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Through it all, through the worst of the isolation and even amid the chaos of resuming library service safely this summer, I always had books and movies and tv to keep me sane. More then I have since I was a teenager, I found myself taking comfort in episodic entertainments: books in a series and television with multiple seasons. Therefore, in some cases rather then showcasing a particular book or season in a series, I've chosen to highlight the complete works.
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Books I just couldn't put down ...
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Armageddon's Children / the Elves of Cintra / the Gypsy Morph by Terry BrooksIn the series Genesis of Shannara, Brooks takes us back once again to the world he introduced us to so long ago with The Sword of Shannara (1977). Genesis serves as a bridge connecting that classic sword & sorcery series with Brooks' urban fantasy Word & Void series. The modern world is fading into the past in a post-apocalyptic landscape and magic is just starting to creep back after millennia of the ascendance of science...
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Discworldby Sir Terry PratchettMany years ago, I purchased a promotional copy of The Light Fantastic for $1.50 at Ariel Booksellers and fell head-over-heels in love with Pratchett's dry, wacky, pointed, and above all British sense of humour. Rincewind the Wizzard, Commander Vimes, Esmerelda Weatherwax, and all the other well-crafted characters never fail to delight and divert me whenever I pick up a Discworld book and I reread several of them during quarantine.
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Shakespeare for Squirrels by Christopher Moore"Shakespeare meets Dashiell Hammett in this wildly entertaining murder mystery from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore—an uproarious, hardboiled take on the Bard’s most performed play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring Pocket, the hero of Fool and The Serpent of Venice, along with his sidekick, Drool, and pet monkey, Jeff. Set adrift by his pirate crew, Pocket washes up on the sun-bleached shores of Greece, where he hopes to dazzle the Duke with his comedic brilliance and become his trusted fool." -goodreads I really enjoy Moore's snarky, foulmouthed way of viewing the world, even when it's the hallowed, classic world of Shakespeare's plays.
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A Plague of Giants by Kevin HearneTaking a break from the insouciant, flippant, fourth-wall breaking antics of Atticus O'Sullivan, the protagonist of his successful and highly readable Iron Druid chronicles, Hearne proves here that he writes high fantasy just as well. “A rare masterpiece that's both current and timeless, groundbreaking yet traditional, merging the fantasy bones of Tolkien and Rothfuss with a wide cast of characters who'll break your heart while reminding you of your humanity."-goodreads
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VikingsCreated for the History Channel, Vikings is inspired by the sagas of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known legendary Norse heroes and notorious as the scourge of England and France. The story of Ragnar, Lagertha, Bjorn, Ubbe, Sigrid and Ivar sheds light on the humanity of a people often though of as brutal and even monstrous. The second half of the sixth and final season of Vikings just became available to stream on Amazon Prime, but all of the earlier seasons can be borrowed via the MHLS catalog.
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The Great British Baking ShowFeeling rather sickened by the constant election news back in 2016, my wife and I took great comfort from our hours spent with the ultra-nice, ultra-supportive contestants, hosts, and judges of this show. Who knew how much worse it would be in 2020? Thankfully, Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry, and all the varied cast of Brits were still there to comfort us. Aside from them all just being so darn nice, it's fun to see how incredibly talented these home cooks are. Along the way, you might learn what Brits mean when they say pudding or pie, cake or roll, cracker or flat-bread, etc. For instance, I now know that American brownies would be called a tray-bake across the pond, and also that I have no idea what they are talking about when they say brownie.
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I know that delaying the release dates of the Black Widow movie, The New Mutants, etc. ranks pretty low among the tragedies of 2020, but it did leave me jonesing for a Marvel fix. In an effort to scratch that itch, we wound up watching the whole run of movies in chronological order.
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I, Tonya I, Tonya is a masterclass in film-making, directed by Australian Craig Gillespie who has obviously been heavily influenced by Martin Scorsese. It superbly utilises long steadicam shots, freeze-frames, zoom close-ups, voiceover and frequent breaking of the fourth wall in a Henry Hill-type manner, not to mention perfectly selected music from the period to tell the fascinating true story of Tonya Harding. Margot Robbie is proving to be a prodigious talent. Allison Janney absolutely tears it up as the profane, chain-smoking LaVona Harding, constantly insulting and messing with Tonya's mind in the name of making her a champion.
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The King Starring the incredibly versatile Timothée Chalamet as young King Henry V, this film works brilliantly on so many levels. Setting aside the utterly compelling portrayal by Chalamet, the rest of the casting is equally stellar with Robert Pattinson delivering a deliciously detestable Dauphin and Joel Edgarton's thoughtful approach to the ever debauched Falstaf. The cinematography is breathtaking and the depiction of the battle at Agincourt leaves one a bit shaken to be honest. This film does not glorify warfare in the slightest. Hopefully NetFlix will release it on DVD soon.
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RuPaul's Drag Race I know that I'm late to the party, but this is a world I am so happy to explore. RuPaul and his shady-bitch friends are endlessly entertaining and yet somehow they find the time between challenges to show us that beyond all the makeup and glitter, deep down, we are all a lot more alike than not. Don't forget to watch Untucked: RuPaul's Drag Race after each episode. Not all the seasons are in one place, so we wound up watching some on Hulu, some on Amazon Prime, and a couple seasons on VUDU. Untucked is on YouTube.
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The Queen's Gambit Believe the hype. This limited series on NetFlix is stylish and compelling and I defy you not to fall in love with Anya Taylor-Joy after this powerhouse performance. You don't need to know how to play chess to enjoy this show, but if you do, you won't be left feeling insulted. The characters are complex and the costuming is like candy for the eyes. I wish it could come back for a second season, but this is a complete, satisfying story. Based on a 1983 American book of the same name by Walter Tevis.
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The MandalorianJon Favreau has done something many would have called impossible: he reignited the interest of multitudes of jaded Star Wars fans once again. Burned by those awful Lucas prequels, our ears perked up when JJ Abrams took the helm, only to have our hopes dashed again. Grudgingly, only because it was free, I dared to dip my toe once again into a galaxy far, far away and...joy! Favreau went back to the spaghetti westerns, back to Kurosawa's Yojimbo, the source material that originally inspired George Lucas to write Star Wars, and (drum roll) the force is back! This was a thoroughly enjoyable romp. Available only on Disney Plus.
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Elting Memorial Library 93 Main St. New Paltz, New York 12561-1593 845.255.5030eltinglibrary.org |
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