New Books of August

Bride of New France
Suzanne Desrochers
Laure Beausejour has been taken from her destitute family and raised in an infamous orphanage to be trained as a lace maker. Striking and willful, she dreams of becoming a seamstress and catching the eye of a nobleman. But after complaining about her living conditions, she is sent to Canada as a fille du roi, expected to marry a French farmer there. Laure is shocked by the primitive state of the colony and the mingling of the settlers with the native tribes. When her ill-matched husband leaves her alone in their derelict hut for the winter, she must rely on her wits and her clandestine relationship with an Iroquois man for survival.

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Matthew Dicks
Budo is lucky as imaginary friends go. He’s been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends. But Budo feels his age, and thinks constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him. When that happens, Budo will disappear. Budo, who loves Max and is charged with protecting him from the class bully, from awkward situations in the cafeteria, and even in the bathroom stalls. But he can’t protect Max from Mrs. Patterson, the woman who works with Max in the Learning Center and who believes that she alone is qualified to care for this young boy. When Mrs. Patterson does the unthinkable and kidnaps Max, it is up to Budo and a team of imaginary friends to save him – and Budo must ultimately decide which is more important: Max’s happiness or Budo’s very existence.

By Starlight
Dorothy Garlock
In early 1930s Montana, in the small town of Colton, Maddy Aldridge struggles to make ends meet during the Great Depression. Jeffers Grimm comes to her with a proposition too great for her to turn down: open an illegal speakeasy in the mercantile’s basement, defy Prohibition, and make enough money to make her worries disappear. But, unbeknownst to Maddy, Jeffers has also made a deal with the mob to bring huge quantities of alcohol across the Canadian border and store it in the mercantile. He wants to get rich, regardless of who stands in his way. Jack Rucker used to live in Colton and had been in love with Maddy before he moved away to become an agent for the Bureau of Prohibition. Now, after hearing rumors of a bootleg operation, the Bureau wants him to go back and hide in plain sight. What will Jack do when he finds out what Maddy is up to? Can he and Maddy rekindle the love they once knew? If Jeffers discovers Jack is a federal agent, to what ends will he go to silence him forever?

Goodbye for Now
Laurie Frankel
Sam Elling is a brilliant software engineer, so brilliant that he develops an algorithm to allow grieving people to communicate with their dead loved ones. Initially created to help his soul mate, Meredith, when her beloved grandmother, Livvie, dies; and using previous electronic communication between Meredith and Livvie, he sets up “dead mail” between them. Soon Sam, Meredith, and her cousin establish RePose. Ethical and religious issues arise (as when parents of terminally ill children spend time videotaping rather than living in the moment), and Sam has qualms about how helpful his service really is until he needs it himself.

City of Women
David R Gillham
Berlin 1943, in the midst of war, offers little comfort for the women left behind. Sigrid, a seemingly dutiful wife to a husband serving on the Russian front, copes with a tedious job, a hostile mother-in-law, rationed food, air raids, and the fear of stepping out of line. There is always someone eager to denounce a neighbor for an unguarded moment or outburst. Sigrid has her secrets but holds them close: a Jewish lover from the recent past, and a random event that draws her into a chain of people hiding and protecting Jews. Even though her naïveté takes her to dangerous places, she is wise enough to be cautious. Life becomes more fraught when Sigrid’s wounded husband returns.

Trickster’s Point
William Kent Krueger
Cork O’Connor and Jubal Little are deep in the Minnesota wilderness bowhunting, a long-standing tradition among these two friends, when the unthinkable happens. Little is killed by a stray arrow that turns out to have been O’Connor’s, and he becomes the primary suspect in the murder. He understands full well that he’s been set up. As he works to clear his name and track the real killer, he remembers his long, complex relationship with the tough kid who would grow up to become a professional football player, a populist politician, and the lover of the first woman to whom Cork ever gave his heart. Jubal was known by many for his passion, his loyalty, and his ambition. Only Cork knows that he was capable of murder.

Best Friends in Movies

Wayne’s World (1992) Rated PG-13

Wayne and Garth have their own public access TV show. When it becomes popular, a local station decides to hire them to do their show professionally. Meanwhile, Wayne meets and falls in love with Cassandra, a bass guitarist, who he helps by getting her career started by using his connections. But the road from basement to big time is fraught with danger and temptation.

The Odd Couple (1967) Rated G

A film about two divorced men who decide to share a New York apartment. One of them is fastidious and the other a slob.

Thelma and Louise (1991) Rated R

Thelma is an abused and neglected wife, while her friend Louise is a bitter, hard-edged waitress. The two decide to take a brief vacation to escape the drudgery of their everyday lives. Immediately, they run into trouble, as Louise shoots and kills a man who tries to rape Thelma in the parking lot of a country bar.

When Harry Met Sally (1989) Rated R

Will sex ruin a perfect relationship between a man and a woman? That’s what Harry and Sally debate during their first meeting and for the next eleven years.

Beaches (1988) Rated PG-13

Traces the friendship of two very different women, who meet on a beach as young girls, through good and bad times, career and marriage changes until together they must face a final challenge as only best friends can.

Australian Films

Lantana (2001) Rated R

A woman disappears and four marriages are drawn into a tangled web of love, deceit, sex and death.

Moulin Rouge (2001) Rated PG-13

Christian is an idealistic and impoverished young writer who, newly arrived in Montmartre, is haphazardly inducted into a circle of young Bohemians led by Toulouse-Lautrec. A comedy of mistaken identities ensues, quickly enmeshing the young poet in a love triangle involving the unobtainable and consumptive Satine, queen courtesan of the Moulin Rouge, and the foppish Duke of Roxbury, his villainous rival for her affections.

