poet
Saunders, George - CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
Semple, Maria - Where'd You Go, Bernadette* 
Sestero, Greg - The Disaster Artist
Shteyngart, Gary - Absurdistan*
Simonson, Helen - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand 
Smith, Jennifer - The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight 
Tartt, Donna - The Goldfinch* 
Thomas, Dylan - Under Milk Wood*
Thomas, Rob - The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line
Wolitzer, Meg - The Interestings*
Yoshimoto, Banana - N.P.
 
*Audio Book
 
Total: 50

GoodReads Challenge

Top Hat Happy

Sometimes, I wake up feeling so good it can only be explained through the work of Fred Astaire:

Work Life

Sometimes I think I must be the luckiest girl in the world. I have a great job on a great show and a lot of my coworkers are my friends. And, then I'm even luckier because my dad does fun things like this to the company photo:

Can you find me?

The show is on hiatus now -- back January 9, 2015 -- but we finished Season 12 off right, with a wrap party with a photobooth!

I have great (and good looking!) coworkers.

So, Anyway... A Night with John Cleese

Last week, I had a bit of a dream night at the Alex Theatre -- John Cleese in conversation with Eric Idle! Just the two of them talking about comedy, their careers and their 50-year long friendship.

So, Anyway... a great night was had by all!

John Cleese is on this book tour for his early days memoir "So, Anyway..." (which is hilarious and wonderful, go to your local bookshop and buy it right now!) so the talk also included him and Eric Idle reading from the book. I just got an email from Live Talks LA (the great organization that put this show together) with the video from the event.



It was too good of a night not to share -- hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Chuck Connors - Believe It Or Not!

Exciting news -- Ripley's Believe It Or Not! published my very own father's submission today!

Ripley's Believe It Or Not! November 10, 2014

My dad (DC from Miami, FL) submitted the above "Believe It Or Not!" about "The Rifleman" Chuck Connors, the star of one of dad's favorite childhood TV shows; an actor, professional basketball player AND a professional baseball player -- talk about a triple threat!

Pretty Great -- Opening to "The Rifleman"

My dad and I share a great love for the weird and wacky ways of the Ripley's Empire, so my dad getting a submission into the "Believe It Or Not!" comic is pretty great news.

One of my favorite books of 2013 was Neal Thompson's A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It Or Not!" Ripley. It might just be one of my favorite biographies I've ever read -- it's totally inspirational, insane and, yes, beyond belief. 

What a life Robert Ripley lived -- and what a legacy he left behind. One that, I'm proud to say, my father has now helped grow by making sure Chuck Connors gets his due!

#TBT - GTN's Mental Minute

C.S. Lewis: "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."




This is something I did way back in 2012 -- but, positive thinking is always in style!

Why, hello there!

It's the end of 2014 and I am ready to join the information age -- hello, Blogosphere (it's cool that I call you that, right?), my name is Diana Copeland and I'm very happy to meet you.

A few things about me: I live in LA now but grew up in Miami and have lived in Austria, China, Japan and England (and maybe a few places in between). I'm a great fan of traveling and exploring new cultures -- and when I can't catch a flight to learn about new countries, I'll pull up a recipe and try my hand at voyaging via cuisine.

I used to work in publishing (cook books, to be exact) and I've had a handful of odd jobs since then (producing plays, teaching English, website developer, social media marketing, baking wedding cakes, spreading cheer as a professional Christmas Elf -- you name it, I've probably done it) but am now working happily in television.

I'd like to use this blog to meet new people who share my interests, but I'll also post recipes now and again, and probably a few news articles I think are important, or just videos that make me laugh.

This will be great fun, I just know it.