Recommended Reads

Category
Audience
"Till the End" by CC Sabathia and Chris Smith

Till the End

CC Sabathia

Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A raw, compelling memoir of baseball, family, fame, addiction, and recovery, by one of the most beloved baseball players of his generation, Hall of Famer CC Sabathia 

“Beautifully rendered . . . The author’s candor humanizes the game.”—The Wall Street Journal 

How does it feel to be born with enormous gifts, in a life shadowed by tragedy? What does it mean when the gift that opens the world for us is not enough to stop us from losing the things we love? And what new gifts do we find in that loss? 

Baseball had been CC Sabathia’s life since he was a kid in gritty, baseball-obsessed Vallejo, California. He was a star by the time he was a preteen and a professional athlete when he was still a teenager. Everything he knew about how to be a person—an adult, a husband and father, a leader—he learned in rhythm with the baseball season, the every-fifth-day high-intensity spotlight of a starting pitcher, all while dealing with one of the sport’s most turbulent eras: racism in a sport with diminishing Black presence; the era of performance-enhancing drugs; and the increasing tension between high-value contracts and sports owners who moved players around like game pieces. But his biggest struggle was with his own body and mind: Buoyed his whole life by talent and a fiery competitive spirit, CC found himself dealing with the steady and eventually alarming breakdown of his own body and his growing addiction in a world that encouraged and enabled it.

Till the End is the thrilling memoir of one of the most beloved players in the game, a veteran star of the sport’s marquee team during its latest championship era. It’s also a book about baseball—about the ins and outs of its most important and technical position and its evolution in this volatile era. But woven within it is the moving, universal story of resilience and mortality and discovering what matters.

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"My Lady Jane" by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

My Lady Jane

Cynthia Hand

Description

This comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is “an uproarious historical fantasy that’s not to be missed” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.

Like that could go wrong.

New York Times Bestseller * Publishers Weekly Best Young Adult Book of the Year * Bustle Best Young Adult Book of the Year * YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

And don't miss the authors' next fun read, My Plain Jane!

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"A Case of Mice and Murder" by Sally Smith

A Case of Mice and Murder

Sally Smith

Description

The trials of Gabriel Ward continue in A Case of Life and Limb, available now.

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY WALL STREET JOURNAL, LIBRARY JOURNAL AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

"I was immediately besotted . . . Brilliant." -Janice Hallett, internationally bestselling author of The Appeal

The first in a delightful new mystery series set in the hidden heart of London's legal world, introducing a wonderfully unwilling sleuth, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Nita Prose.

When barrister Gabriel Ward steps out of his rooms at exactly two minutes to seven on a sunny May morning in 1901, his mind is so full of his latest case-the disputed authorship of bestselling children's book Millie the Temple Church Mouse-that he scarcely registers the body of the Lord Chief Justice of England on his doorstep.

But even he cannot fail to notice the judge's dusty bare feet, in shocking contrast to his flawless evening dress, nor the silver carving knife sticking out of his chest. In the shaded courtyards and ancient buildings of the Inner Temple, the hidden heart of London's legal world, murder has spent centuries confined firmly to the casebooks. Until now . . . 

The police can enter the Temple only by consent, so who better to investigate this tragic breach of law and order than a man who prizes both above all things? But murder doesn't answer to logic or reasoned argument, and Gabriel soon discovers that the Temple's heavy oak doors are hiding more surprising secrets than he'd ever imagined . . .

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"With the Fire on High" by Elizabeth Acevedo

With the Fire on High

Elizabeth Acevedo

Description

From the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award longlist title The Poet X comes a dazzling novel in prose about a girl with talent, pride, and a drive to feed the soul that keeps her fire burning bright.

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.

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"How Lucky" by Will Leitch

How Lucky

Will Leitch

Description

2022 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Novel

"A fantastic novel. . . . You are going to like this a lot."--Stephen King

"What's more thrilling than a fictional character speaking to us in a voice we haven't heard before, a voice so authentic and immediate--think Huck Finn, Holden Caulfield, Mattie Ross--that we suspect it must've been there all along, that we somehow managed to miss it? Daniel, the protagonist of Will Leitch's smart, funny, heartbreaking new novel How Lucky, is just such a voice, and I'm not sure it will ever completely leave my head, or that I want it to."--Richard Russo

For readers of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Nothing to See Here, a first novel as suspenseful and funny as it is moving, the unforgettable story of a fiercely resilient young man living with a physical disability, and his efforts to solve a mystery unfolding right outside his door.

Daniel leads a rich life in the university town of Athens, Georgia. He's got a couple close friends, a steady paycheck working for a regional airline, and of course, for a few glorious days each Fall, college football tailgates. He considers himself to be a mostly lucky guy--despite the fact that he's suffered from a debilitating disease since he was a small child, one that has left him unable to speak or to move without a wheelchair.

Largely confined to his home, Daniel spends the hours he's not online communicating with irate air travelers observing his neighborhood from his front porch. One young woman passes by so frequently that spotting her out the window has almost become part of his daily routine. Until the day he's almost sure he sees her being kidnapped...

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"New Front Yard Idea Book" by Sandra S. Soria

New Front Yard Idea Book

Sandra S. Soria

Description

Curbside appeal goes a long way, and not just when homeowners are selling a house. Everyone wants to create a "wow" inspiring first impression and today's savvy homeowners are looking for expert advice and ideas that goes beyond the traditional lawn and foundation plantings. New Front Yard Idea Book offers the best design information from experts to inspire homeowners everywhere. Lushly illustrated with 325 4-color photographs, no other book focuses on this essential public area. The book is simply overflowing with inspiration for all the front-yard spaces, including the entrance, porches and porticos, gardens and arbors, paths and driveways, fences and gates, and landscaping and lighting. As readers set out to refresh and enhance their front yards, the first step is sit down with this invaluable reference.

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"Late Bloomer" by Jan Coppola Bills

Late Bloomer

Jan Coppola Bills

Description

There are times in a gardener's life when what we want to do and what we can do are at odds. Our knees and backs may be complaining, our energy isn't what it was - yet our desire to get our hands in the dirt is as strong as ever. Or maybe we've downsized to a much smaller outdoor space that doesn't look promising at all. What to do? In Late Bloomer, garden designer Jan Coppola Bills shows us how to successfully rethink our approach to gardening as we age. The author is a second-half-of-life gardener who helps her many friends and clients achieve easy care, low cost, eco-friendly, simple and beautiful gardens. It's all about maintaining a joyful, healthful connection with the soil - but without the toil. Late Bloomer is part garden philosophy and part on-the-ground strategies and tips from the author and expert gardeners across the U.S. With color photos on almost every page, this inviting and practical book is organized around the four tenets of the Late Bloomer philosophy: Simplicity. Beauty and Harmony. Comfort and Ease. Relaxation and Letting Go.

