In love with stranger things like....

the Netflix hit show Stranger Things!

It's an homage to the 80s, creepy, sci-fi, horror...

a total mash-up and it's worth your time and your love! 

For those of you out there who are waiting for the second season (hooray!), 

here are some titles to check out 

based on your love of a specific character in the show:

Books to read while you wait for Season 2 of Stranger Things...

Come on. Go for the ride.

Personally, I'm crazy for Chief Hopper,
so I'll be reading the recommended selection.

Chief Hopper as portrayed by actor David Harbor.

DVDs available Tuesday, August 30, 2016...

 Me Before You - A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man she's taking care of. Based on the bestselling book of the same title. Directed by Thea Sharrock. Starring:  Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Janet McTeer.


Phenom - A Major League rookie pitcher loses control over his pitching and is sent down to the minor leagues, where he begins sessions with an unorthodox sports psychologist. In the process, hidden conflicts with his overbearing father are brought to light. Directed by  Noah Buschel. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Paul Giamatti, Paul Adelstein.  

Say WHAT now?

Amid rumors and a recent 

NYPost piece about the

NYT Book Review going digital only,

we can only hope this isn't true!

Read these two pieces for clarification:

NYT Book Review Digital Edition?

New York Times Book Review takes a new direction.

Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. says absolutely not.

I cannot imagine the NYT without the Sunday Book Review delivered to the library!

This is news indeed...!

Our friends at Flavorwire 
are reporting that

Hanya Yanigahara's "A Little Life"

will be optioned 
as a limited series.

Producer Scott Rudin! 
Director Joe Mantello!

Yanigahara took to the book's Facebook page asking readers which actor should play the pivotal character of Jude. 

Fan favorites include Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller...

Read about it here.


Nicely done Mr. Rudin and Mr. Mantello, nicely done!

DVDs available Tuesday, August 23rd...

Almost Holy - (Foreign) Gennadiy calls himself "Pastor Crocodile." He's known throughout Ukraine for his years working to rehabilitate drug-addicted kids. But he's also a vigilante who uses any force necessary to carry out his moral vision. Gennadiy believes he has made Mariupol a better place, but now, the violence in Ukraine threatens everything. Directed by Steve Hoover. Starring:  Gennadiy Mokhnenko

The Boss - A titan of industry is sent to prison after she's caught insider trading. When she emerges ready to rebrand herself as America's latest sweetheart, not everyone she screwed over is so quick to forgive and forget. Directed by Ben Falcone. Starring:  Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage.

The Duel - A Texas Ranger investigates a series of unexplained deaths in a town called Helena. Directed by  Kieran Darcy-Smith. Starring:  Liam Hemsworth, Alice Braga, Woody Harrelson.

Hardcore Henry - Henry is resurrected from death with no memory, and he must save his wife from a telekinetic warlord with a plan to bio-engineer soldiers. Directed by Ilya Naishuller. Starring: Sharlto Copley, Tim Roth, Haley Bennett.

Maggie's Plan -  Maggie 's plan to have a baby on her own is derailed when she falls in love with John, a married man, destroying his volatile marriage to the brilliant and impossible Georgette. But one daughter and three years later, Maggie is out of love and in a quandary: what do you do when you suspect your man and his ex wife are actually perfect for each other? Directed by Rebecca Miller. Starring:  Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore. 

Weiner [Documentary] -  An examination of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign and the landscape of today's political landscape. Directed by Josh Kriegman & Elyse Steinberg. Starring: Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin, Amit Bagga, Adam S. Barta. 

The Non-Man Booker Longlist...

The 2016 Man Booker Longlist has been announced 

and you can see the selections here.

There is controversy about this current list, 

leading The Guardian UK to publish it's own (very) long list of titles called,

"Not the Booker Prize". 

Read the article here for some very good not to be missed titles. 

The Guardian lists over 100 of them!

Here's Marlon James in 2015 accepting his award for "A Brief History of Seven Killings"

So what the heck is the Man Booker Prize? 

Here's the description from themanbookerprize.com :

"The leading prize for quality fiction in English"

"First awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is recognised as the leading prize for high quality literary fiction written in English. Its list of winners features many of the literary giants of the last four decades:

 from Iris Murdoch to Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan to Dame Hilary Mantel. 

The rules of the prize were changed at the end of 2013 to embrace the English language ‘in all its vigour, its vitality, its versatility and its glory’, opening up to writers beyond the UK and Commonwealth.

The Man Booker Prize is sponsored by Man Group, one of the world’s largest independent alternative investment managers."

I cannot thank the TV gods enough!

Neil Gaiman's American Gods is making it's way to STARZ in 2017!

  Just LOOK at this cast:

Gillian Anderson, Yetide Badaki, Ian McShane, 
Emily Browning, Dane Cook,

Cloris Leachman,  Ricky Whittle,  Bruce Langley,
Pablo Schreiber, Crispin Glover,
plus plenty of cameos!


Click here to reserve your copy of the book.





Here's why it's a big deal:

It's the 10th anniversary of this Hugo, Nebula, Locus, 
and Bram Stoker Award winner.

"First published in 2001, American Gods became an instant classic, 
lauded for its brilliant synthesis of “mystery, satire, sex, horror, and poetic prose” (Washington Post)
 and as a modern phantasmagoria that “distills the essence of America”
 (Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

 It is the story of Shadow—
released from prison just days after 
his wife and best friend are killed in an accident—
who gets recruited to be bodyguard, driver, and errand boy for the enigmatic trickster, Mr. Wednesday. 
So begins Shadow’s dark and strange road trip, one that introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. 
For, beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a storm is brewing—
an epic war for the very soul of America—
and Shadow is standing squarely in its path."

(text above provided by the publisher)

You can follow the whole thing on Twitter: @AmericanGodsSTZ

Me right now...

DVDs available now and next Tuesday, August 9th...

Out today:

Demolition Man - A successful investment banker struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. With the help of a customer service rep and her young son, he starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew. Directed by  Jean-Marc Vallée. Starring:  Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper

Francofonia - (Foreign) A history of the Louvre during the Nazi occupation and a meditation on the meaning and timelessness of art. Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov. Starring:  Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Benjamin Utzerath, Vincent Nemeth.


Marguerite - (Foreign)  Paris, 1920s. Marguerite Dumont is a wealthy woman, lover of the music and the opera. She loves to sing for her friends, although she's not a good singer. Both her friends and her husband have kept her fantasy. The problem begins when she decides to perform in front of a real audience. Directed by  Xavier Giannoli. Starring:  Catherine Frot, André Marcon, Michel Fau



Manhattan Night - A well-known reporter becomes involved with a mysterious and seductive woman while trying to find the truth about her husband's death. Directed by Brian DeCubellis. Starring:  Yvonne Strahovski, Adrien Brody, Jennifer Beals.

Out next Tuesday:

Fathers & Daughters - A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown, while, 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge connections of her own. Directed by Gabriele Muccino. Starring: Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Paul. 




Hologram for the King - A failed American businessman looks to recoup his losses by traveling to Saudi Arabia and selling his idea to a wealthy monarch. Based on the book by Dave Eggers. Directed by Tom Tykwer. Starring:  Tom Hanks, Alexander Black, Sarita Choudhury. 

Truly Madly Guilty...

it's here! We have it! 

You've read most of the other Liane Moriarty novels, 

and the new one is hot off the press.  

The NYT Book Review featured Moriarty in their By the Book column. 

Read it here. 

Big Little Lies has been picked up by HBO.

Jennifer Anniston may sign on for What Alice Forgot.

Catch up on these titles today!

  

  

We love this Aussie author!

Sydney Opera House