Lovely Books and Things - 4.29.17

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~
I decided to create my in-house weekend update meme and link up with others as I wanted the flexibility to explore being included in other weekly wrap-up type memes already out there. Feel free to recommend ones you like or participate in for me to try.

TODAY is Independent Bookstore Day and I will be at the Green Apple Book store on Clement which will be the 11th store I visit for the Book Quest. This is the first time I hit so many different bookstores in one month!

You can see all the great stores I have been to in the San Francisco bay area (here).

~*~
Author events:

Book Passage at the Embarcadero Ferry Building, San Francisco, hosted a meet up with author (youtuber), Connor Franta. I think I may have been the only 40-something year old (non chaperone) in line. Everyone attending the event had a quick photo shoot and "Hello" with Connor. He was a sweetie.

Note to Self
by Connor Franta
-Biography, Poetry, Photos
Amazon | Goodreads

Bookshop in West Portal, San Francisco hosted an intimate discussion with author, Megan Miranda. Quite special. Found out that her reading gravitates towards dark mystery fiction. Her favorite authors include Edgar Allan Poe, Michael Crichton and Tana French.

The Perfect Stranger
by Megan Miranda
-Mystery, Thriller, Coming of Age
Amazon | Goodreads

In my mailbox:

GOT some lovely letters. As April' letter writing month is wrapping up this weekend I have two more to go. It has been a successful run. And got three letters and two email responses.


UNBOXING:

From Owlcrate package (details & signup):
OwlCrate is a subscription service that sends you magical monthly boxes tailored to a chosen theme. Each OwlCrate will contain one new Young Adult novel, as well as 3-5 other bookish treats to help you get your nerd on. @owlcrate

APRIL Box includes:
theme: Head Over Heels
- Owlcrate spoiler card - I love how it is inspired by Murad Osmann's Follow Me To.
- Owlcrate button
- The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
- Signed bookplate, letter and sticker from author
- Pride and Prejudice themed Fabric headband by Storiarts
- Anna and the French Kiss inspired tea from The Tea Spot
- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda themed key chain by Bookworm Boutique
- Eleanor and Park themed vanilla candle created by Novelly Yours
- A Court of Thorns and Roses themed art print by Evie Bookish
- Book excerpt: Umberland by Wendy Spinale

The Upside of Unrequited
by Becky Albertalli
-LGBTQ, Romance, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back.

There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.

Right?

AND watching: on Netflix

13 Reasons Why (2017)
tv series, season 1
Creator: Brian Yorkey
Screenplay:
Based on book by: Jay Asher
Starring: Dylan Minnette, Katherine Langford, Christian Navarro
-Drama, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 4
Follows teenager Clay Jensen, in his quest to uncover the story behind his classmate and crush, Hannah, and her decision to end her life.

IT is a slow telling. But does well in getting into the backstory of each of the characters involved.

Twin Peaks (1990-1991)
Creator: Mark Frost, David Lynch
Starring: Kyle MacLachlan
-Crime, Drama, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 5
An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.

I ALREADY know who did it. But I wanted to re-watch this series knowing what I know. It was tough watching at first because of the cheesy way certain things came across. I am so spoiled with current day special effects and film styles.


~*~
* comment with your weekly update

:-)

Block & Tackle by Elise Faber, Stephanie Fournet, Kristin Vayden

Block & Tackle
by Elise Faber, Stephanie Fournet & Kristin Vayden

Find out more about this book:
Amazon | Goodreads
BookExcerpts
Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA
iBooks | B&N

Just released: March 12, 2017
Publisher: Blue Tulip Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Sports Romance
ebook
Rating (overall): 4

Football, hockey, and everything in between! Things are about to heat up on the ice and between the sheets. Each book is a fully fledged, standalone novel about forbidden love. What happens when you get your dream job and temptation is your ex-hockey-star boss? Or when the league’s top wide receiver has his eyes on you and he’s supposed to be just a client? Perhaps you find yourself in enemy territory because the woman you love is your best friend’s sister? Find out all the dirt in Block & Tackle, from Elise Faber, Kristin Vayden, and Stephanie Fournet.