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"The Practical Guide to Garden Herbs" by Jessica Houdret

The Practical Guide to Garden Herbs

Jessica Houdret

Description

This title shows you how to identify, choose and grow herbs with an A-Z directory and more than 730 photographs. It is a comprehensive gardener's guide to growing herbs successfully, including a photographic A-Z directory of over 250 herbs for easy plant identification. It contains full descriptions and information on each herb's history, habitat and cultivation, as well as medicinal and culinary properties. 


,

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"Wild Suburbia" by Barbara Eisenstein

Wild Suburbia

Barbara Eisenstein

Description

Wild Suburbia guides us through the process of transforming a traditional, high water-use yard into a peaceful habitat garden abounding with native plants. Author Barbara Eisenstein emphasizes that gardening is a rewarding activity rather than a finished product, from removing lawns and getting in touch with a yard's climate to choosing plants and helping them thrive. Supplementing her advice with personal stories from her decades of experience working with native plants, Eisenstein illuminates the joys of tending a native garden--and assures us that any challenges, from managing pests to disapproving neighbors, should never sap the enjoyment out of a pleasurable and fulfilling hobby. For plant lovers curious about their own ecosystems, Wild Suburbia offers a style of gardening that nurtures biodiversity, deepens connection to place, and encourages new and seasoned gardeners alike to experiment and have fun.

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"Container Succulents" by Kentaro Kuroda and Ayako Eifuku

Container Succulents

Kentaro Kuroda

Description

Container Succulents is the perfect book for container gardening beginners who don't have a lot of space to work with. The beautiful photographs of succulent decor are sure to inspire your inner gardener, interior designer and all-around house plant lover.

Learn how to care for and display individual succulent varieties, or get creative with groupings that combine multiple plants with complementary colors, shapes and sizes. Whether you prefer a garden that is simple or intricate, this book covers all the basics of container selection and succulent care to ensure healthy plants.

This book shows you how to:

  • Use the colors and textures of your containers to enhance the tones and textures of the succulents to create stunning visual combinations
  • Repurpose old cans and kitchenware to create interesting and healthy new homes for your succulents
  • Use unconventional and openwork containers (like an antique birdcage) to add a new dimension to a composition
  • Plant succulents in antique urns and pedestals for a touch of the unexpected
  • Use traditional planters and baskets to create interesting design effects
  • Create attractive soil surfaces and use cuttings to create original arrangements
  • And much more!

Each arrangement includes a "floor plan" showing you how to mix the colors, shapes and textures in ways that are pleasing to the eye and healthy for the plants. A reference guide to over 120 succulent varieties explains the different plants' characteristics to help you create compatible groupings.

Even succulent beginners can get involved in this low-maintenance gardening trend. With the help of this inspirational guide, anyone can have a beautiful succulent garden in no time at all!

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"Fix Your Garden" by Jane Moseley

Fix Your Garden

Jane Moseley

Description

Just moved in and don’t know what to do with a messy garden or bleak-looking balcony? Want to stake your claim on a little corner of a shared garden? No gardening experience whatsoever? Fix Your Garden is the perfect solution.Packed with tips and tricks to get your green fingers going straight away, this beautifully illustrated little book will help you make the most of your outdoor space, even if you’ve only got a tiny windowbox. Aimed at the first-time homeowner or renter with little or no gardening know-how, it contains a wealth of information on how to make your garden grow and your balcony bloom, from early analysis of the soil to find out which plants will do best, to fixing that weed-covered wilderness of a backyard you’ve inherited and starting to grow your own fruit and veg. With tips on garden design and how to conquer common pests and diseases, this is a crash course in getting your outdoor space sorted, and also contains information on houseplants so you can bring a little bit of the outdoors in.

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"Indoor Kitchen Gardening" by Elizabeth Millard

Indoor Kitchen Gardening

Elizabeth Millard

Description

As featured in the New York Times and named to "Best Garden Books of 2014" by the Chicago Tribune

It takes just a few dollars and a few days for you to start enjoying fresh, healthy produce grown indoors in your own home. Imagine serving a home-cooked meal highlighted with beet, arugula, and broccoli microgreens grown right in your kitchen, accompanied by sautéed winecap mushrooms grown in a box of sawdust in your basement. If you have never tasted microgreens, all you really need to do is envision all the flavor of an entire vegetable plant concentrated into a single tantalizing seedling. If you respond to the notion of nourishing your guests with amazing, fresh, organic produce that you've grown in your own house, condo, apartment, basement, or sunny downtown office, then you'll love exploring the expansive new world of growing and eating that can be discovered with the help of Indoor Kitchen Gardening. Inside, author and Bossy Acres CSA co-owner Elizabeth Millard teaches you how to grow microgreens, sprouts, herbs, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, and more-- all inside your own home, where you won't have to worry about seasonal changes or weather conditions. Filled with mouthwatering photography and more than 200 pages of Do-It-Yourself in-home gardening information and projects, Indoor Kitchen Gardening is your gateway to this exciting new growing method--not just for garnishes or relishes, but wholesome, nutritious, organic edibles that will satisfy your appetite as much as your palate.

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Good Will Hunting

Description

The hit Oscar winning drama, that launched the careers of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, tells the tale of a headstrong, working-class genius who's failing the lessons of life, until he meets a relatable psychology professor (Robin Williams).

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Parasite

Description

Greed and class discrimination threaten the relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan in Bong Joon Ho's darkly hilarious modern fairytale.

Winner of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Film at the Academy Awards. Winner of Best Foreign Motion Picture – Foreign Language at the Golden Globe Awards. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Annie Hall

Description

Alvy Singer is one of Manhattan's most brilliant comedians, but when it comes to romance, his delivery needs a little work. Alvy falls in love with the delightful nightclub singer Annie Hall, but when Alvy's insecurities sabotage the affair, Annie leaves Alvy for a new life. Knowing he may have lost her forever, Alvy's will go to any lengths to recapture Annie's heart.

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Apocalypse Now

Description

The classic war drama has been remastered with an extra 49 minutes of footage added. Set during the Vietnam War, a wayward army captain is sent on a mission to assassinate an American colonel who has gone awry.

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If Beale Street Could Talk

Description

Based on the novel by James Baldwin, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, is a soulful drama about a young couple fighting for justice in the name of love and the promise of the American dream.

