Silent Film Meets the Talkies: A Brief History Essay example -- Film M

Quiet Film Meets the Talkies: A Brief History A betting man, Governor Leland Stanford of California required visual confirmation to win a wager he had excitedly positioned. Representative Stanford solidly accepted that sooner or later in their step, ponies had every one of the four hooves off the ground simultaneously. In the wake of employing a picture taker who was without much of any result, the Governor got John D. Isaacs, the main specialist for the Southern Pacific Railroad, to examine the circumstance. Isaacs chose to fix up an arrangement of attractive discharges to trigger a progression of cameras, twelve aggregate, as the pony ran down the track (Everson, 17). Mounting these pictures on a turning plate and anticipating them on a screen through an extraordinary lamp, they created a moving image of the pony at full run as it had happened, all things considered (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1211). American film's next large break accompanied start of World War I. Until this period, the business had been commanded by France, Italy, and Germany, especially in the region of full length introductions and the development of lasting theaters. Be that as it may, when the war broke out in Europe, film creation abroad almost stopped because of the cover of synthetic concoctions utilized in film and the assembling of explosive (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1213). All the while, American Cinema encountered a period on uncommon flourishing and development. Before the finish of the war, when the Treaty of Versailles was marked in 1919, 90 percent of all movies screened in Europe, Africa, and Asia were American (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1213). Germany be that as it may, was the special case, since it had been cut off from America since 1914. At the point when the Germans did at long last reconnect with the world, the United States profited extraordinarily from their techn... ...me film industry hits, paying little heed to the acting or recording quality. As talkies turned out to be increasingly refined and ordinary, quiet movies began to decrease. A backfire happened and these emulated motion pictures were named as the genuine craftsmanship (Geduld, 253). However, nothing should be possible to hinder the constant improvement of film as sound spilled out of studios every day. Truth be told, this new true to life style was so famous, the film business ended up being one of only a handful not many prosperous ventures during the Depression (Geduld, 253). Works Cited Ellis, Jack C. A History of Film. eedham Heights, Mass: Allyn and Bacon, 1995. Reference book Britannica. Reference book Britanica Inc.; vol. 24, fifteenth ed. Chicago, IL: 1995. Everson, William K. American Silent Film. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1978. Geduld, Harry M. The Birth of the Talkies. London: Indiana Univ. Press, 1975.

Eliezer’s Relationship with God in Night

Holding tight: The Description of Eliezer's Relationship with God in Night World War II breaks out in Europe during the finish of the 1930s. Adolph Hitler dives Germany into obscurity while rapidly moving to take over flanking nations with his military of Nazis. Eliezer, a kid close to 15 years of age, lives in Hungary, which is perilously near Germany. Alongside numerous different Jews, Eliezer is extradited from his home and into a universe of unbelievable dread. Night is a journal of those encounters and, all the more significantly, a distinct update that these occasions ought to never be permitted to rehash themselves.The Holocaust presents one of the most upsetting philosophical situations of the twentieth century. As an overcomer of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel needs to reexamine God in his reality. He does as such through his compositions, in which he addresses God and lets us know of the appropriate responses, or absence of answers, that he gets. In Night, writer Elie Wiesel ex pounds on his dedication as a youngster, strict observances, and outrage towards God to uncover how he is as yet a devotee to the Jewish confidence in spite of all that transpire. Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Treblinka are only a couple of the names which bring out bad dreams of the Holocaust.The enduring and demise at these and other death camps were more prominent than any before persevered. Before the Holocaust he had been one of the most faithful Jewish kids. The Holocaust made a void in the spirits of huge numbers of the individuals who endure. Elie Wiesel was one of those individuals. Before the Holocaust he had been one of the most ardent Jewish youngsters. Up until the end he trusted that God will mediate in Biblical design. At the point when that intercession was not prospective, he started to question in God and in His kindness. He started to blame God for cold-bloodedness against his people.After the torment was finished, he needed to reconsider the job of God in his life. He could be pardoning of God and permit Him one more opportunity, the same number of he had seen had done. Or on the