A Simple Favor
Format: DVD
Who’s It For: Adults
A Simple Favor is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while. Best friends, secrets, danger, a dead body and the ever-revolving question of who is duping whom. It is so full of intriguing twists and turns! It leaves you guessing all the way to the end! Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively and Henry Golding are terrific in this film.
Based on the book “A Simple Favour” by Darcey Bell
Recommended Book
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Publication/Release Date: November 20, 2018
Format: Book or ebook
Who it’s for: Adults
Here is the publisher’s blurb. I’d suggest only reading this much of it. It gives away too much of the story, IMHO. I picked this book based solely on the cover, title, and the author’s name.
Satire meets slasher in this short, darkly funny hand grenade of a novel about a Nigerian woman whose younger sister has a very inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends.
“Femi makes three, you know. Three and they label you a serial killer.”
Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola’s third boyfriend in a row is dead. Korede’s practicality is the sisters’ saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning
I read an advanced review copy ebook from Netgalley. We call them ARC’s. If you subscribe to different services or get on publishers’ lists, you can receive ARC’s of books to review before they are released. It’s pretty cool.
I am not sure how to comment on this without giving anything away. Basically, I really like it even though I don’t like any of the characters in the book. Although I can’t really tell they are in Africa, I was glad it was a novel written by an African woman. I was disappointed about that part. This story reads like any other story of a place I have never been in the USA; except for a few words (that I hope will have definitions in the finished publication), the traffic police, and a mention of a chief. As I read I thought they must be in Nigeria because that is where the author lives but I never could recall the name of the city. Since it’s a great character driven story, not much detail about the city/country where they live.
Korede is the older sister who enables Ayoola, her younger spoiled sister (as does the entire world cuz she is just that pretty). Right off the bat I am not that sympathetic to either of the sisters. Korede cuz she complains bitterly about Ayoola but says nothing and keeps enabling. Ayoola cuz she is a killer and a spoiled brat. Yet I really liked this book. It was quite thrilling in some parts and the other parts were equally fascinating. I did read parts out of order. The chapters titled Father intrigued me. I had a theory about his death and wanted to see if I was correct. I also read ahead because I wanted to know if Ayoola killed Korede’s crush. It’s a short read so I had already read a third of the book by the time I skipped around. It was a great, fun read. I hope she writes more and that they get published/released in the USA as well.
Ten dead comedians by Fred Van Lente
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults
Fred Van Lente’s brilliant debut is both an homage to the Golden Age of Mystery and a contemporary show-business satire. It is a darkly clever take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians) and other classics of the genre. As the story opens, nine comedians of various acclaim are summoned to the island retreat of legendary Hollywood funnyman Dustin Walker. These fictional comedians all will remind you of real life comedians in many ways. All nine arrive via boat to find that every building on the island is completely deserted. Marooned without cell phone service or wifi signals, they soon find themselves being murdered one by one. But who is doing the killing, and why?
I picked this up because of the publisher – Quirk books. They have many fun, different books for all ages.
If you have read or seen the movies based on And Then There Were None, you know it’s a locked room mystery with a crazy, unbelievable, twisty ending. I love Agatha Christie mysteries but I always tell people she cheats. The murder is always rather complicated. The murderer is a very fast MacGyver with the best luck. The timing is always just right. The murderer always figures out some hack to accomplish their goals. And the murderer is lucky that nobody sees them, except 1 person. Of course, that one person is eventually murdered. That is a Christie style mystery. I enjoy them but they cheat. This parody is no exception. The murders are elaborate and take MacGyver type skills to pull off. The murderer times things VERY well as they move from room to room. The ending is so fantastical you know nobody in real life could pull it off. But the story is an enjoyable mystery. The fact it is funny and satirizes showbiz is an added bonus.
I would recommend this book to mystery lovers, parody enthusiasts, folks in need of a laugh and those interested in the life of a comedian.
Book: Big Little Lies by Moriarty, Liane
TV Series: Big Little Lies
TV Series Release Date: 19 February 2017
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspooon, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgard, Laura Dern, Jeffrey Nordling, Adam Scott, Zoe Kravitz and James Tupper
Rated: TV-MA
This is the perfect TV show for anyone who loves a brilliant, mind bending, edge of your seat mystery.
The show is a bit confusing at first. But once you settle in hang on to your seat! All is not what it seems in the perfect lives of three mothers of first graders. It all starts when a new single mom named Jane moves into a seaside California town. Madeline and Celeste take Jane under their wing and quickly form a close friendship. No one realizes that the arrival of Jane and her little boy will begin the downward spiral that leads to murder. Things are definitely not as they seem in the lives of these almighty powerful families. Watch as their lives unravel revealing scandal, ex-husbands and ex-wives and lies that we tell just to survive. Big Little Lies will keep you in suspense all the way to the end. I must warn you….. you will want to watch the entire season in one sitting. Find it on the Library catalog.