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The ultimate Christmas movie, Tokyo Godfathers, follows homeless denizens of Tokyo, Gin, Hana, and Miyuki.  They find a lost baby girl one fateful Christmas Eve, which launches a chain of hi jinks and frustration in order to find her lost mother.  Through it all, the trio teaches the audience about creating a family where you can find it and that the hope of a second chance can be just around the corner.  You will laugh, you will definitely cry, and you’ll find yourself hitting that play button every Christmas season to come.

 

If you’re a Firefly fan, then you’ll definitely love Cowboy Bebop.  Both are space-westerns with a sassy, devil-may-care crew.  Join Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Jet Black, Edward, and last but not least welsh corgi, Ein, on their adventures bounty-hunting their way through space.  If you enjoy comedic action/adventures with a dramatic flair, this is the anime for you.

All Emma Gladstone wants is to be paid for the wedding dress she was commissioned to create, and all the Duke of Ashbury wants is an heir for his title. In a match of wits, they come to a deal—Emma and the Duke will marry, but she only has to live with him until she can produce an heir.

Tessa Dare’s The Duchess Deal is a fun, playful romp that goes by far too quickly. For readers who love fast-paced banter, well-developed characters, and sensuously steamy situations (and book 2 of the Girl Meets Duke series—The Governess Game—is available now). Readers of Nalini Singh will definitely enjoy this as well.

Set in the year 11945 AD after humanity was forced to flee to the moon after an invasion of machines from outer space, humans sent out a group of androids, YoRHa, to fight the war for them in order to recapture their home. 2B and 9S (two of these androids) encounter surprises from the machines that they never expected.

NieR: Automata is an action role-playing game brought to you by the same developer as Bayonetta and it definitely shows: dark themes, gorgeous visuals, fun characters, entrancing music, the works. If you’re new to the genre of action-RPGs, it’s highly recommended to play the game on beginner. The intro is very intense and can be difficult even on normal settings! If it gets too easy after that, feel free to change the difficulty at any time.

Check out the PS4 game today to help 2B and 9S fight back these machine invaders—for the glory of humankind.

Imagine what it would do to a person to never feel the touch of another human being. Not because of loneliness, but out of fear. Something in Juliette’s body causes anyone who makes contact with her skin to undergo such excruciating pain that if contact has been made long enough, they will die.

In and out of doctors’ offices, psychiatric care, and more, her parents just want to rid themselves of their burden after the unspeakable happens. Juliette’s in an asylum—this is her life now. Until a government official takes interest in her and takes her in. Perhaps he can make use of this…gift. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is filled with anticipation, heartache, and maybe, just maybe, a chance for Juliette to find love. This is her story.

Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor’s masterpiece is as beautiful as it is heart-wrenching. The cinematography is matched only by Alexandre Desplat’s score that captures and enhances the emotions in each scene. Elisa (Sally Hawkins), who has been mute since she was a baby, works as a janitor at a top-secret government research facility; there, she encounters something that changes the course of her life. At its core, The Shape of Water is a story that questions just what is it that makes us human.

The Shape of Water won four Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Original Score, and Production Design) and was nominated in nine other categories.

Ah, the idyllic English countryside. There’s nothing more peaceful—or is there? Lurking beneath the surface, there may be a murderer among us. Sweet and kindly grandmothers, cherubic children, your next-door neighbor Bob—no one is safe from suspicion. It’s up to Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby and his faithful Detective Sergeant to put the pieces together before someone else meets their untimely demise in the long-running British TV series Midsomer Murders.

Meet Retsuko. She’s just your average red panda accountant, except for one thing. Retsuko has a secret. In order to release all the rage from her humdrum 9-5 job, she performs karaoke death metal. But shh, don’t tell. No one else can know.

Experience Retsuko’s life with her and all her friends in Aggretsuko on Netflix! Check out one of our Rokus to use the library’s Netflix subscription.