other hand he could assume the job of God to himself and attempt to characterize his own predetermination. To manage this, Wiesel needs to address God and himself. He does as such through his composition. Elie Wiesel recounts to his awful story of his detainment in Nazi Germany. He defeated the chances with his quality and will to live. Elie was advised by his dad to never lose his confidence of his religion it would help him through everything, and keep him strong.One ought to never lose confidence or whatever controlling power that may prop them up. This confidence was the main power that caused Elie to endure, and without this confidence Elie would have most likely surrendered to biting the dust. The inquiry currently is the way far does Elie’s confidence in God and in his own confidence encourages him to go on. He gets numerous answers, however none are pal atable. Wiesel thought of God previously and during the Holocaust as both the defender and punisher of the Jewish individuals. Whatever had occurred previously, he had confidence that it was for their acceptable, or one of God's more noteworthy plans.Either way, he would acknowledge God's will without addressing. At the point when bits of gossip about the Nazis' violations originally arrived at a portion of the distant Jewish towns, similar to Wiesel's Sighet, nobody trusted them. The town felt that God was with them and would shield them from anything as unpleasant as what these bits of gossip recommended. They had a sense of security and secure in their confidence. â€Å"And we, the Jews of Sighet, were sitting tight for more promising times, which would not be long in coming now†(17). Other people who didn't feel remorseful accepted that God at any rate had a valid justification for rebuffing the Jews. They figured it must be a test. God is trying us. He needs to see if we can rule our base senses and murder the Satan inside us. We reserve no privilege to surrender. What's more, on the off chance that he rebuffs us persistently, it's an indication that he cherishes every one of us the more†(53). Confidence postponed the transformation that may have emitted in the camps. The more youthful individuals felt it is smarter to bite the dust battling than to go like sheep to the butcher. They had blades and a solid will. Yet, their older folks reminded them, â€Å"You should never lose confidence, in any event, when the blade hangs over your head. That is the educating of our sages†¦ †(40).As long as the older folks were happy to acknowledge God's will, the more youthful individuals were eager to regard their confidence. They despite everything had confidence that God had a more noteworthy reason as a top priority, and however they contradicted enduring, they would endure proudly that they are a piece of God's arrangement. Thus Wiesel and his town were influenced without occurrence into the camps, accepting that if their confidence suffered, they would be spared. Before long the dreams blurred and Wiesel started to question God. It was difficult for Wiesel to question in God, or he would not have clutched his confidence with such tenacity.But at some point or another, the appearing pointlessness of the enduring his kin suffered needed to blast into the awareness of his apparently dauntless Jewish confidence. Despite the crematory pit, Elie Wiesel noted, â€Å"For the first occasion when I felt revolt ascend in me. For what reason would it be a good idea for me to favor His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was quiet. What had I to express gratitude toward Him for? †(42). He stirred to the possibility that he was â€Å"alone-frightfully alone in a world without God†¦ †(75). Absence of confidence went rapidly to surrender. On the off chance that God wouldn't spar e His kids, who might? Nobody accepted the gossipy tidbits about harmony and safety.In the emergency clinic at Auschwitz, Wiesel met a man overwhelmed by this sort of hopelessness. He stated, €Å"i have more confidence in Hitler than in any other person. He's the one in particular who's stayed faithful to his obligations, every one of his guarantees, to the Jewish individuals. †(87). All around Wiesel, the quantity of unwavering were dropping. As hard as they attempted to hang tight, Wiesel's kin were thinking that its difficult to put stock in God and what He was permitting to occur. Others, similar to Wiesel, were given the weight of conveying the inquiries with them, never to be replied. At the hanging of the holy messenger confronted pipel, Wiesel had an answer, when somebody asked, † ‘Where is God now? What's more, I heard a voice inside me answer him: ‘Where right? Here He will be He is hanging here on this gallows†¦ ‘ †(72). God pas sed on for the youngster Wiesel at that point. The demolition of his confidence in the God of his youth was finished. No longer did his name bring cries of applause from Wiesel. God appeared to be dishonorable even with His admirers to acknowledge their love. Wiesel can't deny God His due. On the off chance that anything he can interrogate it and feel irate concerning it. He can even attempt to transform it, by reexamining God's job on the planet. That is the