Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

I read this because it was a Parnassus book recommendation, and while I have not read all of them--afterall, there are a lot of Fridays in the year, it is hard to keep up, and while I read quite a lot, it seems that I have almost never read the thing that they are recommending. The added thing to love about this is that it has some shades of The Correspondent about it. They center on elderly women who have lost a spouse and a child. The women are unexpected and that unfurls across the novel. Helen Cartwright returns to the village of her childhood to grief the loss of her family and her youth. She leads a monotonous life by design: it keeps her from dwelling on the past and she is waiting for the end. Then, she encounters an unwanted visitor in her home—a mouse, a mouse that she inadvertently brought home and, after some unsuccessful and half-hearted attempts to get rid of the creature, she grows attached to him. Naming him Sipsworth, she thinks she has finally found someone to listen to her. She has something to focus on, and after she establishes that there is no one but her who will care for him, she has something to live for. Much of Helen’s backstory comes out via her stories to Sipsworth, revealing snippets of a life well lived. And the gaps in Helen’s tales reveal as much about her character as the parts that she chooses to state. The prose is simple yet lovely; the story sneaks up on you and gains your affections, as does the folly of befriending a field mouse. It’s a tale of aging, grief, and the mundane details that make up a person’s existence after great losses. These pieces reveal something profound about the human need for connection and how to savor our connections. It is a generous, vibrant, and quiet novel.

Zootopia 2 (2025)

If you loved Zootopia The Original, then it is very likely that you will find Zootopia 2 every bit a zany, delightful, and heartwarming. There are animal-word puns and sly references to cultural touchstones from streaming platforms like EweTube and HuluZoo, where you can watch shows like “Only Herders in the Building,” to a quick shot inspired by one of the most terrifying moments in “The Shining.” If you love that stuff, it is all here for you, only more so. Literally, the gang is all here. Those heroes are, again, the opposites-in-temperament Judy Hopps, a bunny who is bright, enthusiastic, and fiercely committed to justice, and Nick Wilde, a fox who is a former con artist, a loner, and fiercely dedicated to avoiding danger. They met on opposite sides of the law in the first film, but now Nick has joined the police department, and they are partners. They are partners with a propensity for trouble and doing good, so of course hey immediately get into trouble after ignoring orders from Police Chief Bogo and end up on a wild chase after a perpetrator in a catering van labeled “Amoose Bouche.” Bogo threatens to separate them if they get into trouble again. So, of course, they get in trouble again. It is definitely the ends justify the means sort of plot and it is pretty fun and zany along the way. There is some mob boss undertones with how that can mess up your family, and there are some not so hidden messages about trust, communication, and things that are worth putting your life on the line for. That resonated for me in the aftermath of the public execution of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who brought lots of joy and happiness to his work at the Minneapolis VA, who put himself on the line for his neighbors when ICE came to town and kidnapped people in violent ways without warrants as a witness and ended up murdered by villains hired by the federal government to wage a revenge war. He is a hero who paid the ultimate price, as the veterans he served would say.

They Love Each Other

Merry run around, sailing up and down---- Looking for a shove in some direction--- Got it from the top, it's nothing you can stop--- Lord, you know they made a fine connection--- They love each other, Lord you can see it's true--- Lord you can see it's true, Lord you can see it's true--- He could pass his time around some other line--- But you know he chose this place beside her--- Don't get in the way, there's nothing you can say--- Nothing that you need to add or do--- They love each other, Lord you can see it's true--- Lord you can see it's true, Lord you can see it's true--- Its' nothing, they explain it's like a diesel train--- Better not be there when it rolls over---- And when that train rolls in, you won't know where it's been--- You gotta try to see a little further---- They love each other, Lord you can see it's true--- Lord you can see it's true, Lord you can see it's true--- Though you'll make a noise, they just can't hear your voice--- They're on a dizzy ride on you're cold sober--- They love each other, Lord you can see it's true--- Lord you can see it's true, Lord you can see it's true--- Hope you will believe what I say is true--- Everything I did, I heard it first from you--- Heard your news report, you knew you're falling short--- Pretty soon won't trust you for the weather--- When that ship comes in, you won't know where it's been--- You got to try to see a little further--- The Grateful Dead were the back beat of our youth.

Come See Me In The Good Light (2025)

This is wonderful. Yes, it is about recurrent cancer. Yes, someone dies. Add to all this, as if it is not enough, that it is ovarian cancer, which is notoriously deadly and something that I have had. I am wholeheartedly recommending this, because it is deep and thoughtful, it depicts a head on approach to what is happening and there is still joy and love and a lust for life. Andrea Gibson is a spoken word poet and their wife is fellow poet Megan Falley. In 1921 they are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which has inevitably spread. That is often, if not almost always true by the time one has symptoms. Then she has the terrible misfortune of having a platinum resistant tumor and she recurs within 6 months. This is the point at which there really is very little hope, but she wants to live. She wants to try everything, and she does. The film is as intimate as it gets, following Gibson into doctor’s appointments, curling up with them and Falley in bed, and eating meals soundtracked by the laughter of close friends. This is not fly-on-the-wall observant, but rather seat-at-the-table active. Structured also through Gibson’s reading of their poems, spliced in when narratively relevant, we come to see just how much they are synonymous with their work. There is no separation of the art and artist, as Gibson’s life is unabashedly unfiltered in their prose. So yes, it does not end well, but it is a beautiful tale well told, and as they say themself, we all face this, it is only a matter of when, not if.

