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We are three best friends who are mothers of teenage daughters (and a son!).... read full story →


reviews: We’ve been told we’re highly opinionated -- in a good way, of course -- and we’re proud to share our no-holds-barred opinions of the latest books, movies and music with you. You’ll find lots of reviews by our readers here, too, because we value what they have to say. They're also highly opinionated -- in a good way, of course.

Anna March Reviews “Night Swim” by Jessica Keener

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Jessica Keener’s debut novel, Night Swim, is glorious.

Night SwimThis finely-layered novel is told from the perspective of the bright, 16-year-old Sarah Kunitz. Through her eyes, we are offered an intimate look at her upper middle class family in 1970 suburban Boston. It’s an enviable portrait from the outside, but behind closed doors it is a darkly different story. Sarah’s mother is taking pills and floundering.  Sarah and her brothers must find ways to escape their parents’ bitter disagreements and their father’s difficult personality. Those harsh realities are soon replaced with confusion, grief and anger when their mother dies in a car crash. A certain drifting sadness looms while their father begins an affair with a young woman and Sarah embarks on her own romances.  Consequences abound, but Keener weaves the threads into a taut ending. … read full story →


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The eSSSence of Anna March

Style: Quirky.
Substance: Notice. Question. Think. Read. Talk. Write.
Soul: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." -- Oscar Wilde


“Breaking Dawn Part 1″ – Bruised Bodies, Blackened Bellies and Baby-Imprinting by Natalie Wilson, Author of “Seduced by Twilight”

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As I sat watching the vampiric ode to true love and white weddings that dominate the opening scenes of Breaking Dawn: Part 1, I waited anxiously for the honeymoon, pregnancy and birth scenes, wondering how the film would present Bella’s bruised body and horrific pregnancy. What caused me the most trepidation, though, were the imprinting scenes likely to come at the very end of Part 1. With many children in the audience, some appearing to be as young as six, I internally cringed, anticipating scenes that would likely glorify male dominance, romanticize female submission, frame pregnancy as THE happy ending, and suggest that an adult male falling in romantic love with a baby is sweet rather than gross.

Breaking Dawn Part 1

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image of Natalie Wilson

The eSSSence of Natalie Wilson

Style: Red is the best color ever. High heels are torture devices to be avoided at all costs. One can never have too many pairs of boots, nor too many books.
Substance: I question, therefore I am. I particularly like to question societal norms and all those silly “good girl” rules.
Soul: I endeavor not to be a human being, but a human doing, and, more specifically, a human writing and teaching towards social justice.


“A Better Life” DVD Review by Amy

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I love movies. Really good, meaty, deep, emotional, thoughtful, thought provoking movies – like A Better Life.

A Better LifeThe movie is a poignant slice of life/coming-of-age/immigrant story set in present day Los Angeles. The main characters — Carlos Galindo, an illegal Mexican immigrant working as a gardener in the wealthy suburbs of L.A., brilliantly and subtly played by Demian Bichir, the handsome, corrupt Mexican politician from Weeds, and his teenage son, Luis, played by Jose Julian — seem one dimensional on paper: hard-working immigrant father, struggling to make “a better life” for his son who is embarrassed by his Spanish-speaking laborer father and is being seduced by the local gangs and trappings of the American Dream he feels he has coming to him. Within a few scenes, their dimensionality unfolds. … read full story →


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Does The Movie Version of “One Day” Stay True to the Beloved Book?

My parents taught me if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all. So, as someone who LOVED One Day and who gushed her way through an interview with its author, David Nicholls, I am just going to once again recommend that you read the book... read full story →


The Best of Summer Reading: Thrillers!

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Cue the Michael Jackson music. I’m talking about thrillers today. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve read a dozen thrillers. I know. I’m trying to figure out what that means, too. Maybe it’s just because they’re good summer reading, or maybe it’s because, unlike real life, they tend to end... read full story →


Reader Mare Henderson Reviews “Nothing Daunted” by Dorothy Wickenden

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The word “daunted” is synonymous with words like “bothered,” “fazed,” “intimidated,” “overcome,” “discouraged,” and “dispirited.” After reading, learning from and totally enjoying Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West, it’s apparent that the book’s two main characters, Dorothy and Ros, lived a life that was... read full story →


Reader Emilie Tarrant Reviews “Peep Show” by Joshua Braff

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Joshua Braff’s family-drama novel, Peep Show, begins as the camera-toting David Arbus nears his 1975 high school graduation. Braff marks each new chapter with street photography as though possibly photographed by the protagonist himself. The allusion to famed real-life photographer Diane Arbus is clear. The story spans a few pivotal years... read full story →