Offsides by Elise Faber

Job title:
Executive Assistant for CEO of Prestige Media Group

Job description:
(1) Deal with a massive amount of emails.
(2) Schedule conference calls and meetings with top athletes and other hugely important people.
(3) Pick up dry cleaning and food, consult on tie selection, make dinner reservations, and book flights . . . basically act as a wife-on-steroids.
(4) THE IMPORTANT ONE: Do not, under any circumstances, fall in love with Devon Scott—demanding boss, former NHL player, and all-around gorgeous specimen of the male persuasion.

Job performance:
Failing.
Absolutely failing at number four.

Off Guard by Stephanie Fournet

Life couldn’t be better for Charlie Woodruff.

After a year of holding out, she’s finally landed the job she’s always wanted in the city of her dreams. An apartment she can afford and new friends at work make the transition easy.
When she meets a gorgeous stranger who makes her laugh and steals her breath, it seems like the icing on the cake...

Until Charlie discovers he’s a client.

Hutch Barlow — newly drafted wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders — looks like an avenging angel, hangs on her every word, and is completely off-limits. The trouble is he also refuses to take “no” for an answer.

And if she’s being honest, Charlie doesn’t want him to.

But seeing him means she could lose everything — including her heart.

Off Limits by Kristin Vayden

Everything about Ava screams off limits.
To want her is to invite disaster.
To pursue her is to risk my job.
To kiss her might cost me my best friend.
But all those risks seem small in light of the first problem.
She hates me.

To her I’m a sell out, choosing to advance my career rather than protect my biggest client.
Her brother.
And my best friend.
She hasn’t spoken to me in over a year, but that ends now.
Because I’m done with holding back.
To hell with the consequences.
Wish me luck . . .

My two-bits: (overall)

Lovely set of light shorty story romances with hot couples. Like the title suggests, the theme of block and tackle carry out and played with throughout each story in different ways.

The start of the couple interactions experience blocks mostly in regards to sports theme careers. Then the couples eventually tackle the problems... and each other ;-)


~*~
* review copy courtesy of tour

BookSparks Book Club

BookSparks Book Club (details)
APRIL pick:

Cruel Beautiful World
by Caroline Leavitt
-Coming of Age, Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads | my review -coming
MAY pick:

It's Always the Husband
by Michele Campbell
-Mystery, Thriller
Amazon | Goodreads | my review
JUNE pick:

The People We Hate at the Wedding
by Grant Ginder
-Humor, Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads | my review -DNF
JULY pick: none

AUGUST pick:

Emma in the Night
by Wendy Walker
-Mystery, Thriller
Release date: August 8, 2017
Amazon | Goodreads
SEPTEMBER pick: tba

How To Be Both by Ali Smith

How To Be Both
by Ali Smith

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads

Published: 2014
Publisher: Pantheon
Genre: Literary
Hardback: 384 pages
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
Consider this moral conundrum for a moment, George's mother says to George who's sitting in the front passenger seat.

Passionate, compassionate, vitally inventive and scrupulously playful, Ali Smith’s novels are like nothing else. A true original, she is a one-of-a-kind literary sensation. Her novels consistently attract serious acclaim and discussion—and have won her a dedicated readership who are drawn again and again to the warmth, humanity and humor of her voice.

How to be both is a novel all about art’s versatility. Borrowing from painting’s fresco technique to make an original literary double-take, it’s a fast-moving genre-bending conversation between forms, times, truths and fictions. There’s a Renaissance artist of the 1460s. There’s the child of a child of the 1960s. Two tales of love and injustice twist into a singular yarn where time gets timeless, structural gets playful, knowing gets mysterious, fictional gets real—and all life’s givens get given a second chance.