Snow by John Banville

Let me start off by saying that I love John Banville. He is a Booker Prize winning author who has been in consideration for the award many times. He is cut from that cloth. This, on the other hand, is a by the book detective novel set in late 1950's in Ireland. The prose itself is beautiful, notably better than the standard fare, and the plot is not over done. There are undertones--and overtones--of societal commentary embedded within, and it is excellent for all of that, but the plot is not overly involved, what you would come for is the writing. This features a young Irish detective — earnest, a bit troubled, and a little persnicketty — called St. John (pronounced “Sinjun”) Strafford. Just before Christmas, in a ramshackle country house owned byt the Wexford family in County Wexford, south of Dublin, a Roman Catholic priest is found murdered in, yes, the library. Detective Strafford is sent to investigate. The various suspects — mostly members of the Osborne family and their staff — were all in the house the night of the murder. Pretty standard fare — except for one detail: The priest has also been expertly castrated. Then there is the social context, which is on the surface some, and some I had to read a review to know about. The Osborne family is Anglo-Irish, a colonial class of Protestant landowners who can trace their arrival in Ireland back to the time of Oliver Cromwell and have survived into the 1950s. English in their attitudes, they are a stark reminder to the Catholic Irish that for the 5 percent of the population who are Protestant in this Roman Catholic country, nothing much has changed since the 17th century. The Anglo-Irish — the Horse Protestants, as they are derogatively known — live in their crumbling stately homes, ride to hounds, go to balls and race meetings, speak with a different accent and still own much of the land, managed in a form of benign paternalistic feudalism. Strafford himself is also Protestant, which I suspect will resurface as the series continues. This is very good, especially if you have an affection for Irish authors, and I would recommend it if you like the genre. It is predictable in ways that might not appeal for those looking for something more obscure.

The Alabama Solution (2025)

This documentary is nominated for an Oscar, and is a revelatory new documentary about the long-simmering humanitarian crisis in Alabama’s state prisons. About 15 minutes into the movie that they were filming, they got a tip about an incarcerated man who had been beaten so badly he was taken to the ICU at an outside hospital.By the time the film makers arrive, Steven Davis was dead. Uncovering that Davis had been killed by a guard is only part of the focus of the documentary, which is now streaming on HBO Max. Death is increasingly common in Alabama’s prisons. Since 2019, roughly 1,380 incarcerated people have died or been killed while in custody of the state. The documentary — which features footage shot on cell phones by several incarcerated men — zooms out to explore why, despite federal inquiry and a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice Department, officers are still able to neglect, harm and kill incarcerated people with seeming impunity. The Marshall Project has a review of the film on their web site, and note five take aways from the doculmentary, which is mostly filmed by inmates themselves on illegal cell phones within the prison. 1. Alabama’s prisons have reached a “humanitarian crisis level,” as one of the men featured described it, with unchecked violence and deaths. Scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice has failed to improve conditions. 2. Drug use is rampant in prison, and so are overdose deaths. Alabama has failed to stem the flow of illicit substances and doesn’t provide adequate substance abuse treatment to incarcerated people who need it. 3. The emotional and financial cost of Alabama’s prison violence is staggering. Families struggle for years to get answers about the deaths, and the state has spent millions on lawyers and settlements. 4. Incarcerated people have risked their lives to expose conditions behind bars, filming the chaos inside on cell phones furnished by corrections officers. 5. Alabama’s economy is powered in part by incarcerated people, who are employed by corporations in industries such as poultry processing. Many also provide services like sanitation and groundskeeping for the state, often working alongside the public. None of this is new, and it appears that while this is widely known, nothing is able to be done to change it.

Know My Name by Chantel Miller

This is yet another version of what rape does to those who it is perpetrated on, and how our culture works very hard to excuse the men who are the perpetrators. The read this for a Goodreads challenge, and once again it is a book I would have been unlikely to pick up if not for that. Chanel Miller she writes about her life, including her now highly publicized sexual assault in January 2015 and the events that unfolded after that. The memoir focuses on the day of the assault as well as the court case, People vs. Turner. Turner was convicted of three charges of felony sexual assault. He was sentenced to six months in jail followed by three years of probation. However, he was released after serving half of his sentence for good behavior. Miller’s victim statement was widely published across the world as is a power piece of standalone writing. Miller was known as Emily Doe and her memoir shows her side of the event and how her life was completely transformed by that night. This is a powerful book. I had followed the court case and read the statement but this memoir shows what Miller went through. From being a young adult who worked at a startup to a complete and drastic transformation after the assault, the book does not leave out any detail. We see how Miller pieces together the assault, her despair and anger at the court proceedings, her activism, her day-to-day challenges and victories, her relationships, her mistakes and victories, and the inside view of the legal system. She is very angry at having been made a vicitm--in the eyes of the public, but also in reality, that the person who did that is never going to pay an appropriate price for that damage, and also how she is trying to come to terms with that.