thing that a significant number of those he experienced did once they got over the underlying anger.Any answer can't emerge out of man, yet from God himself. This is the thing that Moshe the Beadle had attempted to reveal to Wiesel when he was a little youngster in Sighet, before the dread of the Holocaust devastated his life. Moshe stated, â€Å"Man raises himself toward God by the inquiries he pose Him†¦ That is the genuine exchange. Man addresses God and God answers. In any case, we don't comprehend His answers. We can 't get them. Since they originate from the profundities of the spirit, and they remain there til' the very end. You will locate the genuine answers, Eliezer, just inside yourself! †(15). There can be no limit to the scrutinizing, regardless of whether there are no answers.In perusing crafted by Elie Wiesel, I needed to ask God a portion of similar inquiries that he did. The tempest of feeling followed the ways of outrage and despair, lastly finished with the acknowledgment that Elie Wiesel finds. God isn't anything but difficult to make sense of, and he never will be. With all our insight, we can't speculate his explanations behind busy. I will wonder constantly what occurred, and, all the more critically, why, yet I will rest unobtrusively, as long as when I wake I watch to see that there isn't another Holocaust, and I appeal to God that whatever the explanations behind the first, there never will be a second.The Holocaust introduced a call to individuals wherever to rethink the job of God in their lives. The agony and enduring that we know occurred is in dim difference to what we would have thought conceivable within the sight of our God, and any individual who interacts with these abhorrences will be always shaken in his current confidence. Some have responded with outrage toward God, others with disavowal. Still others responded with doubt of all that God had implied previously. In any case, by posing inquiries, some have developed to discover that God never did things the manner in which individuals anticipate that Him should, and that reality turns into the foundation of the new beginning to their theology.God doesn't respond to questions except if they suit His motivations. This is the thing that we have gained from Auschwitz and from the compositions of Elie Wiesel. We should keep on posing inquiries, keep on testing God, until, at some point, He Himself will offer us the responses. What's more, up to that point we ought to never have a sense of safety in confidence as to believe that Auschwitz would never happen again. We should make sure, through our activities, that it will never happen again and to never lose the confidence that has been committed to God.

What Book Rioters Are Reading on December 6, 2016

What Book Rioters Are Reading on December 6, 2016 In this feature at Book Riot, we give you a glimpse of what we are reading this very moment. Here is what the Rioters are reading today (as in literally today). This is what’s on their bedside table (or the floor, work bag, desk, whatevskis). See a Rioter who is reading your favorite book? I’ve included the link that will take you to their author archives (meaning, that magical place that organizes what they’ve written for the site). Gird your loins â€" this list combined with all of those archived posts will make your TBR list EXPLODE. We’ve shown you ours, now show us yours; let us know what you’re reading (right this very moment) in the comment section below! Liberty Hardy   The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffith: This is the third in her somewhat-cozy mystery series about Ruth Galloway, a forensic archaeologist. And they are exactly what my brain needs right now. (paperback) An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine: This has been on my must-read list forever, because everyone I know who has read it absolutely loves it. (paperback) A Twist in Time by Julie McElwain (Pegasus Books, April 4, 2017): The follow-up to A Murder in Time, which I thought was so much fun! (galley) Chemistry by Weike Wang (Knopf, May 23, 2017): I will admit that what first drew me to this book was the fact that the cover looks like the cover of a Douglas Coupland novel. But it also sounds fabulous. (e-galley) Molly Wetta   A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet:  I’ve been in the mood for fantasy romance, and this one has got a lot of praise, so I’m excited to check it out. (library paperback) Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss: This has been on my TBR list forever, but I have been wary of starting an unfinished fantasy series (I hate waiting). But with the announcement that Lin-Manuel Miranda will be adapting it for TV, I put it on hold faster than you can say “Kingkiller” and immediately checked it out. (library paperback) Jamie Canaves   Follow Her Home by Steph Cha: Megan Abbott recommended Cha in “By the Book” making this an instant must-read. (Hardcover) The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher: I love Fisher and having her unfiltered thoughts in my ears for any amount of time is a treat. (Audiobook) Always Happy Hour: Stories by Mary Miller: That cover is