End of the Month Re-cap

So, let's start with Starbucks. I stopped by yesterday and dropped off the ornament for Perla--my new favorite barista. 

Everyone "oohed and aahed" over it. I said it would make a nice addition for those on your gift list who you give Starbucks cards to. I think that's a great idea and I'd use it myself except that everyone I would give a Starbucks gift card to will be or has already made one.

Now on to the books I've read this month. That would be 11. In full transparency, 2 of these I was near finishing at the end of October. But I don't count them until they are finished. And another 2 were memoirs that I listened to--read by the author. I have a hard time with audio books as my mind wanders. But if it's a memoir read by the author, I do love that. I don't have any trouble staying focused. So that would leave technically 7 books I actually read. Tomatoes, tomahtoes. It's amazing how many books you can read by going on a beach vacation for a week, a long car ride and going to bed early. Like I say, "just because I go to bed early doesn't mean I actually go to bed!!" 

Anyway, not all of them were 5 stars. Only five of them made that cut. In no particular order:

If You Would Have Told Me--

this was John Stamos memoir. Loved it. Of course, I love him. 'Nuff said.

Everyone Here is Lying--

all I can say is "wow'--lots of twists and turns. Exactly how I like a book! PS The Couple Next Door was really good too. I read that in 2020. (I'm so glad I keep track of the books I've read--started in 2017. Since I use my Kindle, Amazon tells me the date I read it. That way I can go back and check my list for the rating.)

One True Loves--

about the time a young widow is starting to recover from the disappearance of her husband two years prior, he resurfaces--just as she becomes engaged to another. I might have considered this one fluff, but it posed a dilemma--what would you do?This one is really good with some great philosophies that gave me something to think about.

The Girl Who Was Taken--

at first, I thought this might be too hard to read. Think Dateline. It was intriguing with a very surprise ending. Sometimes the ending alone can cause me to give a book 5 stars. I didn't see it coming--at least not until the very end.

The Dream Daughter--

this one is about time travel. A woman from 1971 has the opportunity to travel to 2003 for an in vitro surgery to save her baby. That surgery wasn't available in 1971. Really, really good. You can't go wrong with Diane Chamberlain! I haven't read them all, but I have read quite a few.

Now for the movies. 

Connie, Nancy and I have managed to see 6 movies this month counting the one we are seeing today--the latest Hunger Games. Here are the ones I recommend:

The Eras Tour--Taylor Swift--I saw this by myself and loved every minute of the 3+ hours. As I said in a previous post---"it's the best concert I never actually got to go to!" (Update: it's coming out soon on one of the streaming services. Stephanie has already invited me over on 12/30 to watch it with her while we stitch. I'd love to see it again. In fact, I've already put the dvd on my Christmas list for next year!)

Priscilla--based on her book Elvis and Me which came out in 1986. I read it back then and knew it was the 80's but looked it up to find the exact year. There were a couple things that stuck out to me that I still remembered. The movie is true to the book--since Priscilla was one of the producers. All I'm going to say is I came to a realization while watching the movie. I'm not going to say what, but he was a strange guy. 

Journey to Bethlehem--at first, I couldn't figure out if this was supposed to be making fun of the story, but soon realized that it was more of a Broadway production. It took me a bit to warm up to it, but in the end I really liked it.

Holdovers--about a boy who has to stay at his boarding school over the Christmas holidays. It was sad and touching. Kind of a downer, but I did really like it. 

That's it for the movies I'd recommend. But, I think I'll add a really good documentary I just saw on Netflix. It's called Twin Flames and is about a cult called the Twin Flames Universe. This one is a really strange one. It's so hard to believe that people can be so desperate and lonely that they get sucked in to something like this. But, considering there are 10,000 active cults in the US, I guess it's not surprising. I'm shocked by that number. Thank God, I never came across any in my life. I'm afraid that I'm just gullible enough to have fallen for some BS. It's only 3 episodes, so easily bingeable.

Also, the last season of The Crown has started. I finished the first 4 episodes and it seemed to end abruptly. Then I found out that the final 6 episodes will be released in December. I've really enjoyed the series (also on Netflix), but you have to realize that they really took a lot of liberties with the stories. It's not all true. I kinda' hate that because there's a tendency to believe everything. If I hadn't already read so many books about the Royal Family, I would have believed it all too. 

Let me know if you read or see anything you think I shouldn't miss. 

Okeedokee then, that's it for this month.