Book	Author	Genre	Type of Read	Ranking/Rating on Goodreads
And There was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle	Jon Meacham	non fiction/bio of Abraham Lincoln	perspective	1/4.51
Someday, Maybe	Onyi Nwabineli	fiction/grief	book club	2/4.00
Maureen	Rachel Joyce	fiction/light/sequel	beach read	3/4.11
A Quiet Life	Ethan Joella	fiction/slice of life/different perspectives	beach read	4/4.19
Flying Solo	Linda Holmes	fiction/slice of life	beach read	5/3.60
The Art of Living: Reflections on Mindfulness and the overexamined life	Grant Snider	cartoons/adages on living	quiet reflection	6/4.11
London’s Number One Dog Walking Agency	Kate McDougal	non fiction/memoir	beach read	7/3.72
The Cloisters	Katy Hays	fiction/mystery/psych drama	beach read	8/3.54
Owner of a Lonely Heart	Eva Carter	fiction/rom com	beach read	9/4.00

1. Abe- This was a pretty readable bio of Abe. Straight forward and without much fluff. The things I found interesting were: 1) A little girl wrote to him and said that if he grew a beard he wouldn’t look so weird. The next time he was out in public he had a beard. Coincidence? 2) Washington Dc was always rat infested (a peeve of my daughter’s) 3) Back then the President didn’t pick the Vice President- the convention did. Points to ponder- what if Hamlin were the president instead of Johnson?
2. Someday- This book is about grief. I didn’t enjoy it as a fun romp, but liked its honest portrayal of someone dealing with a difficult time in their life. I thought the characters were nicely portrayed, but would have liked a little more on some. The writing was easy yet powerful. This is heavy subject matter so this book is not for everyone, but if you want to tackle grief, give it a try.
3. Maureen- I am a fan of Harold Fry, and this is sort of sequel to the Fry books. I like the way Joyce writes: she makes you think, but without banging you over the head. While this is fairly easy to read, it is somewhat thought provoking, but I don’t think I would read it for book club, unless you read all three and discussed it in tandem. Only read if you’ve read the others- though it might be the weakest of the three.
4. Quiet Life- This is like the Hallmark Channel of books- folksy characters- some bad things happen to good people- by the kindness of others people begin to live again. Maybe not a tear, but a sniffle. All is right with the world- Understated and readable- not too distressing on the emotions, but of course there is some conflict. A quiet book.
5. Flying- On the plus side, the main character is unapologetically plus size. She says she wears a size 18, but the book isn’t about her coming to terms with her size- she accepts it and we move on. But that being said, it’s almost like the author threw darts at a dartboard when coming up with plot lines- the book lacks real depth and we circle around lots of nothing.
6. Art of Living- This is one of those little books you put on your nightstand and read a page or two to give you a brief moment to pause and reflect. Some of the cartoons were quite good, while others were boring. It’s average.
7. Dog Walking- Book about young woman dissatisfied with her job who decides to tackle dog walking as a career. It’s got some moments, but other than some anecdotes about pesky owners, it was underwhelming.
8. Cloisters- Average psych drama about a young woman trying to make a name for herself in academia. Parts of this story are quite interesting, but there’s a few things that didn’t make sense to me. But as it takes place at the Met Cloisters- I had a vested interest
9. Owner- Cute and predictable boy meets girl, boy loses girl formula. It’s fine but nothing to run out and read