amazing and invoked so many feelings how could I not pick it up? (egalley) United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good by Cory Booker: In the dumpster fire that is this year it’s nice to listen to someone energetically talk about trying to help communities who understands racial issues and who actually goes to, and has lived in, the communities he’s trying to help rather than discuss them from far away. (Audiobook) Steph Auteri   Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina: I saw Medina appear on a panel at Book Riot Live and, after breezing through a freebie copy of her Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, I knew I had to read her more recent, award-winning YA. (Ebook) Startup by Doree Shafrir: I’m just a sucker for books that satirize life lived on the internet… because I live on the internet. (Paperback ARC) Annika Barranti Klein   Lover’s Choice by Becky Birtha: Alexander Chee recommended her stories to me ages ago, and I tracked down a used copy of this out of print collection. (Paperback) Tara Olivero   Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake: Received this one in a past OwlCrate box and hadn’t gotten around to it yet, but have heard good things and agree, based on the first 50 pages. (Hardcover) Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman: Finished the first Maus last night and immediately headed to the library to pick up the conclusion of the duology. (Paperback) The Great Comet: The Journey of a New Musical to Broadway edited by Steven Suskin: Honestly, I’m trash for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 and as soon as I saw on twitter that they made a book, I had no choice but to buy it and read it and love it. (Hardcover) Casey Stepaniuk   Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend by Erika T. Wurth: I literally just started this book by this Apache / Chickasaw / Cherokee author, for a school project on YA by Indigenous women authors. It’s blurbed by Eden Robinson, one of my all-time favourite authors, so I’m pretty excited. (Paperback) Furiously Happy: a Funny Book about Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson: I pretty much just stumbled upon this while browsing Overdrive for a new audiobook to listen to, and this one had been on my TBR for a while. (Audiobook) Sarah Nicolas   Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates: Wow am I behind on this one, but after seeing the approximate thousandth recommendation from fellow Rioters, I checked out the audiobook from my library… I’m going to need my own print copy of this one. (audiobook) Winter by Marissa Meyer: My love for the Lunar Chronicles series has been well-documented. (audiobook) Spin the Sky by Jill Mackenzie: I saw this on a YA Interrobang roundup and requested it from my library. There’s nothing more satisfying than being the first person to read a library copy! (hardcover) Kate Scott   Romeo and Juliet: A Novel by David Hewson: A novelization of Shakespeare’s classic written specifically for Audible and read by Richard Armitage. It’s very well-written and I’m enjoying it so far. (Audiobook) Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance: There’s been a lot of post-election buzz about this and a couple of book bloggers highly recommended it. (Audiobook) Tasha Brandstatter   The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman: Received an advanced copy of this book on Netgalley. (eARC) A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie: Was in the mood for a Christie mystery and spotted this one on Hoopla. (audiobook) Ashlie Swicker   The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz: I adored ARISTOTLE AND DANTE, but I listened to Lin Manuel Miranda read the audiobook, and I was a bit concerned that his voice was part of what won me over. Not to worry this paperback is equally poetic and absorbing in the first few chapters I’ve enjoyed! (Paperback ARC) The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig: The second part of this time-traveling pirate ship duology has some of my favorite elements a strong female MC, richly imagined historical fiction, and a bit of a love triangle. (eARC) Teresa Preston   Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker. Lots of true crime fans I know raved about this book about murdered sex workers in Long Island. Instead of focusing on the serial killer (who was never found), Kolker focuses on the victims. So far, it’s proving to be an interesting read from a class perspective. (Library hardcover) Rebecca Hussey   I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual by Luvvie Ajayi: I’m on the look-out right now for entertaining, funny audiobooks that also have something serious to say. This one fits my needs exactly. Ajayi perfectly combines comedy with a message about all the ways our culture is seriously messed up. (Audiobook) Trainwreck: The Women We Love to Hate, Mock, Fear… and Why by Sady Doyle: Doyle analyzes our cultural responses to the “trainwreck”: the woman who seems to be going off the rails in spectacular fashion. She looks at historical and contemporary examples and makes a powerful argument about why these women