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The lovely ladies of Read Watch & Wine will share their opionions of books that have been made into movies. They will discuss the storyline adaptations, plot twist and changes, and of course the casting. Please keep in mind that many details are discussed and therefore spoliers are inevitable.

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    • Jan 31, 2023 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 24m AVG DURATION
    • 102 EPISODES

    5 from 34 ratings Listeners of Read Watch & Wine that love the show mention: ladies, energy, awesome, amazing, show, great, love.



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    Latest episodes from Read Watch & Wine

    A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2023 29:07


    A Wrinkle in Time is a young adult science fantasy novel by American author Madeleine L'Engle. The main characters – Meg Murry, Charles Wallace Murry, and Calvin O'Keefe – embark on a journey through space and time, from galaxy to galaxy, as they endeavor to rescue the Murry's' father and fight back The Black Thing that has intruded into several worlds. The novel offers a glimpse into the war between light and darkness and good and evil as the young characters mature into adolescents on their journey.

    Tiny Pretty Things by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2022 30:57


    Black Swan meets Pretty Little Liars in this drama-packed debut about three perfect girls who will do anything to be the prima ballerina at their elite New York ballet school. Now a major Netflix series! Being a dancer at New York's most elite ballet school isn't easy. Everyone wants to be the prima ballerina, and sometimes you must play dirty. With the competition growing fiercer with every performance and harmless pranks growing ever darker, Bette, June, and Gigi find themselves battling it out to stay at the top. And it's only a matter of time before one small spark ignites... and even the best get burned...

    RWW 100th Episode - Interview with Author - Dhonielle Clayton

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2022 42:46


    Born and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Dhonielle spent much of her childhood hiding beneath her grandmother's dining table with a stack of books. As an English teacher at a ballet academy, Clayton rediscovered her passion for children's and young adult literature. To ground herself in the canon, she pursued her Masters in Children's Literature from Hollins University before receiving her MFA in Writing for Children at the New School. She is a former middle school librarian, where she pestered children to read and curated a diverse collection. An avid traveler, Dhonielle's lived in several foreign countries, but she's now settled in Harlem, where you'll find her writing late into the night, lurking in libraries, and hunting for the best slice of New York pizza. She is the COO of We Need Diverse Books and the co-founder of Cake Literary. The co-author of the dance dramas Tiny Pretty Things and Shiny Broken Pieces, as well as the upcoming Rumor Game, Dhonielle is the author of the New York Times bestselling YA fantasy series The Belles.  In our next episode, we will review  Dhonielle book Tiny Pretty Things

    The Willoughby by Lois Lowry

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2022 31:45


    Convinced they'd be better off raising themselves, the Willoughby children hatch a sneaky plan to send their selfish parents on vacation. The siblings then embark on their own high-flying adventure to find the true meaning of family.

    Passing by Nella Larsen

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2022 23:55


    Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives. The title refers to the practice of "racial passing" and is a key element of the novel. Clare Kendry's attempt to pass as white for her husband, John (Jack) Bellew, is a significant depiction in the novel and a catalyst for the tragic events.  

    Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2022 34:50


    Nine people from different walks of life attend a pricey 10-day "Mind and Body Total Transformation Retreat" at a place called the Tranquillum House run by a mysterious Russian woman named Masha. Throughout the course of their retreat, they realize that each of them is battling their own demons and all of them are subjects of an experiment.

    Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2022 38:20


    Thirteen Reasons Why is a young adult novel written by Jay Asher in 2007 that follows the story of Hannah Baker, a high school freshman, and the thirteen reasons why she commits suicide. Following her death, Hannah leaves behind 7 double-sided cassette tapes detailing the 13 specific people and events that she blames for her demise. Two weeks after her death, these cassette tapes are mailed out with directions to pass the tapes on to the next person on the tape. Hannah's life story is conveyed through these tapes, which are narrated by Hannah herself, and through the point of view of Clay, her classmate and the ninth person to receive the tapes. The inspiration behind the main character, Hannah Baker, comes from author Jay Asher's close relative who attempted suicide. Since the novel's publication in 2007, Thirteen Reasons Why has received much recognition.  As of 2014 Thirteen Reasons Why had been a New York Times bestseller for over 3 years and published in multiple countries. The novel's success has also been met with backlash, becoming the third-most banned book in the United States between 2010 and 2019. Additionally, in March 2017 a Netflix original series was released based on the book.

    Bridgerton - The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2022 31:45


    Daphne Bridgerton, the fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. But no one truly desires her. She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen. Amiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society—just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. Yet an encounter with his best friend's sister offers another option. If Daphne agrees to a fake courtship, Simon can deter the mamas who parade their daughters before him. Daphne, meanwhile, will see her prospects and her reputation soar. The plan works like a charm—at first. But amid the glittering, gossipy, cut-throat world of London's elite, there is only one certainty: love ignores every rule.

