A Million Years in a Day

A curious history of everyday life from the stone age to the phone age

by Greg Jenner

Ever wonder how the toothbrush came about, or how about toilet paper and toilets? Jenner describes the evolution of everyday items and habits. Items we use or consume without giving thought to how they came to be. Humorous and enlightening.

~Rochelle

Betrayal

by Danielle Steel

As Tallie is in the midst of directing the most ambitious film she has yet undertaken, small disturbances begin to ripple through her well-ordered world. An outside audit reveals troubling discrepancies in the financial records maintained by Victor Carson, Tallie's longtime, trusted accountant. Mysterious receipts hint at activities of which she has no knowledge. Soon it becomes clear that someone close to Tallie has been steadily funneling away enormous amounts of her money. In the wake of an escalating series of shattering revelations, Tallie will find herself playing the most dangerous game of all--to trap a predator stalking her in plain sight.

~Crystal

The Complete Persepolis

by Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private life and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming--both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland.

~Crystal

Etiquette and Espionage

By Gail Carriger

I may be late to the table on this author, but I just read Gail Carriger’s Etiquette and Espionage , the first book in her ‘Finishing School’ series for YA readers. This is a combination of Victorian steampunk, and paranormal espionage all together on a dirigible based finishing school that does indeed train its young ladies in the fine art of becoming a spy. I was captivated with the writing and am checking out the entire series. Adult readers should not hesitate to read this series, as well as her adult fiction series, which include ‘The Parasol Protectorate’, ‘Custard Protocol’, and ‘Delightfully Dead’.


~ Sally

I Am Malala

By Malala Yousafzai

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

~Crystal

Hotel Vendome

by Danielle Steel

When Swiss-born Hugues Martin sees a small, run-down hotel in New York for the rough diamond it is, he transforms it into a beautiful boutique hotel of impeccable elegance, run with the precision and attention to detail he learned through his hotelier training in Europe. Renowned for its unparalleled service, the Hotel Vendôme soon becomes the ideal New York refuge for the rich and famous, as well as a perfect home for Hugues' and his young daughter, Heloise. She and her father live happily amid a colorful, exciting and sometimes mysterious milieu of celebrities, socialites, politicians, world travelers and hotel employees--and their inevitable intrigues. As unexpected challenges arise, the hotel is the centre of their world. And when Heloise grows up, she longs to follow in her father's footsteps and one day run the Hotel Vendôme. The lessons she learned at his side will carry her through it all, in a story no reader will forget.

~Crystal

The Intern

(DVD) PG-13

Starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway.  Jules Ostin (Hathaway) has a very successful on line business and a marriage that isn’t so successful. Ben Whittaker (De Niro) is a 70 year old widower who applies for a senior intern position at Ostin’s company. The generation gap is wide between the two but as they get to know each other, a friendship develops that is good for both of them. 

~Dixie

Half-Broke Horses

A True-Life Novel By Jeannette Walls

Jeannette tells the story of her amazing grandmother in this “can’t put down” novel. Lily Casey Smith was quite a character. She was born in 1901 in New Mexico on a large ranch. By age six she was helping her father break horses. At fifteen she was travelling by horse, alone, to her first teaching job - 500 miles away! If something needed to be done, she did it, and if it went wrong, she brushed the dirt off and kept going. Lily didn’t have the word “can’t” in her vocabulary. Throughout her life, she was a mustang breaker, schoolteacher, bootlegger, poker player, ranch wife, racehorse rider, bush pilot, and mother to two children. I enjoyed this book so much, when I finished it the first time I started reading from the beginning and enjoyed it again.

~ Dixie

The Glass Castle

A Memoir By Jeannette Walls

This is the memoir of Jeannette Walls (Lily Casey Smith’s Granddaughter). Jeannette’s family was peculiar, loyal and dysfunctional. Her mother was an artist and disliked anything that had to do with homemaking and domesticity. Her father was charming and brilliant - but when he drank he was deceitful and destructive. Both parents believed in a good education for their kids but not necessarily the traditional kind found in school. Most of the time their living conditions were deplorable and when things got bad they did the “skedaddle” and started out some place new only to repeat the same lifestyle. Out of necessity, Jeannette and her siblings learned to take care of each other, including food, clothing and protection.

~ Dixie

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

DVD

The best thing about this movie is that all the original actors returned for the sequel . I enjoyed the funny family interactions more than the story line.

~ Dixie