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Anora

Description

This audacious romantic dramedy from director Sean Baker follows Anora (Mikey Madison), a young woman from Brooklyn, whose impulsive marriage to a Russian oligarch’s son upends her life, drawing both chaos and unexpected self‑discovery amid cultural collisions.

Winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Anora went on to triumph at the 97th Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.

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8 1/2

Description

Marcello Mastroianni plays Guido Anselmi, a director whose new project is collapsing around him, along with his life. One of the greatest films about film ever made, Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ (Otto e mezzo) turns one man’s artistic crisis into a grand epic of the cinema. An early working title for 8 ½ was "The Beautiful Confusion," and Fellini’s masterpiece is exactly that: a shimmering dream, a circus, and a magic act.

Winner of two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Costume Design (Black and White), and consistently placed in The British Film Institute's Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll of the ten greatest films of all time.

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The Artist

Description

Hollywood 1927. George Valentin is a very successful silent movie star, but the arrival of talking pictures could mark the end of his career.

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No Country for Old Men

Description

Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, acclaimed filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen bring to the screen Cormac McCarthy's sizzling bestseller with heart stopping thrills. When a man stumbles on a bloody crime scene containing a pickup truck loaded with heroin and two million dollars in irresistible cash, his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain reaction of violence. Tommy Lee Jones leads a powerful cast that includes Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and Woody Harrelson.

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Arrival

Description

When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team - led by expert translator Louise Banks (Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams) – races against time to decipher their intent. As tensions mount between fearful governments, Banks discovers the aliens’ true purpose and, to avert global war, takes a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity. Oscar® nominee Jeremy Renner and Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker co-star in this mesmerizing masterpiece with a mind-blowing ending.

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Rain Man

Description

Charlie just discovered he has an autistic brother named Raymond and is taking him on the ride of his life. Or is it the other way around? Raymond first pushes hot-headed Charlie to the limits of his patience and then pulls him completely out of his self-centered world. And what began as an unsentimental journey for the brothers becomes so much more

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Capote

Description

Philip Seymour Hoffman delivers an Oscar® -winning performance (2006, Best Actor) as Truman Capote, who embarks upon a journey to write the book of a lifetime, "In Cold Blood," based upon the murder of a family in Kansas. Developing a unique relationship with one of the imprisoned murderers (Clifton Collins Jr.), even he wonders if he can write the great book he believes destiny has handed him.

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Fences

Description

Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play takes a passionate look at former baseball player Troy Maxson as he fights to provide for those he loves in a world that threatens to push him down.

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I, Tonya

Description

Based on the unbelievable but true events, I, TONYA is a dark comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history.

Winner of Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role and nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Achievement in Film Editing at the Academy Awards.

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Sunset Boulevard

Description

Gloria Swanson, as Norma Desmond, an aging silent-film queen, and William Holden, as the struggling young screenwriter who is held in thrall by her madness, created two of the screen's most memorable characters in SUNSET BOULEVARD. Winner of three Academy Awards, director Billy Wilder's powerful orchestration of this bizarre tale is a true cinematic classic.

From the unforgettable opening sequence - a body found floating in a decayed mansion's swimming pool - through the inevitable unfolding of tragic destiny, SUNSET BOULEVARD is the definitive statement on the dark and desperate side of Hollywood.

Winner of Best Writing, Story and Screenplay and nominated for 8 other awards, including Best Director and Best Picture, at the Academy Awards. Winner of Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Director, and Best Actress - Drama (Gloria Swanson) at the Golden Globes. Chosen for preservation by the National Film Preservation Board, USA.

"Still the best Hollywood movie ever made about Hollywood." - Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

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The Graduate

Description

During a party given by his parents to celebrate his graduation, Benjamin Braddock is seduced by Mrs. Robinson. Benjamin is shy and inexperienced; Mrs. Robinson is the wife of one of his father's closest friends. They have an affair. But then, Benjamin falls in love with Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine. Jealous and angry, Mrs. Robinson does everything to keep the young couple apart.

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There Will Be Blood

Description

A searing historical drama set in turn-of-the-century California, this film follows ruthless oil prospector Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he builds an empire through ambition, manipulation, and betrayal. As he clashes with a charismatic young preacher (Paul Dano) in a small frontier town, their battle for power spirals into obsession and madness. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight), the film was nominated for eight Oscars and won two, including Best Actor for Day-Lewis and Best Cinematography.

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A Simple Plan

Description

Three men (Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Brent Briscoe) come across a downed plane with a rotting corpse inside…and over $4 million stuffed inside a duffel bag in the snowy Minnesota woods. They devise a plan to split the fortune. Things quickly go wrong, however, dramatically affecting the trio and those around them.

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Billy Bob Thornton) and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards. Nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes.

"…one of the year's best films for a lot of reasons, including its ability to involve the audience almost breathlessly in a story of mounting tragedy.." - Robert Ebert, RobertEbert.com

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The Hours

Description

The story of three women in different times, related only by a parallel in their personal lives. One, present day, throwing a party for a writer friend suffering from AIDS. Another living in 1949 Los Angeles, suffering as a young wife and mother. The last, Virginia Woolf, writing 'Mrs. Dalloway' and contemplating suicide. Based on Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

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The Zone of Interest

Description

The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp. A hypnotic and deeply chilling masterpiece from filmmaker Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin), starring Sandra Hüller and Christian Friedel. Winner of the Grand Prix at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

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House of Sand and Fog

Description

Russian filmmaker Vadim Perelman makes his feature-film debut with the psychological drama House of Sand and Fog, based on the novel by Andre Dubus III. Ben Kingsley plays Massoud Amir Behrani, an Iranian immigrant living the United States. Even though he was a high-ranking official in Iran, he works several menial jobs in order to provide his wife, Nadi (Shohreh Aghdashloo), and his son, Esmail (Jonathan Ahdout), with an apartment in California. He buys a California bungalow, thinking he can fix it up, sell it again, and make enough money to send Esmail to college. However, the house is the legal property of former drug addict Kathy (Jennifer Connelly). After losing the house in an unfair legal dispute with the county, she is left with nowhere to go. Wanting her house back, she hires a lawyer (Frances Fisher) and befriends a police officer (Ron Eldard). Neither Kathy nor Behrani have broken the law, so they find themselves involved in a difficult moral dilemma.

Nominated for 3 Academy Awards.

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Black Orpheus

Description

Winner of both the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus (Orfeu negro) brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the twentieth-century madness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

With its eye-popping photography and ravishing, epochal soundtrack, Black Orpheus was an international cultural event, and it kicked off the bossa nova craze that set hi-fis across America spinning.