are so fascinating and why this is such a problem. (ebook) Amanda Kay Oaks   I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales from A Happy Life Without Kids by Jen Kirkman: This book hooked me from the title alone. As a woman who doesn’t want kids (and is really tired of hearing everyone’s opinions about this), I always enjoy hearing from others who share the same perspective. So far, I’m enjoying it, although the topics of the essays are more broad than I expected. (digital audiobook) Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan: A friend of mine has been recommending this one to me for ages. After hearing Sara Farizan speak at Book Riot Live, I’m finally getting around to it This book is about Leila, who is an Iranian-American who knows she likes girls but is trying to keep it secret. It’s been an easy secret to keep up until now, but then a new girl shows up at school and complicated romance ensues. I’ve just started and can’t wait to keep reading! (ebook) These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas: This one gets described as “Jane Austen meets X-Men” in the copy, which is basically the ultimate combo I never thought I’d actually get. Why haven’t I read this book yet? (ebook) Karina Glaser Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman: I’m utterly charmed by this clever book filled with mystery, ciphers, codes, and adventure. (Paperback) Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar (April 11, 2017, Nancy Paulsen Books): Received this ARC from the publisher, and I can’t put it down. It’s about Ruthie and her family, Cuban immigrants, who make their home in New York City. (ARC) Charles Darwin’s Around-the-World Adventure by Jennifer Thermes: This is a gorgeously illustrated picture book biography of Charles Darwin. (Hardcover) Katie McLain   Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain: 2nd book in the Gretchen Lowell/Archie Sheridan series.  I’ve read and listened to the first book twice, and it blew me away both times, but I had never gotten around to reading the rest of the series.  So far I’m tearing through Sweetheart on audio it’s gritty, horrific, dark, disturbing everything that I want in a psychological suspense novel! And holy buckets, Gretchen Lowell is a TERRIFYING villain. (digital audio) And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich: I checked out a stack of YA novels from the library a few weeks ago, and I’m only now getting around to them.  I tore through 100 pages of this seriously creepy story last night extremely atmospheric with the feel of a terrifying fairy tale.  It’s very reminiscent of Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough, which I loved. (Library hardcover) Jessica Yang   Lucy and Linh by  Alice Pung: I am a huge sucker for private school stories, and the cover is just adorable. (hardcover) Derek Attig   Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky: I kept seeing this book on best-SFF-of-2016 lists alongside some of my favorites, so I thought I’d give it a try. Spiders! (ebook) They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery: Lowery is so smart on these topics, and I’ve followed his work since his reporting on Ferguson. So I had to pick up this book. (ebook) Ashley Bowen-Murphy   The Cutting Season by Attica Locke: This mystery couldn’t be more in my wheelhouse if it tried. The past and present collide when a woman’s body is found on the grounds of an historic  Louisiana plantation. The audio book is wonderful and so much fun. (audio) Kitchens of the Great Midwest by  J. Ryan Stradal: I got lucky and found a hardcopy of this in a local take one/leave one library inside a bar. Yes, Washington, DC is the best bookish city. A dear friend has been after me for ages to read this, so I’m finally reading it. (hardback) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle: because I’ve never read it. I. Know. Save your outrage for something else. (paperback) Charles Paul Hoffman Black Canary vol 2: New Killer Star by Brendan Fletcher, Sandy Jarrell, Moritat, and Annie Wu: Every month or so I get a package from Amazon with something that I preordered and completely forgot about. This month that package brought me Black Canary volume 2, and I couldn’t be happier. This series has been insanely good and I can’t wait to dive in to see what happens next. (trade paperback) The Last Unicorn graphic novel adaptation by Peter S. Beagle, Peter B. Gillis, Renae De Liz, and Ray Dillon: I fell hard for Renae De Liz and Ray Dillon’s Legend of Wonder Woman, so when I discovered that the two had also done an adaptation of The Last Unicorn, of course I had to pick it up. I’m only an issue in, but it is so stunningly beautiful, I wish I could marry it. (ComiXology) Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer: I found a used copy of this gem at Half Price Books and knew I needed it as soon as I read the description on the back. Charlotte Makepeace wakes up after her first night in a new boarding school to discover she’s traveled back in time to 1918. Sold. (hardcover) Aram Mrjoian   When the World Wounds by Kiini Ibura: Reading this collection to review for Necessary Fiction and