Movie Monday: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.

Back in July, while my husband was in his hometown in Oklahoma golfing with his two closest high school friends, I invited my own childhood friend, Michelle, to visit for the weekend. We talked nonstop and had a great time being back together. In the evening, we thoroughly enjoyed revisiting our shared childhood with the movie adaptation of Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, that coming-of-age classic novel by Judy Blume for every girl born after 1950.

In case you somehow missed this childhood rite of passage, as the story opens in 1970, eleven-year-old Margaret (played by Abby Ryder Fortson) is devastated to come home from summer camp to find out she and her parents are moving from their New York City apartment to a home in New Jersey. Margaret's Jewish grandmother, Silvia (played by Kathy Bates), is even more upset because she and Margaret are close and spend a lot of time together. As her dad, played by Benny Safdie, and her mom, played by Rachel McAdams, unpack boxes in their new suburban home, Margaret begins to meet some of the kids her age in the neighborhood. Nancy, played by Elle Graham, is a little overwhelming at first, but she's very welcoming to Margaret, saying she can be the fourth in their group of best friends, and Margaret is both impressed and intimidated by Nancy's confidence and sophistication. As Margaret's mom, who is an artist, struggles to fit in with the other suburban mothers, Margaret experiences all kinds of firsts--first bra, first boy-girl party, first kiss, first period--along with the exciting and frightening onset of adolescence. She visits her beloved grandma in New York, and she struggles to figure out what religion she wants to be (her mom was brought up Christian, so they say it is Margaret's decision). All of these classic coming-of-age moments are set against the nostalgic backdrop of 1970's suburbia.

This novel was first published in 1960, and it seems like Judy Blume made the right decision to wait until now for a film adaptation. Director Kelly Fremon Craig does an outstanding job of bringing this beloved icon of adolescence to the screen. The 1970's fashions, furnishings, hairdo's, music, and sets bring that era to Technicolor life with great authenticity. It's the perfect backdrop for Margaret's struggles with growing up, which girls today can still relate to. The cast is wonderful, with young Abby creating a Margaret who is exactly as we imagined. Rachel McAdams is excellent as a mom struggling to fit in with the other parents (I don't recall if that was a part of novel, but it works perfectly here, with all us grown-ups watching the film), and Kathy Bates is her usual fabulous self as Grandma Sylvia. The adaptation is faithful to the original book (as best as I remember, anyway), including the important focus on Margaret's struggles with religion, as she talks to God in her own way. My friend and I were delighted with this nostalgic step back in time and recreation of one of our favorite books. It was fun, joyful, funny, and worth the decades-long wait!

I highly recommend inviting your childhood best friend over to watch this movie--or calling her up to watch at the same time while on the phone.

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. is currently available to rent on Amazon and several other streaming services.

Michelle and I as kids in 1971, and last month when she came to visit:

It's Monday 8/28! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

We had a fairly quiet week here. I had a painful procedure at the podiatrist on my toe, but it wasn't as bad as it's been previously. I was actually able to take a short walk the day after, and it's healing well, so that was a pleasant surprise. My energy and stamina are still lower than what I consider normal for me, due to some issues flaring up in my chronic illness, but I did manage several short walks in our neighborhood. On Sunday, I suggested to my husband that we take a walk, and he said, "Beyond the cul-de-sac?" So, we enjoyed a lovely walk along a creek on our favorite nearby trail. The humidity had dropped (back up now), so it was comfortable out, and this place to me is just the epitome of an idyllic summer day! I said that next time we should brings chairs and books and just set up by the creek for a while.

Cool, shady trail through the trees

My husband looking at the fish in the creek

 

My husband and I in our favorite spot!

Perfect summer day!

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On the Blog

  TV Tuesday: Togetherness - I really enjoyed this funny drama with a great cast and excellent writing, about four adults (in their 40's, I think) trying to figure out their lives. My review and the trailer at the link.

Fiction Review: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - I loved this delightful coming-of-age story about the heroes' journeys of three young men and an 8-year-old boy on a road trip in 1954. I;m still thinking about it more than a week later!

NOTE: The 2023 #BigBookSummer Challenge officially ends a week from today, on Monday, September 4. If you've been participating this summer, you are welcome to write or record a wrap-up post/video (not required) and add your link to the second links list (for Reviews and Updates) on the #BigBookSummer Challenge page. If you don't have a blog or YouTube channel (or even if you do), you can leave a comment on the challenge page or leave a comment in the Big Book Summer Goodreads group - I added a Wrap-Up discussion thread.

