After A QUIET PLACE, Try...

This sound-focused horror movie has been the top and talk of the box office. If you liked the quiet, tense atmosphere of A QUIET PLACE, place a hold on some of these movies:

• Wait Until Dark: A tense home invasion thriller in the home of a blind woman (played by Audrey Hepburn). Where A Quiet Place focuses on sound, Wait Until Dark uses sight to keep you on the edge of your seat. 
• Don't Breathe: Similar to Wait Until Dark, a home invasion taking place in the home of a blind man quickly turns into a cat and mouse game...only the homeowner is more dangerous than he seems. If you liked A Quiet Place's creative use of sound but prefer your thrillers more grounded in reality, look no further. 
• Signs: A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields. Similar in both setting and tension to A Quiet Place, though with more focus on mystery and drama then scares.  

You might also like these books: 

• Bird Box by Josh Malerman: In this post-apocalyptic thriller, the mere sight of a mysterious phenomenon is enough to drive you insane...and so the main characters constantly wear blindfolds as they attempt to navigate to a new safe haven. Replaces A Quiet Place's sound for sight but keeps the tension just as high.  
• The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J. Walker: After the world ends, estranged father Edgar attempts to run across the country in order to be reunited with his family. Perfect for fans of A Quiet Place's focus on family. 
• Metro 2033 by Dmitriĭ Glukhovskiĭ: This cult novel, translate from Russian, tells the story of a nearly-extinct humanity taking refuge in the subway tunnels of Moscow from radiated, unearthly monsters. 
• I Am Legend by Richard Matheson: A classic of post-apocalyptic fiction, Matheson's story has been adapted for the big screen several times. A man copes with the knowledge that he is the last human left on Earth...because everyone else has become a vampire. 

Quirky characters and quirky families

Our book group just finished reading Fredrik Backman's My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. Anyone who has read Backman (famously known for A Man Called Ove) knows that he writes his stories about eccentric characters. Here are some stories about quirky characters and family members:

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
Elsa is 7 years old and different. Her grandmother is 77 years old and crazy. She is also Elsa's best and only friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother's stores. When her grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has hurt, Elsa's greatest adventure begins.

Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson
Meet Frank. Frank is an odd 9-year-old boy who has a higher IQ than Einstein’s and dresses as if he were on a movie set in the early 1920s–and he is someone with whom you are sure to fall in love. Frank’s reclusive mother is an author whose publisher has just sent Alice Whitley to serve as an assistant and ensure the next book is completed. The relationship between Frank and Alice is magical.

Big Fish: a Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace

When his attempts to get to know his dying father fail, William Bloom makes up stories that recreate his father's life in heroic proportions.

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action--life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office--but not Eleanor--that he's on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family secret.

Movies to watch in April while we wait for May

Spring is here and what a relief! I retired my winter coat a couple of weeks ago, I just couldn't bring myself to wear it one more day. I see the tulips and the daffodils poking through and the warmer weather is sure to follow. Here is a list of movies, to watch while we wait for May flowers and baseball, loosely tied to the season, the months, or new beginnings.

The Rookie
Pieces of April
Hope Springs
Hope Springs (British)
Trishna
Shawshank Redemption
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Fever Pitch
It Happens Every Spring
Field of Dreams

After READY PLAYER ONE, Try...

Steven Spielberg's latest adaptation is an ode to the pop culture of the 70's through early 2000's. There are too many movie, music, book, and video game references to list in one blog post, but if you liked Ready Player One in theaters, check out the movies below:


The Shining 

The Iron Giant 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail 

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure 

Alien 

Saturday Night Fever 

The Breakfast Club 

Serenity 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day 

Back to the Future 

Superman 

Jurassic Park 

Akira

War of the Worlds

Beetlejuice 

The Dark Crystal 

Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla 

Say Anything



For books similar to Ready Player One, be sure to stop by this blog post from last month.