Jane in Spring

WATCH:

Sense & Sensibilty musical
presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
March 9 to April 2, 2022 (details) READ:

The Verifiers
by Jane Pek
Mystery, Thriller | Published: 2022 | Goodreads | my rating: 4
Claudia Lin is used to disregarding her fractious family’s model-minority expectations: she has no interest in finding either a conventional career or a nice Chinese boy. She’s also used to keeping secrets from them, such as that she prefers girls—and that she's just been stealth-recruited by Veracity, a referrals-only online-dating detective agency.

A lifelong mystery reader who wrote her senior thesis on Jane Austen, Claudia believes she's landed her ideal job. But when a client goes missing, Claudia breaks protocol to investigate—and uncovers a maelstrom of personal and corporate deceit. Part literary mystery, part family story, The Verifiers is a clever and incisive examination of how technology shapes our choices, and the nature of romantic love in the digital age.

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* header image source: from Emma (2020) film
* part of Jane-austenesque 2022 (here)

Lovely Books and Things - 3.20.22

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. Inching along on my latest book themed cross stich project (updated post)
2. Snacking on yummy Lahmacun - Armenian pizza
3. Mostly British Film Festival live screenings at the Vogue theatre (details)

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Library:

Postcolonial Love Poem
by Natalie Diaz
Poetry, LGBTQ, Race, Feminism | Published: 2020 | Goodreads
Freebies: from Free Little Library

Spring Collection
by Judith Krantz
Chick Lit, Romance | Published: 1996 | Goodreads
~*~
Virtual Author event: hosted by Alta Magazine
See archive of this (here)

Cherish Farrah
by Bethany C. Morrow
Horror, Thriller | Published: 2022 | Goodreads
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AND watched: Mostly British Film Festival (details)

Falling for Figaro (2020)
Director/Writer: Ben Lewin
Writer: Allen Palmer
Stars: Danielle Macdonald, Shazad Latif, Joanna Lumley
Comedy, Romance, Scotland | imdb | my rating: 5
lovely dose of Opera
A brilliant young fund manager leaves her unfulfilling job and long-term boyfriend to chase her lifelong dream of becoming an opera singer in the Scottish Highlands.

The Last Bus (2021)
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Writer: Joe Ainsworth
Stars: Timothy Spall
Drama, Scotland, England | imdb | my rating: 5
road trip adventure with funny and touching moments
An old man crosses the country just using local buses.

Rams (2020)
Director: Jeremy Sims
Screenplay: Jules Duncan
Based on film by: Grímur Hákonarson
Stars: Sam Neill, Michael Caton
Comedy, Drama, Australia | imdb | my rating: 5
brotherly love and hate
A decades-long feud between two sheep farming brothers comes to a head when disaster strikes their flocks.

After Love (2020)
Director/Writer: Aleem Khan
Stars: Joanna Scanlan, Nathalie Richard
Drama, England | imdb | my rating: 5
what if, wow, kinda story
Set in the port town of Dover, Mary Hussain suddenly finds herself a widow following the unexpected death of her husband. A day after the burial, she discovers he has a secret just twenty-one miles across the English Channel in Calais.

The Last Film Show (2021)
Director/Writer: Pan Nalin
Stars: Bhavin Rabari, Dipen Raval, Rahul Koli
Drama, India | imdb | my rating: 5
beautiful
When the magic of movies conquers nine-year young Samay's heart; he moves heaven and earth in pursuit of his 35mm dreams unaware of heartbreaking times that awaits him.

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

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Women's Prize for Fiction 2022

Women's Prize for Fiction 2022
(details)
long list announced: March 8
short list announced: April 27 ***
winner announced: June 15

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WINNER: The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
~*~
THE LONG LIST: 16 works

Build Your House Around My Body
by Violet Kupersmith
Historical, Horror, Vietnam | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Careless
by Kirsty Capes
Literary, YA | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Creatures of Passage
by Morowa Yejide
Magical Realism, Horror | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Flamingo
by Rachel Elliott
Contemporary, LGBTQ | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Great Circle ***
by Maggie Shipstead
Historical, Travel | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Popisho
by Leone Ross
Fantasy | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Remote Sympathy
by Catherine Chidgey
Historical, WWII, Germany | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Salt Lick
by Lulu Allison
Dystopia | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Sorrow and Bliss ***
by Meg Mason
Contemporary, Mental Health | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Book of Form and Emptiness ***
by Ruth Ozeki
Literary, Magical Realism | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Bread the Devil Knead ***
by Lisa Allen-Agostini
Literary, Feminism | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Exhibitionist
by Charlotte Mendelson
Contemporary | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
by Dawnie Walton
Historical, Music | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Island of Missing Trees ***
by Elif Shafak
Historical, Magical Realism | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

The Paper Palace
by Miranda Cowley Heller
Literary | Published: 2021 | Goodreads | my rating: 4

The Sentence ***
by Louise Erdrich
Magical Realism | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Adding debut Irish authors to my tbr:

The Truth Will Out
by Rosemary Hennigan
Contemporary, Thriller, Ireland | Release date: March 17, 2022 | Goodreads
'Maybe I've told that version of the story so often,
that I can't remember the truth of it anymore.'

Dara Gaffney is fresh out of drama school when she lands the leading role in the revival of Eabha de Lacey's hugely successful yet controversial play.

Based on the true story of the death of Cillian Butler, many claim that Eabha had an ulterior motive when she penned it. Cillian's death remains a mystery to this day, and Eabha and her brother, Austin, the only witnesses.

