I watched Dickensian for the first time a few years ago and loved it far more than I could have dreamed, especially since I am not a big Dickens fan and had already kind of half-formed in my mind what the series would be like. I could not have been more wrong and, despite hoping to watch it piecemeal so it would last as long as possible, I still ended up binge-watching it. I recommended it to some customers and they came back later and told me they loved it, too, and we got to talk about it, which I always find one of the best parts about reading a book or watching a show.
To describe it would hardly do it justice, the more I like something the harder it is for me to write about it. But if I had to say, Dickensian is where beloved characters of Charles Dickens’ novels cross paths in a gripping mix of mystery, romance, and intrigue. The show twists together the fates of figures like the ruthless Jacob Marley, the ambitious young Miss Havisham, and the ever-resilient orphaned street boy, intertwining their lives in unexpected and dramatic ways.
Secrets hide in every shadow, fortunes rise and fall, and revenge boils beneath the surface, all leading to shocking revelations that keep you on the edge of your seat. With a world so richly imagined and characters so vividly brought to life, this series is a captivating re-imagining of Dickens’ literary universe, offering surprises even for the most devoted fans. Despite not being a Dickens fan, I have always been drawn to Miss Havisham’s tragic back story and, sure enough, in Dickensian her life is as mesmerizing as it is heartbreaking. Tuppence Middleton is outstanding as Miss Havisham and, dare I say, may be the best one ever!
Whether you’re a lifelong devotee or stepping into Dickens’ world for the first time, it invites you to linger in its darkened corners, where every twist and turn reveals a story waiting to unfold. If you’d rather stream Dickensian than watch it on DVD, it is available for FREE on Kanopy, Tubi and on The Roku Channel.
Angie is an Instructor & Research Specialist at Central Branch and is a co-facilitator for Reads of Acceptance, HCLS’ first LGBTQ-focused book club. Her ideal day is reading in her cozy armchair, with her cat Henry next to her.
In the late 80s, when I first discovered the novels of Jacqueline Susann and Jackie Collins, I used to place paper bag covers over them to hide the title information and, I suppose, my shame in reading them. Nowadays, in the age of e-books, where no one has to know or can see what you’re reading, I am not at all shy about sharing my love of these two authors.
Scandalous Womenbrings to life the dynamic and groundbreaking careers of both iconic ladies. Set in the 1960s, the story follows these trailblazing and vibrant women as they navigate the male-dominated world of publishing, facing rampant sexism and societal backlash for their bold, provocative works.
Nancy White, a young editorial assistant becomes the unlikely link between these two literary powerhouses. As Jackie and Jacqueline strive to top the bestseller charts, they form an unexpected friendship, sharing their struggles and triumphs in a world that often seeks to silence them. Though there is no real world evidence to suggest they were friends in real life, Gill Paul has said that she loves to imagine that they could have been.
Paul weaves together the personal and professional lives of these women, highlighting their resilience, ambition, and the price they pay for their success. Scandalous Women is written in the style and spirit of both authors and is a fun, yet ultimately serious look at writing as a woman in the 1960s. The way she captures their spirit, especially Susann’s, is pitch-perfect and is one of the reasons the book stays with you long after you finish. The good news is, if you like Gill Paul, she has written several other novels, just as compelling and enjoyable to read.
To see Jaqueline Susann discuss literature (and that meshes well with what Scandalous is trying to say) click here:
Angie is an Instructor & Research Specialist at Central Branch and is a co-facilitator for Reads of Acceptance, HCLS’ first LGBTQ-focused book club. Her ideal day is reading in her cozy armchair, with her cat Henry next to her.
I love going to the movies, sitting in the dark with a tub of popcorn, having a communal moment with a bunch of strangers I will never talk to. I also enjoy watching at home, via DVD or a streaming service, with a big bowl of popcorn (a theme!). My viewing tastes are almost as eclectic as my reading ones: artsy emotional films that wring your heart, thrillers full of car chases and gun fights, animation that leaves a hopeful smile on your face, book adaptations, and grand fantasy epics. Tell me a compelling story, and I am a happy human.
I will see ANYTHING in which Frances McDormand has a role, of any sort or size. She can probably lay claim to most of those film genres listed above. She is a marvelous character actor, disappearing into whatever persona she chooses to inhabit – from a French nun to a pregnant police officer to a mother grieving her missing daughter. I cannot say I’ve seen everything she’s been in because, holy moly, that woman has an immense body of work – including being the voice of God in the Good Omens series. But here’s a quick look at some favorites:
The Coen Brothers movies defy categorization, and she’s a favorite of theirs, understandable given that she’s married to Joel Coen. Two movies immediately come to mind:
Fargo: Where she plays Margie, the whip-smart local police detective who is investigating what appears to be a random murder. The movie spools into a convoluted tangle of a tale that puts lie to the adage that truth is stranger than fiction. While there might be some real life behind this movie, it’s mostly fiction.
