Online Reading Challenge – August Wrap-UP

Hello Challenge Readers!

How was your August? Hmmm. Yeah, mine wasn’t great either. For one thing, it’s hard to read in the dark and for another, my DVD player doesn’t work without electricity! It’s been a crazy month in a crazy year! Let’s keep our fingers crossed for some calmer times.

I went a bit off the rails this month (surely I’m not the only one?) and did not finish Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose as I had planned. Someday, I will finish it though! It’s interesting and thought-provoking but I think I needed something a little less intense. So instead, I watched a movie.

The Searchers starring John Wayne makes most “best Western movies” lists and many just plain “best movies” lists. I had never seen it or even heard of it and I’m not a rabid John Wayne fan so I kept my expectations low despite the glowing reviews. Turns out that was pretty smart on my part.

John Wayne plays Ethan Elliot, a Civil War veteran that has returned to his brother’s homestead in Texas three years after the war. He arrives with a burning hatred of all Native Americans and a forbidden love for his brother’s wife. While he’s away helping the Texas Rangers track some cattle thieves a Commanche war party attacks and burns the homestead to the ground, killing the family and kidnapping two of the young girls. Ethan goes after them, set on revenge and letting nothing stand in his way.

It’s not a terrible movie – in fact there is a lot to like. But in my opinion it hasn’t aged well. There is a lot of racism – pretty typical for Westerns and for the time period they portray, but unpleasant and jarring nonetheless, and the jokes are awkward and clumsy. Some of the actors seem to express a range of emotion by either shouting or shouting loudly.

The landscape and scenery are stunning and beautifully filmed but that brings up another issue. The movie was obviously filmed in Monument Valley, a spectacular region located in northern Arizona and southern Utah. Dozens and dozens of movies have been filmed here. The problem is, this is a pretty unique area, easily recognizable and limited to a specific location. Movies that tell you they’re taking place in Texas or New Mexico (like this one) but filmed in Monument Valley aren’t trying very hard to be realistic. It’s a minor point really and can the filmmakers can be forgiven, but it bugged me.

So how did your August reading go? Did you find something great to read or watch? Let us know in the comments below!

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Reading is such an extraordinary way to escape reality, and distancing ourselves from the anxieties and uncertainties in our lives is so important for our health and well-being. One hidden gem I have recently reread (for the third time!) and would highly recommend is The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. This book journeys back-and-forth in time, place, and perspective, and features the voices of several young women who are bound by a century-old mystery.

Beginning in 1913 in Cornwall, England, this novel revolves around a young girl who is placed on a ship to Australia and arrives with nothing but a suitcase: not even a name. Twenty-one years later, this young girl called Nell discovers a secret that upends her entire world, leading her to question her identity and embark on a journey to discover who she really is.

The story then follows the narrative of Cassandra, Nell’s granddaughter, who inherits an estate in Cornwall upon her grandmother’s death. Not only was Cassandra unaware of the existence of this estate, she also never knew Nell had visited Cornwall, let alone planned to live there. Upon receiving this inheritance, Cassandra picks up the loose threads Nell left behind to unravel the mystery of her grandmother’s life, learning a lot about herself along the way. While Nell and Cassandra are the two focal characters in this story, readers also experience the journey of several other lives that are inextricably intertwined with theirs.

Filled with secrets and revelations that will keep you guessing until the very end, this novel features a mysterious, winding storyline; beautiful, elegant language; and intricate, relatable character development. On top of that, there is a dark book of fairy tales and a secret garden (I can never resist a secret garden!). Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking to be whisked away to a forgotten garden in Cornwall or immersed in a multi-generational story brimming with family secrets, mystery, and discovery. This book is also available as an eBook:

Pretty Things by Janelle Brown

Did you know that Investigation Discovery has a book club? Working with Random House, the ID Book Club was formed as a way for fans of Investigation Discovery to read more about crime and justice. To see a list of past book club selections, check out their website!

Pretty Things by Janelle Brown was one of the ID Book club’s selections and my introduction to the club. This mystery novel weave together the stories of two very different women. Although they grew up in wildly different circumstances, their life decisions lead back to a handful of similar life-forming moments that they both shared.