    Molly's Game by Molly Bloom

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 19, 2022 31:28


    Molly Bloom reveals how she built one of the most exclusive, high-stakes underground poker games in the world—an insider's story of excess and danger, glamour and greed. In the late 2000s, Molly Bloom, a twentysomething petite brunette from Loveland Colorado, ran the highest stakes, most exclusive poker game Hollywood had ever seen—she was its mistress, its lion tamer, its agent, and its oxygen. Everyone wanted in, few were invited to play. Hundreds of millions of dollars were won and lost at her table. Molly's game became the game for those in the know—celebrities, business moguls, and millionaires. Molly staged her games in palatial suites with beautiful views and exquisite amenities. She flew privately, dined at exclusive restaurants, hobnobbed with the heads of Hollywood studios, was courted by handsome leading men, and was privy to the world's most delicious gossip until it all came crashing down around her. Molly's Game is a behind-the-scenes look at Molly's game, the life she created, the life she lost, and what she learned in the process.

    Along Came A Spider by James Patterson

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 5, 2022 30:15


    Alex Cross is a homicide detective with a Ph.D. in psychology. He works and lives in the ghettos of D. C. and looks like Muhammad Ali in his prime. He's a tough guy from a tough part of town who wears Harris Tweed jackets and likes to relax by banging out Gershwin tunes on his baby grand piano. But he also has two adorable kids of his own, and they are his own special vulnerabilities. Jezzie Flanagan is the first woman ever to hold a highly sensitive job as supervisor of the Secret Service in Washington. Blond, mysterious, seductive, she's got an outer shell that's as tough as it is beautiful. She rides her black BMW motorcycle at speeds of no less than 100 mph. What is she running from? What is her secret? Alex Cross and Jezzie Flanagan are about to have a forbidden love affair at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji, who wants to commit the "crime of the century," is playing at the top of his game. Soneji has outsmarted the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Who will be his next victim?

    Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2021 31:22


    The novel centers on 18-year-old Madeline Whittier, who is being treated for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), also known as "bubble baby disease". Due to this, Madeline is kept inside her house in Los Angeles, where she lives with her mother, a doctor. The story follows 18-year-old Madeline Whittier a half Japanese, half African-American 18-year-old who is being treated by her doctor mother for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), and therefore is not allowed to leave her house or interact with anything that has not been "sanitized". Her world consists of her mother Pauline, her nurse Carla, and the books she finds comfort in; with her father and brother having died a long time ago in a car accident. Maddy's life changes when a family moves in next door. She watches them from the window and learns that the family includes a father, mother, daughter named Kara, and a son named Olly. Olly befriends Maddy, and the two begin to message each other online. Meanwhile, Olly's father is abusive and Kara has a smoking problem.

    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley,

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 8, 2021 30:16


    Brave New World is a dystopian social science fiction novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society that is challenged by only a single individual: the story's protagonist. 

    Monster by Walter Dean Myers

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2021 26:32


    The novel begins with 16-year-old Steve Harmon writing in his book awaiting his trial for murder. Musing on his short time in prison so far, he decides to record this upcoming experience in the form of a movie screenplay. Kathy O'Brien, Steve's lawyer, informs him of what will happen during the trial. At this stage, only two of the four accused – James King and Steve – will be tried, since the other two accused – Richard "Bobo" Evans and Osvaldo Cruz – have entered into a plea bargain. When the trial first begins, Steve flashes back to a movie he saw in his school's film of predictability. The trial begins with the opening statements of the prosecutor Sandra Petrocelli, Miss O'Brien, and King's lawyer, Asa Briggs. Petrocelli labels the four accused men, including Steve, as "monsters." The lawyers call on several witnesses, including Salvatore Zinzi and Wendell Bolden, illicit cigarette traders, who admit to buying cigarettes that came from a drugstore robbery that led to the murder. The story of the trial is often broken up by a variety of flashbacks, including ones showing that King is only acquainted with Steve, that King had accused Steve of pulling the trigger during the robbery. Petrocelli calls as a witness Osvaldo Cruz, who is affiliated with the Diablos, a violent street gang. Cruz admits to participating in the crime only due to coercion by Bobo. The novel depicts the themes of identity, race, peer pressure, dehumanization, crime, teenaged masculinity, and the relative or subjective nature of the truth.

    To all the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

    Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2021 20:21


    What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once? Sixteen-year-old Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

    Breakfast at Tiffany‘s by Truman Capote

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2021 24:33


    In autumn 1943, the unnamed narrator befriends Holly Golightly. The two are tenants in a brownstone apartment in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Holly (age 18–19) is a country girl turned New York café society, girl. As such, she has no job and lives by socializing with wealthy men, who take her to clubs and restaurants, and give her money and expensive presents; she hopes to marry one of them. According to Capote, Golightly is not a prostitute, but an "American geisha". Holly likes to shock people with carefully selected tidbits from her personal life or her outspoken viewpoints on various topics. Over the course of a year, she slowly reveals herself to the narrator, who finds himself quite fascinated by her curious lifestyle.

