45: Hollywood’s Dirtiest Secret is a deft look at the ecological impacts of Hollywood filmmaking practices from GonewiththeWind to Avatar. Mixing media industries, discourse, history and anthropology Vaughn shows how it is vital to rethink filmmaking and viewing in a time of climate crisis. #books #mediastudies

44: The Corpse Wore Pasties an entertaining murder mystery set in the world of NYC burlesque culture. The book uses first person perspective and a mix of slang to craft a read that is gritty and funny in style of pulp novels of 40s, 50s, and 60s. #books #crimefiction #pulpnovels

43: The Prop an interesting look at film props and their value as marks of labor and performance. The book builds on previous film theory to argue for the establishment of prop theory. Includes several close readings of props in films like Citizen Kane to show importance of prop value. #books #filmtheory

42: For Your Eyes Only from Fleming features short stories about Bond some while on a mission some on his own time. What ties them together is Bond’s introspection of his life built around the killing of people and a sense he is less of a spy and more a hired killer. Great read. #books #JamesBond

42: Death in the Jungle a new examination of Jim Jones, his tactics to create his PeoplesTemple and how his drug use and paranoia ultimately destroyed his ministry and led to the mass deaths which as Fleming through extensive research shows were acts of murder and not suicide in 1978. #books #nonfiction

41: Goldfinger published in 1958 offers a bleaker and weary Bond as he struggles with the toll of the job and number of people he has killed in the name of empire and service. Fleming explores themes of greed and wealth and how greed destroys capitalism in the figure of Goldfinger. #books #JamesBond

40: Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss that Changed Film History a revelatory piece of film history that reshapes the narrative about Black joy and dignity even while confronting racist realities of American culture in 1890s and later. Field meticulously and eloquently crafts the story of the two unknown persons Suttle and Brown and presents their lives in a book that reveals the complex nature of black performers linked to minstrel shows and songs to satisfy racism. #books

39: Hollywood’s Others Fusco’s brilliant counter narrative about #ClassicalHollywood studios and fan magazines and the roles they played in dealing with child stars, people of color, disabled characters and celebrity scandals is a must read. It offers meticulous scholarship mixed with close readings to offer a new mode of thinking about classical Hollywood system and its larger impact on American society. It is written in a style that is lively and deeply perceptive. #books

38: To Be An Actress Yiman Wang’s fascinating theoretically grounded study of Anna May Wong’s modes of labor and performance that shows how she was able to perform within the racist and sexist Hollywood studio system and have some agency. A must read for star studies scholars. #books #starstudies #performance #ClassicalHollywood

37: Appointment with Death, the intriguing and exciting 19th Poirot mystery where Christie explores the dynamics of the Boyton family ruled by a moths who is psychologically cruel, which leads up to her murder in the Middle East. Poirot with a 24 hour deadline must solve the mystery and faces a series of liars. #books #crimefiction #agathachristie