Burn After Reading: The Russians? This movie immediately entered my family’s lexicon of jokes and silly sayings. It might have the most DC vibe of all the Coen Brothers’ movies, and so be a little more relatable to those of us who live in the DMV. A mysterious cache of what appears to be important information pulls gym rats (McDormand and Brad Pitt), the CIA, and a plethora of cameo roles into a darkly funny send-up of the world of international espionage and politics.
Emotional Wringer
McDormand won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. She plays a distraught and deeply angry mother who rents three roadside billboards to draw attention to her daughter’s unsolved rape and murder. She is, quite literally, willing to burn down her life and the town to get answers.
Artsy, Feel-good
Of all of Wes Anderson’s perfectly composed films, Moonrise Kingdom is probably my favorite. The setting of summer camp on a New England island pairs deliciously with the young lovers Sam and Suzy (as deeply romantic as only 12-year-olds can be), who run away looking for the perfect place to live in harmony. McDormand plays Suzy’s mom, among the many, many stars who inhabit this odd corner of the world. This movie has everything: local theater, police, scouts, dancing on the beach, a lighthouse in a hurricane, and Ed Norton wearing knee socks.
Fun and Funny
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, which co-stars two other favorite actors, Amy Adams and Ciaran Hinds, is one of those movies that I will always be willing to watch. In London on the eve of World War II, McDormand plays the strict governess who has become a social secretary to a wealthy, beautiful socialite involved with three men. Romance and shenanigans ensue for the entire cast. (based on a book)
Children’s Story
In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines, the youngest of whom was Madeline.
If you aren’t familiar with Ludwig Bemelmans lovely, rhyming series of stories for children, you might want to start there. Miss Clavel runs the French Catholic boarding school, where Madeline is the fiercest and funniest of orphans destined to steal hearts everywhere. McDormand plays the straight-faced and exasperated nun in a film that runs rampant through the major tourist attractions of Paris. It’s a lot of fun for children and their grownups, each of whom can identify perfectly with their generation’s main character.
Kristen B. is a devoted bookworm lucky enough to work as the graphic designer for HCLS. She likes to read, stitch, dance, and watch baseball (but not all at the same time).
A contemporary coming-of-age story with a mystery twist, I didn’t want to put down this temptingly readable book once I was pulled into the story. Popular girl Shara Wheeler has the audacity to pull a disappearing act a month before graduation. Chloe Green, academic rival of Shara and protagonist of the novel, wants nothing more than to bring her back in time to see Chloe win valedictorian – because what’s the point of winning without a worthy competitor?
For better or worse, Shara left behind a trail of clues designed specifically for the three people she kissed before disappearing – her quarterback boyfriend Smith, the boy-next-door Rory, and quite shockingly, Chloe. Shocking mostly because Shara – little miss perfect, daughter of the principal, and “it girl” of their small Alabama town – is, as far as anyone knows, entirely straight. However, the set-up of the novel makes it pretty clear that this is an enemies-to-lovers type of situation. The rivalry and frustration Chloe feels regarding Shara – really a mask for their magnetic attraction – is high-grade narrative fuel. What made me fall in love with the story, however, is the friendships that Chloe develops with Smith and Rory.
Chloe, Smith, and Rory come from different tiers of the Willowsgrove High hierarchy. They don’t appear to have anything in common, aside from a connection to Shara. However, the more time they spend together, the more the dynamic shifts, and the more they learn about each other and themselves. By spending time with Smith and Rory, and their respective friend groups, Chloe realizes that the way she’s looked at many of her peers has been flawed.
When it comes to stories set in high school cliques, I often proverbially roll my eyes, unconvinced that heavy-handed stereotypes of jocks, nerds, goths, prom queens, and such represent the average teen experience. I Kissed Shara Wheeler incorporates student group dynamics in a way that feels realistic and reminds me of my high school experience (Mt. Hebron, Class of 2015, what’s up!). The different social circles are often based on interests and activities – student athletes, band kids, and theater kids. However, each of those kids is nuanced, and the groups can overlap.
For example, Ace plays on the football team with Smith. He tried out for the school play and snagged the lead, and Chloe’s group of artsy, queer, nerdy friends assumed Ace did it as a joke. However, Ace is a big musical theater fan and always dreamed of being in the school’s productions. He was nervous to audition, let alone star, mainly because he was concerned about being teased by the football crew. There certainly are some rude, insufferable jocks at their school – one in particular displays misogynistic, sexually objectifying behavior towards Chloe. There are also jocks like Ace and Smith, who are kind, who try to shut down the misogyny of their peers, and who have other interests besides sports… but are pigeonholed. It’s very much like Nick (the love interest) in Heartstopper by Alice Oseman.