    You Should Have Known by Jean Hanee Korelitz and the tv series The Undoing

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2021 27:30


    Grace Reinhart Sachs is living the only life she ever wanted for herself. Devoted to her husband, a pediatric oncologist at a major cancer hospital, their young son Henry, and the patients she sees in her therapy practice, her days are full of familiar things: she lives in the very New York apartment in which she was raised, and sends Henry to the school she herself once attended. Dismayed by how women delude themselves, Grace is also the author of a book You Should Have Known, in which she cautions women to really hear what men are trying to tell them. But weeks before the book is published, a chasm opens in her own life: a violent death, a missing husband, and, in the place of a man Grace thought she knew, only an ongoing chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by how she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself.

    The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2021 20:39


    Andrea Sachs, a recent graduate of Brown University with a degree in English, moves to New York City with her best friend, Lily, a graduate student at Columbia. Andrea hopes to find a career in publishing and blankets the city with her résumé. She believes she'll be closer to her dream of working for The New Yorker if she can get a job in the magazine industry. She gets a surprise interview at the Elias-Clark Group and is hired as a junior assistant for Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine Runway. Although she knows little of the fashion world, everyone tells her that "a million girls would die for [her] job." If she manages to work for Miranda for a year, people tell her, she can have her choice of jobs within the magazine industry.

    Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2021 19:03


    Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race is a 2016 nonfiction book written by Margot Lee Shetterly. Shetterly started working on the book in 2010. The book takes place from the 1930s through the 1960s when some viewed women as inferior to men. The biographical text follows the lives of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, three mathematicians who worked as computers (then a job description) at NASA, during the space race. They overcame discrimination there, as women and as African Americans. Also featured is Christine Darden, who was the first African-American woman to be promoted into the Senior Executive Service for her work in researching supersonic flight and sonic booms.

    The Goodlord Bird by James McBride

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2021 29:34


    Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857 when the region is a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces. When John Brown, the legendary abolitionist, arrives in the area, an argument between Brown and Henry’s master quickly turns violent. Henry is forced to leave town—with Brown, who believes he’s a girl. Over the ensuing months, Henry—whom Brown nicknames Little Onion—conceals his true identity as he struggles to stay alive. Eventually, Little Onion finds himself with Brown at the historic raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859—one of the great catalysts for the Civil War. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination, and told with McBride’s meticulous eye for detail and character, The Good Lord Bird is both a rousing adventure and a moving exploration of identity and survival.

    Enola Holmes Mysteries -The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2021 24:36


    On Enola's fourteenth birthday, her mother disappears, and Sherlock and Mycroft, Enola's brothers, conclude that her mother voluntarily left. Enola is devastated but eventually discovers elaborate ciphers her mother wrote, which leads her to conclude that she left to live with the Romani people and escape Victorian society's confines. Enola finds that her mother left money to fund her escape. When the eldest Mycroft insists that Enola attend boarding school and learn to be a proper lady, she runs away to London instead.  Horrified by her brothers' plans to send her to a boarding school and the prospect of wearing a corset, she escapes. Dressed as a widow, she runs across Inspector Lestrade, who is working on a case with Sherlock about the disappearance of a young Viscount, Lord Tewksbury. Nearly blowing her cover, she finds a secret hiding place that seems to be the young Viscount's hideaway. Concluding that he ran away, she sets off to look for him. Upon arriving in London, Enola discovers the city is not the magical place of her imagination. The same people who have kidnapped the Viscount, who has no street smarts, kidnap Enola. After escaping with the Viscount, she bribes a woman to buy them clothing. Hiding in a police station right under Sherlock's nose, Enola runs away, leaving only a sketch of the suspect on the bench. She sends a coded message via the personal column to her mother, who responds that she has gone to live with the Romani. The epilogue reveals that Enola has taken on two personas. To the poor, she's the mute "Sister," and to the rich, Ivy, the secretary to a private investigator.

    Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff review of TV series adaptation

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2020 35:18


    Atticus Turner, working in Florida after leaving the army, returns home to Chicago after receiving a mysterious letter from his estranged father, Montrose, saying he had left Chicago to go to Ardham, Massachusetts, where he believed he could find some information on Atticus' mother's family (previously unknown to them). Atticus, his uncle George, and his childhood friend Letitia drive to Ardham to find Montrose. They are chased, accosted, and later nearly murdered by racists on the way. Once at Ardham, they find a large manor house called Ardham Lodge. Atticus learns that he is the descendant of the Lodge's founder, Titus Braithwhite. Montrose is being held hostage, chained up in a basement. The current owner of the house, Samuel Braithwhite, is planning a ceremony with all of the members of his lodge (a sect of sorcerers called "The Order of the Ancient Dawn") during which he needs a Braithwhite descendant to be a conduit for some ancient power. Presumably, this will kill Atticus. Caleb Braithwhite (Samuel's only son) is also in attendance, and he secretly instructs Atticus with an incantation to say during the ceremony. Atticus does this, and it causes the unleashed power to consume Samuel and all the members of the lodge and turn them into dust while protecting Atticus. Caleb releases Atticus, George, Montrose, and Letitia and lets them leave to go back to Chicago. The story broken into distinct storylines with several themes such as Lovecraft Country, Dreams of the Which House, Abdullah's Book, Hippolyta Disturbs the Universe, Jekyll In Hyde Park, The Narrow House, Horace, and the Devil Doll, and The Mark Of Cain.

