Sunday, November 29, 2020

Lovely Books and Things - 11.29.20

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update


Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~


HAPPY THINGS:

1. Thanksgiving leftovers with friends
2. Along with books, finding puzzles in the Free Little Library box
3. Pretty outdoor dining parklets popping up in town

~*~


Library:
The Grand Budapest Hotel:
The Illustrated Screenplay

by Wes Anderson
Film tie-in, Historical, Comedy | Goodreads


Library: audiobook
Dune
by Frank Herbert
SciFi, Classic, Space Opera | Goodreads


Freebies: from Free Little Library

The Hardy Boys:
The Tower Treasure

by Franklin W. Dixon
Mystery, Classic, YA | Goodreads


The Complete Stories
by Flannery O'Connor
Short Stories, Literary, Classics, Southern Gothic | Goodreads



~*~

Virtual Author event: hosted by Book Passages
Listen to archive of this and check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

Kant's Little Prussian Head and Other Reasons Why I Write:
An Autobiography in Essays

by Claire Messud
Essays, Memoir | Goodreads


~*~

AND watched: on Netflix
Over The Moon (2020)
Directors: Glen Keane, John Kahrs
Screenplay: Audrey Wells, Jennifer Yee McDevitt, Alice Wu
Stars: Cathy Ann, John Cho
Animation, Adventure, Comedy, China | imdb | my rating: 5

In this animated musical, a girl builds a rocket ship and blasts off, hoping to meet a mythical moon goddess.

LOVED learning about the story behind mooncakes.

AND watched: in virtual theatre
Beasts Clawing at Straws (2020)
Beasts That Cling to the Straw (original title)
Director/Screenplay: Yong-Hoon Kim
Screenplay: Keisuke Sone
Stars: Do-yeon Jeon, Woo-sung Jung, Sung-Woo Bae
Crime, Drama, Thriller, South Korean | imdb | my rating: 5

A struggling restaurant owner, caring for his sick mom, finds a bag of cash in a sauna locker, while a customs officer gets into trouble when his girlfriend runs off with money he borrowed from a loan shark.

LOVED how the "bag of cash" trope gets played in this tale.

Mascots (2016)
Director/Writer: Christopher Guest
Screenplay: Jim Piddock
Stars: Zach Woods, Wayne Wilderson, Sarah Baker
Comedy | imdb | my rating: 4

A look into the world of competitive mascots.

AMUSING. Who knew this existed?

AND watched: virtual theatre for Film|Neu Festival (here)

Lovemobil (2019)
Director: Elke Lehrenkrauss
Stars:
Documentary, Germany | imdb | my rating: 4

Picture this: on the side of the road, at the edge of the forest, mere steps from the speeding cars, the four-wheeled shelters are motionless, stationary. It is night-time, and neon letters and Christmas lights flash intermittently. Inside, women are waiting for someone to stop, alone. Some are lying on a bed, others are just bored, displaying themselves on the passenger seat.

On the remote countryside roads of Germany, the “mobile homes of love” serviced by newly arrived East European or African women are aplenty. We meet a few of them. One is putting make-up on, another is petting a dog, a third one is smoking. One thing binds them together: the wait.

Take Milena and Rita, for instance, respectively from Bulgaria and Nigeria. They wait to be able to put money aside, to find the courage to open up to a friend, to reunite with a brother, to find some peace. Their lives are in stasis, trapped in a vehicle that will not start, crushed by the vices of their clients, the abuse, the protectors, the fear of being beaten – perhaps even killed –, but also by the need to earn money, and the fear to lead a normal life, far from the only role they were ever given.

And then there is Uschi, a time-worn woman who smokes too much. Surrounded by her dogs, sporting extravagant clothes, she is the one who rents the mobile homes to the girls. Profiteer? Confidante? Or maybe she is a warning, a sign of how the girls will end up if they watch time go by like the cars, while others take decisions for them.


SAD and chilling. Felt like a sort of horror tale.

