(13 movies watched)
Second time. Still funny.
Good dancing
Electric performance
Not the bucket list you think she’s going to make
Life choices
Great outfits
Kids! Who aren’t bratty!
The continuing campaign to make you hold onto your toys forever.
Crackles with disappointment and delight
These women are funny!
The terrible realization
Ah, vacation reading, you let me do things like re-read a book so I can properly read the second and then the third in a series. So delightful.
Picture books: The Undefeated
Middle grade: Genesis Begins Again
Young Adult: On the Come Up
Young Nonfiction: Biddy Madison Speaks Up
When Spring Comes to the DMZ
Uk-Bae Lee
Read for Librarian Book Group
An odd and interesting little book about the wildlife that has flourished in Korea’s DMZ. The illustrations were not my style, but there is a lot to look at.
If you’re looking for Baby’s First DMZ book, this is it.
The Undefeated
Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson
Read for Librarian Book Group
When Kwame Alexander isn’t slaying you with his words, Kadir Nelson is slaying you with his illustrations.
The Moon Within
Aida Salazar
Read for librarian book group
While Are You There God, it’s me, Margaret was a seminal book when it was published, when I read it in 1985, it was already dated. There’s a whole section about buying belts to hold the pads and even though I hadn’t yet gotten my period, I suspected that wasn’t how things worked anymore. And so it came to pass that many authors stepped in and wrote more books about that time around when a girl gets her period.
Kidding! Where are all the fiction books on this topic? There should be one every decade or so to capture various menstruation trends/practices.
Enter The Moon Within, which gets a lot of stars for exploring the topic. It’s also written in verse, which will make for quick reading.
That said, I personally found the ceremonial aspect of this transition that was emphasized to be the kind of thing I distance myself from, so from that perspective, it wasn’t a book that worked for me. I did like the friendship changes and the navigating that stage where someone you like likes you back for the first time.
Genesis Begins Again
Alicia D. Williams
Read for Librarian Book Group
I don’t believe I’ve ever come across a book for kids that so thoroughly explores feelings about how dark or light one’s skin is.
Genesis has to move all the time. It’s not unusual for her to come home to find all her belongings on the street. While that’s an unfortunate situation, what really made me ache is how hard she tries to change the color of her very dark skin.
This book is set in the suburbs. Genesis’s father has moved them to a house in a school district with a lot of things she hasn’t had in her school before. One of them is a choir teacher who encourages Genesis to find her voice.
Genesis also makes friends for the first time. And yet, while those things are going on, she’s going to a lot of extremes to lighten her skin.
I loved this book, and it was hard to read. I highly recommend it. And it’s got a great cover.
On the Come Up
Angie Thomas
Read for Librarian Book Group
This was a great book on so many levels. My notes list six different things, all with plus signs. They are: main character; rap battles; dilemma (selling out vs staying true); people interpreting your words; friendships; church
It’s not unusual for me to finish a book and then not think about it again. But Angie Thomas is so good at creating worlds that I think about different scenes, characters and situations many times after the book is done. I particularly love main character Bri, who has a lot to balance: the neighborhood legacy of her father; her desire to be a successful rapper; struggles with how she is perceived at school; worry about her mother’s health.
I particularly loved Bri’s friends and the many different ways they responded to escalating tensions at school. I also found Bri’s observations of church members to be quietly amusing. There’s also a good dose of observing how it is to be female and looking to break into the music business.
We are so lucky to have Angie Thomas. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Every Day
David Levithan
I loved Every Day when it was first published I found it inventive and interesting. It was also a great book for introducing the concept of gender fluidity.
This was a re-read so I could read this and the two companion books in sequence. On second reading, it still held up.
Another Day
David Levithan
My plan to read this right after reading Every Day turned out to be not the best plan. It’s the same story, but from Rhiannon’s point of view. I knew this, but didn’t realize that 90% of the book is exactly the same book. Because I had finished Every Day the day before, entire passages were word-for-word familiar. I could picture Levithan’s copy/paste skills increasing as he wrote this book.
There were a few things worth reading for. I recommend reading this a month or so after Every Day.
Someday
David Levithan
This is the third book in the Every Day series. (Which I notice has a .5 digital-only book called Six Days Earlier.)
My book-loving friend mentioned that she had to put this book down because it was making her too anxious. I totally get it. The character X is not a good person.
And yet! This book is great! It’s got a complex plot: A and Rhiannon; A and X; A’s usual shifting from body to body. Plus there are other characters.
I think it’s a book-length exploration of what love is, when it can’t be love as we usually see it. There’s also a lot of drama, especially for David Leviathan.
I found the ending quite satisfying and well worth getting through the portions of the book that are X’s story.
Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss
Kasie West.
This was a perfectly serviceable YA romance. The main character was also a working actress, so there was that fame angle, which is always fun.
The Opposite of Always
Justin Reynolds
The first 100 pages of this book are marvelous, because Justin Reynolds knows how to write his way through a romance. [Main character] is so fun to watch while he’s working through quandaries, and his friends are very interesting. Plus, his parents are amusing. There’s even a time travel aspect hinted at.
And then. Once the time travel aspect kicks in we get shades of the same story three more times. Though there are variations, the repeat of the stories provides diminishing returns and the more pages I read, the more often I put the book down.
Still, the first 100 pages were fabulous. And my notes state: the best slog I’ve read in 2019!
There was so much to like about this book, I look forward to what Justin Reynolds can give us next.
