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I listened to the audiobook Why Fish Don't Exist - A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life read by the author herself, Lulu Miller. Lulu takes the reader on an adventure through her life as she navigates the ups and downs of becoming an adult. She intertwines the story of David Starr Jordan, an ichthyologist in the early 1900's (and the first President of Stanford) that has an obsession with collecting and naming all the fish in the world and the chaos that happens to him, with figuring out her own life. Many of David Starr Jordan's setbacks become unbelievable opportunities for him. Lulu has a colorful way with her words in writing this book. She makes the reader feel that she is speaking right to her. Her use of language allows the reader to visually see in their mind the adventure she takes you on. Truly a raw, personnel journey for Lulu and how she finds the love of her life. A must audiobook to listen to - to the very end of the Epilogue.

Available in ebook and eaudiobook on eMediaLibrary (Libby). 

I would highly recommend watching this funny, action, comedy adventure movie - "The Lost City". It stars Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) as romance novelist who is out on tour promoting her latest novel with her cover model, Dash/Alan (Channing Tatum). Dash is always the hero in all her romantic novels. In her last novel, she reveals an understanding of the ancient writings. Because of this knowledge she gets kidnapped by a wealthy billionaire media mogul named Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) and he flies her to an island in the Atlantic. He wants her to solve a writing so that he can locate a lost treasure before the volcano erupts. Alan tracks Loretta and gets his friend Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) to fly off to the island to rescue her. Before she knows it, she finds herself in the middle of one of her romantic novels and all the clues are coming together to discover a big treasure. Very enjoyable movie. Loved the new duo Bullock and Tatum.

If you enjoyed the first movie written by John Krasinski, "A Quiet Place" then you will enjoy the sequel, "A Quiet Place Part II". The story begins with small time life, in a small country town, when the aliens/monsters invade earth. The story quickly fast forwards to the end of the last movie when, Lee Abbott (played by John Krasinski) dies and his wife, Evelyn (played by Emily Blunt) pushes on with the family to continue to fight for survival, in silence, searching for a new civilization. She must rely upon her children, Marcus and Regan (who is hearing impaired and wears a Cochlear implant). Regan is convinced that the new radio signal is a sign to search for civilization elsewhere. Regan follows her intuition and leaves her family to help them find a safe place to live. What they find are more frightful alien/monsters and terrible people along the way.  

I highly recommend this high adrenalin movie, "The Desperate Hour". The entire movie has Amy Carr (Naomi Watts) in it as the mother that has just got her kids off to school and goes for a long jog in the woods. She has her cell phone with her and makes many plans and takes many calls along her long run. During her run she comes to realize that the town has been thrown into chaos - as she finds out there has been a school shooting at the high school. She is miles away and wants to know if her son is okay or even at school. He's not answering his phone and she can't get in touch with him or get to him. This movie was heart-pounding and kept me on the edge of my seat. Very good suspense thriller. Every mother's nightmare these days.

I love a good thriller with lots of edge of your seat suspense. This movie "Till Death" does not disappoint. Emma (Meagan Fox) is having trouble in her marriage to her husband, Mark (Eoin Macken). They are celebrating their 10th Anniversary and Mark has a few surprises for his wife. Mark whisks a blindfolded Emma away, to their lake house, in the winter, to celebrate a very romantic evening he has planned. Everything changes the next morning as Mark continues to keep surprising his wife. I highly recommend this thriller. It was so good. Lots of twists and turns.

What an absolute delight! I loved watching the DVD "Cruella" (Rated PG-13). Emma Stone portrays Estella (Cruella) Deville perfectly. This is the predecessor to the animated Disney movie "101 Dalmatians" and why Cruella is the way she is and why she detests damnations so much. This is the story of how Estella grows up with wanting to become a fashion designer. She grabs the attention of the famous designer the Baroness von Hellman (played by Emma Thompson) and realizes that she more talented than the Baroness. The casting of characters is unbelievable when they truly portray the animated characters. The music and fashion in the movie are exciting and fun. Estelle has a revengeful and nasty personality as she transforms into Curella. I highly recommend this movie.

After Libby's 25th birthday, she receives a letter from a lawyer telling her that she is the sole inheritor of an abandoned mansion in London's upper class neighborhood that is supposed to be worth millions. Libby knows nothing about her past, only that she was adopted when she was a baby. She is excited to learn more about her birth parents and where she was from. By claiming her inheritance, she opens herself up to individuals that want to connect with her and are wanting to find her. Years ago, the mansion was the site of a strange group suicide of her birth parents and that left Libby (a 10 month old baby) behind. She must confront her past as she searches for the truth. Really good read. I couldn't put the book down till I finished it. 