All Nina ever hoped for was a decent childhood and to live a life that was different than her mom’s. Nina’s mother is a con artist who hustled throughout Nina’s entire childhood in order to hopefully give her daughter a better life. Moving constantly and trying to make new friends was hard for Nina until Nina and her mom ended up in Lake Tahoe. That year living in Lake Tahoe changed Nina’s life forever, introducing her to her closest friend and first love. That year of tranquility came crashing down around them and ended with Nina and her mom running from the town in a cloud of shame. Nina worked hard and went to college, graduating with a liberal arts degree that she hoped would lead her to a legitimate career. When she gets a call saying that her mom is sick and needs her help, Nina leaves everything behind and rushes home to help her. She ends up putting her life on the line and starts pulling scams with her Irish boyfriend, Lachlan. Nina promised herself she wouldn’t turn into her mom, but what did she expect: she learned from the best and to deny the tricks she grew up learning from her mother doesn’t make sense anymore.

Vanessa is privileged. A young heiress who has had anything and everything in life handed to her, Vanessa wants to leave her mark in the world. She wants to do better than her parents. When her plans don’t turn out quite like she hoped, Vanessa becomes an Instagram influencer. Traveling around the globe, posing for pictures in exotic locations, and being showered in free clothes and products as long as she posts pictures of herself using them has become Vanessa’s life. Being an Instagram influencer quickly overtakes and becomes her entire life. Based on her Instagram, it looks like Vanessa leads a perfect and immensely covetable life. She shouldn’t be wanting for anything. Behind that facade however, Vanessa’s life is full of tragedy. The catalyst proves to be a broken engagement, which sends Vanessa, in desperate search of solitude, to her family’s estate, Stonehaven. This sprawling mansion on Lake Tahoe is full of dark secrets that haunt Vanessa and her family.

Lake Tahoe and Stonehaven sing a siren call to Vanessa and Nina, luring both women back to the site where their lives intertwine even tighter, leading to a twisting confrontation full of revenge, deceit, duplicity, and destruction.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Are You Ready To Rock?

Quarantining got you down?  Freegal Music can pep you up!

You can keep those tunes rockin’ throughout the fall, because the good people at Freegal Music have extended their offer of unlimited streaming music through December 31st.  More time for you to check out the playlists on their site.

Just remember to Login (top, right corner) by entering your library card number and then creating a password.  That is all it takes to start jamming to songs that stir your inner soul. Get ready for a toe-tapping, head-banging good time.

All About That Bass.  Performed by the original artists, this playlist of 35 hits includes songs you can rock out to such as Super Freak (Rick James), Crazy Train (Ozzy Osborne), Brick House (Commodores), and Frankenstein (The Edgar Winter Group).

In a retro mood?  Try Classic Cuts, 35 songs that explore the early age of rock and roll.  Tequila (The Champs), Maybelline (Chuck Barry), Louie Louie (The Kingsmen), Book Of Love (Monotones), and The Loco-Motion (Little Eva).

Perhaps disco’s more your thing.  Then indulge with the 80 songs of Boogie Nights.  Dance the night away to Disco Inferno (The Trammps), It’s Raining Men (The Weather Girls), Back Stabbers (The O’Jays), Rock The Boat (The Hues Corporation) or Lady Marmalade (LaBelle).

As performed by the Magical Singers, the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library’s list of Disney Favorites lets you enjoy 15 favorites including:  Be Our Guest, Friend Like Me, Supercalifragilisticexpalidoious, Heigh Ho, and Under The Sea.

If you are ready to mellow out choose Setting Sail: A Yacht Rock Playlist.  78 classic songs including:  “Calypso” (John Denver), “I’m Alright” (Kenny Loggins), “Leader Of The Band” (Dan Fogelberg), and “Brandy” (Looking Glass).

Whatever your mood, Freegal Music has a playlist to match.

Virtual Book Club – ‘The Underground Railroad’ on August 26th

On Wednesday, August 26th, at 2pm, Virtual Book Club will be discussing The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Join in and talk about a popular book with one of our librarians. We are using GoTo Meeting which will allow patrons to video chat with the librarian about the book! Information about how to join is listed below.