~*~

* Cassava pic by Aber NT
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

*** THANKS to essential workers during these times ***
Shelter In Place - Day 258, Week 38, Month 8

Stay healthy! Be safe!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Monday, November 23, 2020

The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman


The Remaking
by Clay McLeod Chapman

Published: 2019
Publisher: Quirk Books
Hardback: 320
Rating: 4
Horror, Witches, Ghosts | Goodreads | Website

First sentence(s):
These woods whisper.

Zombie sighting:
Did anyone hear that? Her tummy? It must have sounded like a monster to everyone else, like a zombie clawing its way out from the ground.
-chapter 4, page 58


Inspired by a true story, this supernatural thriller for fans of horror and true crime follows a tale as it evolves every twenty years—with terrifying results.

Ella Louise has lived in the woods surrounding Pilot’s Creek, Virginia, for nearly a decade. Publicly, she and her daughter Jessica are shunned by their upper-crust family and the Pilot’s Creek residents. Privately, desperate townspeople visit her apothecary for a cure to what ails them—until Ella Louise is blamed for the death of a prominent customer. Accused of witchcraft, both mother and daughter are burned at the stake in the middle of the night. Ella Louise’s burial site is never found, but the little girl has the most famous grave in the South: a steel-reinforced coffin surrounded by a fence of interconnected white crosses.

Their story will take the shape of an urban legend as it’s told around a campfire by a man forever marked by his boyhood encounters with Jessica. Decades later, a boy at that campfire will cast Amber Pendleton as Jessica in a ’70s horror movie inspired by the Witch Girl of Pilot’s Creek. Amber’s experiences on that set and its meta-remake in the ’90s will ripple through pop culture, ruining her life and career after she becomes the target of a witch hunt. Amber’s best chance to break the cycle of horror comes when a true-crime investigator tracks her down to interview her for his popular podcast. But will this final act of storytelling redeem her—or will it bring the story full circle, ready to be told once again? And again. And again…


My two-bits:

Loved the elements of films, film-making and podcasts facilitating this horror story of witches and ghosts.

The story within a story within a story also draws you in.

~*~

* part of Fraterfest (here)

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Lovely Books and Things - 11.22.20

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update


Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~


HAPPY THINGS:

1. Took a two week blog break to rest, reflect and refresh.
2. Noir film reviews from Cine Gratia Cinema for #Noirvember (here) - plan on watching Phantom Lady
3. Puzzle with a whimsical theme - UFO Victorian Ladies by eeBoo - celebrating November SciFi month at There's Always Room for One More... (here)

~*~


Library: audiobook
That Inevitable Victorian Thing
by E.K. Johnston
YA, Historical, LGBTQ, SciFi, Romance | Goodreads


Library:
All Systems Red
by Martha Wells
SciFi, Novella | Goodreads


Freebies: from Free Little Library
The Cracked Spine
Scottish Bookshop Mystery #1
by Paige Shelton
Mystery, Cozy, Scotland | Goodreads


~*~

Virtual Author event: hosted by Love's Sweet Arrow
Listen to archive of this and check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

A Match Made for Thanksgiving
by Jackie Lau
Romance, Holiday, Novella | Goodreads


Virtual Author event: hosted by Booksmith
Listen to archive of this and check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

The Book of Lost Light
by Ron Nyren
Literary | Goodreads


Virtual Author event: hosted by Green Apple Books
Check out their calendar for future free author events (here)
Nights When Nothing Happened
by Simon Han
Literay, Asian American | Goodreads


~*~

AND watched: on Netflix
Queen's Gambit (2020)
tv mini-series
Creators: Scott Frank, Allan Scott
Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chloe Pirrie, Bill Camp
Based on book by: Walter Tevis
Drama | imdb | my rating: 5

Orphaned at the tender age of nine, prodigious introvert Beth Harmon discovers and masters the game of chess in 1960s USA. But child stardom comes at a price.

TERRIFIC. Loved how this was visually done.