Imagine if our lives right now weren’t our only lives, that if after we die, there’s another life. But there’s one caveat, we have to choose a side: Myriad or Troika. One, a world of eternal darkness but luxury beyond your deepest desires. The other, a world of eternal light and joy. If you die before choosing, you’re stuck in the Land of Many Ways: a place where you're rumored to be terrorized for all eternity before eventually experiencing your second and final death. Troika and Myriad are rivals trapped in a bitter, never-ending war, looking to recruit the most souls.

Both afterlives are in a race to recruit Tenley Lockwood, but how does she know which is the right choice? This is the afterlife, after all. Once you decide, there’s no going back. Check out Firstlife by Gena Showalter.

Joelle Charbonneau’s dystopian novel takes place in the far future and depicts the aftereffects of a nuclear fallout. It asks the question of what makes a good leader. How does a people choose leaders that will act in the best interest of everyone? Leaders who won’t abuse the power they’ve been given and instead help the country flourish under their guidance? The Test that the title refers to hopes to be a solution to this question.

There hasn’t been a candidate chosen for the Testing in Cia Vale’s small town in a very long, long time. It’s why it comes as such a surprise that after graduating, she was chosen. Why was it her and not her brothers who were just as qualified (if not more so)?

The Testing is action-packed with decent pacing that keeps you wondering what will happen next. There is also some romance without it overwhelming the main plot (and no love triangle!). Journey with Cia Vale as she proceeds through a Test of her own.

Part of a trilogy, The Testing is followed by Independent Study and Graduation Day.

Once you’ve listened to Lady Gaga’s album Joanne, you won’t be able to stop. You’ll listen to it during your morning shower, in the car on your way to and from work, and before it’s time to sleep at night. Joanne may be a clear departure from the usual Gaga style of her previous albums, but it’s no less powerful. Songs such as the titular “Joanne” and “Come to Mama” will keep you coming back again and again.

The stylistic change also especially makes far more sense and has far more meaning after watching the Netflix documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two. Experience a year in the life of not Lady Gaga, but Stefani Germonatta. It follows the year in which she was releasing Joanne up until her performance at the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show. You will live, love, laugh, and cry with her up until the very end. Don't have a Netflix subscription? Watch for free using our roku.

I. W. Gregorio’s novel chronicles the struggles teens can face growing up intersex through the eyes of character Kristin Lattimer. After homecoming, Kristin has relations with a fellow teen only to discover her worst nightmare: her body isn’t what she thought it was. None of the Above is a story of discovery, bullying, and ultimately acceptance of ourselves and others. It also serves as a reminder to always be kind: you never know what someone else is going through.

Do you love dogs? Christmas? Murder mysteries? Stop right there! Wagging Through the Snow, the latest installment of Laurien Berenson’s Melanie Travis series, is just what you’ve been looking for. Melanie is hoping for a quiet Christmas this year with her family and six dogs (five of them standard poodles, of course), but her family has other plans when her brother buys some cheap property for his joint business with Melanie’s ex-husband. Reluctantly roped into helping out, Melanie discovers more than she bargained for: a cute little Maltese dog—and his dead owner under a tree.

Find more Christmas mysteries at the library.

When cleaning, it’s really easy to get overwhelmed to the point that you stop before you begin— all because of one question: “Where do I start?!” Marie Kondo’s answer is clothes! Gather up all the clothes in the house you can find (yes, even the ones in the back of that third closet in the room no one goes in) and go through them. From there, how do you decide whether you keep it or not?  Ask yourself this: does it bring you joy? Have you even worn it in the last year? (Did you forget it existed?)

Find your inner clutter-free calm with The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

Have you been hunting for a show to make you cry and feel as if you’re having your heart ripped out again and again? Then look no more: you found the show for you with Akame ga Kill! Tatsumi, heading to the capital to make money for his family, falls into more than he bargained for. He runs into a group of assassins who call themselves Night Raid. But whose side are they on?

Want to see where it all began? Read the manga by Takahiro as well!