Biddy Mason Speaks Up
Arisa White, Laura Atkins, and Laura Freeman
Read for librarian book group.
The story of Biddy Mason, who was a slave taken to California where she “spoke up” for her freedom.
I like how this series gives us the factual stuff. Words are defined on the page they are introduced and the layout is great with photos, illustrations and other supports. There’s very good back matter.
The one thing I wonder about is the alternating verse/nonfiction prose setup. While the verse is good for people who like stories told in verse, and the nonfiction is good for people who like fact-based books, I wonder if tumbling them both together might dilute the entire book?
Vampire Weekend is killing it with their opening lines, of late. In this case:
We took a vow in summertime
Now we find ourselves in late December
There’s a great pre-chorus too:
Anger wants a voice
Voices wanna sing
Singers harmonize
‘Til they can’t hear anything
I thought that I was free
From all that questioning
But every time a problem ends
Another one begins
It’s a bit repetitive but that’s par for the course with music right now. (Kids today!)
The video is filled with bugs. Not recommended for anti-bug people.
Also, this version has extended solos that are not what I’ve been hearing on the radio.
Two things have conspired to drop a lot of SKS postcards in my box of late.
I’m pretty lucky, eh?
This came from a winery with tasty wine and a great atmosphere. S&S had an impromptu overnight because their regular Sunday commitment has come to an end.
It’s another coffee promo card. The surface wasn’t much good for writing on, so Sara sent another card. Malawi, according to the postcard, is in “the Warm Heart of Africa.”
In this card, which gave her pen more purchase, SKS discusses the use of “endemic” on the previous postcard and reports on the weather, which was cold and rainy.
That streetcar TCRT 1239, according to the information on the back, was restored and placed into service in 2004.
Olivia Wilde’s movie Booksmart isn’t just about two studious high school students who go to a party; the reason they attend the party is the crux of the film. There are hijinks along the way, and standard movie stuff happens* but the realization that drives the need to attend a party is what sold this movie for me. There were a couple of scenes I adored and the movie is also populated with a variety of interesting types** and some excellent markers of how high school looks different from my own experience.
Cost: $9.00
Where watched: Laurelhurst Theater with Matt, who also liked it.
*It’s the same list I had for Wine Country (hijinks, things not going according to plan, fights, personal realizations, a happy ending) and because it’s a raunchy comedy you can add vomiting.
**Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever are great as I knew they would be, but I also loved Skyler Gisondo as the kid trying to buy his way into everyone’s heart, Molly Gordon as the girl known by an unfortunate nickname, Bille Lourd as the weird girl who is everywhere, and Michael Patrick O’Brien’s short turn as Pat the Pizza Guy.
In a May 24, 2019, interview on National Public Radio’s program “All Things Considered,” director Olivia Wilde explained the word “Malala” as it is used by the two best friends Amy and Molly as an inside reference between them: “‘Malala’ is their code word for unconditional support. So what ‘malala’ means is that what I’m asking you to do now with me you must do….Malala [Yousafzai, the Pakistani advocate for girls’ education and the youngest-ever Nobel laureate] is one of their great role models. And I think that’s why she holds the most significant place in their friendship, the idea that if you call ‘Malala,’ you must really mean it.”
Director Amy Poehler has assembled an amazing cast for Wine Country and that cast is key to the success of this amusing and enjoyable film. It follows the standard “weekend away” movie plot* and makes for a great Sunday Afternoon Film.** There were some great cameos, many conversations that women will find amusing, (and perhaps men will too) and a good soundtrack, especially if you are of a certain age.
Cost: Netflix monthly fee $8.99
Where watched: at home
*Hijinks, things not going according to plan, fights, personal realizations, a happy ending
**Those films you watch that are pleasant and are your last gasp of freedom before it’s time to start gearing up for the coming work week.
Poehler said on the Busy Tonight show that one of the film’s funniest props (the CPAP machine her character uses to help her sleep) actually belongs to her. “You know how Bradley Cooper used his real dog in A Star Is Born?” Poehler said, “I used my real CPAP machine.”
I love how a sun bath shows off Sentinel’s brown/red fur.
And I love how Antares remains ever vigilant of danger.
This was a re-watch to catch the boyfriend up. He liked it. Original review here.
Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home with the aforementioned boyfriend.
To create the “classic” album that the character Tucker is best known for, director Jesse Peretz turned to previous collaborator Nathan Larson who worked with him on Our Idiot Brother (2011). Over the course of three years, they wrote songs and requested demos from about 35 artists such as Conor Oberst, Robyn Hitchcock and Ryan Adams. Nathan Larson’s inspiration for the music was Big Star’s “Third/Sister Lovers” album as well as friend Jeff Buckley.
The commercial building that was most recently a garage has been removed, as has the single family house that used to sit next to it. Next up? A 24-unit Habitat for Humanity structure.
And affordable housing is being built on an empty lot at the edge of downtown Kenton.
I’m excited to have both of these developments happening near me.* If there’s one thing this city needs, it’s more affordable housing. As someone who is only a homeowner because of Proud Ground, a housing program for first-time home buyers, I know how much of a difference affordable and stable housing can make in a person’s life.
*Which is not to say I don’t have worries that our easy-to-find street parking will disappear once that 24-unit Habitat for Humanity development is done and occupied. I would LOVE if the City Council would take some steps to establish an on-street parking permit system in Portland neighborhoods.
