Begin Again

Directed by John Carney

I would never have picked up this movie had it not been recommended to me by a stranger standing next to me by the DVD shelf.  Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo play the main characters, and Adam Levine is in a few scenes.  It’s not a blockbuster action movie, and not quite bizarre enough to be independent.  It’s a story about a woman’s life in New York City whose circumstances lead her to meet another “lost soul.” Through collaboration, these two manage to stumble upon a way to begin their lives again.  The music industry is the main background story, and Mark Ruffalo magnificently pulls off the genuine but slimy recording company executive. Knightley and Levine perform a few really great songs. There’s not a lot of romance, but it tells a really good story of people who are able to start their lives over.  Such a nice surprise to get a great movie!

~Becky

The Dinner

By Henry Koch, translated into English by Sam Garrett

The story begins at a posh restaurant in Amsterdam. One brother and his wife are dreading the prospect of having dinner with the older, more handsome, future politician brother and his wife. The conversation is empty between the couples and the courses are small and overly-pretentious, but we start to learn more about the couples as they progress through the courses.

Each couple has a 15 year old son. These two boys have committed a brutal act which was caught on camera and broadcast on the news. The footage is too grainy to identify the youth, but those closest to them know the truth. 

As the dinner finally comes to a close, the couples realize that they are in disagreement over how to handle the situation. 

This story has been compared to Gone Girl in other reviews - while there are no sexual acts or disappearances involved, I will say that the lengths to which these people go to accomplish what they need will leave you with the same sick feeling as Gone Girl. It is a disturbing but highly original tale.

~ Paula

Endangered

By C.J. Box

This is the latest Joe Pickett Novel, recommended to me by my husband, an avid C.J. Box reader. Joe’s adopted daughter April leaves home to go on the rodeo circuit with Dallas Cates. All the sons in the Cates family are trouble. Dallas is the youngest and not as bad as his brothers but bad enough; he took Joe’s daughter off to places unknown. Joe couldn’t make April stay, she is an adult. The entire family was upset by her leaving. Months later a girl’s body is found in a ditch, barely alive - it’s April. Joe feels that Dallas is responsible and does everything he can to prove it. This adventure will keep you at the edge of your seat.

~ Beckie

The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines #6)

By Richelle Mead

This is one author I will read anything she writes; her stories draw me in every time.

In this conclusion to the Bloodlines series Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.

~ Crystal

The Cinderella Murder

By Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke

Laurie Moran knows the benefits of closure for those affected by the murder of a loved one. She is the producer of a television drama Under Suspicion, a cold case series featuring unsolved crimes by re-creating them with the people affected by the crime. Her pilot was a great success and she thinks her next show about the well known Cinderella Murder will also be a success.

Susan Dempsey was a beautiful and talented UCLA student who was found dead miles from her parked car and missing one shoe. The suspects at the time are now Hollywood’s elite and tech billionaires. It has all the makings of another hit show. As Laurie and her co-workers start interviewing the people involved, there is another mysterious death, a beating and more complications than they ever expected. ​

~ Dixie

The Wake of the Lorelei: Being an Account of the Adventures of Jacky Faber, on Her Way to Botany Bay

By L.A. Meyer (Bloody Jack #8)

Jacky Faber has purchased the Lorelei Lee to carry passengers across the Atlantic. Believing she has been absolved of past sins against the Crown, Jacky docks in London to take on her crew, but is instead arrested and sentenced to life in the newly formed penal colony in Australia. In a cruel twist of fate, the Lorelei Lee is now confiscated to carry Jacky and other female convicts to populate New South Wales. Not one to give in to self pity, Jacky rallies her sisters to "better" their position - resulting in wild escapades, brushes with danger, and much hilarity. Will Jacky find herself a founding mother of New South Wales, Australia? Not if she has anything to do about it!

~ Crystal

The Space Between Us

By Thrity Umrigar
eBook format available through CLEVNET

An intimate look into the lives of two modern-day Indian women: Sera, a wealthy Parsi woman and her poor servant of 20 years, Bhima. The class differences and separation are what intrigued me, and troubled me, the most. Bhima's class is treated as subhuman in many respects; they live in squalor and are cheated by more educated people from higher classes on a regular basis. Although the two women and their families have great respect and love for each other, they can never truly connect in a meaningful way because of the division of classes.

This story was so moving that it brought me to tears. I will definitely read more books by Thrity Umrigar.

AUTHOR VISIT: Ms. Umrigar will be visiting the Burton Public Library on Friday, September 11, at 6:30 pm. Please join us!

Click for event details: http://www.burtonlibrary.org/content/evening-thrity-umrigar

~ Paula