Here are some "reviews" of TV shows and movies I've watched recently and of course, books I've read lately.
TV Shows:
The Queen's Gambit on Netflix.
I absolutely positively loved this series! When I was young (8-10, I'd say), my Dad taught me to play chess. It was something we could do together and something he was (and still is) very good at. I think that's why I felt drawn to the series. In a nutshell, it chronicles the story of Beth Harmon's life as a chess prodigy. She goes from an orphan with nothing to the top of the chess world- beating the best players in the world. Great drama!
Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta? on Netflix
While it's a typical true crime series, with A LOT of the information repeated across multiple episodes, it's an interesting story. Maria Marta is an upper class Argentinian that lives in a gated community with her husband, who is said to have ties to some unsavory groups. One group of family members (and a doctor) says she fell in the bathtub, while another doctor finds multiple gunshot wounds in her skull. What has fascinated me about this is how differently crimes are handled in other countries. In this particular case, when an ambulance is called, the 911 operator basically asks for step by step directions on getting to the gated community. There's also a lack of police presence at the crime scene and this seems status quo.
Movies:
Hillbilly Elegy on Netflix
Another winner! The cast is amazing. Amy Adams and Glenn Close give flawless portrayals of their characters. This is based on a book by the same name and chronicles an Appalachian family and their tough lives. (Tough is an understatement, but I struggle to find the right word.) Violence, drugs, hatred are the norm. This is one of those stories that really sticks with me, as it's so polar opposite of my life and everything I've experienced.
Chappaquiddick on Netflix (but released originally on the big screen in 2017)
To be honest, this was not a movie that I was interested in when it was originally released and so when my husband asked if I wanted to watch it, I was neutral on the subject. For those who don't know the story, it's about Ted Kennedy and a car accident he's involved in, in which someone dies. The cover-up ensues and the true power of the Kennedy name is shown. I'd say I didn't love nor hate this. It was OK. Some of it was fascinating- the lengths taken for the cover up and how almost everyone in Kennedy's camp was willing to participate in saving his reputation.
Books:
Book #52- The Astonishing Life of August March by Aaron Jackson
Summary: An irrepressibly optimistic oddball orphan is thrust into the wilds of postwar New York City after an extraordinary childhood in a theater. Abandoned as an infant by his actress mother in her theater dressing room, August March was raised by an ancient laundress. Highly intelligent, a tad feral, August is a true child of the theater –able to recite Shakespeare before he knew the alphabet. But like all productions, August’s wondrous time inside the theater comes to a close, and he finds himself in the wilds of postwar New York City, where he quickly rises from pickpocket street urchin to star student at the stuffiest boarding school in the nation. To survive, August must rely upon the kindness of strangers, only some of whom have his best interests at heart. As he grows up, his heart begins to yearn for love—which he may or may not finally find in Penny, a clever and gifted con artist.
Rating: A. I LOVED this book. It reads like a young adult book in some regards, but is extremely well written adult fiction. The character of August is enchanting and mesmerizing. The reader feels like he/she is on August's journey through life.
Book #53- The Operator by Gretchen Berg
Summary: Nobody knows the people of Wooster, Ohio, better than switchboard operator Vivian Dalton, and she’d be the first to tell you that. She calls it intuition. Her teenage daughter, Charlotte, calls it eavesdropping. Vivian and the other women who work at Bell on East Liberty Street connect lines and lives. They aren’t supposed to listen in on conversations, but they do, and they all have opinions on what they hear—especially Vivian.
Rating: D. D is for dull. The premise of the book is good but it fizzled out. Throughout the book the reader was led to a "secret" ending, which I found to be (again) dull. Too bad.
Book #54- The Daughters of Erietown by Connie Schultz
Summary: 1957, Clayton Valley, Ohio. Ellie has the best grades in her class. Her dream is to go to nursing school and marry Brick McGinty. A basketball star, Brick has the chance to escape his abusive father and become the first person in his blue-collar family to attend college. But when Ellie learns that she is pregnant, everything changes. Just as Brick and Ellie revise their plans and build a family, a knock on the front door threatens to destroy their lives.
Rating: A. The summary above doesn't do the book justice. The generations before Ellie & Brick (and after them) make this a well-written family saga.
Book #55- The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig
Summary: Despite her dear friend Jane Austen's warning against teaching, Arabella Dempsey accepts a position at a girls' school in Bath, just before Christmas. She hardly imagines coming face-to-face with French aristocrats and international spies. Reginald "Turnip" Fitzhugh-often mistaken for the elusive spy known as the Pink Carnation-has blundered into danger before. When Turnip and Arabella find their Christmas pudding yielding a cryptic message, they are launched on a Yuletide adventure. Will they find poinsettias-or peril?
Rating: A-. This is #7 in Willig's Pink Carnation historical fiction series and is probably one of my favorites so far. The Christmas backdrop is charming and the cameo appearance by Jane Austen is a welcome surprise. However, Turnip Fitzhugh steals the show. In the prior installments in this series, he's a bumbling fellow that seems to fade into the background. I love that he was the main character in this one.
Book #56- Fortune & Glory: Tantalizing Twenty-Seven by Janet Evanovich
Summary: When Stephanie’s beloved Grandma Mazur’s new husband died on their wedding night, the only thing he left her was a beat-up old easy chair…and the keys to a life-changing fortune. But as Stephanie and Grandma Mazur search for Jimmy Rosolli’s treasure, they discover that they’re not the only ones on the hunt. Two dangerous enemies from the past stand in their way—along with a new adversary who’s even more formidable: Gabriela Rose, a dark-eyed beauty from Little Havana with a taste for designer clothes. She’s also a soldier of fortune, a gourmet cook, an expert in firearms and mixed martial arts—and someone who’s about to give Stephanie a real run for her money.
Rating: A. To rate the 27th book in a series as an A is no small feat. Lula, Stephanie's sidekick is really the lynchpin of this series. She makes me LOL multiple times during each book and especially during this one. The Stephanie/Morelli/Ranger love triangle is starting to grate on my nerves, but I'll give it a pass because Lula made me laugh so much. 😅
