From the library, lately

Post directly inspired by Rachel's updates from her Heart of Light blog, which I've been reading and loving since 2008. 

• Brooklyn I loved it and it's exactly what a movie should be. I'll be watching it again I'm sure. It gave me the same feelings as About Time. Domhnall Gleeson is in both films and I think he is stellar, but for me it's Emory Cohen who steals the show. Bonus, it passes the Bechdel Test, it's funny, and you get to hear a little Irish girl call some other girls "betches."

• Amy This documentary about Amy Winehouse treated her struggles with such kindness. I hadn't appreciated the depth of her talent and songwriting before but it's had me playing Back to Black on repeat all over again. It won the Oscar for a documentary film last year.

• The Girls by Emma Cline.   Emotionally charged and wistful in parallel with the age of the narrators it's creepy and humid and beautifully written. Wasn't being a 14 year old girl so difficult? There’s just so much luck involved with who you meet and when and this girl rides her bike down a dark road. Research says this story somewhat parallels the Manson Family, but a “light” version. I don't think I could handle a deeper version.

• Not capital “L” literature but enjoyable none the less has been the Her Royal Spyness series by Rhys Bowen. Set in the period between World Wars in England it features Georgiana who, despite being penniless, is still 30-something-eth in line for the royal throne and can't get a real job. So her cousin (HRH The Queen) sends her on spying assignments. They are cozy and perfect for the stretches when I'm working and my brain can't handle much during that too-short interval between 12-hour shifts.

• Not from the library but I'm working my way through articles from here because social justice and Black Lives Matter is for everyone.