Wrap-up: May 2021

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Check Please!
volume 1: Hockey
by Ngozi Ukazu
Graphic Novel, YA, LGBTQ | Published: 2018 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
adorable characters with general feel good vibes
Helloooo, Internet Land. Bitty here!

Y’all... I might not be ready for this. I may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It’s nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking. And then, there is Jack—our very attractive but moody captain.

A collection of the first half of the megapopular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please!: #Hockey is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life.

Check Please!
volume 2: Sticks and Scones
by Ngozi Ukazu
Graphic Novel, YA, LGBTQ | Published: 2020 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
continues to be adorable with happy finale
I'm a junior on the Samwell men's hockey team now, and not only do I have new teammates and new responsibilities and new pies to bake... I've got a new beau. ( Remember me ) Believe me: Dating a professional hockey player wasn't anything I expected to do in college. My parents don't know; my teammates have no clue...

And Jack and I aren't sure that we want to keep it a secret.

The Wife and The Widow
by Christian White
Mystery, Thriller, Australia | Published: 2020 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
cool character twist, ooh that guilty conscious
Set against the backdrop of an eerie island town in the dead of winter, The Wife and The Widow is an unsettling thriller told from two perspectives: Kate, a widow whose grief is compounded by what she learns about her dead husband’s secret life; and Abby, an island local whose world is turned upside when she’s forced to confront the evidence of her husband’s guilt. But nothing on this island is quite as it seems, and only when these women come together can they discover the whole story about the men in their lives. Brilliant and beguiling, The Wife and The Widow takes you to a cliff edge and asks the question: how well do we really know the people we love?
~*~ * books not previously listed on book club or challenge posts

Lovely Books and Things - 5.30.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

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

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Upcoming dates with friends and family
2. Craftivism (here)
3. Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit, San Francisco (details) - WOW!

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Freebies: from Free Little Library

Our Violent Ends
by Chloe Gong
YA, Retelling, ARC | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

*!*~Winner~*!*

Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty
by Lauren Weisberger
ChickLit, ARC | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!

To Be Featured:

Yes, Daddy
by Jonathan Parks-Ramage
Contemporary, Thriller, LGBTQ | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
courtesy of publisher -Thanks!

Gifted: tea cozy mysteries -Thanks, S!

Tea & Treachery
by Vicki Delany
Mystery, Cozy, Food | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

A Glimmer of a Clue
by Daryl Wood Gerber
Mystery, Cozy, Food | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Murder with Oolong Tea
by Karen Rose Smith
Mystery, Cozy, Food | Published: 2020 | Goodreads
~*~ Virtual Author event: hosted by Books Inc.
See archive of this (here)

Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
SciFi, Space | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Virtual Author event: hosted by The Book Report Network
See archive of this (here)

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
by Robert Kolker
Biography, Mental Health | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

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

Things We Lost to the Water
by Eric Nguyen
Historical, LGBTQ, Vietnamese American | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Virtual Author event: hosted by Book Passages
See archive of this (here)

Metropolitan Stories
by Christine Coulson
Short Stories, Art, New York | Published: 2019 | Goodreads

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AND watched: virtual theatre

Profile (2021-usa)
Director/Writer: Timur Bekmambetov
Writers: Britt Poulton, Olga Kharina
Based on book: In the skin of a Jihadist by Anna Érelle
Stars: Valene Kane, Morgan Watkins, Christine Adams, Shazad Latif
Mystery, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 5
An undercover British journalist infiltrates the online propaganda channels of the so-called Islamic State, only to be sucked in by her recruiter.

Story telling was unique in that perspectives and interactions were shown through social media outlets.

AND watched: virtual theatre for CAAM Festival (details)

Better Days (2019)
Shaonian de ni (original title)
Director: Derek Tsang
Screenplay: Wing-Sum Lam, Yuan Li, Yimeng Xu, Nan Chen
Based on book: In His Youth, In Her Beauty by Jiuyue Xi
Stars: Dongyu Zhou, Jackson Yee, Fang Yin
Crime, Drama, Family, China | imdb | my rating: 5
A bullied teenage girl forms an unlikely friendship with a mysterious young man who protects her from her assailants, all while she copes with the pressures of her final examinations.