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True Grit

Description

In 1970, John Wayne won an Academy Award. for his larger-than-life performance as the drunken, uncouth and totally fearless one-eyed U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn. The cantankerous Rooster is hired by a headstrong young girl (Kim Darby) to find the man who murdered her father and fled with the family savings. When Cogburn's employer insists on accompanying the old gunfighter, sparks fly. And the situation goes from troubled to disastrous when an inexperienced but enthusiastic Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) joins the party. Laughter and tears punctuate the wild action in this extraordinary Western which features performances by Robert Duvall and Strother Martin.

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Strangers on a Train

Description

Alfred Hitchcock directed this classic suspense tale--widely considered one of the master's best works--tapping into the evil that lies hidden just beneath the surface of each of us. When two strangers--tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger), whose wife will not grant him a divorce, and wealthy but deranged young Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker), who wants to be rid of his father--happen to meet on a train from Washington to New York, the conversation casually turns to a possibly perfect crime: what if each committed a murder for the other? There is nothing to connect the two men. No apparent motive for either killing. When the trip ends, Guy believes the conversation was hypothetical, and that he will never see Bruno again. Then his wife is murdered . . . and Bruno returns for payback.

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Farewell My Concubine

Description

Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) grow up enduring the harsh training of the Peking Opera Academy, where instructors regularly beat the students to instill in them the discipline needed to master the complex physical and vocal techniques of this ancient art. As the two boys mature, they develop complementary talents: Dieyi, with his fine, delicate features, assumes the female roles while Xiaolou plays masculine warlords. Their dramatic identities become real for Dieyi when he falls in love with Xiaolou, who fails to fully reciprocate his affections and marries a courtesan, Juxian (Gong Li), creating a dangerous, jealousy-filled romantic triangle.

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The Big Short

Description

Based on the true story of four outsiders (Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt) who saw what the big banks, media and government refused to: the global collapse of the economy. A bold investment leads them into the dark underbelly of banking, where everyone and everything is in question.

Winner of an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and nominated for Best Film. Nominated for four Golden Globes including Best Picture.

"A true crime story and a madcap comedy, a heist movie and a scalding polemic, "The Big Short" will affirm your deepest cynicism about Wall Street while simultaneously restoring your faith in Hollywood." - A.O. Scott, The New York Times

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A Friend of Dorothy

Description

Dorothy is a lonely widow whose body is failing, but her mind remains as bright as ever. When 17-year-old JJ accidentally kicks his football into her garden, he upends Dorothy’s daily routine of pills, prunes and crosswords, and an unlikely friendship blossoms. Despite being worlds apart in every way, the two come to find they have more in common than they could ever imagine.

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The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Description

Based on the celebrated novel by Emily M. Danforth, The Miseducation of Cameron Post follows the titular character (Chloë Grace Moretz) as she is sent to a gay conversion therapy center after getting caught with another girl in the back seat of a car on prom night.

Winner of a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

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Three Identical Strangers

Description

The astonishing true story of three men who make the chance discovery, at the age of nineteen, that they are identical triplets, separated at birth and adopted to different parents. The trio's joyous reunion in 1980 catapults them to fame but it also sets in motion a chain of events that unearths an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes far beyond their own lives, a secret that goes to the very heart of all human behavior.

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Ingrid Goes West

Description

Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival, this dark comedy follows unstable loner Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza), who moves to Los Angeles to befriend Instagram influencer Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). What begins as innocent idolization quickly spirals into obsession as Ingrid inserts herself into Taylor’s carefully curated life.

Winner of Best First Feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

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A Most Wanted Man

Description

From spymaster John Le Carré and featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, in his final starring role. German and US intelligence agencies race to uncover the identity of a mysterious man who surfaces in Hamburg. Is he a refuge or a terrorist?

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Beast

Description

A thrilling and dark modern-day fairy tale starring newcomer Jessie Buckley in a breakout role that critics are calling “a star-making performance” (Entertainment Weekly).  

A disturbed woman living in a secluded community finds herself pulled between the control of her overbearing family and the appeal of a secretive stranger suspected of a series of vicious murders. 

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The Station Agent

Description

When the only friend of a man with dwarfism dies, he moves to rural New Jersey and meets a struggling artist and friendly hot dog vendor despite his desires to be alone.

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The Skeleton Twins

Description

Maggie and Milo are estranged twins who are reunited after ten years of being apart. Follow their unforgettable journey to reconnect, as they realize that the key to fixing their lives may just lie in repairing their relationship.

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Presence

Description

A haunting psychological thriller unfolds entirely through the ghost’s eerie vantage point as a suburban family—Rebekah (Lucy Liu), Chris (Chris Sullivan), teenage Chloe (Callina Lang), and brother Tyler (Eddy Maday)—moves into a charming but unsettling home. Now, as invisible forces tighten their grip, the house’s buried secrets refuse to stay hidden. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Side Effects), the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

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Whale Rider

Description

On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.

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Ordinary People

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore star in this powerful drama as the upper-middle-class couple whose "ordinary" existence is irrevocably shattered by the death of their oldest son. Their younger son (Timothy Hutton), struggling against suicide and the survivor's guilt left by his older brother's drowning, begins to see a therapist (Judd Hirsch), who provides a lifeline to survival and healing for the entire family.

An extraordinary motion picture, ORDINARY PEOPLE is an intense examination of a family being torn apart by tension and tragedy.

Winner of Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Timothy Hutton), and Best Director (Robert Redford) at the Academy Awards. Winner of Best Motion Picture -Drama, Best Director, Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (Mary Tyler Moore), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Motion Picture (Timothy Hutton) at the Golden Globes.

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Memento

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

An intricate crime story about a man who has lost his short-term memory due to a rare brain disorder. Now he is out to catch his wife's murderer, whose identity he cannot ever know for sure. The more he tries to figure out what is true and real, the more he sinks deeper into a multi-layered abyss of uncertainty and surprises.

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Anthropocene: The Human Epoch: How Humans Have Impacted the Planet

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

A stunning sensory experience and cinematic meditation on humanity’s massive reengineering of the planet, ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN EPOCH is a years-in-the-making feature documentary from the award-winning team behind Manufactured Landscapes and Watermark and is narrated by Alicia Vikander. The film follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group who, after nearly 10 years of research, argue that the Holocene Epoch gave way to the ANTHROPOCENE EPOCH in the mid-twentieth century as a result of profound and lasting human changes to the Earth.

From concrete seawalls in China that now cover 60% of the mainland coast, to the biggest terrestrial machines ever built in Germany, to psychedelic potash mines in Russia’s Ural Mountains, to metal festivals in the closed city of Norilsk, to the devastated Great Barrier Reef in Australia and massive marble quarries in Carrara, the filmmakers have traversed the globe using state of the art camera techniques to document the evidence and experience of human planetary domination.

