Oak leaf encased in ice after being repeatedly splashed by the waterfall.

 So, after a brief stop last week, normal service is resumed and I have a book to review. This is one that has sat on my shelf for a while. I bought it a year or two ago when I decided to try out more short story collections. I figured it might make me a better or, at least, quicker reader. As expected, it did neither of those things and I just shoved it away with my other unread books. But I’m trying really hard to get through my unread books this year so I randomly plucked this off the shelf a few weeks ago. I can’t remember what prompted it but it was probably because I, naively, believed it would be a quick read. And February hasn’t exactly been a stellar reading month for me. I’ve still got two books on the go and this marks my second finished…

Since the Oscars are this Sunday I thought I’d do 12 Books that Should Be Films (or series) Right now! And since Circe- one of my recent favorites got optioned for a series I thought I’d get specific to ones with great roles for women!

Before getting into the review, I just wanted to say that I finally picked up this book in January after reading A Study in Scarlet thanks to Catch up on Classics  and I’m so happy I finally read this! (Also, can you tell I’m really behind on reviews 😭)

Title: A Study in Charlotte

Author: Brittany Cavallaro

Published by: Katherine Tegen Books

Publishing date: March 1st 2016

Genre: YA Mystery

Pages: 321

The last thing Jamie Watson wants is a rugby scholarship to Sherringford, a Connecticut prep school just an hour away from his estranged father. But that’s not the only complication: Sherringford is also home to Charlotte Holmes, the famous detective’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who has inherited not only Sherlock’s genius but also his volatile temperament. From everything Jamie has heard about Charlotte, it seems safer to admire her from afar.

From the moment…

Seduction: Sex, Lies and Stardom in Howard Hughes’s Hollywood

By: Karina Longworth

Grade: A

My interest in classic Hollywood has never extended to Howard Hughes and my previous familiarity with his story came from biographies of Katherine Hepburn and Jane Russell. Yet I have to admit I was more interested in this due to the Me Too movement, the Harvey Weinstein case and (and countless other) Hollywood scandals exposing long standing harassment.

When all
seems perverted and serenity’s lost

When the
world is committed to counting the cost

Of
feeding the hungry or housing the poor

And
considers the sum too high to be paid

When
refuge and comforts are all cast aside

And the
poor and the needy are objectified and derided

Remember
this perspective is but one side of the coin

Winners
and losers all look the same

When
stripped of their flesh and stripped of their name

Do not
despair

Don’t
ever lose heart

Somehow
and some way goodness comes from it

Though
we know not the reason and are questioning why

We see
but one aspect

The
Divine sees the whole

So, don’t
worry or fret or scurry about

Seeking
solutions with limited intelligence

Stand
down and be silent

All is
mystery

Our eyes
are so blinded

Our ears
can mishear

Our
human devising’s not up to the…