Books into Movies

            Here are some books that recently have been made into movies and TV series.

            The Alienist is written by Caleb Carr. It is set in the year 1896 and features a team of criminal investigators who hunt down a madman stalking victims on the streets of New York City, using revolutionary techniques such as fingerprinting and psychology. It now is a television mini-series.

            Ready Player One is written by Ernest Cline. Set in the mid-twenty-first century, in a technological virtual utopia used to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty, and disease, protagonist Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world’s creator. This is now a movie.

            Boy Erased: A Memoir is written by Garrard Conley. This biographical work tells the author’s story as a survivor of a church-supported sexual orientation conversion therapy facility that claimed to ‘cure” homosexuality. He describes its institutionalized intense Bible study program and its daily threats against his sanity. The movie will be released in November.  

            First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong is written by James R. Hansen. This is an authorized portrait of the first astronaut to set foot on the moon. It also examines other aspects of Armstrong’s career and the toll his professional dedication took on his family life. The movie will be released in August.

            Crazy Rich Asians is written by Kevin Kwan. The novel features Chinese-American Rachel Chu’s visit to Singapore to meet her fiancé’s family. She is surprised to find them an extremely rich and underhanded clan who are opposed to their relationship. The movie will be released in November.

New E-Book Purchases for July

            Here are some new e-books available through our library’s subscription with Bibliotheca.

            The Magnolia Table: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering, is written by Joanna Gaines, the star of HGTV’s Fixer Upper. It is a compilation of more than one hundred classic recipes for meals, snacks, desserts, and small plates, including chicken pot pie, asparagus and fontina quiche, overnight French toast, and fried chicken with sticky poppy seed jam. Full-color photos accompany the recipes.

            The President Is Missing: A Novel is co-authored by James Patterson and former President Bill Clinton. Here, a fictional President confronts a threat so huge that it jeopardizes not just Pennsylvania Avenue and Wall Street, but all of America. Cyber terror, espionage, and a traitor in the Cabinet might be possible; the President himself becomes a suspect – until he disappears!

            Spymaster: A Thriller is written by Brad Thor, featuring his protagonist Scot Harvath.  Across Europe, a secret organization has begun attacking diplomats. Back in the United States, a foreign ally demands the identity of a highly placed covert asset. In the balance hang the ingredients for all-out war.

            When Life Gives You Lululemons: A Novel, written by Lauren Weisberger, is a sequel to the popular The Devil Wears Prada. Here, Emily Charlton, the beleaguered assistant-turned-successful Hollywood image consultant, teams up with a former ace lawyer-turned-Greenwich stay-at-home mom to retain the services of an A-list model and politician's wife.

            Enjoy these and other e-books from our collection.

Librarian's Favorites

            Here are some of the books that librarian Eileen has reviewed for our Adult Summer Reading Club.

            This is M. Sasek: the Extraordinary Life and Travels of the Beloved Children’s Book Illustrator, is written by Martin Salisbury. It is a fascinating biography of the artist, Miroslav Sasek, who is the creator of the bestselling “This is” series of children’s books. Chock full of illustrations, documents and fan letters from children, this oversize book is a wonderful read for those people who enjoy both beautifully illustrated children’s books and world travel!

            Appetites: a Cookbook, is written by Anthony Bourdain. In true Anthony Bourdain fashion, the author entertains with not only a memoir of his globetrotting travels but also his favorite recipes for entertaining. Full color photos enhance the classic recipes, and his irreverent chatter throughout the book serves as a way in which we are able to get to know him on a more personal level. A true “work of art!”          

            Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel, is written by Alon Shaya. Part cookbook and part memoir, Alon Shaya has written a book that interlaces the story of his life with the food memories that helped shape it. His recipes are simple-to-follow and the full-color photographs entice the reader to try them.

            Cuba Then: Rare and Classic Images from the Ramiro Fernandez Collection is a dazzling compilation of rare photographs and observations of “old” Cuba, and is one of the largest collections of images outside of Cuba. This will be of interest to people traveling to Cuba and others interested in Cuban-American culture.