Hello my lovely Muses!
There are not many releases this week, but there is nothing wrong with a little break before the many new titles coming out at the end of the month. I noticed that most of the books listed are stand alone novels which is quite refreshing. Sometimes you just want to pick up a book, read it from cover to cover, and sigh with relief and satisfaction at the end instead of cliffhangers like so many books in series tend to do.
In movies, everyone needs to check out the epic
Cloud Atlas, directed by the creators of
The Matrix and the cult classic
Run Lola Run. If it sounds familiar, that's because
Cloud Atlas is based off of a book of the same name, a book that many felt would never be able to translate into film because of its grand scale of interwoven stories, settings, etc. But somehow it was pulled off and the movie really is stunning, but beware, it is long and it is the type of film that you may need to view more then once in order to get everything. What's also cool is the cast, Halle Berry, Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Keith David, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, etc. Large cast and what's even better-- almost all of the actors play multiple parts and there are a few I didn't even realize who the actor was until the end when the credits rolled and they show you the actors and the parts they played. So if you want to watch something thought provoking with great acting, definitely give
Cloud Atlas a watch!
In TV, the 7th season of
Dexter makes its way on dvd and blu-ray, getting everyone caught up and ready for the 8th and final season (yes, I said, final season) which airs next month in June.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Best Wishes,
BOOKS (14th May)
ADULT
Chase the Storm
by: V.M. Waitt
Up until he buys an old
truck, Elijah Morgan lives life according to his family’s plan, never
feeling like he belongs. Desperate to find his own path, he heads out on
the open road, only to end up stranded in Nebraska. Not wanting to ask
for his parents’ help, he takes a job with tough, independent farmer
Chase McKenzie.
Despite their age gap, the attraction between
Chase and Elijah soon becomes undeniable. They give in to their desire,
but that night changes everything and threatens the secret Chase guards
so carefully.
As the summer heats up, so does their
relationship. When autumn arrives, Elijah is due back at college, and
he’ll have to choose whether to continue his education and follow in his
family’s footsteps… or to stay in Nebraska with the man he loves.
Release Date: 13th May 2013
Face of the Earth, The
by: Deborah Raney
From the award-winning author of After All, a man finds his wedding vows tested after his wife disappears.When
Mitchell Brannon’s beloved wife of twenty years kisses him goodbye one
morning, he has little idea that his life is about to change forever.
Mitch returns from work early that evening, surprised Jill’s car isn’t
in the garage. But her voice on the answering machine makes him smile.
“Hey, babe, I’m just now checking out of the hotel, but I’ll stop and
pick up something for dinner. Love you.” Hours later, Jill still hasn’t
returned, and Mitch’s irritation turns to dread.
When the
police come up empty, Mitch enlists the help of their next-door
neighbor, Jill’s best friend, Shelley, to help search. As days turn into
weeks and weeks into months, Mitch and Shelley’s friendship grows ever
closer––and decidedly more complicated. Every lead seems to be a dead
end, and Mitch wonders how he can honor the vows he made to a woman who
has seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth
Release Date: 14th May 2013
Healer, The
by: Antti Tuomainen
One man’s search for his missing wife in a dystopian futuristic Helsinki that is struggling with ruthless climate change
It’s
two days before Christmas and Helsinki is battling a ruthless climate
catastrophe: subway tunnels are flooded; abandoned vehicles are left
burning in the streets; the authorities have issued warnings about
malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, and the plague. People are fleeing to the
far north of Finland and Norway where conditions are still tolerable.
Social order is crumbling and private security firms have undermined the
police force. Tapani Lehtinen, a struggling poet, is among the few
still able and willing to live in the city.
When Tapani’s beloved
wife, Johanna, a newspaper journalist, goes missing, he embarks on a
frantic hunt for her. Johanna’s disappearance seems to be connected to a
story she was researching about a politically motivated serial killer
known as “The Healer.” Desperate to find Johanna, Tapani’s search leads
him to uncover secrets from her past. Secrets that connect her to the
very murders she was investigating...
The Healer is set
in desperate times, forcing Tapani to take desperate measures in order
to find his true love. Written in an engrossingly dense but minimal
language, The Healer is a story of survival, loyalty, and determination. Even when the world is coming to an end, love and hope endure.