One of my favorite scenes happens at the senior theater party, where we hear Ace confess to Chloe about auditioning and preparing for the school musical. It shifts Chloe’s perspective about Ace, and it opens her mind to what all her other peers might be going through. Also, we get a lovely interaction when Ace and Smith get their makeup done by Chloe’s artsiest friend Ash, who happens to be nonbinary – which results in a conversation about gender that leads Smith to start questioning his gender identity:
“You know… if being a guy feels like something you have to do, like it’s an obligation or something,” Ash says carefully. “Maybe think about that.”
I’m not going to lie; it’s pretty cool to see a fellow nonbinary Ash reflected in a book I love, especially when the character gets lines like this. I lived for this conversation!
Overall, this was such a fun, joyous read. McQuiston relied on beloved tropes and archetypes that feel both familiar and fresh, thanks to the way they are subverted. Serious subjects are explored without being insensitive. The dramatic tension quickly propels the narrative forward, but there are also plenty of laughs along the way to keep the reader from feeling too stressed. (Seriously, how is CMQ so seemingly-effortlessly funny in their writing?)
Perhaps best of all, the queer friendships are exactly what I think many readers will hope for. The ending is satisfying, with the youth banding together and standing up to ‘the system,’ and starting the work of unlearning the harmful messages that they’ve internalized so they can fully accept themselves and each other. If you’re interested in a compelling mystery full of warmth, hilarity, and character growth, check out I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston in print, e-book, or e-audiobook.
Ash is an Instructor & Research Specialist at Central Branch and is a co-facilitator for Reads of Acceptance, HCLS’ first LGBTQ-focused book club. Their favorite place to read is spread out on a blanket under the shade of the tree.
“In space, the stars don’t twinkle. Apparently, twinkling only happens when you look at the stars through the atmosphere of a planet.“
Oliver
For months I had noticed the Space Boy series by Stephen McCranie on the graphic novel shelves, and while it looked interesting, I never picked it up. That all changed a couple of weeks ago when I decided to check out book one and there it was: that moment when you start reading and wonder “why in the world didn’t I read this sooner?” I was hooked. And ultimately glad I had waited, because by now I had eight volumes to catch up on and I wouldn’t have to wait for more…at that immediate moment that is.
Book one starts out with a short introduction to Oliver, a boy who is filled with emotion and yearns to express it, yet is confined to what he calls the Nothing. There is immense loneliness in his opening thoughts, and we come to experience that the Nothing has taken almost everything away from him. Things shift to Amy, a young girl living on a mining colony in deep space. The colony is all she knows, but when her father is fired there comes the biggest change: they must move back to Earth. Leaving behind her home, her friends, and her life, Amy and her family are essentially shipped to Earth on a transport in cryogenic suspension. Thirty years pass by the time she reaches Earth and the implications soon hit her. Life has moved on and so has Jemmah and her other friends. Starting anew on a new planet, a new home, and a new school, Amy begins to acclimate to her environment. She makes new friends and starts to adjust. But along the way she meets Oliver, a boy with no flavor. See, she has the ability to identify another person’s flavor by looking at them. But with Oliver there is no flavor until she finally glimpses something through his stoic and expressionless exterior. There’s got to be more to him, and boy is there ever!
At this point I was hooked. The mystery, intrigue, and space exploration drew upon my love of space opera and I found myself devouring volume upon volume along with what was available to read on WebToons. Finally, there was no more and I fell upon that age-old waiting game. Subsequent volumes expand on the mystery behind Oliver, the secret organization that is pulling all the strings, and just what awaits out in space.
You can find volumes 1 – 10 available to reserve and checkout through the Howard County Library System website.
Peter is an Instructor and Research Specialist at the Miller Branch and has entirely too many books on his to-read list.
Let me be clear… Just Mercy is a hard and emotionally draining movie to watch. And it needs to be seen. This film tells the true story of a civil-rights attorney, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B Jordan), who works to defend wrongfully convicted death-row inmate Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx).
In this deeply affecting movie, the repressed and palpable fury that Bryan Stevenson feels sits uneasy with me. Jordan portrays the complexities of emotion in a stirring and emotive way. Stevenson conducts himself professionally at all times, even when the behavior he endures made me want to scream. My indignation and anger at Stevenson’s mistreatment pales in comparison to the outrage at the injustices that are perpetrated against his clients. This film is honest and frank about sharp truths, and it had an impact on me.
In the United States, we proclaim, “Liberty and justice for all,” but this movie shines light on the harsh reality of systemic injustice. Our system is broken: for every nine people executed by the state since 1973, one person has been exonerated and released. It is an untenable rate of error. I felt uncomfortable after watching this movie and investigating further. However, I think it is important not to shy away from that response.
Sit in that discomfort.
Ask hard questions.
Have the conversations.
Advocate for change.
“Always do the right thing, even when the right thing is the hard thing.”
– Bryan Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, is available as an eBook and eAudiobook on CloudLibrary and Overdrive. Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults) is also available on eAudiobook on Overdrive.
CHAPTER CHATS 