The men took over this week at Meet Us on Main Street! Alan and Kyle happily took over the Street and gave a really great presentation talking about their favorite books and films. We learned that Alan likes (LOVES!) series - highlighting the works of Patrick O'Brian, S. M. Stirling, W.E.B. Griffin, Robert Crais, and Robert B. Parker. He also talked about one of my (seriously) favorite series authors, Lee Child. Child's newest book, 61 Hours (his 14th Jack Reacher novel), comes out in May. (And just in case you missed the newest news about our Spring Author Series (speaking of series), Lee Child will be our featured speaker, on Sunday, June 6th at 5:30 p.m.!)

Welcome, Mister March!

If we had a March movie calendar to hang, George Clooney would be the face for March. (Pardon me while I swoon.) With three movies releasing on DVD this month, George is March's MAN.  Even if he doesn't win the Oscar on Sunday for Best Actor, he is definitely at the top of his acting game right now. No matter what the role, no matter how much we know about the man personally, his humor and humanity always shine through. This month, he'll be shining in Up in the Air, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Men Who Stare at Goats.

All-things-George is not the only thing going on this month - there's so much more on the way! March may be an excruciatingly long month, but we will have plenty of selections for everyone to help get you through. I have an ever-growing list of those movies for which I simply cannot wait. As usual, my must-list contains a couple of foreign films, a couple of indies, a big feature film, and some very special television. Like I said...the usual.

Now, onto the UNUSUAL. Though we've always got great movies coming in each month, what is most unsual about this month is the sheer number of DVDs that will arrive on our shelves. So many, in fact, they'd fill this page. Click below to view the rest of March's largesse.

Who cares frankly?  What we are concerned about is the new March releases!  These will help us through winter’s last gasp!

When it is grey and cold and rainy what could be better than some home cooked Italian goodness?  We are so excited for Giada at Home:  Family Recipes from Italy and California by Giada De Laurentis to get us through winter’s last gasp.  Creamy risotto with gorgonzola and mushrooms would certainly make me happy at the end of a sunshine challenged day!

Cabin fever got you down?  Perhaps The Devil and Sherlock Holmes:  Tales of Madness, Murder and Obsession by David Gram may not be your first pick.  But it sure sounds fun!   This is a collection of his essays originally published in The New Yorker.  And honestly we have found that reading about the weirdness of others can make you feel way better about your own!  

Girl who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen is looking to us to be perfect escapist fiction.  We loved her book Garden Spell s with its charming blend of Southern storytelling and magic.  Sometimes a little quirkiness is just what is needed.

Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley is the second Flavia De Luce mystery out of the UK.  If you missed Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie which was the first one of the series, set aside a weekend and spend it with Flavia!  Flavia is a brilliant 11 year old who lives in a village with her father and sisters.  Everyone has a gift and it would appear that Flavia’s is solving murders.

Ian McEwan is back with Solar.  Michael Beard’s professional life is wonderful, but his personal life is in shambles.  With his fifth marriage speeding toward divorce, he receives an offer that if he accepts, could quite possibly save the world?  Will he accept this unexpected offer that could be his redemption?  

Spring is on its way.  We promise.  But in the meantime you can’t beat a roaring fire and a good book.  Why not spend these last days of winter with something new and wonderful?

 

After last week’s snow, a computer fatality and a Federal Holiday, I was unable to let you all know what it was we have been enjoying.   But hopefully we are back on track now!  

Here is a sampling of what we have been sampling!

Jen D.

I spent my Monday off reading the latest offering by Cathleen Schine, The Three Weissmanns of Westport.  I have always loved her writing; she is one of those quiet craftsmen who does not crank out a book every 6 months, but rather takes her time bringing forth wonderful literary novels that sparkle.  In her latest she takes on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and places it 200 years into the future and a few miles up the road in neighboring Westport.  Truly, this is wonderful.  It is funny and touching and you need to read this.  

I am also reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova.  Why did artist and professor Robert Oliver attack a painting in the National Gallery?  And why is he in possession of the letters of Beatrice de Cleval, the Impressionist painter and her mentor Olivier Vignot?  This is a big fat historical novel that I am enjoying very much.

Barbara M.

Barbara cannot seem to leave the court of Henry VIII behind and is tackling Alison Weir’s latest work of nonfiction:  The Lady in the Tower:  The Fall of Anne Boleyn.  Barbara reports that she is enjoying it very much but it is scholarly in nature and not exactly an easy read.  But she is finding it rewarding nonetheless.  

Abby S.

The Lost City of Z:  A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon  by David Grann.  In 1925 British explorer Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett and his son Jack set off to find out if the City of Z was fact or myth.  They never returned but they did fire up the curiosity of countless others who also ventured into the rain forest seeking the same answers.  

Erica B.

Is LOVING one of our favorites, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.  She wants everyone to know that while she is not a fiction reader, she started this one on the train last night and was up til 2 in the morning reading and cannot wait to get back to it.

Pat T.

Pat  can be seen driving around town listening to one of our favorites from the summer East of the Sun.  She pronounces it, “excellent.”  What is in her book bag?  Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler!  Liam Pennywell is having a rather bad time of it.  He has lost his job and after an attack in his apartment his memory.  Can he get his memory back?  And what is up with his new relationship with Eunice, the fashion disaster?

We wish you all a wonderful weekend!