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Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake
Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake
Frank W. Abagnale | 1980 | Biography, Crime, Mystery
9
8.3 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
A witty and interesting tale of the life of an American check swindler (0 more)
An abrupt ending left me wanting more. (0 more)
I really enjoyed this book and read it in a very short space of time. It was interesting hearing the minutiae of how he performed his heists.

He was very woman obsessed though. It reads very 60's sexist but otherwise a fun read!
  
My All American (2015)
My All American (2015)
2015 | Drama
8
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
My All American is based on a true story of a college football hopeful turned standout who is faced with a life altering diagnosis that will change the lives of everyone around him forever.

Very strong performance by both Aaron Eckhart and Finn Whitrock (fun fact: this is the first movie that I ever saw that Finn starred in.)

I'm a sucker for a true story, especially when it involves sports. If you are, you should definitely put this film on your list.
  
This American Life
This American Life
Society & Culture
10
7.9 (25 Ratings)
Podcast Rating
Storytelling (0 more)
Storytelling at its best!
From the variety of topics to the weight of some of the stories, there is something about the way that This American Life blends a narrative and touches on the lives of the people that the stories are about. I love the fact that even if I don't think that I am that into the topic that all of a sudden I am transported into the life and the situation. All of a sudden I am part of the story.

Again, storytelling at its best.
  
Blockers (2018)
Blockers (2018)
2018 | Comedy
Cheesy humor. (0 more)
John Cena's acting. (1 more)
The weird sex scenes.
Let's be real here ... American Pie is still the best for raunchy humor. Everything beyond that falls short in comparison. And when they cast people who can't act well, it makes even the good parts bad. If you like typical frat humor, helicopter parenting, and mediocre plot lines .. this might be right up your alley. I gave it five out of ten but that's being gracious. I could have gone my whole life without seeing this film and that would be perfectly fine.
  
Gladiator: A True Story of 'Roids, Rage, and Redemption
Gladiator: A True Story of 'Roids, Rage, and Redemption
Dan Clark | 2009 | Sport & Leisure
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Clark played the character ‘Nitro’ on the television series American Gladiators, and if you read only one book on vacation this year, this has to be it. After a dark childhood, steroids launch the author into a new life as a national celebrity built from mountains of chemically enhanced muscle. The dream falls apart as he sprouts breasts he can’t conceal inside his skimpy spandex costume, then suffers high colonics in order to pass mandatory drug tests. Of course, there’s redemption, but not before a ton of laughs."

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Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
1934 | Action, Classics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
This is the one. Notorious for it nude swimming scene and Jane’s revealing two piece number, this is the one which pushes the freedom of studios to breaking point and helped usher the Heyes code as it would be weaved into the fabric of American films for decades to come.

But this aside, this is a genuinely good sequel. More intense than the first, though as many of these films will, literally recycle action scenes from the first, the characters are developing, the story feels like it is progressing quite naturally from its predecessor and the tone is as erotic as it promises.

The kinky and untempered behavior of our leads is what the film is promising, an takes on life in the steamy jungle, away from the trappings of western life, certainly in the midst of the then, “Great Depression”. But this was where it was going to end as the studios wings were about to be clipped…
  
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
2017 | Drama, Romance
I can't believe this movie has won so many awards. It was the longest 2+ hours of my life, sitting in the theater and watching this movie. The camera work was shoddy, and almost made me ill, at first I thought it was done to be artsy or something... But no. I wasn't quite sure how the two main characters managed to figure out they were interested in each other. I am also forever scarred by Elio American-Pie-ing an apricot. The only redeeming quality of this entire movie was the fact it took place in the 80s, so Armie Hammer was wearing short shorts.
  
My Way West: Real Kids Traveling the Oregon and California Trails
My Way West: Real Kids Traveling the Oregon and California Trails
Elizabeth Goss | 2021 | Children, History & Politics
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My Way West tells the story of real kids that traveled the trails across the west. The children told the stories and through their quotes and paragraphs about how folks decided to move west—the journey across the Oregon trails, California Trails, and Momon trails.

The kids told these journeys on the trails through the images and how life was on the trails. Children will be able to learn about the life and history of the US and the Oregon trails. This book shows tragedy and how everyone came together and helped each other along the way. Children can learn about this and American history by reading this book, not of it but a good glimpse of it.

I enjoy learning about the western expansion and the Oregon trails. I am one of those kinds of readers. I was learning about history through books and how life may have been back then—the dangers of it. When reading this book, I read the quotes first and then the information on the page. Tough, you can read it by doing the significant info about the journey or the topic that was talked about and then the quotes after. It doe not really make a difference in what way you read it. I enjoy that. There is no right way to read this book.

I like the focus was on the actual kids that traveled the Organ and California Trails. The author does a beautiful job of that. This book is suitable for middle-grade readers who want to learn about American history. This book would be an excellent book to have in classrooms as well.
  
Housekeeping: Faber Modern Classics
Housekeeping: Faber Modern Classics
Marilynne Robinson | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Haunting imagery, tremendous classic American literature
There was something deeply unsettling yet moving about this book exploring abandonment, solitude and loss over the span of three generations of women in a family.

Ruth, who is our main narrator, is speaking about her childhood in which her sister Lucille and her were continually abandoned by one family or another. Eventually they end up with their deeply eccentric aunt Sylvie, and she seems completely incapable in many ways of being a responsible parent, but rather a sister instead. She leads a transcient life, having deserted her husband, jumping on trains to get from place to place. She's a spirited wanderer, and sees Ruth as an ally and her own sister, Helen, who killed herself at the start of the book.

Their solitary life of never mixing, but staying in the great outdoors both seems idyllic and claustrophobic. There are images of the lake where the children's mother committed suicide, that seem to draw the women to this area. The metaphors are cold and quiet hence it feels unnerving.

It's a classic American tale about real women, which makes this different to the old books talking only about marriage and fidelity.
  
Edna Lewis: At The Table with an American Original
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Most Americans have never heard of African American chef and cookbook author Edna Lewis. Despite her importance—she inspired culinary luminaries such as Alice Waters, MFK Fisher and James Beard, and is considered the progenitor of the farm-to-table movement—Lewis never became a household name. Though Miss Lewis’s contributions to the food culture of this nation far surpassed those of many of her white contemporaries, she and her work have actively been forgotten. This book is vital, introducing a new generation of readers and eaters to the deeply important life and legacy of Miss Lewis."

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