Release Date: 14th May 2013
Tats of Honor
by: Vona Logan
Kegan Andrews wears his
heart on his sleeve, or rather his skin—his tattoo is a testimony to
those he’s loved and lost. The losses are piling up—like his young
cousin’s suicide and his fiancée’s betrayal. He needs perspective, and
the New Zealand trip he planned months ago seems to promise him that.
Then Kegan meets Dominic, a man wrapped in so much grief and guilt it’s
as if his own heart died two years ago with his long-time partner.
Dominic
can’t move on—can’t even imagine it until Kegan jumpstarts his frozen
heart. Dominic knows Kegan isn’t gay, so he fights his growing feelings,
but Kegan embraces his new self-knowledge about whom he might love.
Will Dominic stay mired in the safety of past heartbreak and become a
distant memory etched into Kegan’s skin, or will he risk himself for the
promise of a new beginning?
Release Date: 15th May 2013
YOUNG ADULT
Below
by: Meg McKinlay
Secrets have a
way of floating to the surface. . . . Mystery, compelling characters,
and an abandoned town beneath a lake make for a must-read adventure.
On
the day Cassie was born, they drowned her town. The mayor flipped a
lever and everyone cheered as Old Lower Grange was submerged beneath
five thousand swimming pools’ worth of water. Now, twelve years later,
Cassie feels drawn to the manmade lake and the mysteries it hides — and
she’s not the only one. Her classmate Liam, who wears oversized swim
trunks to cover the scars on his legs, joins Cassie in her daily swims
across the off-limits side of the lake. As the summer heats up, the
water drops lower and lower, offering them glimpses of the ghostly town
and uncovering secrets one prominent town figure seems anxious to keep
submerged. But like a swimmer who ventures too far from shore, Cassie
realizes she can’t turn back. Can she bring their suspicions to light
before it’s too late — and does she dare?
Release Date: 14th May 2013
Kindness for Weakness
by: Shawn Goodman
Shawn Goodman will capture your heart with this gritty, honest, and
moving story about a boy struggling to learn about friendship,
brotherhood, and manhood in a society where violence is the answer to
every problem.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest meets Catcher in the Rye.
A
fifteen-year-old boy from an abusive home desperately seeking his older
brother's love and approval starts pushing drugs for him and suffers
the consequences.
Release Date: 14th May 2013
Out of This Place
by: Emma Cameron
A powerful novel
in verse captures the voices of three teens as they struggle against
hardscrabble realities — and move toward their dreams.
Luke
spends his days hanging out at the beach, working shifts at the local
supermarket, and trying to stay out of trouble at school. His mate Bongo
gets wasted, blocking out memories of the little brother that social
services took away from his addict mom and avoiding the stepdad who hits
him. And Casey, the girl they both love, longs to get away from her
strict, controlling father and start anew in a place where she can be
free. But even after they each find a way to move on and lead very
different lives, can they outrun their family stories — and will they
ever be able to come together again? Set in Australia and narrated in
alternating points of view, here is an affecting look at the evolving
lives of three friends from talented new author Emma Cameron.
Release Date: 14th May 2013
Rules of Disappearing, The
by: Ashley Elston
She’s been six
different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in
Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted
to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her
last.
Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her.
But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a
horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her
father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that
landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all
the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time
she got some answers for herself.
But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan
Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own
good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both
of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family
once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really
matters — survival.
Release Date: 14th May 2013
Spirit and Dust
by: Rosemary Clement-Moore
Daisy Goodnight can
speak to the dead. It’s not the result of a head injury or some
near-death experience. She was just born that way. And she’s really good
at it. Good enough to help the police solve the occasional homicide.
But
helping the local authorities clear cold cases is one thing. Being
whisked out of chemistry class by the FBI and flown to the scene of a
murder/kidnapping in Minnesota? That’s the real deal.
Before the
promotion can go to Daisy’s head, she’s up to her neck in trouble. The
spirits are talking, and they’re terrified. There’s a real living girl
in danger. And when Daisy is kidnapped by a crime boss with no scruples
about using magic—and Daisy—to get what he wants, it looks like hers is
the next soul on the line.