    The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester and review of the movie adaptation Greyhound

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2020 22:53


    The hero of The Good Shepherd is Commander Krause, the captain of the fictional US Navy Mahan-class destroyer USS Keeling in World War II. Krause is in overall command of an escort force protecting an Atlantic convoy in the Battle of the Atlantic, shepherding it through the Mid-Atlantic gap where no antisubmarine aircraft are able to defend convoys. He finds himself in a difficult position. The voyage in question occurs early in 1942, shortly after the United States' entry into the war. Although he is a career Navy officer, with many years of seniority, this is Krause's first wartime mission. The captains of the other vessels in the escort group are junior to him in rank, and much younger, but they have been at war for over two years. The story covers 13 watches (52 hours) aboard the ship's bridge and is told in the third person entirely from Krause's point of view as he fights to save his ship, detailing his mood swings from his intense and focused excitement and awareness during combat to his resulting fatigue, depression, and self-doubt as his self-perceived inferiority and inexperience to the other captains under his command troubles him (although as the story progresses he is shown to be quite capable). He broods over his career and the wife who left him, partly because of his strict devotion to duty. He is troubled when the press of duty forces him to neglect his prayers (unlike most of Forester's other heroes, Krause is devout). He is troubled by recollections that the Navy review board had twice passed him over for promotion, returning a judgment of fitted and retained due to little or no opportunity in the prewar Navy. His promotion to Commander only came when the United States entered the war, leading him to fear that he may be unsuited to his command.

    Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2020 25:24


    Sarah's Key is a novel by Tatiana de Rosnay, first published in its French translation as Elle s'appelait Sarah in September 2006. Two main parallel plots are followed through the book. The first is that of ten-year-old Sarah Starzynski, a Jewish girl born in Paris, arrested with her parents during the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup.  Before they go, she locks her four-year-old brother in a cupboard, thinking the family should be back in a few hours. The second plot follows Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris, who is asked to write an article in honor of the roundup's 60th anniversary.

    The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2020 29:17


    Taking place mostly in rural Georgia the story focuses on the life of African-American women in the southern United States in the 1930s, addressing numerous issues including their exceedingly low position in American social culture.Celie is a poor, uneducated 14-year-old girl living in the South in the early 1900s. She writes letters to God because the man she thought was her father, Alphonso, beats, and rapes her. Alphonso has already impregnated Celie once, a pregnancy that resulted in the birth of a boy named Adam, whom Alphonso also abducts, and Celie thinks he killed him. Celie then has a second child, Celie's ailing mother dies after cursing Celie on her deathbed. The second child was a girl named Olivia, but Alphonso took the baby away shortly after her birth.Celie and her younger sister, 12-year-old Nettie, learn that a man identified only as Mister wants to marry Nettie. Alphonso refuses to let Nettie marry, instead of arranging for Mister to marry Celie. Mister, a widower needing someone to care for his children and keep his house, eventually accepts the offer. Mister physically, sexually, and verbally abuses Celie, and all his children treat her badly as well.Shortly thereafter, Nettie runs away from Alphonso and takes refuge at Celie's house, where Mister makes sexual advances toward her. Celie then advises Nettie to seek assistance from a well-dressed black woman that she saw in the general store a while back; the woman has unknowingly adopted Olivia and was the only black woman that Celie had ever seen with money of her own. Nettie is forced to leave after promising to write. Celie, however, never receives any letters and concludes that her sister is dead.

    The Help by Kathryn Stockett

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2020 25:33


    The Help is 2009  about African Americans working in white households in Mississippi during the early 1960s.  The Help is set in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi, and told primarily from the first-person perspectives of three women: Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan. Aibileen is a maid who takes care of children and cleans. Her own 24-year-old son, Treelore, died from an accident on his job. In the story, she is tending the Leefolt household and caring for their toddler, Mae Mobley. Minny is Aibileen's friend who frequently tells her employers what she thinks of them, resulting in her having been fired from nineteen jobs. Minny's most recent employer was Mrs. Walters, mother of Hilly Holbrook. Skeeter is the daughter of a wealthy white family who owns Longleaf, a cotton farm, and formerly a plantation, outside Jackson. Many of the field hands and household help are African Americans. Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from University and wants to become a writer. Skeeter's mother wants her to get married and thinks her degree is just a pretty piece of paper. Skeeter is curious about the disappearance of Constantine, her maid who brought her up and cared for her. Constantine had written to Skeeter while she was away from home in college saying what a great surprise she had awaiting her when she came home. Skeeter's mother tells her that Constantine quit and went to live with relatives in Chicago. Skeeter does not believe that Constantine would leave her like this; she knows something is wrong and believes that information will eventually come out. Everyone Skeeter asks about the unexpected disappearance of Constantine pretends it never happened and avoids giving her any real answers.