A NOTE TO THE READER:
Who says stories reach everybody in the same order?
This novel can be read in two ways and this book provides you with both.
In half of all printed editions of the novel the narrative EYES comes before CAMERA.
In the other half of printed editions the narrative CAMERA precedes EYES.
The narratives are exactly the same in both versions, just in a different order.

The books are intentionally printed in two different ways, so that readers can randomly have different experiences reading the same text. So, depending on which edition you happen to receive, the book will be: EYES, CAMERA, or CAMERA, EYES. Enjoy the adventure.

My two-bits:

This is composed of two stories that make up one story that involve the world of art. Two different sections represent the past and the present with similarities and ties. But each have their set of characters that have perspectives of an artist and observer.

The running theme of two sides - things seen and unseen plays out throughout.

After discussion with my book group, I grew to appreciate this book better with an interest to re-read it.

Also, gained an interest in inspecting and looking at religious art a little more while at a museum.

~*~
* my copy starts off with George, the second version begins with Francescho

* part of Book Passage Literary Prize Book Group (here)

SHORT-LISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE
WINNER OF THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
WINNER OF THE 2014 GOLDSMITHS PRIZE
WINNER OF THE 2014 COSTA NOVEL AWARD
WINNER OF THE SALTIRE LITERARY BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

A Best Book of the Year: NPR, Financial Times

A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

A Thousand Mornings
by Mary Oliver

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Facebook

Published: 2012
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Poetry, Nature
Paperback: 96 pages
Rating: 5

In A Thousand Mornings, Mary Oliver returns to the imagery that has come to define her life’s work, transporting us to the marshland and coastline of her beloved home, Provincetown, Massachusetts. Whether studying the leaves of a tree or mourning her treasured dog Percy, Oliver is open to the teachings contained in the smallest of moments and explores with startling clarity, humor, and kindness the mysteries of our daily experience.


My two-bits:

So beautiful!

Seeing the beauty in these nature themed poems was immediate.

Stacking the Shelves & Sunday Post - 4.22.17

Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
AND
Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer (details)
~*~

I am participating in an Art-a-thon today and spending most of the day working on my comic book journal. There will be music performances and artists of all ages joining in. If you are in the Bay area come by. All is welcome.

Please support arts education and give lower income children the tools to give form to their dreams. Visit Artseed Art-a-thon 2017 (here) for more details. It would mean a lot to me.


~*~
Bought:

News of the World
by Paulette Jiles
-Historical, Western
Amazon | Goodreads

To All the Boys I've Loved Before
(To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1)
by Jenny Han
-romance, YA
Amazon | Goodreads

P.S. I Still Love You
(To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #2)
by Jenny Han
Amazon | Goodreads
For Review:

MacArthur's Spies:
The Soldier, the Singer, and the Spymaster Who Defied the Japanese in World War II
by Peter Eisner
-History, 1940s, WWII, Non-fiction
courtesy of Penguin's First Reads -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

OTHER things (kinda book-related):

Independent Bookstore Day is coming, April 29. I have been visiting independent bookstores during the month. See the complete list of places I visited (here).

My latest visit was to...

#7 Alexander Book Company
San Francisco, CA (here)
with two books by Jenny Han
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
P.S. I Still Love You


AND watched: in theatre - part of Cherry Blossom Japanese Film Festival (details)

Like Father, Like Son (2013)
Soshite chichi ni naru (original title)
Director/Screenplay: Hirokazu Koreeda
Reference: "The Twisted Bond - 17 years of a Changing Baies Affair" (Bunshun Bunko) by Okuno Shuji
Starring: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki, Lily Franky
-Drama, Japan | imdb | my rating: 5
Ryota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. When he learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth, he must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.

WHOA. Got me thinking of parenting and of the relationship between parents and their kids.


AND watched: in theatre

Colossal (2017)
Director/Writer: Nacho Vigalondo
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis
-Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi | imdb | my rating: 4
A woman discovers that severe catastrophic events are somehow connected to the mental breakdown from which she's suffering.

