Movie Review: The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018)

Had your fill of holiday cheer? This movie might be for you. . . .

Jojo Moyes’s The Giver of Stars

Alice seems to have jumped from the proverbial frying pan into the fire. In her native England during the Great Depression, she is bored and unhappy, and when she meets a handsome American man named Bennett, she quickly marries him to escape. When they relocate to his home state of Kentucky, she expects a well-to-do urban life, centered perhaps in Lexington. Instead, she finds herself in remote Eastern Kentucky, in impoverished coal country, trapped in an unhappy marriage. When the local pack horse library needs volunteers, Alice signs up, mainly as an excuse to get out of her house and away from her husband and father-in-law. At first, Alice is horrified by the rough people she encounters on her route, but she soon falls in love with her work, the people, and the mountains. Still, the solace she finds in work does nothing to ease her troubles at home. Complications ensue. . . .

Old Favorites: E-Books and Audiobooks

Usually on the third Tuesday of every month, I write an Old Favorites post, celebrating favorite classic authors of mine. In the course of researching what to write for November, I learned that today marks the 12th anniversary of the release of the first Kindle. How time flies!

As e-books have become more popular, many commentators have speculated they will be the cause of the demise of public libraries. However, as I noted last year in a rebuttal to one of these commentators, libraries have been adapting to and embracing new technology for their entire history, and e-books are no exception. . . .

Louise Penny’s The Hangman (2010)

Carol Ann recommended Louise Penny’s Quebec-set Armand Gamache detective series a few months ago. We like a lot of the same authors and books, so I immediately was intrigued. Since then, I’ve noticed we circulate a lot of Louise Penny books, and I’ve had even more folks gush about how much they love the books. I only got around to trying a Gamache book recently, and I am so glad I did! (As always, thanks for the great recommendation, Carol Ann! 🙂 )

Casey Cep’s Furious Hours (2019)

Harper Lee is famous for her beloved classic To Kill A Mockingbird-–just last year it won The Great American Read and was so universally popular that it always led the public’s voting for favorite book by a wide margin for the entire duration of the vote.

However, Lee is perhaps just as famous for the fact that To Kill A Mockingbird is her only book. Sure, publishers released her Go Set a Watchman a few years ago, but in truth, that was just the very early draft of To Kill A Mockingbird and not a new book.

That’s not to say that Lee never tried to write another book, however.

According to Casey Cep’s debut Furious Hours, Lee worked for years on a true crime manuscript about a bizarre case of murder and insurance fraud in 1960s/1970s Alabama. . . .

The Mule (2018)

I was raised on a steady diet of Clint Eastwood’s iconic 60s and 70s movies. These were mostly his Westerns, both those of the spaghetti and non-spaghetti persuasion, as well as his cop movies. Though Eastwood has gone on to be a noted director for a wide range of acclaimed films–many of which I have enjoyed–I always still think of Clint as, well, The Man with No Name, Dirty Harry, and Josey Wales.

The Man With No Name (though he does actually have a name in all the movies 😉 )

As Eastwood’s career has shifted behind the camera, his own appearances on the other side of the lens have become somewhat rare. Mary-Esther recently suggested I review his latest movie–The Mule (which he stars in, directed, and produced)–and I’m glad I did! It was an interesting change of pace for him that still plays to his strengths as a performer. Thanks for the great suggestion, Mary-Esther!

Movie Review: Move Over, Darling (1963)

Confession: Until recently, I had never watched a Doris Day movie.

Now, that’s not to say I had anything against Doris Day! I just had never had the opportunity to watch one of her movies and had never given it much thought beyond that.

A couple of our patrons, Joan and her daughter, are big Doris Day fans. Not too long ago, I was helping them find some Doris Day movies when it came out that I had never watched one. They encouraged me to give one a try, and I thought in light of Day’s recent passing at the age of 97, it would make for a good opportunity for a movie review.

So, a big thank you to Joan and her daughter–I did enjoy the Doris Day movie I watched. 🙂

TV Review: To Walk Invisible (2017)

I usually am up-to-date on my Masterpiece Theater viewing, but I missed this biopic about the Brontë sisters when it first aired a couple of years ago. Fortunately, Mary-Esther suggested it to me, and I’m glad she did! It’s a well-acted, well-made dramatization of one of the most famous literary families in history.

Mary Doria Russell’s Doc (2011)

Doc Holliday probably needs no introduction. He’s one of the more mythic figures of the American West–the well-educated, consumptive, Georgia-born dandy, dentist, and gambler/gunfighter who tag-teamed with the Earp Brothers for the Gunfight at the OK Corral in the Arizona boomtown of Tombstone.

Most pop culture depictions of Holliday offer the legend called Doc. Though Mary Doria Russell chose that nickname as the title for her book, her focus is much more on the John Henry Holliday lurking underneath the legend.

This book was suggested to me by Leslie, one of my undergraduate English professors. Last year, she recommended The Hunting Accident to me, and recently, she asked me if I was familiar with Russell’s work. I quickly remedied that oversight, and I am so glad I did. Thanks for the wonderful recommendation, Leslie!

Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers (2018)

I’ve been meaning to read Liane Moriarty for awhile. Her books seem right up my alley, so to speak, and Mary-Esther recently suggested that I give Moriarty’s most recent book a try. Since I was home sick for a protracted amount of time, I thought, “What better way to feel better about myself than reading about somebody else’s hellish experience at a health resort?”

And although the book did not, in point of fact, heal me of my own bronchitis, it was a wonderfully engaging page-turner–one I enjoyed very much. So much so that I’ve already requested a bunch of Moriarty’s other books from the library.