AND watched: in virtual theatre
Uncle Frank (2020)
Director/Writer: Alan Ball
Stars: Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Peter Macdissi
Drama, LGBTQ | imdb | my rating: 4

In 1973, when Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina for the family patriarch's funeral, they're unexpectedly joined by Frank's lover Walid.

NICELY done portrayal of a coming out story set in the 70s with southern flare.

AND watched: HBO Max

Veneno (2020)
tv mini-series, Episode 1
Creators: Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
Stars: Lola Rodríguez, Isabel Torres, Paca la Piraña
Based on book by: Valeria Vegas
Biography, Drama, LGBTQ, Spain | imdb | my rating: 5

A biographical story of La Veneno, Cristina Ortiz Rodriguez, transgender icon and TV personality, and those who surrounded her.

SPECTACULAR. Based on this first episode (preview screening), I became hooked. I want to learn more about these empowered and inspiring characters.

~*~

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

*** THANKS to all essential workers during these times ***
Shelter In Place - Day 251, Week 37, Month 8


Stay healthy! Be safe!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me by Lorina Mapa


Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me
by Lorina Mapa

Published: 2017
Publisher: Conundrum Press
Paperback: 140
Rating: 4
Memoir, Graphic Novel, Filipino | Goodreads

When she learns of her beloved father's fatal car accident, Lorina Mapa flies to Manila to attend his funeral. Weaving the past with the present, Mapa entertains with stories about religion, pop culture, adolescence, and social class, including her experiences of the 1986 People Power Revolution which made headlines around the world. It is a love letter to her parents, family, friends, country of birth, and in the end, perhaps even to herself.

Peekabook:
My two-bits:

Loved finding favorites in the author's pop references. Also, liked learning about what went down in the PI during the 80s.

~*~

* part of Filipino Reading Challenge (here)

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Lovely Books and Things - 11.1.20

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update


Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

~*~


HAPPY THINGS:

1. Loads of sweet treats this week ;-)
2. Falling down the internet rabit hole - on how to create journals from old used hardcover books
3. Autumn bouquets at Farmer's Market

~*~


Library: audiobook
Deadly Education
by Naomi Novik
YA, Fantasy, Magic | Goodreads


Freebies: from Free Little Library
The Sea of Lost Girls
by Carol Goodman
Mystery, Thriller, Boarding School | Goodreads


~*~

Virtual Author event: hosted by San Francisco Public Library
Listen to archive of this (here)
Frida in America:
The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist
by Celia Stahr
Art, Biography, Feminism | Goodreads


Virtual Author event: hosted by Books Inc.
Check out their calendar for future free author events (here)

YA Halloween panel:
A Wicked Magic
by Sasha Laurens
YA, Fantasy, Witches | Goodreads


Five Dark Fates
by Kendare Blake
YA, Fantasy, Magic | Goodreads


The Companion
by Katie Alender
YA, Horror, Mystery | Goodreads


Harrow Lake
by Kat Ellis
YA, Horror, Paranormal | Goodreads


Rules for Vanishing
by Kate Alice Marshall
YA, Horror, Paranormal | Goodreads


Deathless Divide
by Justina Ireland
YA, Historical, Zombies | Goodreads


The Unleashed
by Danielle Vega
YA, Horror, Ghosts | Goodreads


~*~

AND watched: on Netflix
Rebecca (2020)
Director: Ben Wheatley
Screenplay: Jane Goldman, Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse
Based on book by: Daphne Du Maurier
Stars: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas
Drama, Mystery, Romance | imdb | my rating: 5

A young newlywed arrives at her husband's imposing family estate on a windswept English coast and finds herself battling the shadow of his first wife, Rebecca, whose legacy lives on in the house long after her death.

LIKED this refreshed version with its gorgeous visuals.

~*~

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

*** THANKS to those on the front line during these times ***
Shelter In Place - Month 8, Day 230, Week 34

Stay healthy! Be safe!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

 
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