New movie...

• Sunshine Cleaning - Quirky, dark, Indie comedy/drama with Amy Adams and Alan Arkin.  Available through Netflix.

I can't stop reading!

In addition to 

• The Widow's War - Sally Gunnings (previously recommended by Pat), I've also enjoyed
• Bound  by Sally Gunnings
• The Rebellion of Jane Clarke by Sally Gunnings

In young adult novels (recommended by Kelly)

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• The House of the Scorpian by Nancy Farmer - very good 

Next up...

• Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry (Jayber Crow was FANTASTIC)
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
  

New film

Recommended by Leslie & Mary...

• Bread and Tulips

More movies...

• The Young Victoria
• Mrs. Brown

The former is about the rise of Queen Victoria to the crown and her romance with husband Albert.  The latter of the years following the loss of her husband and her friendship with John Brown.  Both well done and nice to watch back to back.

From the library...

We're movie fiends lately!  Liz picked up Half Nelson for us.  Dark, but very well done.

Showtime series...

• "Nurse Jackie"

Greg and I are really enjoying this new Showtime series.  Season 1 available on Netflix.

Hello, is there anybody out there?

John, Heather, Chris, Kip....any suggestions?

From Leslie's neighbor...

•  Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie Is Not the Answer by Jen Lancaster

I had my doubts about this one, but was exhausted from the week and needed something light to read.  Picked it up Friday after dinner and was up until 2:30 am giggling.  Subjecting Greg to "listen to this" moments frequently, I could barely get the words out without choking on laughter.  4 1/2 stars from Amazon raters.

In the mood for a good flick?

• From Mary... 
  
  

  Just watched "Firelight" last night.  Really enjoyed it....English movie and some of the scenes were astounding...if you're into photography. 

• From Les...
  

  Liz picked up "Shrink" with Kevin Spacey for us.  Certainly wouldn't call it a feel good movie, but there is some resolution in the end.  Greg & I both enjoyed it.  Also try "John Adams" series.  Everyone I've recommended this to has loved it.  "Taking Chance" with Kevin Bacon is also extremely well done.  I seem to have a real craving for historical fiction lately and found the "Island at War" series great viewing, especially after reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.

I (Leslie) agree wholeheartedly...

"...with Pat's recommendation of Under This Unbroken Sky by Shandi Mitchell.  Spanning one year in the life of a Ukrainian immigrant family, the author, in simple, but beautiful prose, describes their seasonal successes and struggles to establish a homestead in Canada after fleeing their mother country.  I found myself repeatedly trying to cross off some to dos yesterday, but kept returning to its pages and finally crumpled my list, grabbed an afghan and read until I was finished.  Very high marks from me on this one - worth the price of a hardback and also available on Kindle."

"I also found Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian and again recommended by Pat very thought provoking.  Would probably be a great read for a book club."

Gotta Sees

From Kathy...

• It's Complicated

From Liz...

• Mr. Holland's Opus 

"I forgot how good Mr. Holland's Opus was! Definite must see for anyone who hasn't seen it.

From Les...

• Infamous
• Capote 

Above titles are set during the time Truman Capote was researching Clutter murders for In Cold Blood.

From Mary...

• Rome

Met for lunch yesterday and Mary again raved about this TV series available on disc through Netflix.  Very explicit scenes and adult content.

From Les...

• Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls

"Author of The Glass Castle,  Jeannette Walls delves deeper into her family history and offers in this latest book, a wonderful tale about her remarkable grandmother - Lily Casey Smith.  Thoroughly enjoyable."

Happy New Year!

Movies - Instead of partying with the masses, we chose movies last night. Liz found both at our library.

• On A Clear Day - with Brenda Blethyn - If you liked Saving Grace, she was the master gardener in that. I thought this was charming.

• Girl with a Pearl Earring - Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson & Tom Wilkinson - Mom recommended this to me some time back and last night was second time I watched it. Good story, excellent photography, lighting and color.

Email from Kelly - says she just purchased the following. Let us know what you think, Kel.

• Botany of Desire (Michael Pollan)
  

• No-Impact Man (Colin Beavan)

• Eating Animals (Jonathan Safran Foer)

From Dennis -

"Here's one of my all-time favorite science books, Les The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time. Yale researchers Rosemary and Peter Grant have spent 20 years on Daphne Major in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are four hundred at the time of the author's visit, or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about twenty generations of finches -- continuously."

Dennis also recommends the author Harlan Coben. "Harlan Coben is a funny detective-thriller writer. Virtually anything he writes is pretty great stuff." See Jim's December 28th post for some titles by him.

From Leslie...

Books

• Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's - John Elder Robison
• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party - M. T. Anderson
• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: Kingdom on the Waves - M. T. Anderson

If you enjoy Look Me in the Eye, check out lecture given by author at Google's Boulder, CO office. Long, but good follow-up to book. Regarding Anderson books, I'm a huge fan of books on tape and both of these are excellent to listen to as well. - L

Movies

• Julie & Julia - I throughly enjoyed this movie with Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Stanley Tucci - absolutely charming love story