Release Date: 14th May 2013
Towering
by: Alex Flinn
At first, I merely
saw his face, his hands on the window ledge. Then, his whole body as he
swung himself through the window. Only I could not see what he swung on.
Until,
one day, I told my dream self to look down. And it was then that I saw.
He had climbed on a rope. I knew without asking that the rope had been
one of my own tying.
Rachel is trapped in a tower, held
hostage by a woman she’s always called Mama. Her golden hair is growing
rapidly, and to pass the time, she watches the snow fall and sings songs
from her childhood, hoping someone, anyone, will hear her.
Wyatt
needs time to reflect or, better yet, forget about what happened to his
best friend, Tyler. That’s why he’s been shipped off to the Adirondacks
in the dead of winter to live with the oldest lady in town. Either
that, or no one he knows ever wants to see him again.
Dani
disappeared seventeen years ago without a trace, but she left behind a
journal that’s never been read, not even by her overbearing mother…until
now.
A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Alex Flinn knows her fairy tales, and Towering
is her most mind-bending interpretation yet. Dark and mysterious, this
reimagining of Rapunzel will have readers on the edge of their seats
wondering where Alex will take them next.
Release Date: 14th May 2013
MOVIES & TV SERIES (14th May)
MOVIES
Cloud Atlas
Directed by: Lana & Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry
Future. Present. Past. Everything is connected. An exploration of how
the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present
and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act
of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.The story
is a time-shifting weave of six interlinking narratives, with diverse
settings from the savagery of a Pacific Island in the 1850s to a
dystopian Korea of the near future. Based on the New York Times
best-selling novel "Cloud Atlas" written by David Mitchell.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Frankie Go Boom
Directed by: Jordan Roberts
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Chris O'Dowd
An insane comedy about two brothers, a girl with a broken heart, a sex
tape, an angel. And a pig... For his whole life Frank (Charlie Hunnam)
has been tortured, embarrassed and humiliated on film by his horrible
brother, Bruce (Chris O'Dowd). When Bruce makes and uploads a video of a
disastrous one-night stand of Frank's, the sex tape immediately becomes
a viral hit and things really hit the fan. Will Jack (Chris Noth),
Bruce's violent drug-fiend rehab buddy, find out it's his daughter
(Lizzy Caplan) in the video? Can Phyllis (Ron Perlman), Bruce's
transsexual computer hacker prison buddy, get them out of trouble?
Frankie Go Boom is an outrageous comedy about brotherly hate, amateur
porn and the dangers of online fame.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Liz & Dick
Directed by: Lloyd Kramer
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Grant Bowler
For nearly a quarter of a century, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton
were Hollywood royalty and their fiery romance often called the marriage
of the century was the most notorious, publicized and celebrated love
affair of its day. Swarmed by paparazzi worldwide, their love affair was
played out entirely in front of the media from the time they met on the
set of the major motion picture Cleopatra, left their respective
spouses, married and divorced, only to remarry and divorce once again.
Despite their roller coaster romance for the public eye to see, Liz and
Dick shared an undeniable love greater than most people could ever dream
of.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Open Gate
Directed by: Dan Jackson
Starring: Tyler Hoechlin, Agnes Bruckner
A crime drama that takes place in a small East Texas town. Kaleb, a
young rodeo bull fighter, struggles with the realities of small town
life. His troubles are made worse when he discovers the rodeo he works
for is using the bulls to traffic drugs between Texas and Mexico and
more people in his little sleepy texas town are involved than he could
have imagined.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Offender
Directed by: Ron Scalpello
Starring: Joe Cole
Hot new talent Joe Cole ignites a masterpiece of explosive intensity in
this powerful action suspense thriller. For Tommy Nix, his girlfriend
and unborn child were his entire life and his reason for living. That is
until one cruel day when they were brutally torn away as the collateral
damage for a ruthless gang who pulled off an armed robbery-murder
during the chaos of the London riots. As the city swelters and burns
around him Tommy is left with nothing but rage inside. Launching a
one-man-war
against those
responsible he will stop at nothing, even incarceration, to deliver his
own form of blazing justice. A man who has lost everything becomes
capable of anything...