As the media storm builds and the opening night draws closer, the cast find it harder and harder to separate themselves from the characters.

As the truth of Cillian's fate becomes clear, Dara's loyalty to her role will be irrevocably questioned as the terrible history starts to repeat itself..

The Deadwood Encore
by Kathleen Murray
Literary, Ireland | Release date: April 28, 2022 | Goodreads
Frank Whelan is the seventh son of a seventh son, so by now should have inherited his father's legendary healing power, but still hasn't managed to graduate beyond small-time skin afflictions.

He already feels adrift when his twin, Bernie, reveals a life-changing decision that calls into question everything Frank thought he knew about his place in the family. And then he discovers his father had been keeping secrets of his own.

And so Frank turns to an unlikely source for guidance and finds himself on a quest for answers... from this world, and the next.

The Amusements
by Aingeala Flannery
Contemporary, Ireland | Release date: June 23, 2022 | Goodreads
In the resort town of Tramore, County Waterford, visitors arrive in waves with the tourist season, reliving the best days of their childhoods at the seaside amusements. Local teenager Helen Grant is indifferent to the charm of her surroundings; infatuated with her glamorous classmate Stella Swaine, she yearns to escape with her to art college, and from there, the world. But leaving Tramore is easier said than done. With an alcoholic father and an unsympathetic mother, Helen's family life may shatter her dream, just when it seems to be within reach...

Following the Grant and Swaine families and their neighbours over three decades, The Amusements is an unforgettable story about roads taken and not taken. It is a brilliantly observed portrait of life in a small town.

AND watched: Mostly British Film Festival (details)

Deadly Cuts (2021)
Director/Writer: Rachel Carey
Stars: Angeline Ball, Ericka Roe, Lauren Larkin, Shauna Higgins
Comedy, Ireland | imdb | my rating: 5
hilarious, with an 80's vibe
A black comedy set in a working-class Dublin hair salon where the stylists become accidental vigilantes and community heroes as they take on the gang members and gentrifiers threatening their community.

End of Sentence (2019)
Director: Elfar Adalsteins
Writer: Michael Armbruster
Stars: John Hawkes, Logan Lerman
Drama, Ireland | imdb | my rating: 5
road trip reveals
After being widowed, Frank Fogle reluctantly embarks on a journey to honor his wife's last wish of spreading her ashes in a remote lake in her native Ireland and a promise of taking his estranged son, Sean, along for the trip. As Sean steps out of prison the last thing on his mind is a foreign road trip with his alienated father. What he needs is a fresh start in California. But when his travel plans collapse he reluctantly accepts his father's proposal in return for a ticket to the West Coast and a promise that they never have to see each other again. Between a disconcerting Irish wake, the surfacing of an old flame, the pick up of a pretty hitchhiker and plenty of unresolved issues, the journey becomes a little more than father and son had bargained for.

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* header image: irish vintage card
* found these authors amongst The Irish Times The debut authors to look out for in 2022 article (here)

Lovely Books and Things - 3.13.22

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. Picking out a pie(s) for upcoming Pi Day on Monday
2. The start of the Tournament of Books (here)
3. Window displays - Louis Vuitton chess theme at Macy's and garden theme at Julie Haas Artist below

~*~
Bought:

Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing
by Maryla Szymiczkowa
translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Mystery, Historical, Poland | Published: 2020 (first 2015) | Goodreads

Bought: from Book of the Month club - get yours with my referral link (here)

The Paris Apartment
by Lucy Foley
Mystery, Thriller, Paris | Published: 2022 | Goodreads

Library: audiobook

Gallant
by V.E. Schwab
illustrated by Manuel Sumberac
Fantasy, YA, Gothic | Published: 2022 | Goodreads

Library:

March Was Made of Yarn
edited by David Karashima, Elmer Luke
Short Stories, Japan | Published: 2012 | Goodreads
~*~
Live Author event: hosted by Book Passage - Ferry Building

The Torqued Man
by Peter Mann
Historical, WWII, Germany | Published: 2022 | Goodreads
~*~
AND watched: Mostly British Film Festival (details)

Mothering Sunday (2021)
Director: Eva Husson
Screenplay: Alice Birch
Based on book: Graham Swift
Stars: Odessa Young, Josh O'Connor
Drama, Romance, England | imdb | my rating: 5

A maid living in post-World War I England secretly plans to meet with the man she loves before he leaves to marry another woman.

The Duke (2020)
Director: Roger Michell
Screenplay: Richard Bean, Clive Coleman
Stars: Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren
Biography, Comedy, Drama, England | imdb | my rating: 5

In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60 year old taxi driver, steals Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London.

Nobody Has to Know (2021)
aka L'ombre d'un mensonge
Director/Writer: Bouli Lanners
Stars: Michelle Fairley, Bouli Lanners
Drama, Scotland | imdb | my rating: 5

Phil, a robust middle-aged man suffers a stroke, causing him to lose his memory. Millie, who takes care of him, tells him falsely that they were secretly in love before his accident.

June Again (2020)
Director/Writer: JJ Winlove
Stars: Noni Hazlehurst, Claudia Karvan, Stephen Curry
Drama, Australia | imdb | my rating: 5

During a fleeting bout of lucidity from her dementia, June Wilton has precious little time to bring together her estranged children, save the family business, and rekindle an old flame.


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

Thanks for stopping by :-)