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On Video

Currently Reading Tag - this fun video is all about how and where I read. Check it out and tell me about YOUR reading habits! 

Friday Reads 8-25-23 - my brief weekly update of what I am currently reading and listening to

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 What We're Reading

 

I finished what is probably my last print book for the #BigBookSummer Challenge, Afterland by Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls, which I loved. I bought this one for my husband last year. It's both post-apocalyptic and dystopian, chillingly set in 2023, about the aftermath of a pandemic that killed off more than 99% of the males in the world. Those who are left, many of them just boys, are in high demand, especially for reproductive purposes on the black market (in defiance of Reprohibition laws). A South African mom named Cole is stuck in the U.S. after her American husband dies. She is on the run with her twelve-year-old son, Milo (now in disguise as a girl named Mila), trying desperately to keep him safe from government research, black market criminals, and even her own sister. There is plenty of tension and suspense, and the world-building of this unique post-pandemic world is detailed and immersive. I finished it last night and enjoyed the very satisfying ending.

 

 

 

I am shifting my focus to the R.I.P. (Readers Imbibing Peril) Challenge for fall! It starts September 1 and runs through the end of October and simply means reading darker stuff for fall. So, the book I am starting today fits for both Big Book Summer and R.I.P., but I probably won't finish it by next Monday for Big Book Summer. I have a HUGE stack picked out for R.I.P., but I am starting with The Night Fire by Michael Connelly, book 3 in the Renee Ballard series (and book 22 in the Harry Bosch series. I love this new female LAPD detective Connelly created, and I enjoyed book 1, The Late Show, and really loved bringing the two detectives together in book 2, Dark Sacred Night. I'm ready for a dark, creepy, and suspenseful fall!

 

 

 

I do the same on audio, so my last choice for Big Book Summer also counts for R.I.P. Challenge: A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny, book 18 in her Inspector Gamache series. I was late to this series and have only read #1, Still Life, #15 A Better Man, and #17, The Madness of Crowds, but I enjoy these books on audio very much. This one goes back to when Jean-Guy and Inspector Gamache first met, working a horrific case involving murder and child abuse, and that case's continuing repercussions today. I suspect a modern-day murder is coming soon, too! It's excellent so far.

 

 

 

My husband, Ken, finished reading Breathless by Amy McCulloch, a book I gave him for Father's Day. This one is an outdoor adventure thriller, about  series of murders that occur on a remote mountaintop during a record-breaking climb of a series of summits. It sounds like a gripping and original story. He said it was very good, made even better by the fact that the author had climbed the mountain where the book takes place. Last night, Ken just started Open Season by Archer Mayor, book one in the Joe Gunther series, a mystery series set in Vermont.

 

 

Our son is reading book 12, Arcanist, of the Spellmonger series by Terry Mancour. This one is a mere 845 pages! He's loving this series and has been reading nothing else for months. 

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What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week?

 

Fiction Review: The Lincoln Highway

Several years ago, one of my book groups read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, and it tied for my #1 book of the year in 2021. So, when The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles was released, I couldn't wait to read it. My husband gave it to me for Christmas, and I put it in my stack for the Big Book Summer Challenge. Even better? One of my Booktube friends, Nikki of Red Dot Reads, suggested we read it together as a Buddy Read. This was the perfect book to read together with someone and discuss. It's a novel about a journey, and it took us as readers along on that journey, too. Nikki and I were both charmed and engrossed by the characters, unexpected plot twists, and historical and geographic detail.

In 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett is being driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he was assigned in Kansas. Emmett was sent there when got into a fight with another boy and accidentally killed him. Now, he's been released a few months early because his father died, leaving himself and his little brother, eight-year-old Billy, on their own. Their father was deep in debt, so they are also losing their home. 

After a happy reunion with Billy, Emmett explains that he thinks they should leave town in Emmett's Studebaker because they have nowhere to live and some people in town won't forgive Emmett. Billy happily agrees and is ready to hit the road "with nothing but a kit bag." He's been reading (and rereading) Professor Abacus Abernathe's Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers, and Billy is ready for his own adventure. Besides, he knows exactly where they should go. After their father died, Billy found a series of postcards their father had hidden. Their mother left when Billy was just a baby, but she sent a postcard to the boys from every stop along the way from Nebraska to California. Though Emmett doubts they can find their mother (those postcards were the last they heard of her), he agrees that California is a good destination.