Movie	Genre	Where Seen	ranking/Rotten Tomatoes
Close	drama/coming of age/foreign (French)	Theater- Angelika	1/90/83
A House Made of Splinters	documentary/foreign language (Russian)/children in foster care in Ukraine	Theater-IFC- but there is no American distribution for this film- I saw it through DOCNY- a documentary film festival organization	2/96/80
You People	dramedy/social issues/satire sort of	Streaming- Netflix	3/42/36
Of An Age	drama/coming of age	Theater- AMC	4/87/89
Pale Blue Eye	drama/mystery/period/historical fiction	Streaming- Netflix	5/63/70
To Leslie	drama/addiction/relationships	Theater- Angelika	6/95/86
Navalny	non fiction/documentary/Russia	Streaming- HBO MAX	7/99/91
Your Place or Mine	rom com	Streaming- Netflix	8/32/38
Babylon	fiction/hollywood epic	Theater- AMC	9/56/52
80 for Brady	based on a true story	Theater- AMC	10/62/89
Alice, Darling	fiction/relationships	Theater- AMC	11/83/46
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed	non- fiction/documentary/Nan Goldin	Theater- IFC	12/95/48
Shotgun Wedding	rom com	Stream- Amazon	13/45/52
Marlowe	detective/noir/Philip Marlowe	Theater- AMC	14/23/35

1. Close-Understated coming of age story about two adolescent boys- honest and raw and emotional. Oscar non Foreign film
2. House- Doc about Ukranian foster care facility that houses children of alcoholics who have been placed there by the state. This was filmed in 2020, so events unfolding presently were not a factor. This is an emotional piece and highlights how children suffer in these circumstances. Emotional and raw. Oscar nom – Documentary feature.
3. You People- On the surface, this is a rom com- two people meet and fall in love. When you dig down deep, this is a movie about social issues, hypocrisy, and how the world works in 2023. I think everyone should see this movie.
4. Of an Age- This is a decent coming of age story about a 17 year old boy. It’s broken up into two parts- I thought part one was quite good- honest dialogue, subtle yet powerful acting. I thought part two was a bit of a mess- it was too understated and left me with more questions than answers.
5. Pale Blue- Interesting story about EA Poe when he was at West Point, and how he assisted in solving a murder. Fairly intriguing story that captured my attention thanks to solid performance by Christian Bale
6. To Leslie- Tells the story of a woman who battles with alcohol, and how that battle has affected her relationships with friends and family. Moving performances by Andrea Riseborough and Alison Janney in a supporting role. Oscar nom Best Actress (Riseborough)
7. Navalny- Tells the story of Navalny, who attempted to run against Putin, had an attempted assassination against him, and what it’s like trying to work for change in Russia. Straight up question and answer doc with lots of actual footage. I think this is worth a watch. Oscar nom for Best Documentary
8. Your Place- Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon being cute and adorable as best friends for twenty years. Totally predictable but if you like the genre give it a whirl
9. Babylon- Epic about Hollywood as the silent era comes to a close. Beautifully filmed, lots of glitz, but the film was one big drug fueled orgy. And it’s over three hours long. While there are some good moments in the film and a better than average performance by Brad Pitt, this is mainly a bore. Oscar noms for Original Score, Production Design and Costume Design (and deservedly so in these three categories)
10. 80 for Brady- Cute film, based on a real story, about a group of friends, who are in their 80s, and their improbable trip to the superbowl to see their hero Tom Brady. I’m thrilled to see woman of a certain age starring in movies
11. Alice- Interesting topic, relationship gone wrong do to domineering boyfriend- This could have been a good movie, but was reduced to tawdry Lifetime movie status. I felt like all the actors would rather be someplace else
12. All the Beauty- Lacks a distinct POV- Deals with emotional issues but in a clinical non feeling way, which says a lot. Oscar nom Best Documentary
13. Shotgun- j Lo’s wedding gets hijacked by pirates…do I need to say anything more?
14. Marlowe- I love hard boiled 40s noir film, which this film was intended to be…great cast used poorly- misdirected and misguided, with continuity issues. The worst part was, the theater was more crowded for this than it was for films with better ratings. This is obviously a genre that people want to see- so can’t they make a good detective film? or is an audience of people of a certain age not the audience they want?

I try to see everything nominated for Oscars. IFC theater in NYC shows these every Oscar season. I appreciated each of these films and thought they were all well done. These are the Live Action shorts in the order that I liked them, with 1 being my favorite:

1. An Irish Goodbye
2. Night Ride
3. Le Pupille
4. Ivalu
5. The Red Suitcase