    I know this much is true by Wally Lamb

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2020 27:02


    The novel takes place in Three Rivers, Connecticut in the early 1990s. Dominick Birdsey's identical twin, Thomas Birdsey, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. With medication, Thomas is able to live his life in relative peace and work at a coffee stand, but occasionally, he has severe episodes of his illness. Thinking he is making a sacrificial protest that will stop the Gulf War, Thomas cuts off his own hand while at a public library. Dominick sees him through the ensuing decision not to attempt to reattach the hand, and makes efforts on his behalf to free him from what he knows to be an inadequate and depressing hospital for the dangerously mentally ill. In the process, Dominick contemplates his own difficult life as Thomas's brother, his marriage to his gorgeous ex-wife, which ended after their only child died of SIDS, and his ongoing hostility toward his stepfather. Dominick also displays classic symptoms of PTSD, as a result of stressors in his adult life. First in Thomas's interests, and then for his own sake, he sees a therapist, Dr. Rubina Patel, a psychologist employed by the hospital. She helps Dominick come to understand Thomas's illness better and the family's accommodations or reactions to it. In the course of Thomas's treatment, Dominick is covertly informed of sexual abuse taking place in the hospital, and helps to expose the perpetrators. He succeeds in getting Thomas released, but Thomas soon dies, apparently by suicide. After Thomas's death, Dominick discovers the identity of their birth father, who was part African American and part Native American—a secret their mother had shared with Thomas, but not with him. In the midst of this, Dominick is also reading the autobiography of his grandfather, Italian/Sicilian-born Domenico Tempesta, which discloses details about the legacy of twins in their family. Dominick learns about himself and his mother through learning about his grandfather. He also learns that his live-in girlfriend, Joy, has been seeing a gentleman on the side, who is her bisexual half-uncle, and has also let him watch her and Dominick during sex on previous occasions. She is also HIV-positive, having contracted it from her secret lover. She asks Dominick to raise her baby if she dies. At first Dominick resists, but later, after having found his way back into a relationship with his ex-wife, Dessa, they decide to remarry each other and adopt Joy's daughter. The book ends with Dominick able to cope with the considerable loss, failure, and sorrow in his personal and family history.

    The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2020 21:18


    The Last Thing he wanted is a novel published by Joan Didion. The story centers on Elena McMahon, a reporter for The Washington Post who quits her job covering the 1984 US Presidential election to care for her father after her mother's death. In an unusual turn of events, she inherits his position as an arms dealer for the U.S. Government in Central America. In this sparsely written, quick-paced narrative, Elena struggles to cope with the spies, American military personnel, and the consequences of her father's errors that are waiting for her on a small island off the coast of Antillas.

    In the Tall grass, by Stephen King and Joe Hill

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2020 18:15


    In the Tall Grass is a horror novella by American writers Stephen King and his son Joe Hill.  Cal and Becky Demuth are inseparable siblings (being called Irish twins by their parents, although they are 19 months apart). Becky finds out during her sophomore year of college that she is pregnant, leading the twins' parents to suggest she go live with her aunt and uncle until the baby is born.  While on this journey brother and sister enter a field of tall grass to rescue a boy, but they soon realize they cannot escape and something evil lurks in the grass.

    The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, book to movie review of several movie adaptations such as, A Dark Place, The Innocents and The Turning

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 12, 2020 25:32


    The Turn of the Screw is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James that first appeared in serial format in Collier's Weekly magazine (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898 it appeared in The Two Magics, a book published by Macmillan in New York City and Heinemann in London. Classified as both gothic fiction and a ghost story, the novella focuses on a governess who, caring for two children at a remote estate, becomes convinced that the grounds are haunted. In the century following its publication, The Turn of the Screw became a cornerstone text of academics who subscribed to New Criticism. The novella has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive. Many critics have tried to determine the exact nature of the evil hinted at by the story. However, others have argued that the brilliance of the novella results from its ability to create an intimate sense of confusion and suspense within the reader.

    Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer book to movie adaptation

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2020 23:02


    Based on the first two books in author Eoin Colfer wildly popular children's fantasy series, Walt Disney Studios' Artemis Fowl tells the story of adolescent criminal genius Artemis, who captures a vicious fairy, and attempts to harness her magical powers in a bid to rescue his family.

    The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, review of the adaptations of several movies