COOL monster and mental mashup concept.

I caught a preview screening of this which included a Q&A with the director. Nacho shared his love for the rock band, Queen which is something in common he has with Bear McCreary, the composer who did the soundtrack.


AND watched: on DVD

Allied (2016)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer: Steven Knight
Starring: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard
-Action, Drama, Romance | imdb | my rating: 3
In 1942, a Canadian intelligence officer in North Africa encounters a female French Resistance fighter on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. When they reunite in London, their relationship is tested by the pressures of war.

Oscar nominated for Costume Design

THIS romance/love story set during the war questions honesty and trust. The chemistry between the couple did not work for me.

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
aka The Conscientious Objector
Director: Mel Gibson
Screenplay: Robert Schenkkan, Andrew Knight
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer
-Biography, Drama, History | imdb | my rating: 5
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.

Oscar win for Sound Mixing and Film Editing

AMAZING story about an amazing person that everyone MUST get to know. Ahh, the wonders of the human spirit!

side note: if you have any hangups due to this being a Mel Gibson film, get over it, this story inspires

~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

:-)

Happy Release: Get It Together, Delilah! by Erin Gough

Get It Together, Delilah!
by Erin Gough
-LGBTQ, YA
Release date: April 4, 2017
Amazon | Goodreads
Seventeen-year-old Delilah Green wouldn't have chosen to do her last year of school this way, but she figures it's working fine. While her dad goes on a trip to fix his broken heart after her mom left him for another man, Del manages the family cafe. Easy, she thinks. But what about homework? Or the nasty posse of mean girls making her life hell? Or her best friend who won't stop guilt-tripping her? Or her other best friend who might go to jail for love if Del doesn't do something? But really, who cares about any of that when all Del can think about is beautiful Rosa who dances every night across the street. . . . Until one day Rosa comes in the cafe door. And if Rosa starts thinking about Del, too, then how in the name of caramel milkshakes will Del get the rest of it together?

I plan on reading my copy in June to celebrate Gay & Lesbian Pride Month.

Missing by Kelley Armstrong

Missing
by Kelley Armstrong

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
BookExcerpt
Website
Facebook
Cafe Press
Tumblr
Twitter

Just released: April 18, 2017
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, YA
Hardback: 384 pages
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
Reeve's End is the kind of town every kid can't wait to escape. Each summer, a dozen kids leave and at least a quarter never come back. I don't blame them--I'll do the same in another year. We thought it was just something that happened in towns like ours.

We were wrong.

The only thing Winter Crane likes about Reeve's End is that soon she'll leave it. Like her best friend did. Like her sister did. Like most of the teens born in town have done. There's nothing for them there but abandoned mines and empty futures. They're better off taking a chance elsewhere.

What Winter will miss is the woods. Her only refuge. At least it was. Until the day she found Lennon left for dead, bleeding in a tree.

But now Lennon is gone too. And he has Winter questioning what she once thought was true. What if nobody left at all? What if they're all missing?

My two-bits:

Felt this to be a slow burning mystery. But, the search for the missing held my attention.

The story covers the themes of the haves/have nots and romance of rich boy/poor girl.

Got me thinking of small town communities.

~*~
* review copy courtesy of tour

* part of Cloak & Dagger Challenge (here)

BookSparks Speaks Out: Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month

BookSparks Speaks Out:
Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month
(details)
Join BookSparks, author Amy Hatvany and the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) to #speakout against sexual violence. Sexual violence touches all genders, ages and cultures. One in five women will be raped in their lifetime, and 325,000 children are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation.

How You Can Help:
Author Amy Hatvany's new book, It Happens All the Time, draws from her personal experiences with sexual assault. Purchase her book today, April 19, and send BookSparks your receipt (to alyssa@sparkpointstudio.com). BookSparks will donate 30% of all verified purchases to the KCSARC. Find out more ways you can help (here).

