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Monthly Tags

January - Science
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness

February - Thought-Provoking
Flight Behavior
Violeta

March - Classics
The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

April - Detective
The Violin Conspiracy

May - Character Driven
Mercy Street
Vigil Harbor
Love Marriage
Search
Such Big Dreams
Marrying the Ketchups

June - LGBTQ
The Latecomer
Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be

July - Memoir
Even though I enjoy memoirs, I haven't been able to find one that I'm interested in this month. In June, I read and enjoyed When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine.

August - Women's History
Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies

September - Favorites
Bel Canto
The Translator
Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir of Friendship

October - Scary

"Scary" is not for me - I'm sitting this one out.

November - Book Club
Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions: A Novel in Interlocking Stories
The Girl with the Louding Voice
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

December - Leadership
Unless I accidentally bump into a book that has this as a theme, I will let this one go.

Favorite Books of 2022

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
Violeta by Isabel Allende
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
True Biz by Sara Novic
Search by Michelle Huneven
Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra
Little Faith by Nickolas Butler
Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir of Friendship by Nina Totenberg
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

Tea Leaves and Patterns

Themes:

Enclosures/Cages - Safety and protection OR confinement?

Memory (Allende)

Trailblazing women cooks in the early 1960's

Gaps in Understanding - (due to a language difference, not being able to hear, or important information being withheld)

Child protagonists - seeing the world through their eyes

Latin American authors

Music (Country, Jazz, and Opera)

Translators/Language

Jealousy

Child Abuse

Novellas



Writing Trends:

Linked short stories

Thoughtful Author's Notes

Many books are featuring LGBTQ characters

Overly long novels with an overwhelming number of characters and storylines

Memorable Movies and Shows

"No Day But Today: The Story of Rent" -
The story of Jonathan Larson, creator of Rent, as told by his family, friends and theater associates. Very moving! (Youtube)

"The Eyes of Tammy Faye" (HBO Max) Jessica Chastain was fabulous in this.

"Tick, Tick... Boom" - (Netflix) - Also about Jonathan Larson and directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda

"Grace and Frankie" - Netflix - Wonderful final season

"The Winter Olympics"

"Coda" - Apple TV - movie about a deaf family with a hearing daughter who wants to sing (Ruby). Beautifully filmed.

"Acapulco" - Apple TV series - fun and fresh, bilingual

"Mrs. Maisel" - Amazon Prime - The show keeps getting more bizarre as the years go by. I've decided that it's best watched as a fantasy.

"Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" - Amazon Prime - documentary of his 40 city tour.

"Julia" - HBO Max - historical drama about the famed Julia Childs.

"Hacks, Season 2" - HBO Max

"The Tony Awards"

"Ms. Marvel" - Disney Plus

"Elvis" - HBO Max

"Respect" - DVD - about Aretha Franklin, as played by Jennifer Hudson

Movies and Shows Possibilities:

Netflix

All the Light We Cannot See - 4 part series - coming soon

The Crown - new season in 2022 (November 9th)


Amazon Prime

Showtime
**"George and Tammy" with Jessica Chastain

Movies and Shows Possibilities Continued:

Apple TV

Ted Lasso - new season in 2023 - not soon

Acapulco - season 2 - Oct. 21st - Releases a new show every Friday

Little America - from the producers of "Coda" - New


HBO Max

Disney Plus

Hulu

Art Shows, Special Exhibits, and Theater

"Picturing Motherhood"

"An Evening with Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody"

Bluegrass Music Festival at Hale Farm and Village

Sunflower Festival

"The New Now" juried art show - Debbie's painting was chosen

"Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection"