Cyrano |2021 Summary: This is a romantic historical musical version of the same classic story made completely attainable by Steve Martin’s modern take with Roxanne (1987). Whether or not the music is part of what you enjoy about this version, that’s up to you. I don’t want to talk it down just because I found …
The Disasters | M. K. England Summary: Like many science fiction stories, this one has the main character facing an explosive crisis from which only his perspective tells the ‘truth’. Nax and his crew of survivors must get a message to those authorities who are not teaming up to sabotage the station themselves (for fun …
Etiquette & Espionage | Gail Carriger Summary: Sophronia is 14, a member of the gentry, and “a cracking bother” as she displays all the hallmarks of an under-stimulated overeager puppy. She wants to know how things work, is willing to take systems apart to study them, and can’t help but eavesdrop on interesting conversations. What’s …
Ava (2020) Summary: I tend to like well-done spy and espionage movies, but can get bored with the heavy politics and gratingly slow pace. Ava doesn’t have those issues. Chastain completely RULES as the assassin looking for a way out. What will her purpose in life be once she steps away from the job? Can …
The Help (2011) Summary: Skeeter just graduated college and is hoping to find a worthy job as a journalist or writer. Given a chance with a weekly column on housekeeping tips, she notes she’d have to take lessons from ‘the help’ to learn what to write. This takes her into the world of 1950/1960s southern …
The Spy Kid franchise (2001) -or- Little Nikita (1988) Note/Summary: I wanted to review Little Nikita, the story of an unwitting dependent child of parents who happen to be Russian moles in 1980’s USA. However, the IHLS does not appear to have a copy available for viewing at this time. As the character played by …
Old Venus | by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (eds.) Summary: This collection of short stories visits Venus when we thought it was swampy and jungle-thick with exotic life. Never mind that our scientific observations have eliminated this possibility – the various writers ignore the real acidic atmosphere and create a world both …
Dear Librarian | Lydia M. Sigwarth Summary: Many children don’t gain the experience of knowing a ‘library home’ – having enjoyed several myself as I grew up, this story is a great callback to comfortable surroundings. The main character is unnamed in her own narrative, but it becomes clear that she represents the author when …
From Cinda: The holidays are on their way! I associate holidays with family coming together. Do you have a favorite family movie? Does it happen to involve a holiday or not? Some of my favorite movie families are shown without any holidays involved. I also love a few traditional (and not so traditional) Christmas movies …
The Great Chicago Fire: Rising from the Ashes | Kate Hannigan & Alex Graudins Summary: A fictionalized account of what happened before, during, and after the Chicago Fire (which burned for 30 hours before it was done), this story follows the movements of a couple of kids as they try to reunite their lost puppy …