Curious what The Underground Railroad is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher:

A magnificent tour de force chronicling a young slave’s adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted. Their first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But the city’s placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Virtual Book Club
Wed, Aug 26, 2020 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (CDT)

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/720337645

You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (224) 501-3412

Access Code: 720-337-645

New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/720337645

Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo

Guest post by Kim C

I have found that this year, with all of the uncertainty in the world, has been a perfect time for some self-improvement. If you can’t change the way the world is going, at least you can work on changing yourself, right? Following up on a recommendation from a friend, I checked out Marie Forleo’s Instagram account for inspiration. Forleo stars in MarieTV and The Marie Forleo Podcast and runs a business training program to help entrepreneurs and business leaders achieve their goals.

And now she has written a book, Everything is Figureoutable. Forleo is from New Jersey and is proud of her heritage. She attributes this heritage to her motivational style; which is compassionate and friendly but also very direct and no-nonsense! This is not a book for anyone who is looking for excuses or permission to continue the status quo of his/her life. As the title says, and as Forleo repeats time after time throughout the book, everything is figureoutable and nothing should be allowed to stand in the way if you really want to achieve something.

While this is a catchy phrase and she encourages readers to adopt it as a mantra to keep them motivated, Forleo also illustrates her points with research, real-life examples, and her own experiences. This is a fact-based, actionable guide intended to instill optimism and determination in readers who are looking to make changes and meet goals.

Forleo has a very engaging writing style and the included written exercises are a must-do if you want to really benefit from this book. Everything is Figureoutable is the inspirational, optimistic book I needed this year. It might just be for you, as well.

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite is a crime novel that quickly draws you into the story and has you looking closely at how far you would be willing to go to help a family member.

Korrede is just sitting down to dinner when she gets a frantic phone call from her sister, Ayoola, desperately needing her help. Rushing out of the house, Korrede hopes that her sister hasn’t done what she thinks she has done. Ayoola, Korrede’s younger sister, has a rather inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends. She always draws Korrede into the mess, asking her to help her cover up the crime.

Korrede is bitter. Ayoola is her younger sister and clearly her mother’s favorite. Ayoola is beautiful and can get any man to love her. Men flock to Ayoola and she always has a next man lined up.

Helping her sister through all her problems, Korrede is still hopeful that eventually Ayoola will stop and change. Korrede’s saving grace is her job as a nurse at a local hospital. While some of the people that she works with get on her nerves, Korrede looks forward to working with the kind and very handsome doctor who treats her as an equal. She hopes that one day he will realize that they are perfect together.

All of Korrede’s hopes are shattered the day that Ayoola stops by the hospital uninvited and catches the attention of the doctor. They instantly connect and Korrede is forced to deal with Ayoola’s past. She needs to figure out what to do before Ayoola slips and attacks the doctor.

This book is also available in the following format:

Happy National Aviation Day!

Look!  What’s that in the sky?  Is it a bird?  Is it the sun?  By golly, it’s an airplane.

Now we take seeing these marvels of engineering for granted.  But back 120 years ago it was likely just a bird up in the air.

Today we mark the 81st anniversary of National Aviation Day.  Yes, it’s a little-known holiday, but that shouldn’t stop you from celebrating!  In 1939 President Roosevelt proclaimed August 19th, Orville Wright’s birthday, a day to commemorate the historic work of the Wright brothers.

The Wrights were not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, but they invented aircraft controls that made fixed wing flight possible.  And since that initial, historic, 1903 flight, brave men and women took to the skies in the 10s and 20s.  And now most US residents have flown at some point in their life.

What an impact the Wrights’ work has had!  One can go cross-country in an afternoon.  Behold the power of flight!

Honor Aviation Day and the Wrights.  Let your spirits soar by partaking of these great titles.

DVDS:

Memphis Belle  (2009)      Based on a true story about the famous plane of World War II, the Flying Fortress.  Memphis Belle is about the crew of one of the B-17s flying their last mission before they can go home to a hero’s welcome.