Peter Byrne, Modern Quilter

My quilt guild had Peter Byrne do a trunk show and wow, what amazing quilts he has made--and quite varied. He was a hair stylist in Toronto for 30 years, retired and was looking for a new creative outlet. In 2017, he joined the Toronto Modern Quilting Guild and when he walked into his first guild meeting, he had never quilted a quilt. He has come a long way since then--and after seeing his work, I am considering taking one of his virtual weekend quilt workshops to do a deeper dive into his process.

Peter’s quilt Starring You won Best in Show at QuiltCan 2020. It is an amazing feat on so many levels. First, it is full of negative space. Composed of white and black fabric, the central eight-pointed star is machine appliqued onto an all-white background. Three of the star points were cut away and sliced further into 90 bits and pieces each, appliqued – again by machine – in a way that mimics an explosion. All of the quilting was done on a home machine, and the black lines you see? Those are quilted with black thread. Think about it: with that kind of contrast, you just can’t make a mistake.

American Mermaid by Julia Langbein

I found this through the Parnassus Bookstore Friday vlog "If You Haven't Read It It Is New To You"--which as an aside, I continue to love and often read books that are recommended that I both enjoy and would not have found another way. This is a story about a high school English teacher, Penelope, who writes a novel about a disabled woman, Sylvia, who discovers she is a mermaid. When Penelope’s book is optioned for a movie, she moves to LA to adapt her book with two seasoned male screenwriters. We get some of the backstory through sections of Penelope's book throughout--a book withini a book. As a baby mermaid, Sylvia, who washes up on shore and is taken in by two married billionaire scientists who can’t have children of their own. Through sketchy medical procedures they split her tail, which leaves her in near-constant pain and confined to a wheelchair. This decision comes back to haunt them when Sylvia grows up and discovers the painful truth about her origin story, and dedicates herself to taking down her father’s company. The story of Penelope is less enchanting, but her trip though some of the shallowest corners of Los Angeles’s vanity, power, and money-obsessed culture is what you would expect and some of the best moments come from her interactions with Murphy and Randy, the two screen writers. They desperately want to turn into a sexy teen romp complete with low-cut bikini tops and a waterlogged prom. Penelope’s attempts to fight back are usually fruitless, leading to the table read to end all table reads. But you know who else isn’t on board with Randy and Murphy’s writing plans? Sylvia. Or someone who seems to be Sylvia — mysterious events involving changes to the movie script, Penelope getting dragged underwater in a Malibu riptide, and luring another character into an accident with her siren song start happening. So a smidge of magical realism as well as an interesting read.

Sinners (2025)

This was the winner in the category of most Oscar nominees in 2026, and also for the most nominees ever. Even considering that one of them is in a new category, it is an impressive showing. I haven't watched every movie in every category as of yet, and I haven't seen what might have made it but didn't (although a number of them are in categories for which there is a short list, so we can see some of what are the "Also Rans"), but it is a good movie. Is is also A LOT. It has a lot of violence, a lot of murder, a fair amount of sex, a lot of music, some romance, and a lot of symbolism all turned up to the loudest level. It is about black people in the Jim Crow South, so it is set in a time where racism is also a lot. Set in 1932 Mississippi, Sinners follows two twin brothers known as Smoke and Stack as they return home after working for the bootleggers in Chicago. Both twins are played by Michael B. Jordan, who plays the brothers in such a way that it becomes easy to tell the two apart based on their subtle mannerisms. The costume department helps with the visual cues, with Smoke wearing blue and Stack red, but by the halfway point, you don’t need the visual cues to help know which twin is which. Huge testament to Jordan’s acting is that tell them apart. I am not going to go in to the horror aspects of the plot beyond saying I pretty much never watch horror movies and this was well done. Music plays much more of a key role than I was expecting. It’s not only there to set the tone and mood of the era, but it’s actually a plot device. This is a romping, stomping ode to the 30s era Southern Blues, and the composer, Ludwig Göransson, really tapped into its spirit both with his score and the compositions heard within the film itself. A lot of the music was recorded on-camera, giving it a raw and unfiltered feel. The highlight of this musical talent is for sure Preacher Boy, played by first-time actor Miles Caton. Wow, what a discovery. Not only can the man sing, but his character, cousin to the twins, was the heart of the film in a way as an ambitious youth who yearns to play music, something that his preacher father does not approve of. This is worth seeking out, it is very very good.