Book Recommendations

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood follows fictional characters, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), as well as Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). Actor Rick Dalton and his stunt double, Cliff Booth, move through the ups and downs of fame and Hollywood life in the late 1960s, while Sharon Tate has a lot of similar experiences separately. I don’t know that I’ve even seen any of Quentin Tarantino’s other movies, but I still really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. While the movie can be considered slow at times, the portrayal of this time period of Hollywood

The Suicide Squad is a really good superhero comedy. The cast is great; as always, Margot Robbie is great as Harley Quinn, and Jon Cena makes for a great addition to the DC Extended Universe as Peacemaker. The fighting sequences are very well choreographed, kind of like Birds of Prey (also starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn). I had never seen the original, not-so-well-received Suicide Squad from 2016, but this was still awesome. James Gunn killed it with his usual humor and action that superhero fans can recognize from his other movies, like Guardians of the Galaxy. Overall, The Suicide

Black Widow takes place in between the appearances made by Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Fans of the character who haven’t seen Black Widow yet may likely jump to conclusions stating that it’s not an origin story. However, while Black Widow may take place after several other movies that the character has already appeared in, it does bring her back to her troubled past, as well as introducing her family to the audience. I LOVE the opening sequence. Right away, it told me that this is not your typical

Opioid, Indiana is the heart-wrenching story of Riggle, a grief stricken 17 year old from the border of Texas who finds himself trying to acclimate to the weather and culture change of moving to rural Indiana. Having nowhere else to turn, he finds he has to navigate the hardships of the rural drug culture. Along his travels, Riggle is fortunate enough to find a great best friend who showed him kindness and that he wasn’t alone on this Earth.  Riggle embarks upon on a hero’s adventure to find his addict uncle to avoid being put in a state home for orphans,

In this alternate, fantastical history, witches are real. Or, they were real. Now, women’s ability to do witching has been made illegal for women. While women can do magic, it is frowned upon, and the only thing they are allowed to do is little charms to help themselves with “women’s” or household work. In 1893, James Juniper is on the run and ends up in New Salem, where her estranged sisters Beatrice Belladona and Agnes Amaranth reside (and yes, there is a reason for those names!). She soon finds a purpose and joins the local women’s rights movement – first

Me (Moth) is a beautifully written book that flows so elegantly. Amber McBride grabs your attention straight away from the first page through the end, tugging at all your feelings throughout the whole book. This petite book is a great example of a novel-in-verse and Amber McBride is a virtuoso at it. Even if you are not into poetry or written verse, this would be a great way to test it out, and the story won’t fail to keep you engrossed. Me (Moth) follows two teens learning about life, love, death, racism and their history. I don’t want to spoil

The Man Who Died Twice is the second offering from British comedian Richard Osman, and if you haven’t already read his first book, The Thursday Murder Club, stop what you’re doing and get it now. Seriously. It’s that good. This second book picks up a week after the first one ends and brings back all of the best characters from the first book. The group of four septuagenarians, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim, set off to solve their next mystery after Elizabeth receives a letter from a new resident at Cooper’s Chase retirement community with whom she shares a bit of history.

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to a zoom program with these two new authors. Their book caught my interest thus I checked our library’s copy out. On the night of their program, I had read the first 5 chapters. Needless to say, I was hooked! While listening to Jenny and Danielle, it made sense that these two women are huge fans of Jane Austen-Pride & Prejudice being their favorite!  So…with this said, if you enjoy historical fictions, Downton Abbey and are a fan of Jane Austen novels/movies, “The Last Season” is for you!   Well to do Cassandra Drayton

Sometimes, it can be hard to pull in a reader when the premise is somewhat unusual given that the main character is half-deer. However, Gus and the other hybrids are immensely humanized through character development in many ways. There is indeed turmoil that takes place throughout the journey of Gus and Jepperd, and this is most definitely a dark story. I also really enjoyed the style of artwork in the series. There is also a TV adaptation on Netflix; the first season is out now! Sweet Tooth is a mystical tale of love, loss, and friendship. If you like fantasy

The members of the Montoya family are used to strange, magical things happening around them. It all seems to stem from their family matriarch, Orquídea.  One day, each of the Montoyas, living all over the United States, receive an invitation from Orquídea that states she’s dying, and each member of her family should come collect their inheritance. When everyone arrives, they find Orquídea turning into a tree, and she still won’t fully explain the magic that has always been in their lives. What they learn is that their family matriarch made a deal 48 years ago – a deal that affected all of them, and