Nominated for Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.

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Eagle vs Shark

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

From Academy Award-winning director Taika Waititi comes a wicked and witty offbeat comedy for the closet romantic in all of us. When Lily, a lonely, oddball fast-food waitress and hopeless romantic, and Jarrod, another forsaken eccentric who has spent the last decade plotting revenge against a bully from high school, connect at a "dress as your favorite animal" party, it's a match seemingly made in outcast heaven. But as Jarrod bumbles his way to his day of reckoning, he and Lily are pushed to find faith and hope in each other in this hilarious story about relationships and redemption.

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Eileen

Description

Also available in Kanopy.

 In 1960s Boston, Eileen shuffles between her emotionally haunted home and the prison where she works. When an intoxicating woman joins the prison staff, Eileen is taken but her newfound confidant entangles her in a shocking crime.

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Obvious Child

Description

When a Brooklyn comedian (Jenny Slate) gets dumped and fired, she has a one-night stand and ends up pregnant--just in time for the worst/best Valentine's day of her life.

Nominated for Best First Feature and Best Female Lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Winner of the Red Crown Producer's Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

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A Walk in the Woods

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

In this comedic adventure based on the bestselling memoir by Bill Bryson, aging travel writer Bryson (Robert Redford) attempts to hike the Appalachian Trail and reluctantly reunites with his eccentric, long-estranged friend Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte) for the journey. Ill-prepared and hilariously mismatched, the two men face unforgiving terrain, unpredictable wildlife, and their own aging bodies as they stumble through one of America’s great natural frontiers. With every misstep, their trek becomes a wry reflection on friendship, failure, and second chances.

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The Double

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

Simon is a timid man, scratching out an isolated existence in an indifferent world. He is overlooked at work, scorned by his mother, and ignored by the woman of his dreams. He feels powerless to change any of these things. The arrival of a new co-worker, James, serves to upset the balance. James is both Simon’s exact physical double and his opposite - confident, charismatic and good with women. To Simon’s horror, James slowly starts taking over his life.

Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.

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The Wedding Banquet

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

Frustrated with his commitment-phobic boyfriend, Chris, and out of time, Min makes a proposal: a green card marriage with his friend Angela in exchange for expensive in vitro fertilization treatments for her partner, Lee. Plans change when Min’s grandmother surprises them with an elaborate Korean wedding banquet.

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Alive Inside

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

ALIVE INSIDE is a joyous cinematic exploration of music’s capacity to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity. Filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett chronicles the astonishing experiences of individuals around the country who have been revitalized through the simple experience of listening to music. His camera reveals the uniquely human connection we find in music and how its healing power can triumph where prescription medication falls short.

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Columbus

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

When his renowned architect father falls into a coma, Jin (John Cho) finds himself stranded in Columbus, Indiana; a Midwestern town celebrated for its modernist buildings. There, he meets Casey (Haley Lu Richardson), a bright young woman with architectural ambitions of her own who is reluctant to leave town due to her responsibilities at home. As the two form a quiet connection, their conversations unfold against the backdrop of striking structures and emotional stasis. Directed by Kogonada in his acclaimed feature debut, COLUMBUS is a meditative, visually precise drama about the tension between obligation and aspiration, and the unspoken spaces between people.

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Sorry To Bother You

Description

Also available on Kanopy.

In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, broke telemarketer Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) skyrockets to success after adopting a magical “white voice,” drawing him into a twisted corporate world of greed and exploitation. As his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson) leads a growing resistance, Cassius must choose between selling out and speaking up. Written & directed by Boots Riley, the film blends absurdist comedy with razor-sharp social critique.

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Smoke signals

Description

Also available on Kanopy

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL COLLECTION

Story of the journey of two Coeur d'Alene Indian boys from Idaho to Arizona. Victor is the stoic, handsome son of an alcoholic father who has abandoned his family. Thomas is a gregarious, goofy young man orphaned as an infant by a fire which Victor's father accidentally started while drunk. Thomas is a storyteller who makes every effort to connect with the people around him; Victor, in contrast, uses his quiet demeanor to gain strength and confidence. When Victor's estranged father dies in Arizona the two young men embark on a journey to recover his ashes. Along the way the two learn a number of life lessons from each other and those around them. Based on stories by Sherman Alexie.

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Sky Full of Elephants

Cebo Campbell

Description

“Bold and imaginative.” —Tananarive Due
“This stunning allegory will spark much discussion.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A truly powerful and riveting story.” —Booklist

In a world without white people, what does it mean to be Black?

One day, a cataclysmic event occurs: all of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charlie Brunton is a Black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he’s now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University when he receives a call from someone he wasn’t even sure existed: his daughter Sidney, a nineteen-year-old left behind by her white mother and step-family.

Traumatized by the event, and terrified of the outside world, Sidney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin. Desperate for help, she turns to the father she never met, a man she has always resented. Sidney and Charlie meet for the first time as they embark on a journey across a truly “post-racial” America in search for answers. But neither of them are prepared for this new world and how they see themselves in it.

Heading south toward what is now called the Kingdom of Alabama, everything Charlie and Sidney thought they knew about themselves, and the world, will be turned upside down. Brimming with heart and humor, Cebo Campbell’s astonishing debut novel is about the power of community and connection, about healing and self-actualization, and a reckoning with what it means to be Black in America, in both their world and ours.

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Carolina Built

Kianna Alexander

Description

This “exuberant celebration of Black women’s joy as well as their achievements” (Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author) novelizes the life of real estate magnate Josephine N. Leary in a previously untold story of passion, perseverance, and building a legacy after emancipation in North Carolina.

Josephine N. Leary is determined to build a life of her own and a future for her family. When she moves to Edenton, North Carolina from the plantation where she was born, she is free, newly married, and ready to follow her dreams.

As the demands of life pull Josephine’s attention away, it becomes increasingly difficult for her to pursue her real estate aspirations. She finds herself immersed in deepening her marriage, mothering her daughters, and being a dutiful daughter and granddaughter. Still, she manages to teach herself to be a businesswoman, to manage her finances, and to make smart investments in the local real estate market. But with each passing year, it grows more and more difficult to focus on building her legacy from the ground up.

“Filled with passion and perseverance, Josephine Leary is frankly a woman that everyone should know” (Sadeqa Johnson, author of Yellow Wife) and her story speaks to the part of us that dares to dream bigger, tear down whatever stands in our way, and build something better for the loved ones we leave behind.

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Black Joy

Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts

Description

With deeply personal and uplifting essays in the vein of Black Girls Rock, You Are Your Best Thing, and I Really Needed This Today, this is “a necessary testimony on the magic and beauty of our capacity to live and love fully and out loud” (Kerry Washington).

When Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts wrote an essay on Black joy for The Washington Post, she had no idea just how deeply it would resonate. But the outpouring of positive responses affirmed her own lived experience: that Black joy is not just a weapon of resistance, it is a tool for resilience.

With this book, Tracey aims to gift her community with a collection of lyrical essays about the way joy has evolved, even in the midst of trauma, in her own life. Detailing these instances of joy in the context of Black culture allows us to recognize the power of Black joy as a resource to draw upon, and to challenge the one-note narratives of Black life as solely comprised of trauma and hardship.

“Lewis-Giggetts etches a stunning personal map that follows in her ancestors’ footsteps and highlights their ability to take control of situational heartbreak and tragedy and make something better out of it….A simultaneously gorgeous and heartbreaking read” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

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Yonder

Jabari Asim

Description

The Water Dancer meets The Prophets in this spare, gripping, and beautifully rendered novel exploring love and friendship among a group of enslaved Black strivers in the mid-19th century.

They call themselves the Stolen. Their owners call them captives. They are taught their captors’ tongues and their beliefs but they have a language and rituals all their own.

In a world that would be allegorical if it weren’t saturated in harsh truths, Cato and William meet at Placid Hall, a plantation in an unspecified part of the American South. Subject to the whims of their tyrannical and eccentric captor, Cannonball Greene, they never know what harm may befall them: inhumane physical toil in the plantation’s quarry by day, a beating by night, or the sale of a loved one at any moment. It’s that cruel practice—the wanton destruction of love, the belief that Black people aren’t even capable of loving—that hurts the most.

It hurts the reserved and stubborn William, who finds himself falling for Margaret, a small but mighty woman with self-possession beyond her years. And it hurts Cato, whose first love, Iris, was sold off with no forewarning. He now finds solace in his hearty band of friends, including William, who is like a brother; Margaret; Little Zander; and Milton, a gifted artist. There is also Pandora, with thick braids and long limbs, whose beauty calls to him.

Their relationships begin to fray when a visiting minister with a mysterious past starts to fill their heads with ideas about independence. He tells them that with freedom comes the right to choose the small things—when to dine, when to begin and end work—as well as the big things, such as whom and how to love. Do they follow the preacher and pursue the unknown? Confined in a landscape marked by deceit and uncertainty, who can they trust?

In an elegant work of monumental imagination that will reorient how we think of the legacy of America’s shameful past, Jabari Asim presents a beautiful, powerful, and elegiac novel that examines intimacy and longing in the quarters while asking a vital question: What would happen if an enslaved person risked everything for love?

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"Black Cloud Rising" by David Wright Faladé

Black Cloud Rising

David Wright Faladé

Description

Already excerpted in the New Yorker, Black Cloud Rising is a compelling and important historical novel that takes us back to an extraordinary moment when enslaved men and women were shedding their bonds and embracing freedom

 

By fall of 1863, Union forces had taken control of Tidewater Virginia, and established a toehold in eastern North Carolina, including along the Outer Banks. Thousands of freed slaves and runaways flooded the Union lines, but Confederate irregulars still roamed the region. In December, the newly formed African Brigade, a unit of these former slaves led by General Edward Augustus Wild-a one-armed, impassioned Abolitionist--set out from Portsmouth to hunt down the rebel guerillas and extinguish the threat.

 

From this little-known historical episode comes Black Cloud Rising, a dramatic, moving account of these soldiers--men who only weeks earlier had been enslaved, but were now Union infantrymen setting out to fight their former owners. At the heart of the narrative is Sergeant Richard Etheridge, the son of a slave and her master, raised with some privileges but constantly reminded of his place. Deeply conflicted about his past, Richard is eager to show himself to be a credit to his race. As the African Brigade conducts raids through the areas occupied by the Confederate Partisan Rangers, he and his comrades recognize that they are fighting for more than territory. Wild's mission is to prove that his troops can be trusted as soldiers in combat. And because many of the men have fled from the very plantations in their path, each raid is also an opportunity to free loved ones left behind. For Richard, this means the possibility of reuniting with Fanny, the woman he hopes to marry one day.

 

With powerful depictions of the bonds formed between fighting men and heartrending scenes of sacrifice and courage, Black Cloud Rising offers a compelling and nuanced portrait of enslaved men and women crossing the threshold to freedom.

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"The Light We Carry" by Michelle Obama

The Light We Carry

Michelle Obama

Description

In an inspiring follow-up to her critically acclaimed, #1 bestselling memoir Becoming, former First Lady Michelle Obama shares practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today’s highly uncertain world. 
 
There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life’s big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with readers, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?
 
Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress. Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles—the earned wisdom that helps her continue to “become.” She details her most valuable practices, like “starting kind,” “going high,” and assembling a “kitchen table” of trusted friends and mentors. With trademark humor, candor, and compassion, she also explores issues connected to race, gender, and visibility, encouraging readers to work through fear, find strength in community, and live with boldness.
 
“When we are able to recognize our own light, we become empowered to use it,” writes Michelle Obama. A rewarding blend of powerful stories and profound advice that will ignite conversation, The Light We Carry inspires readers to examine their own lives, identify their sources of gladness, and connect meaningfully in a turbulent world.

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The Husbands

Description

A novel about a woman who one day comes home to find her attic is magic and producing an endless supply of interchangeable husbands.

When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There's only one problem--she's not married. She's never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they've been together for years.

As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can't remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you've taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?

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The Assessment

Description

Available to stream on Kanopy.

In the near future where parenthood is strictly controlled, a couple's seven-day assessment for the right to have a child unravels into such a psychological nightmare that they begin to question the basis of their world.

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Hive

Description

Available to stream on Kanopy.

Sundance triple award winner HIVE is a searing drama based on the true story of Fahrije, who, like many of the other women in her patriarchal village, has lived with fading hope and burgeoning grief since her husband went missing during the war in Kosovo. In order to provide for her struggling family, she pulls the other widows in her community together to launch a business selling a local food product. Together, they find healing and solace in considering a future without their husbands—but their will to begin living independently is met with hostility.

The men in the village condemn Fahrije’s efforts to empower herself and the women around her, starting a feud that threatens their newfound sovereignty—and the financial future of Fahrije’s family. Against the backdrop of Eastern Europe’s civil unrest and lingering misogyny, Fahrije and the women of her village join in a struggle to find hope in the face of an uncertain future.

Winner of the Audience Award, Directing Award, and World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, HIVE is a pithy, devastating portrait of loss and our uphill journeys to freedom.