Beautiful film. Loved the character growth.

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Books and Puzzles: Water, Wood & Wild Things

Small town theme with this pairing.

book: Water, Wood & Wild Things by Hannah Kirshner

puzzle: Sun Kissed Cabin art by Dominic Davison
Springbok (500 pc)

Lovely Books and Things - 5.9.21

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

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

~*~

HAPPY THINGS:

1. Spotting jigsaw puzzles (with @karenpuzzles) in the reality tv show, The Circle.
2. Virtual Jane Con weekend, May 1-2 - see Jane Austen themed presentations (here)
3. Walking up the mosaic steps at Moraga and 16th Avenue and admiring red tailed hawks flying overhead - check out the article, San Francisco’s mosaic staircases turn forgotten places into colorful art: The California city is the hilliest in the U.S., with more than 600 public stairways, some of which are decorated with beautiful mosaics by Sharon McDonnell (here)

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Bought: Book of the Month

The Last Thing He Told Me
by Laura Dave
Thriller, Mystery, Reese Book Club | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Library:

Stairway Walks in San Francisco
The Joy of Urban Exploring
by Mary Burk, Adah Bakalinsky
Guidbook, San Francisco | Published: 2018 | Goodreads

Freebies: from Free Little Library

The Nasty Bits
Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones
by Anthony Bourdain
Essays, Food | Published: 2007 | Goodreads

The Bloody Chamber
by Angela Carter
Short Stories, Fairy Tale Retellings, Horror | Published: 2006 | Goodreads

Freebies: from Amazon Kindle (free for a couple days)

Monet and Oscar
by Joe Byrd
Historical, France | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
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Virtual Author event: hosted by TW Book Club
Check out their instagram for future free author events (here)

Water, Wood and Wild Things:
Learning Craft and Cultivation in a Japanese Mountain Town
by Hannah Kirshner
Travel, Memoir, Food, Recipes, Japan | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

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

A conversation between:

Goodbye, Again
Essays, Reflections, and Illustrations by Jonny Sun
Essays, Memoir | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Best Girls
by Min Jin Lee
Short Stories, Horror, South Korea | Published: 2019 | Goodreads

~*~
AND watched: online

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Director: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs, John Ripa
Screenplay: Qui Nguyen, Adele Lim
Story by: Paul Briggs, Don Hall, Adele Lim, Carlos López Estrada, Kiel Murray
Qui Nguyen, John Ripa, Dean Wellins
Stars: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan
Animation, Action, Adventure | imdb | my rating: 4
In a realm known as Kumandra, a re-imagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization, a warrior named Raya is determined to find the last dragon.

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Happy release: Leaving Coy's Hill by Katherine A. Sherbrooke

Leaving Coy's Hill
by Katherine A. Sherbrooke
Biography, Historical | Published: May 4, 2021 | Goodreads
Born on a farm in 1818, Lucy Stone dreamt of extraordinary things for a girl of her time, like continuing her education beyond the eighth grade and working for the abolitionist cause, and of ordinary things, such as raising a family of her own. But when she learns that the Constitution affords no rights to married women, she declares that she will never marry and dedicates her life to fighting for change.

At a time when it is considered promiscuous for women to speak in public, Lucy risks everything for the anti-slavery movement, her powerful oratory mesmerizing even her most ardent detractors as she rapidly becomes a household name. And when she begins to lecture on the “woman question,” she inspires a young Susan B. Anthony to join the movement. But life as a crusader is a lonely one.

When Henry Blackwell, a dashing and forward-thinking man, proposes a marriage of equals, Lucy must reconcile her desire for love and children with her public persona and the legal perils of marriage she has long railed against. And when a wrenching controversy pits Stone and Anthony against each other, Lucy makes a decision that will impact her legacy forever.

Based on true events, Leaving Coy’s Hill is a timeless story of women’s quest for personal and professional fulfillment within society’s stubborn constraints. And as an abolitionist and women’s rights activist fighting for the future of a deeply divided country, Lucy Stone’s quest to live a life on her own terms is as relevant as ever. In this “propulsive,” “astonishing,” and “powerful” story, Katherine Sherbrooke brings to life a true American heroine for a new generation.