It Happens All the Time
by Amy Hatvany
-Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads
From master storyteller Amy Hatvany—whose writing has been hailed as “gripping and emotionally honest” (Stephanie Evanovich, New York Times betselling author)—comes a provocative and compelling novel about two friends whose lives are changed by a drunken kiss.

I want to rewind the clock, take back the night when the world shattered. I want to erase everything that went wrong.

Amber Bryant and Tyler Hicks have been best friends since they were teenagers—trusting and depending on each other through some of the darkest periods of their young lives. And while Amber has always felt that their relationship is strictly platonic, Tyler has long harbored the secret desire that they might one day become more than friends.

Returning home for the summer after her college graduation, Amber begins spending more time with Tyler than she has in years. Despite the fact that Amber is engaged to her college sweetheart, a flirtation begins to grow between them. One night, fueled by alcohol and concerns about whether she’s getting married too young, Amber kisses Tyler.

What happens next will change them forever.

In alternating points of view, It Happens All the Time examines the complexity of sexual dynamics between men and women and offers an incisive exploration of gender roles, expectations, and the ever-timely issue of consent.

Summer Reading Challenge 2017

Summer Reading Challenge
May to August 2017
sponsored by BookSparks (details)
Facebook | @BookSparks #SRC2017
The 7th annual reading challenge sponsored by BookSparks is starting up next month!

LOTS are listed for this summer!

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins

Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki -my review

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion -DNF

Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson -DNF

It’s Always The Husband by Michele Campbell -my review

In This Moment by Karma Brown

Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica -DNF

The Leavers by Lisa Ko - my review

The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor

The Rules of Half by Jenna Patrick

American Family by Catherine Marshall-Smith

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Proof by C.E. Tobisman

Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave

A Game of Ghosts by John Connolly

Eden by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg

A Work of Art by Micayla Lally

The Captain’s Daughter by Meg Mitchell Moore

The Half-Life of Remorse by Grant Jarrett

Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang

Girl in Snow by Danya Kukafka

Last Seen by J.L. Doucette

Happy Release: The Beast of London by L.D. Goffigan

The Beast of London
by L.D. Goffigan
-Fantasy, Paranormal, Thriller
Released date: April 17, 2017
Amazon | Goodreads
Mina Murray once lived an adventurous life, but after a tragedy in the forests of Transylvania, she left it all behind. Now she has settled into a quiet routine as a schoolteacher in London, engaged to the respectable solicitor Jonathan Harker, attempting to fit into the stuffy upper class London society to which he belongs.

Her dark past comes careening into her present when Jonathan is abducted by a group of vampires from a society ball. Determined to rescue him, she teams up with her former paramour Abraham Van Helsing and his colleague, Scotland Yard Inspector John Seward.

As they pursue Jonathan’s abductors from England to the Low Countries and beyond, Mina realizes that Jonathan’s abduction is tied to a larger threat against humanity…

An electrifying retelling of a classic tale, THE BEAST OF LONDON is the first book of the Mina Murray series. If you love adventure, romance, and mystery with a paranormal twist, then pick up your copy today.

Lust & Wonder by Augusten Burroughs

Lust & Wonder
by Augusten Burroughs

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Facebook
Flickr
Pinterest
Twitter

Published: 2016
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Genre: Humor, Memoir
Hardback: 304 pages
Rating: 5

First sentence(s):
Just when I broke my sobriety and started drinking again in moderate and controlled measure exactly like a normal person, I met this guy who wasn't just a guy but a writer, and not just a writer but the author of one of my favorite books.

With Augusten's unique and singular observations and his own unabashed way of detailing both the horrific and the humorous, Lust & Wonder is a hilariously frank memoir that his legions of fans have been waiting for. His story began in Running with Scissors, endured through Dry, and continues with this memoir, the capstone to the life of Augusten Burroughs.