What Emmett doesn't know yet (but is about to find out) is that two of his bunkmates from the work farm stowed away in the warden's trunk. Once the warden leaves the house, Duchess and Woolly come out of hiding and announce that they are coming along on this epic road trip ... except that first they need to make a quick stop in New York to retrieve Woolly's inheritance. In case you're not familiar with U.S. geography, that is in the exact opposite direction! The four boys/young men set off on their journey.

And what a journey it is! Patterned after the hero's journeys described in Billy's book (which he brings along), each of the four characters meets new people, faces and surmounts challenges and obstacles, and expands his world. And we as readers get to know them each intimately, including their pasts. Chapters alternate between different characters' perspectives, including some of the people they meet along the way, so there is a lot of emotional depth and complexity to this story. But it's not just a character-driven story because so much happens in this novel! There are unexpected plot twists around every turn in the road, and Billy gets the adventure he yearned for. In fact, Billy is the heart of this novel. All of the main characters are fully drawn and likable in their own ways, but Billy is especially enchanting. He's precocious, smart, remembers everything he reads, and has fully absorbed the lessons of the classic heroes, like Hercules and Ulysses, from his book. In fact, Billy often sees things that the older boys and adults around them miss. 

Nikki and I left each other voice messages after each of the ten sections (representing the ten days of the trip), and discussing this book deepened the pleasure we got from it. Each of us noticed things or understood things that the other missed because there is just so much here. Reading this book is such a delightfully immersive experience! While there are some moments of tragedy, particularly toward the end, much of this book is focused on joy, going along with the boys on their coming-of-age, adventurous heroes' journeys, both physical and metaphorical. It's a beautiful tapestry of people, places, experiences, and wisdom, and I loved every minute of it.

576 pages, Viking

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Literary Escapes - Nebraska

Big Book Summer Challenge

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. The audio sounds great, with three different narrators, and this sample is from the very beginning of the book.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  

TV Tuesday: Togetherness

Last month, when my husband was away for 10 days, I was searching for a "me" show to watch without him. He and I watch most of our TV together, and we both enjoy mysteries, thrillers, sci fi, and medical or legal dramas. So, I was looking for something I'd love that he wouldn't be interested in, maybe a relationship drama (but I with a sense of humor, an important element for me). I found just the thing in Togetherness, an HBO (now Max) show from 2015-16.

Melanie Lynskey and Mark Duplass star as Michelle and Brett Pierson, a married couple with two young children living in L.A. Brett works as a sound engineer in movies, and Michelle is a stay-at-home mother, but both are feeling stuck in a rut after ten years of marriage. Michelle's sister, Tina (played by Amanda Peet), moves in with them. Tina is at loose ends, wanting to be in love and maybe have a family, but with no prospects in sight and starting to worry she's getting too old. Then Alex, played by Steve Zissis, also moves into their now crowded little house. Alex and Brett have been best friends for decades, and Alex is an out-of-work actor who is out of shape and worried that his career is a flop. The four adults--each spinning out in their own way--are all struggling with each other and with their own lives. It's clear that Alex is beginning to fall for Tina, but feels way out of her league and firmly in the "friend zone." Both Alex and Brett are looking for more exciting (and secure) jobs in the movie industry, so Tina offers to help Alex get in shape with her own homemade boot camp. And Brett and Michelle are fighting a lot and having more and more trouble connecting with each other, sexually and emotionally. 

If all of that sounds depressing ... it's not, because of the wonderful sense of humor woven throughout the script. All four of the main actors and the supporting cast (even the kids) are excellent and fully inhabit their roles here, making you feel like you know them. There is great chemistry between the cast members. And many of their problems are very relatable; these are regular people struggling with regular lives. The humor in the show is not in-your-face sitcom humor but a gentler, clever wit that often made me smile or laugh. That comes from the top-notch writing. The show was written and directed by Duplass Brothers Production (actor Mark Duplass and his brother, Jay) and created by them and Steve Zissis, and it is clear that they've put their hearts and souls into the show (I see their production company is also responsible for Somebody Somewhere, another favorite of ours). I just finished the second and final season yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed every moment, including the satisfying ending.

Togetherness is an HBO original which is available on Max or through Amazon or Hulu.