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Texas Chainsaw
Directed by: John Luessenhop
Starring: Alexandra Daddario
In 1974, enraged townspeople hunt down and kill every member of the
Sawyer family for committing a series of grisly murders. Decades later
and hundreds of miles away, a young woman learns that she has inherited a
Texas estate from a grandmother she never knew she had. After embarking
on a road trip with friends to uncover her roots, she finds she is the
sole owner of a lavish, isolated Victorian mansion. But her newfound
wealth comes at a price as she stumbles upon a horror that awaits her in
the mansion's dank cellars.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
TV SERIES
Dexter: Season 7
Starring: Michael C. Hall
DEXTER returns to DVD and Blu-ray in explosive fashion with Season 7, as
Dexter is finally forced to confront his greatest fear, as Debra
witnesses his insatiable, ritualistic slaying of a killer. Now Deb knows
the secret of his Dark Passenger, his undeniable thirst for blood, and
the Code that their father Harry instilled in him as a young boy. But as
Deb tries to reconcile the unfathomable idea that her beloved,
mild-mannered brother is Miami's most notorious serial killer, Dexter is
still pulled by his natural impulses to seek out the guilty and exact
his brand of vigilante justice.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Dance Academy: Season 1, Vol. 1
Starring: Jordan Rodrigues, Xenia Goodwin
Ever since she was a little girl, Tara Webster dreamed of becoming a
dancer. In Season 1 Volume 1, country girl Tara leaves her home, family
and friends to audition for the prestigious National Academy of Dance
in the big city. When she s given a spot she s sure her life will be
spectacular, but what she doesn t realize is that there s a whole lot
more to surviving the Academy than just dancing.
Tara soon
meets the other first years: carefree Kat, gorgeous Ethan, rebellious
Christian, loveable Sammy and overachiever Abigail. Together they manage
the pressures of exams, crushes and dancing, all the while knowing that
at the end of the year not everyone makes the cut.
For the first time on DVD, see 13 episodes from Season 1 of the hit drama series about chasing dreams.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Dance Academy: Season 1, Vol. 2
Starring: Jordan Rodrigues, Xenia Goodwin
In Season 1 Volume 2, Tara returns from the holidays excited to have
been awarded a first year scholarship, but the rest of the year is full
of challenges no one could have seen coming.
The group
continues to put all their effort into dancing, but along the way some
battle eating disorders, struggle with their parents, overcome physical
injury and even deal with big breakups.
With the end-of-year
Nutcracker performance approaching, can the Academy group pull it
together? And does Tara really have what it takes to stand center stage?
For the first time on DVD, see 13 episodes from Season 1 and
take a special behind-the-scenes look at the making of the hit drama
series about chasing dreams with your very own backstage pass.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Dance Academy: Season 2, Vol. 1
Starring: Jordan Rodrigues, Xenia Goodwin
It was a rocky first year, but ultimately Tara Webster got
everything she wanted: a place in the top dance school in the country,
friends she ll know forever and she fell in love twice! She even danced
the role of her dreams. So Second Year should be a piece of cake. Right?
In Season 2: Volume 1 Tara reunites with her friends and
discovers the exciting news that they can all compete in a prestigious
ballet competition, Prix de Fonteyn, to determine the best dancer in the
world. Teacher Miss Raine spells it out for them: Make no mistakes.
Second Year counts. And you are all in competition. Everyone must work
harder than they ve ever worked before on the dance floor and in life.
For the first time on DVD, see 13 episodes from Season 2 of the hit drama series about chasing dreams.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
Dance Academy: Season 2, Vol. 2
Starring: Jordan Rodrigues, Xenia Goodwin
Tara Webster soared to great heights during her first year at the
Academy, but by her second year she s learned that being on top in
dance, in life, in love only makes for a long fall back down.
In Season 2 Volume 2 the stakes are higher, the lows are lower, and the
competitions are exhilarating. Tara and the entire crew must manage
tragedy, relationships and the ultimate final showdown performance.
Above all else, it s their friendship that held them together this long.
Will it carry them through into their third year?
For the first time on DVD, see 13 episodes from Season 2 of the hit series about chasing dreams.
Release Date: 14 May 2013