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The Truman show

Description

An insurance salesman, Truman Burbank, "is about to discover just how abnormal his seemingly 'normal' life is. What he doesn't realize -- just yet -- is that his whole life is a reality TV show, televised and broadcast for the world to see!

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A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Description

Available to stream on Kanopy.

The first Iranian Vampire Western ever made. A joyful mash up of genre, archetype, and iconography, its prolific influences span spaghetti westerns, graphic novels, horror films and the Iranian New Wave.

Nominated for Best First Feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Nominated for Best of Next! at the Sundance Film Festival.

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The Worst Person in the World

Description

Available to stream on Kanopy.

Set in contemporary Oslo, this sharp romantic comedy follows Julie (Cannes Best Actress winner Renate Reinsve), a witty and impulsive woman in her thirties, as she ricochets between careers, lovers, and existential doubts. Torn between the stable, older Aksel and the free-spirited Eivind, she stumbles through a whirlwind of breakups, hookups, and self-reinvention. With bursts of surreal humor and emotional honesty, her search for meaning becomes both chaotic and painfully relatable. Nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay at the 94th Academy Awards.

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Jack Goes Boating

Description

Available to stream on Kanopy

Jack and Connie are two single people who on their own might continue to recede into the anonymous background of New York City, but in each other begin to find the courage and desire to pursue a budding relationship. As Jack and Connie cautiously circle commitment, the couple that introduced them, Clyde and Lucy, confront their own unresolved issues, and each couple comes face to face with the inevitable path of their relationship.

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A Timeless Christmas

A Timeless Christmas

Description

Summary

Charles Whitley travels from 1903 to 2020, where he meets Megan Turner and experiences a 21st century Christmas.

Video And Music

Release Date

2021

MPAA Rating

NR

Studio

Hallmark

Running Time

85 minutes

Genres

Drama

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"A Holly Jolly Ever After" by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

A Holly Jolly Ever After

Julie Murphy

Description

From the authors of A Merry Little Meet Cute comes a steamy holiday rom-com cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone--about an actress and a perpetually single former boy-band member reunited as costars on a steamy holiday film!

Kallum Lieberman is the funny one(tm). As the arguably lesser of the three former members of the boy band INK, he enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and then moved home where he opened a regional pizza chain called Slice, Slice, Baby! He's living his best dad bod life, hooking up with bridesmaids at all his friends' weddings. But after an old one-off sex tape is leaked and quickly goes viral, Kallum decides he's ready to step into the spotlight again, starring in a sexy Santa biopic for the Hope Channel.

Winnie Baker did everything right. She married her childhood sweetheart, avoided the downfalls of adolescent stardom, and transitioned into a stable adult acting career. Hell, she even waited until marriage to have sex. But after her perfect life falls apart, Winnie is ready to redefine herself--and what better way than a steamier-than-a-steaming-hot-mug-of-cider Christmas movie?

With decade old Hollywood history between them, Winnie and Kallum are both feeling hesitant about their new situation as costars...especially Winnie who can't seem to fake on screen pleasure she's never experienced in real life. She's willing to do the pleasure research--for science and artistic authenticity, of course. And there's no better research partner than her bridesmaid sex tape hall of fame costar, Kallum. But suddenly, Kallum's teenage crush on Winnie is bubbling to the surface and Winnie might be catching feelings herself.

They say opposites attract, but is this holly jolly ever after really ready for its close-up?

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One Royal Holiday

One Royal Holiday

Description

Summary

When Anna offers a stranded mother and son shelter in a blizzard, she learns that they are the royal family of Galwick. Anna shows the prince how they do Christmas in her hometown, encouraging him to open his heart and be true to himself.

Video And Music

Release Date

2021

MPAA Rating

NR

Studio

Hallmark

Running Time

84 minutes

Genres

Drama

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Christmas with the Cambells

Christmas with the Cambells

Description

Summary

When her vapid boyfriend (Alex Moffat) dumps her just before Christmas, a young woman (Brittany Snow) finds herself with nowhere to go. Determined to restore a sense of the holiday spirit, she visits her ex-boyfriend's family, who welcome her with open arms. A chance encounter with her ex's handsome and down-to-earth cousin (Justin Long) allows sparks to fly. She begins to realize just (read more)

Video And Music

Release Date

2023

MPAA Rating

NR

Studio

RLJE Films

Running Time

88 minutes

Genres

Comedy

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"A Merry Little Meet Cute" by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

A Merry Little Meet Cute

Julie Murphy

Description

Cowritten by #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy and USA Today bestselling author Sierra Simone--a steamy plus-size holiday rom-com about an adult film star who is semi-accidentally cast as a lead in a family-friendly Christmas movie, and the former bad-boy pop star she falls in love with.

"The charming holiday romp you absolutely need in your life!" --Tessa Bailey

Bee Hobbes (aka Bianca Von Honey) has a successful career as a plus-size adult film star. With a huge following and two supportive moms, Bee couldn't ask for more. But when Bee's favorite producer casts her to star in a Christmas movie he's making for the squeaky-clean Hope Channel, Bee's career is about to take a more family-friendly direction.

Forced to keep her work as Bianca under wraps, Bee quickly learns this is a task a lot easier said than done. Though it all becomes worthwhile when she discovers her co-star is none other than childhood crush Nolan Shaw, an ex-boy band member in desperate need of career rehab. Nolan's promised his bulldog manager to keep it zipped up on set, and he will if it means he'll be able to provide a more stable living situation for his sister and mom.

But things heat up quickly in Christmas Notch, Vermont, when Nolan recognizes his new co-star from her ClosedDoors account (oh yeah, he's a member). Now Bee and Nolan are sneaking off for quickies on set, keeping their new relationship a secret from the Hope Channel's execs. Things only get trickier when the reporter who torpedoed Nolan's singing career comes snooping around--and takes an instant interest in mysterious newcomer Bee.

And if Bee and Nolan can't keep their off-camera romance behind the scenes, then this merry little meet cute might end up on the cutting room floor.

  • A touching holiday read
  • Perfect for fans of uplifting winter romances
  • A delightful Christmas gift



 

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"The Holiday Swap" by Maggie Knox

The Holiday Swap

Maggie Knox

Description

The International Bestseller—A feel-good, holiday rom com about identical twins who swap lives twelve days before Christmas—perfect for fans of Christina Lauren’s In a Holidaze and Josie Silver’s One Day in December

All they want for Christmas is a different life.

When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell—both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family's bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won't get the memo that they're over. 

With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven't done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins' identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?

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Haul out the Holly

Haul Out The Holly

Description

Summary

When Emily unexpectedly spends the holidays alone at her parents' house, their HOA insists that she participate in its many Christmas festivities.