Muriel’s Wedding (1994) Rated R

No one ever paid much attention to Muriel and her humdrum small town life, so she and her best friend Rhonda decide to leave it behind and head for the big city… where they end up having the exciting adventure of their lives! What’s more, soon everyone takes notice when Muriel becomes engaged to a handsome and popular sports hero!

The Piano (1992) Rated R

A young mute woman and her child travel to New Zealand in the 1800s for an arranged marriage to a farmer. After the marriage she meets another man, and the competition for her love begins. Just one of the men realizes that her affections can only be won through her beloved piano.

Shine (1996) Rated PG-13

The story of Australian pianist David Helfgott. He suffers as a child under his father’s ambitions and as a young man defies his father’s wishes in order to pursue his dreams. At the beginning of a great concert career, he experiences a nervous breakdown and is hospitalized, but later returns to the concert hall. Tells the story of rebellion and of individuality through the eyes of a pianist whose major form of self-expression is found in the keys of his instrument.

Multiple Personalities on Film

A Beautiful Mind (2001) Rated PG-13

Dramatic biography of John Nash, a mathematical genius, who made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over his schizophrenia, and finally, late in life, received the Nobel Prize.

Fight Club (1999) Rated R

When a ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a soap salesman channel their aggression into therapeutic “fight clubs”, an eccentric woman gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

Hide and Seek (2005) Rated R

After his wife is found dead, David decides to take his child, Emily, to live in a house upstate. She finds a weird imaginary friend named Charlie. He likes to play games, and is jealous of anyone who tries to come between Emily and her dad.

Me, Myself, and Irene (2000) Rated R

Rhode Island state trooper Charlie Baileygates proves that nice guys finish first after marrying the prettiest gal in town. But when she leaves him for another man, Charlie develops a split personality, and his outrageous opposite, Hank, is born!

Sybil (1977) Rated NR

A landmark, classic drama depicting the extraordinary real life of a young woman suffering from multiple personality disorder.

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) (via What to Watch.)

Rated R Mick Haller runs his law office in the backseat of his Lincoln Town car. While defending an affluent womanizer Louis Roulet, who was charged with assault,  Haller’s past comes back to bite him including the truth behind his current case. Matthew McConaughey does a wonderful job portraying Mick Haller as his career crumbles around him. Other than McConaughey’s performance the film is a typical courtroom thriller. It didn’t offer any new pl … Read More

via What to Watch. The content and opinions expressed in this review do not necessarily reflect the views of nor are they endorsed by the Rice Lake Public Library.

Independence Day Films

Here’s a list of films to help celebrate our Nation:

Dave  (1993) Rated PG-13

Dave Kovic is an ordinary guy with a striking resemblance to the president, recruited by the Secret Service to act as a decoy during a public appearance. But when the president suffers a massive stroke, Dave is asked to take President Mitchell’s place until he recovers.

Frost/Nixon (2008) Rated R

Richard Nixon is the disgraced president with a legacy to save. David Frost is a jet-setting television personality with a name to make. This is the legendary battle between the two men and the historic encounter that changed both their lives. For three years after resigning from office, Nixon remained silent. But in the summer of 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Everyone is surprised that Nixon would select Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans (as well as a $600,000 fee). Likewise, Frost’s team harbors doubts that their boss with be able to hold his own. But as cameras roll, a charged battle of wits results.

Independence Day (1996) Rated PG-13

Massive spaceships appear in Earth’s skies and wonder turns to terror as the ships blast destructive beams of fire down on cities all over the planet. The world’s only hope lies with a determined band of survivors.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Rated NR

Washington’s youngest senator exposes corruption in high places, almost at the cost of his career.

National Treasure (2004) Rated PG

Since his childhood, Benjamin Franklin Gates has known that he is a descendant of a long line of people whose job it has been to guard a treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers. They hid clues to its whereabouts in the country’s currency and on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Now, Ben has learned of a plot to steal the Declaration, and has only one option: he has to steal it himself. Even if he pulls off this monumental task, keeping the treasure safe is still going to be incredibly hard, especially since the FBI now knows of his plans.

Wedding Films

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) Rated PG-13

Friends Julianne and Michael made a pledge to wed each other at twenty-eight if neither had found another partner. But when the day approaches, Michael announces his plans to marry Kimmy.

My Big, Fat Greek Wedding (2002) Rated PG

Toula is a quiet, devoted daughter in a big, crazy Greek family. Working in her father’s restaurant, she hides behind her family and keeps the world at a distance. One day at the restaurant she finds herself pouring coffee for a man who inspires her to change her life, and the way she sees the world–forever.

The Wedding Singer  (1998) Rated PG-13

Robbie Hart is a master of ceremonies, left at the altar at his own wedding. He becomes someone who can only destroy other people’s weddings until he meets a waitress named Julia. Julia, however, is about to have a wedding of her own and may be lost forever.

The Wedding Planner (2001) Rated PG-13

A romantic comedy about love, marriage and other events you just can’t plan for. Mary (Jennifer Lopez) is a successful, work obsessed wedding planner in San Francisco who finally finds a man of her own (Matthew McConaughey), or so she thinks. He turns out to be the groom in the biggest wedding of her career. Will she get the job or the guy?

Runaway Bride  (1999) Rated PG

An unlikely love story developes when a cynical, big-city columnist comes to a small town to cover the story of Maggie Carpenter, a bride who’s left men at the altar several times.