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2020 30:50


    A mysterious man, Griffin, arrives at the local inn owned by Mr. and Mrs. Hall of the English village of Iping, West Sussex, during a snowstorm. The stranger wears a long-sleeved, thick coat and gloves; his face is hidden entirely by bandages except for a fake pink nose; and he wears a wide-brimmed hat. He is excessively reclusive, irascible, unfriendly, and an introvert. He demands to be left alone and spends most of his time in his rooms working with a set of chemicals and laboratory apparatus, only venturing out at night. While Griffin is staying at the inn, hundreds of strange glass bottles (that he calls his luggage) arrive. Many local townspeople believe this to be very odd. He becomes the talk of the village with many theorizing as to his origins. Meanwhile, a mysterious burglary occurs in the village. Griffin is running out of money and is trying to find a way to pay for his board and lodging. When his landlady demands that he pay his bill and quit the premises, he reveals part of his invisibility to her in a fit of pique. An attempt to apprehend the stranger is frustrated when he undresses to take advantage of his invisibility, fights off his would-be captors, and flees to the downs. In the process, he arms himself with an iron pipe; when a man follows the "floating pipe" and accidentally forces the Invisible Man into thorn bushes, the Invisible Man commits his first murder. There Griffin coerces a tramp, Thomas Marvel, into becoming his assistant. With Marvel, he returns to the village to recover three notebooks that contain records of his experiments. When Marvel attempts to betray the Invisible Man to the police, Griffin chases him to the seaside town of Port Burdock, threatening to kill him. Marvel escapes to a local inn and is saved by the people at the inn, but Griffin escapes. Marvel later goes to the police and tells them of this "invisible man," then requests to be locked up in a high-security jail. Griffin's furious attempt to avenge his betrayal leads to his being shot. He takes shelter in a nearby house that turns out to belong to Dr. Kemp, a former acquaintance from medical school. To Kemp, he reveals his true identity. Griffin is a former medical student who left medicine to devote himself to optics. He recounts how he invented chemicals capable of rendering bodies invisible, and, on impulse, performed the procedure on himself. Griffin tells Kemp the story of how he became invisible. He explains how he tried the invisibility on a cat, then himself. Griffin burned down the boarding house he was staying in, along with all the equipment he had used to turn invisible, to cover his tracks, but he soon realized that he was ill-equipped to survive in the open. He attempted to steal food and clothes from a large department store, and eventually stole some clothing from a theatrical supply shop on Drury Lane and headed  to attempt to reverse the invisibility. Having been driven somewhat unhinged by the procedure and his experiences, he now imagines that he can make Kemp his secret confederate, describing a plan to begin a "Reign of Terror" by using his invisibility to terrorize the nation.

    The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (audio)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2020 29:52


    The book is narrated through the eyes of Pat Peoples, and occasionally Tiffany's through letters. A former history teacher who has moved back to his childhood home in Collingswood, New Jersey, after spending time in a Baltimore psychiatric hospital, Pat believes he has been away only a few months, but soon realizes it has been years, and struggles to piece together his lost memories and what has become of his wife, Nikki. He has a hypothesis that life is a film created by God and that its "silver lining" will be the end of "Apart Time" with Nikki. Pat embarks on a plan of self-improvement in order to win Nikki back.

    A Dog's Way Home by Bruce Cameron, book to movie review

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2020 16:43


    A young dog named Bella is separated from her owner, Lucas, and must find her way home. On her 400-mile journey, the lost dog meets new friends who help her find her way through the Colorado wilderness.

    Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes compared to season two of YOU (audio)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2020 24:35


    A  compulsively readable follow-up to her widely acclaimed debut novel, You. Joe Goldberg is no stranger to hiding bodies. In the past ten years, this thirty-something has buried four of them, collateral damage in his quest for love. Now he’s heading west to Los Angeles, the city of second chances, determined to put his past behind him. In Hollywood, Joe blends in effortlessly with the other young upstarts. He eats guac, works in a bookstore, and flirts with a journalist neighbor. But while others seem fixated on their own reflections, Joe can’t stop looking over his shoulder. The problem with hidden bodies is that they don’t always stay that way. They re-emerge, like dark thoughts, multiplying and threatening to destroy what Joe wants most: truelove. And when he finds it in a darkened room in Soho House, he’s more desperate than ever to keep his secrets buried. He doesn’t want to hurt his new girlfriend—he wants to be with her forever. But if she ever finds out what he’s done, he may not have a choice…

    Most Dangerous game by Richard Connell book to movie review of several adaptations (audio)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2020 38:16


    "The Most Dangerous Game", also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff", is a short story by Richard Connell on January 19, 1924. The story features a big-game hunter from New York City who falls off a yacht and swims to what seems to be an abandoned and isolated island in the Caribbean, where he is hunted by a Russian aristocrat. The story is inspired by the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were particularly fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s.  The story has been adapted numerous times in this episode the following adaptations are reviewed. 1932 - Most Dangerous Game 1994 - Surviving the Game 2020 - The Hunt 2020 - Most Dangerous Game (mini series)

    Freakshow by James St. James (audio)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2020 27:49


    Meet Billy Bloom, a new student at the ultra-white, ultra-rich, ultra-conservative Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy and drag queen extraordinaire. Actually, ?drag queen? does not begin to describe Billy and his fabulousness. Any way you slice it, Billy is not a typical seventeen-year-old, and the Bible Belles, Aberzombies, and Football Heroes at the academy have never seen anyone quite like him before. But thanks to the help and support of one good friend, Billy?s able to take a stand for outcasts and underdogs everywhere in his own outrageous, over-the-top, sad, funny, brilliant, and unique way.See Less

    Disobedience by Naomi Alderman

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2020 29:14


    Disobedience is the debut novel by British author Naomi Alderman. First published in the UK in March 2006, the novel has since been translated into ten languages. Disobedience follows a rabbi's bisexual daughter as she returns from New York to her Orthodox Jewish community in Hendon, London. Although the subject matter was considered somewhat controversial, the novel was well received and earned Alderman the 2006 Orange Award for New Writers and the 2007 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award.

    Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli review of the movie titled. Love Simon (audio only)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2020 28:46


    Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda is a 2015 young adult novel and the debut book by American author Becky Albertalli. The coming-of-age story focuses on its titular protagonist Simon Spier, a closeted gay high-school-aged boy who is forced to come out after a blackmailer discovers Simon's e-mails written to another closeted classmate with whom he has fallen in love.

    We the Animals by Justin Torres (audio)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 3, 2020 19:19


    We the Animals is the debut novel by the American author Justin Torres. It is a novel about three wild brothers of white and Puerto Rican parentage who live a rough and tumble childhood in rural upstate New York.   Scrambling their way through a dysfunctional childhoodrk during the 1980s. The youngest brother, who is the protagonist, eventually breaks away from the rest of the family.

    Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (audio only)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2020 48:13


    In 1998, the Richardson home catches fire. Arson is suspected, as there were multiple small fires. The previous year, 1997, Elena Richardson rents her rental home across town to Mia Warren, an artist, and her teenage daughter, Pearl. Elena's younger son, Moody, who is Pearl's age, develops a crush on Pearl and becomes friends with her. Pearl meets his siblings Lexie, Trip, and Izzy. Pearl, who is used to a transient lifestyle in which her mother scrapes together money, is charmed by the Richardsons and their established home.  Mia works part-time at a Chinese restaurant and sells photographs through a dealer in New York. She becomes concerned about Pearl's idealization of the Richardsons. When Elena condescendingly offers her a job doing housekeeping for her family, she agrees only to keep an eye on Pearl. She meets Izzy, the black sheep of the family, and the two become close. The Richardsons are invited to the birthday party of Mirabelle McCullough, the adopted daughter of Elena's friend. Mia realizes that the child is May Ling Chow, the daughter of Bebe Chow, Mia's co-worker at the restaurant, who gave up her child in the middle of a postpartum episode and economic hardship. Bebe has been looking for her child for over a year.  The scandal results in Bebe getting visitation rights and help from a lawyer pro bono. Elena discovers that Bebe learned of her child's whereabouts through Mia. Angry on behalf of her friend, she investigates Mia's past. She tracks down Mia's parents and learns that Pearl was conceived by Mia for a wealthy New York couple who were unable to have children of their own. Mia could not face the idea of giving up her child. She told the couple that she miscarried and ran away with Pearl; Mia's parents hadn't heard from her since. Lexie gets pregnant and asks Pearl to come with her to get an abortion. Afraid of being discovered, Lexie uses Pearl's name at the clinic.  Bebe Chow loses her case and Mia comforts her. Elena tells Mia she knows about Pearl and that she must move out. Pearl is reluctant to go, but Mia explains about her biological father and she accepts. Izzy realizes that Moody, Lexie, and Trip have all used Pearl in their own way and becomes angry at them. Choosing a moment when they are all out of the house, she starts small fires on everyone's beds, not realizing that her mother is still in the house. Elena manages to escape the fire unharmed. After the fire, the Richardsons go to the rental home, now vacated by the Warrens, where they find that Mia has left them with photographs that have personal significance to each of them.

    The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2020 28:05


    Journalist Mikael Blomkvist receives a phone call from a source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female superhacker—a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering. Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Lisbeth Salander for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. The secret they are both chasing is at the center of a tangled web of spies, cybercriminals, and governments around the world, and someone is prepared to kill to protect it.

    The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2020 27:35


    Having learned of a secret group within the Swedish Security Service that has committed several constitutional violations against Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist and a group of policemen from Swedish Security Service's Constitutional Protection division try to learn who its members are and have Salander cleared of the murder charges against her.

    The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2020 32:10


    Mikael Blomkvist is contacted by freelance journalist Dag Svensson with regard to having Millennium publish his exposé on the sex trade in Sweden, which includes implicating government officials. Svensson and his girlfriend are murdered and the police believe Lisbeth Salander is the culprit. Blomkvist works to prove Salander's innocence while also trying to finish Svensson's piece and finds that both are connected.

    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2020 34:49


    Journalist Mikael Blomkvist has been convicted of libeling billionaire industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström and wants to escape the media attention. He is hired by industrial tycoon Henrik Vanger under the guise of writing a biography of Henrik and the Vanger family, while really investigating the 40-year-old disappearance of Henrik's niece Harriet. He teams up with the introverted and skilled computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.

    The Earthquake Bird, by Susanna Jones

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2020 18:14


    he grisly headline leaves nothing to the imagination: “Woman’s torso recovered from Tokyo Bay. Believed to be missing British bartender Lily Bridges.” The only suspect is Lucy Fly. Her friend is dead, her lover has disappeared, and as far as anyone is concerned, she’s as good as guilty. Trapped in the interrogation room, Lucy begins to unravel two stories. One, for the police, is a spare outline, offering more questions than answers. The other–the real one, if you believe her–is a gripping dive into an obsessive mind, revealing the checkered past that brought her to Japan, her complicated friendship with Lily, and a tempestuous affair with a missing Japanese photographer named Teiji. As she excavates the dangerous secrets–both past and present–that haunt her waking mind, Lucy relates an unsettling life story that spans bustling Tokyo, the British countryside, and remote Japanese islands, each step taking us closer to the chilling truth about Lily’s death.

    Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, review of Part 1 and 2 of the movie.

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2020 26:33


    Mockingjay is chronologically the last installment of The Hunger Games series.  The book continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, who agrees to unify the districts of Panem in a rebellion against the tyrannical Capitol.

    Hunger Games: Catching Fire Video PodCast

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2020 20:54


    Check out the Ladies on Video for their review of Catching Fire.  Catching Fire is  the second book in The Hunger Games series. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. Following the events of the previous novel, a rebellion against the oppressive Capitol has begun, and Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark are forced to return to the arena in a special edition of the Hunger Games.

    Catching fire, by Suzanne Collins book to movie review

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2020 21:05


    Catching Fire is  the second book in The Hunger Games series. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. Following the events of the previous novel, a rebellion against the oppressive Capitol has begun, and Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta Mellark are forced to return to the arena in a special edition of the Hunger Games.

    The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, book to movie review

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2020 28:47


    The Hunger Games is the first book in the series. The Hunger Games follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th Hunger Games in place of her younger sister Primrose Everdeen. Also selected from District 12 is Peeta Mellark. They are mentored by their district's only living victor, Haymitch Abernathy, who won 24 years earlier and has since led a solitary life of alcoholism. Peeta confesses his longtime secret love for Katniss in a televised interview prior to the Games. This revelation stuns Katniss, who harbors feelings for Gale Hawthorne, her friend and hunting partner. Haymitch advises her to feign feelings for Peeta in order to gain wealthy sponsors who can provide crucial supplies to the "star-crossed lovers" during the Games. In the arena, Katniss allies with Rue, a young tribute from District 11 who reminds Katniss of her kid sister. When Rue is killed, Katniss places flowers around her body as an act of defiance toward the Capitol. Then the remaining tributes are alerted to a rule change that allows tributes from the same district to win as a team. Katniss finds a seriously wounded Peeta and nurses him back to health. When all of the other tributes are dead, the rule change is abruptly revoked. With neither willing to kill the other, Katniss comes up with a solution: a double suicide by eating poisonous berries. This forces the authorities to concede just in time to save their lives. During and after the Games, Katniss develops genuine feelings for Peeta and struggles to reconcile them with what she feels for Gale. Haymitch warns her that the danger is far from over. The authorities are furious at being made fools of, and the only way to try to allay their anger is to pretend that her actions were because of her love for Peeta. On the journey home, Peeta is dismayed to learn of the deception.

    The Outsider by Stephen King, book to mini series review

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2020 18:32


    In Flint City, Oklahoma, police detective Ralph Anderson arrests popular teacher and Little League coach Terry Maitland in front of a crowd of baseball spectators, charging him with raping, mutilating and killing an eleven-year-old boy. Maitland hires his friend and lawyer, Howie Gold, to assist him but Anderson has eyewitnesses and clear forensic evidence pointing to his guilt. In the meantime, eager reporters harass Maitland's wife, Marcy and his two daughters, Sarah and Grace. District Attorney Bill Samuels tells Anderson to break Maitland's alibi in order to make this an open-and-shut case. Anderson discovers, however, that multiple eyewitnesses confirm Maitland was out of town when the murder occurred, at a writer's conference in a neighboring town. Conference site security footage also provides confirmation of Maitland's alibi. Anderson finds a book at the conference center gift shop that Maitland (or his doppelgänger) touched and the fingerprints on the book are confirmed to be Maitland's. Samuels encourages Anderson to destroy this new evidence but he does not. Despite evidence that Maitland was in two places at once, Anderson still believes Maitland killed the boy. Maitland is shot to death outside of the courthouse by the older brother of the victim, who is subsequently shot and killed by Anderson. Anderson is placed on administrative leave and the district attorney decides not to seek reelection. With the help of private investigator Holly Gibney, Anderson follows a trail of clues that takes the duo to Marysville, Texas. Jack Hoskins, Anderson's rival in local law enforcement, is coerced by the Outsider (the real killer) into killing Anderson. The Outsider promises Hoskins that if he kills Anderson he will be cured of his cancer. With the help of a number of characters, Anderson and Gibney discover that they have an actual monster on their hands. They set out to destroy him in a large cave in Marysville, where two children died years earlier. Holly hits the Outsider with the happy slapper (a sock filled with ball bearings, similar to what she used to stop Brady Hartsfield in Mr. Mercedes). He appears destroyed. The district attorney holds a press conference clearing Maitland, alleging defective DNA samples and confirming the video proof supporting Maitland's alibi.

    Emma, by Jane Austen, review of the book to movie adaptation

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2020 18:15


    Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and romantic misunderstandings. It is set in the fictional country village of Highbury and the surrounding estates of Hartfield, Randalls, and Donwell Abbey and involves the relationships among people from a small number of families. The novel was first published in December 1815, with its title page listing a publication date of 1816. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian–Regency England. Emma is a comedy of manners, and depicts issues of marriage, sex, age, and social status.

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