Funny, sweet, alarming, and ultimately, moving and tender, Lust & Wonder is an experience of a book that will resonate with anyone who has loved and lost and loved again.

My two-bits:

I love Augusten's take on life. In this memoir he gets into his love relationships with people. And, his fascination and obsession with gems is also revealed.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version - such a treat with the author reading it.

Stacking the Shelves & Sunday Post - 4.15.17

Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
AND
Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer (details)
~*~
I had a good balance of reading and watching (films) this week. Good stuff.

I also visited three different bookstores this week for the Independent Bookstore challenge mentioned below. I usually average 2-3 bookstore visits a month mostly triggered by author events.

~*~
Bought:

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
by Hannah Tinti
-Literary, Mystery
Amazon | Goodreads

For Review:

The Beast of London
by L.D. Goffigan
-Fantasy
courtesy of publisher author -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

Wrong
by Jane Aston
-New Adult, Romance
courtesy of Romance Read-of-the-Month Club -Thanks!
BarnesNoble | Goodreads

OTHER things (kinda book-related):

Independent Bookstore Day
April 29 (details)
CELEBRATING the upcoming Independent Bookstore Day by visiting at least 10 independent bookstores during the month.

#5 Green Apple Books on the Park
San Francisco, CA (here)
with Mollie Makes
Living a Creative Life
issue number seventy seven
comes with a cute mini-loom kit
See the complete list of places I visited (here).


AND watched: in theatre - part of San Francisco International Film Festival (details)

Yourself & Yours (2016)
Dangsinjasingwa dangsinui geot (original title)
Director/Writer: Sang-soo Hong
Starring: Hae-hyo Kwon, Joon-sang Yoo
-Drama, South Korea | imdb | my rating: 4
A foray into the uncanny with a spin on Luis Buñuel's "That Obscure Object of Desire"

THIS weird and unusual, but interesting love story left me sad.

Future Perfect (2016)
El futuro perfecto (original title)
Director: Nele Wohlatz
Writers: Pío Longo, Nele Wohlatz
Starring: Xiaobin Zhang, Saroj Kumar Malik
-Drama, Argentina | imdb | my rating: 5
A smart and innovative look at the possible futures of a young Chinese immigrant to Buenos Aires, told in the stilted language of an elementary Spanish textbook.

WE were treated to a Q&A with the director of this film. Interesting to know that the story is somewhat true to the main character, Xiaobin's experience in Argentina.

The Next Skin (2016)
La propera pell (original title)
Director: Isa Campo, Isaki Lacuesta
Writers: Isa Campo, Isaki Lacuesta, Fran Araújo
Starring: Emma Suárez, Àlex Monner
-Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Spain, Switzerland | imdb | my rating: 5
A teenager who went missing and was presumed dead returns home after eight years to find a family deeply affected by his disappearance. Gradually, doubts arise about whether he really is the missing boy or an impostor.

LOVED how this one pulls you in and keeps you wondering. And, loved the small-town Spanish Pyrenees location.


AND watched: at the library theatre

Chinese Couplets (2015)
Director: Felicia Lowe
-Documentary, Family, History | imdb | my rating: 5
Part memoir, part history, part investigation, Chinese Couplets spans two centuries, three countries and four generations of women in this intimate story that reveals the impact of America's Chinese Exclusion Acts on filmmaker Felicia Lowe's family. Lowe offers a nuanced, engaging approach to the debate that details the long-term, multi-generational effects of ethnically motivated immigration policies while imparting a cautionary tale of living with cultural pluralism in the 21st century.

INTERESTING historical perspective on the Chinese immigration experience.


AND watched: on DVD

Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Director: Peter Berg
Screenplay: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Matthew Sand
Based on book by:
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell
-Action, Drama, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5
A dramatization of the April 2010 disaster, when the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and created the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Oscar nominated for Sound Editing and Visual Effects

I liked how the story of this tragic event has a focus on the survivors.

~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

;-)