What a nice story. I truly enjoyed watching this Christian based DVD A Father's Legacy. This is the story of an old man, Billy (played by Tobin Bell), living out in the middle of the woods, on a pond. He is just going about life when he answers his front door to a young stranger Nick (Jason Mac) who has just been shot. Nick pushes his way inside Billy's house and takes him hostage in his own home. Nick is on the run from the police for robbing and stealing about $10,000. Over the next few weeks, they slowly become friends and reveal secrets about their lives and why they are in this situation. Somehow they were brought together to heal and resolve past issues that have haunted them their whole life. Nice heartfelt movie.

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If you love Lin-Manuel Miranda and his hit Broadway musical- Hamilton, then I think you will truly enjoy watching the musical "In the Heights" on DVD. I loved this movie! The songs and dancing tell the story of a tight knit community in Washington Heights, NY. The entire cast is so talented in telling the stories of many of the Latin American people working hard to chase their dreams. This musical is a colorful celebration of music, friends, family, neighborhood and love. The music and choreography are so cleverly done. Great movie to share with the family. I highly recommend watching more than once.

Falling by T.J Newman is a suspense filled on-stop flight from Los Angeles to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Captain of the flight is Bill Hoffman and his First Officer Ben are in the cockpit of Coastal Airway airlines. After the plane takes off from L.A., the Captain finds out that his family has been taken hostage. The terrorist is making Bill make a decision. He has to crash the plan with 149 souls on board or save his family. Bill won't make this decision and decides that he will try to save both. Little does he know that someone onboard is part of the plan to help him decide. Great action packed book. I couldn't stop reading once I started.

Available as an eaudiobook and ebook on eMediaLibrary (Libby).

If you're in the mood for a Halloween story, I recommend reading The House by the Cemetery by John Everson. It's the story of an abandoned house near the Midlothian turnpike by Bachelor's Grove, IL. Over many decades, teenagers have vandalized the old cemetery and have broken into the abandoned house to perform satanic rituals. Many residents in the area believed that there is a ghost of a witch that haunts the abandoned house. A young entrepreneur sees this as a business opportunity to create a haunted house (from an actual haunted house) for Halloween's month of October. He employs a carpenter, named Mike, to fix up the house. Mike soon discovers two trespassers who are eager to help him fix up the house. Many people are excited and are drawn to the house but many disappear. After the house is fixed and decorated for the haunted house, the ghosts are awakened. A few customers disappear during the haunted nights and the witch gets stronger as it gets closer to Halloween.

Promising Young Woman (Rated R) is a suspense, thriller kind of movie. I really liked the actress, Carey Mulligan, who plays Cassie. She is a young 20 something, super smart, pretty, medical school dropout who works in a small coffee shop by day. And then at night, she goes out to local bars and pretends to be drunk so that she gets guys to try and take her home to have sex with her. One day, an old former med school classmate comes by the coffee shop and asks her out. This person talks about other classmates from med school and how successful they have become. He doesn't understand why she's working in a coffee shop and why she dropped out of medical school. This opportunity opens Cassie up to reveal her problems to him and the sweet smell of revenge that is to come.

I really enjoyed reading Survive the Night (2021) by Riley Sager. It's the story of a young college student, named Charlie. Two months earlier, her college roommate and best friend, Maddy, was the third victim of a serial killer on campus, known as the Campus Killer. Charlie feels the need to get away from school and go home to visit her grandmother in Ohio. Since she doesn't drive, she is looking for a ride share on the campus ride board and by chance meets a guy, Josh, who is looking to drive her in exchange for gas money. Josh calls Charlie and tells her he will be picking her up at 9 pm. Charlie is having second thoughts at having a complete stranger drive her home. From the moment she gets in his car, and the more they talk, she starts to get an uneasy feeling that he could be the Campus Killer. The story is what happens in the next few hours on their road trip. Should Charlie escape, should she call for help, or should she just run... is he the serial killer?

George & Margaret Blackledge (played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), are a retired sheriff and his wife living with their son, daughter-in-law and grandson, on a Montana ranch. Their son, James dies in a horse riding accident and then many years later, their daughter-in-law, Lorna , remarries Donnie Weboy. Margaret sees that this union is very abusive and wants to get her ex daughter-in-law and grandson back. Lorna, Donnie and her son are taken away by Donnie's family. And George and Margaret must go to long measures to locate their grandson. Neither Donnie's family or George & Margaret are willing to let the boy go and George must rescue his grandson before it's too late. Very good movie.

If you enjoy learning about gangsters, outlaws and the Mafia, I recommend reading "Killing the Mob: the Fight Against Organized Crime in America" by Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard. This book covers the history of corruption in the U.S. from the 1930's when bank robbers, such as Bonnie & Clyde and John Dillinger were robbing banks during prohibition. This book gives insight to the rise of the Mafia with the Hollywood elite, politicians and gambling in Las Vegas. Many conspiracies theories are looked at in regards to President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy deaths as well as the Teamsters Union boss Jimmie Hoffa. I couldn't put this book down and enjoyed learning more about the legendary mobsters and gangsters. This book is about the history of organized crime in America and the families that ruled them.