The Aviator  (2004)      Howard Hughes as the twenty-something millionaire, having already made a fortune improving the design of oil-drilling bits, comes to Hollywood with an interest in getting into the picture business.  His film was a massive hit, and the eccentric inventor became a mogul in Hollywood, making Jean Harlow a star and enjoying a romance with Katharine Hepburn.  But in time his passion for flying began to reclaim his attentions.  He began designing new planes, setting air speed records, flying around the world, and founded his own airline, Trans-World Airlines.

Sully  (2016)      The world witnessed the “Miracle on the Hudson” when Captain Sully glided his disabled plane onto the frigid waters of the Hudson River.   However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and his career.

Planes: from above the world of Cars.   (2013)      Dusty is a crop-dusting plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer.  But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing, and he happens to be afraid of heights.  So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator, who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test.

Airplane!  (1980)      In this spoof of disaster movies, an ex-Navy pilot with a deep aversion to planes finds himself on a flight with an ex-girlfriend he wants to win back.  He becomes embroiled in a crisis where the crew and many of the passengers have fallen seriously ill.  Now, it is up to him to overcome his fear of flying and land the airplane safely before the poisonings become fatal.

Books:

Unlocking the sky : Glenn Hammond Curtiss and the race to invent the airplane   By Seth Shulman.  (2002)      The first commercially sold airplane.  The first flight from one American city to another.  The first pilot license issued in this country.  These were just a few of the milestones in the career of Glenn Hammond Curtiss.  A tale of the race to design, refine, and manufacture a manned flying machine that took place in the air, on the ground, on the water, and in the courtrooms of America.  Who would be the first to make a workable airplane, and almost as critical, who would control the right to use or sell this revolutionary technology?

Area 51 black jets : a history of the aircraft developed at Groom Lake, America’s secret aviation base   By Bill Yenne.  (2014)      When most of us think of Area 51, we think of aliens, UFOs, and controversial government cover-ups.  It’s easy to forget that, since the mid-1950s, the United States’ famed extension of Edwards Air Force Base has served as a top-secret CIA testing ground for many of the most groundbreaking advancements in American military aviation technology.   The first fully illustrated chronology of Area 51‘s most famous aircraft projects.  This book reveals Area 51 for what it truly is: a clandestine area for the United States’ most cutting-edge technological innovators in military aviation.

 

 

Virtual Book Club – ‘The Night Tiger’ on August 19th

On Wednesday, August 19th, at 2pm, Virtual Book Club will be discussing The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo. We are using GoTo Meeting which will allow patrons to video chat with the librarian about the book! More information about how to join is listed below.

Curious what the book is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

Ji Lin is an apprentice dressmaker, moonlighting as a dance-hall girl to pay her mother’s mahjong debts. When one of her dance partners leaves behind a gruesome souvenier, Ji Lin plunges into a world of secrets and superstitions. Eleven-year-old Chinese houseboy Ren is trying to find his master’s severed finger and bury with his body, or his master’s soul will wander the earth forever. As both young people go on their quests, unexplained deaths plague their district in 1930s colonial Malaysia.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Virtual Book Club
Wed, Aug 19, 2020 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (CDT)

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/160996525

You can also dial in using your phone.
United States: +1 (646) 749-3112

Access Code: 160-996-525

New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts:
https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/160996525

Online Reading Challenge – Mid-Month Check-In

Hello Challenge Readers!

How is your August reading going? Have you found something you just can’t put down? Please let us know what you’re reading in the comments!

If you haven’t found a great book, or you’re running short of time, why not try a movie or television series? While Westerns don’t rule the tv screen or the movie theater like they once did, there are still plenty to choose from. Here is a sampling to give you some ideas.

Yellowstone starring Kevin Costner. A modern-day family saga centered on the largest ranch in the United States and the various threats the family must stand against.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with Brad Pitt follows the notorious criminal Jesse James and his downfall at the hands of Robert Ford.

For classics, try High Noon with Gary Cooper, True Grit with John Wayne or Fort Apache with Henry Fonda, John Wayne and Shirley Temple.  If your taste runs to Spaghetti Westerns, we have The Clint Eastwood Collection, packed with some of his most iconic Western roles.

If you’re feeling nostalgic, we also have some favorite television series available on DVD including Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Maverick , and The Virginian.