Video And Music

Release Date

2024

MPAA Rating

NR

Studio

Hallmark

Running Time

84 minutes

Genres

Drama

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Christmas Island

Christmas Island

Description

Summary

When a snowstorm diverts Kate's first private flight en route to Switzerland to Christmas Island, she must team up with an air traffic controller to secure her dream job as the family's pilot.

Video And Music

Release Date

2024

MPAA Rating

NR

Studio

Hallmark Channel

Running Time

84 minutes

Genres

Drama

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"In a Holidaze" by Christina Lauren

In a Holidaze

Christina Lauren

Description

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in this quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling authors of The Unhoneymooners and Love and Other Words.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark “downright hilarious” (Helen Hoang, author of The Bride Test) hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.

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"Lovelight Farms" by B.K. Borison

Lovelight Farms

B.K. Borison

Description

One of Amazon's Best Romances of June!

Two best friends fake date to reach their holiday happily ever after in this first romantic comedy in the Lovelight series.

A pasture of dead trees. A hostile takeover of the Santa barn by a family of raccoons. And shipments that have mysteriously gone missing. Lovelight Farms is not the magical winter wonderland of Stella Bloom’s dreams.

In an effort to save the Christmas tree farm she’s loved since she was a kid, Stella enters a contest with Instagram-famous influencer Evelyn St. James. With the added publicity and the $100,000 cash prize, Stella might just be able to save the farm from its financial woes. There’s just one problem. To make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on her application and said she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only…there is no boyfriend.

Enter best friend Luka Peters. He just stopped by for some hot chocolate and somehow got a farm and a serious girlfriend in the process. But fake dating his best friend might be the best Christmas present he’s ever received.

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Death Comes to Pemberley

Percival, Daniel. Thompson, David M. Mellor, Eliza. Rhys, Matthew, 1974-

Description

Elizabeth and Darcy, now six years married and with two young sons, are preparing for the lavish annual ball at their magnificent Pemberley home.

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Emma

Taylor-Joy, Anya, 1996-

Description

Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find the love that has been there all along.

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Scents and sensibility

Wiscombe, Brittany.

Description

This update of Jane Austen's classic novel follows the Dashwood sisters after their father's fortune is taken from them.  As they look for ways to pay the bills, they encounter people who judge them and try to keep them down in the dumps. Add falling in love into the mix and determining who to trust becomes a mine field. Can the sisters find a balance between relying on their hearts and using good sense without losing everything they hold dear?

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Mansfield Park

Piper, Billie, 1982-

Description

Fanny Price goes to live with prosperous relatives at Mansfield Park and must navigate a labyrinth of intrigues and affairs among the occupants of the house.

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Northanger Abbey

Jones, Felicity.

Description

In Jane Austen's gentle parody of gothic fiction, romance novel addict Catherine Morland is invited to a medieval country house that appeals to her most lurid fantasies. She forms a close friendship with the younger son on the estate, Henry Tilney, but their budding romance is mysteriously cut short.

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Love & friendship

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Based on Jane Austen's epistolary novel Lady Susan.  The beautiful widow Susan Vernon has come to the estate of her in-laws to wait out colorful rumors about her dalliances circulating through polite society. Whilst there, she decides to secure a husband for herself and her rather reluctant debutante daughter, Frederica.

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Sanditon

Description

Based on the unfinished novel by Jane Austen.

Tom Parker is obsessed with turning the sleepy seaside village of Sanditon into a fashionable health resort. He enlists the backing of local bigwig Lady Denham. Through a mishap, Tom makes the acquaintance of the Heywoods and invites their eldest daughter, Charlotte, for an extended stay at Sanditon. Meanwhile, Lady Denham, a widow, is playing matchmaker for her destitute nephew, Sir Edward, who is determined to seduce Lady Denham's ward, Clara.

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From Prada to nada

Description

Inspired by Jane Austen's Sense and sensibility.

Nora and Mary only know the good life in Beverly Hills - shopping, posh parties, and more shopping - but they're in for a big shock when Daddy's fortune suddenly disappears. Thankfully, an aunt takes them under her wing but she lives on the other side of town. Laugh out loud as these princesses embark on the biggest adventure of their lives, without designer labels!

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Becoming Jane

Description

The young Jane Austen wishes to be a writer. Her mother thinks otherwise. Although she is offered many marriage proposals she accepts none until the mischevious Thomas Lefroy shows up and turns her world around. At first she finds him ignorant and self centered but as she gets to know him, they start to flirt and eventually fall in love. Thomas' relatives disagree with the match and threaten to disinherit him if he marries her. Jane's mother also disagrees with the match. As a result of this, Thomas tries to convince Jane to runaway with him. Instead, Jane stays with her family and ends her affair with Lefroy. She begins to write some of her greatest works of all time. Lefroy becomes the inspiration for Mr. Darcy in the novel, Pride and Prejudice.

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The Jane Austen book club

Description

A group of six friends, in Sacramento, gather to distract themselves from loss - a newly dumped Sylvia, Prudie's repressed disappointment, or Jocelyn, who has a life of unrealized dreams. All are devoted Jane Austen fans, except the lone man, Grigg, who has an ulterior motive for joining the chick-lit gang. There's plenty of pride (Prudie), prejudice (Jocelyn), sense (Sylvia), and sensibility (Sylvia's daughter Allegra). Throw in a fair amount of persuasion. Relationships and alliances unfolds over the months.

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Bride & prejudice

Rai, Aishwariya.

Description

Based on Jane Austen's classic novel, Pride and Prejudice, with a Bollywood twist. In Ammritsar, the determined Mrs. Bakshi sets out to find matches for her four daughters. Second sister, Lalita, meets American Will Darcy - is it love?

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Bridget Jones's diary

Zellweger, Renée, 1969-

Description

Based on the 1996 novel by Helen Fielding, a loose adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. 

In her mid-thirties, still single and still being set up with dates by her mom, Bridget decides she needs to make a change in her life. She falls for her boss who uses her and then dumps her. In the meantime, Bridget keeps running into the divorced guy her mom tried to set her up with, and he happens to be ex-friends with her boss. She uses her diary as a confessional and she begins to wonder if she will ever find true love.

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Pride and Prejudice

Ehle, Jennifer, 1969-

Description

The critically acclaimed 1995 BBC television mini-series adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. 

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Clueless

Silverstone, Alicia.

Description

This 1995 film is a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's 1815 novel, Emma

Cher is the most popular girl at Beverly Hills High, and spends her time becoming very involved with her friends and with trying to find love.

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