It's Monday 8/21! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Last week had some major ups and downs, but I will focus on the good things here. Our son had his 29th birthday on Wednesday, and his wonderful girlfriend surprised him this weekend by inviting his brother and two of his closest childhood friends to come visit. And he was definitely surprised! She told him they had to pick up a friend of hers at the train station Saturday morning, and instead of her 5' tall friend walking out, it was his 6'3" old buddy! I was so excited for him, and it sounds like the reunion weekend was just great. He needed that after a rough week. My husband and I missed seeing him for his birthday, but we were thrilled he got to spend it with his brother and old friends.

Nothing like old friends!

We also had a nice weekend here. We invited our oldest friends over for dinner Saturday and enjoyed catching up with them, after more than a month of various trips for both of us. Delicious food and good conversation. I've been pretty wiped out yesterday and today (a combination of easing up on my very restricted diet this weekend, plus too-early mornings), so I enjoyed a little reading time on our screened porch yesterday, before the heat and humidity returned today!

Reading on the porch

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On the Blog

Fiction Review: The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar - this sequel to her best-selling novel The Space Between Us was just as immersive and compelling, providing a wonderful conclusion for Bhima. 

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On Video

Friday Reads 8-18-23 - my brief weekly update on what I am reading and listening to

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 What We're Reading

 

We're still enjoying the #BigBookSummer Challenge, which wraps up on September 4.

 

I finished The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles and absolutely loved it! His previous novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, tied for my #1 book of the year in 2021, and this one is entirely different but also excellent. It's the story of two brothers in Nebraska in 1954: 18-year-old Emmett and eight-year-old Billy. Emmett was just released from a juvenile work farm after accidentally killing someone, and their father has just died. Their mother left when Billy was just a baby, so they are on their own now. Since their small town has a long memory and many still blame Emmett for the death of the other boy, they decide to take Emmett's Studebaker and drive to California. Billy is a precocious kid who reads a lot, and he wants to drive the Lincoln Highway. As you might expect, things don't go quite according to plan. It is patterned after hero's journeys from classic myths and stories. I was fully immersed in their world, and the characters all felt so real. This is my very first Buddy Read with a Booktube friend, Nikki of Red Dot Reads, and I loved this approach! We left voicemail messages for each other after each of the ten sections, and we both agree this enhanced our experience and enjoyment of the novel. It's like a book group for two ... with a friend who lives on the opposite side of the globe!

 

With time running out for #BigBookSummer, I chose the smallest of the Big Books left on my stack, Afterland by Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls, which I loved. I bought this one for my husband last year. It's both post-apocalyptic and dystopian, chillingly set in 2023, about a pandemic that kills of 99% of the males in the world. Those who are left, many of them just boys, are in high demand, especially for reproductive purposes on the black market (in defiance of Reprohibition laws). A South African mom named Cole is stuck in the U.S. after her American husband dies. She is on the run with her twelve-year-old son, Milo (now in disguise as a girl named Mila), trying desperately to keep him safe from both government research and black market criminals. There is plenty of tension and suspense, and the world-building of this horrifying post-pandemic world is detailed and immersive. It's great so far.

 

This weekend, I just finished listening to an excellent middle-grade historical novel, Lines of Courage by Jennifer Nielsen. I also enjoyed Nielsen's excellent novel, A Night Divided, about the Berlin Wall. Lines of Courage takes place in Europe during WWI and focuses on five young people, ages 12-15, each struggling with different aspects of the war in different countries, whose lives cross in unexpected ways. It was very good on audio, and I learned so much! I've read so many books--fiction and nonfiction--about WWII but almost nothing about WWI. Each of the five main characters was fully fleshed out, their experiences were suspenseful and interesting, and I loved the unexpected ways their lives intersected.

 

My husband, Ken, finished reading the much-anticipated new novel from Justin Cronin (author of The Passage and its sequels), The Ferryman, and enjoyed it very much. He said it was unique and compelling. Now, he is reading Breathless by Amy McCulloch, another book I gave him for Father's Day. This one is an outdoor adventure thriller, about  series of murders that occur on a remote mountaintop during a record-breaking climb of a series of summits. It sounds like a gripping and original story.

 

Our son is reading book 12, Arcanist, of the Spellmonger series by Terry Mancour. This one is a mere 845 pages! He's loving this series and has been reading nothing else for months. 

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What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week?