so far I am enjoying the terse language and emotional currents. (PDF) Human Acts by Han Kang: I am just starting this book and looking forward to it because I’ve heard such good things about The Vegetarian. (ARC) Christy Childers   Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between) by Lauren Graham: Because I like listening to Lauren Graham talk. (Hardcover) Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ by Timothy Keller: Because I’ll read anything Tim Keller writes. (Library Hardcover) Erin Burba   You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson: I love the podcast Robinson co-hosts with Jessica Williams, 2 Dope Queens. (Audiobook) Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America by Helen Thorpe: I loved Thorpe’s Soldier Girls: The Battle of Three Women at Home and at War. This book, about 4 Mexican teens (two with immigration papers and two without), feels especially important given the current political climate. (ebook) A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley: The memoir of a boy who gets lost from his home in India, is adopted by an Australian family, and makes his way back to his birth family 25 years later is super compelling. (Library hardcover) Thomas Maluck The Sixth Gun, Book 9: Boot Hill by Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, and Bill Crabtree: This western/fantasy has been tilting toward its grand finale for a while in-story, but its mythology and cast are so rich it’s hard to believe it’s even capable of ending. You know that feeling when a series ends and you still remember opening the first chapter? I’m getting a lot of that right now. Bunn, Hurtt, and Crabtree have built an adventure to last. (paperback) Sugar Spike: Metahuman Investigations by Keith Giffen, Bilquis Evely, and Ivan Plascencia: Finally, the Silver Age of DC Comics claims a corner of modern-day storytelling! When Batman needs colorful costumes reclaimed from collectors, Superman needs something retrieved from an island he built to look like himself, or Wonder Woman needs a monstrous ex-fiance dealt with, only investigators Sugar Spike are covert enough to get the job done. Well, when they’re not bickering and sniping at each other, anyway. Evely’s work is a pleasure to behold, buttressed by Plascencia’s colors and Giffen’s mining of DC’s history for some silly reveals. (paperback) Hellboy In Mexico by Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, Mick McMahon, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Dave Stewart: Hellboy’s five-month “lost weekend” is our golden ticket to monstrous lucha libre wrestling matches, Mexican folklore, and classic horror crossovers, all delivered by an outstanding roster of talent, including Stewart’s top-shelf shades. These stories go down easy, but pace yourself. Try not to spoil yourself chugging the whole thing. That’s how Hellboy got into this whole mess! (paperback) Rachel Weber   Waking Gods: Book 2 of The Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel I had a serious case of the book love for the first in this series about giant metal robots, so this was an insta-read for me. (e-galley) Hammers on Bone (Persons Non Grata) by Cassandra Khaw I got sent a copy of this out of the blue, a couple of pages in I knew I was going to have to finish it. A private eye with a monstrous secret, hired by 10 year old? Wheelhouse! (galley) Comfort And Joy: A Novel by India Knight I always reread this at Christmas, something about the chaos of the blended family and comedy of mad relatives makes me feel at home. (ebook) Maureen Stinger   The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: I’ve been waiting for this book for months, a debut YA novel inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. (eARC) Just Fly Away by Andrew McCarthy: Yes, THAT Andrew McCarthy. After a well-received memoir, his first foray into fiction with a contemporary YA novel coming in April. (ARC) Swing Time by Zadie Smith: Smith is always good, and I’m pleased she has a new book for me to devour. (hardcover) Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff: The audio version of Illuminae (first in this series) featured a full cast of narrators, along with sound effects and occasional music, to present this unique novel, and the audio for the second book is just as rich. (digital audiobook) Rah Carter   The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I’m delving into a mine of free public domain classics to listen to; particularly searching out those authors who aren’t straight white British/American men. The Three Musketeers fit the bill and I’m loving it. (digital audiobook) Jessica Pryde   Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland. I started working my way through some ARC backlist over the weekend and this was the one that stuck. (ARC) Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It has been sitting on my shelf forawhile. It was time. (paperback) The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan. This is the second book in the Brothers Sinister series. I’m trying something different and savoring each one instead of slamming through them to reach the series finish line. (ebook)