Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service (Rated R) is great for people who like an underdog that succeeds and a ton of action. The main character Eggsy gets another chance at life when a secret spy service thinks he is a good candidate. The training missions and truly amazing fight scenes are what make this movie as great as it is.




The Gray Man

What a fun and action-packed film! Who doesn't love a good spy movie, am I right? The Gray Man, directed by the Russo Brothers who never disappoint! This follows the story of one of the gray men, Six, who accidently finds out some agency secrets that he shouldn't know. He then gets put on a hitlist with a high bounty on his head. You'll have to watch to see if he makes it out alive. An all-star cast adds to this movie's delight.


Available on Netflix, check out a Roku with Netflix to start watching.



The Lost City

I would highly recommend watching this funny, action, comedy adventure movie - "The Lost City". It stars Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) as romance novelist who is out on tour promoting her latest novel with her cover model, Dash/Alan (Channing Tatum). Dash is always the hero in all her romantic novels. In her last novel, she reveals an understanding of the ancient writings. Because of this knowledge she gets kidnapped by a wealthy billionaire media mogul named Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) and he flies her to an island in the Atlantic. He wants her to solve a writing so that he can locate a lost treasure before the volcano erupts. Alan tracks Loretta and gets his friend Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt) to fly off to the island to rescue her. Before she knows it, she finds herself in the middle of one of her romantic novels and all the clues are coming together to discover a big treasure. Very enjoyable movie. Loved the new duo Bullock and Tatum.



Guards! Guards!: A Novel of Discworld

If you have never read any of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, this is as good a place to start as any. Vimes is an inspector on the Anhk-Morpork city watch, content to while away his time in a drunken stupor. But when a dragon appears on the scene along with a rookie cop determined to do everything by the book, it turns his world on end. With a cast of absurd characters placed in ludicrous situations, Guards! Guards! is sure to lighten your spirits. 

Available as an ebook on eMediaLibrary (Libby).



The Crimson Pirate

The Crimson Pirate is a family classic that you can watch with your kids. It follows pirate Captain Vallo as he sails about the 1700s Caribbean pursuing money-making schemes ranging from seizing British vessels to kidnapping. But when he falls for the beautiful Consuelo, he changes his pirate ways. This swashbuckling comedy is good, clean fun.

Starring Burt Lancaster, Nick Cravat, and Eva Bartok.



Master and Commander

This daring adventure follows British Captain Jack Aubrey around the waters of South America during the Napoleonic Wars. He is in pursuit of an elusive French warship which puts his crew to the test. This visually captivating film will transport you to another place and time.

Starring Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, and Billy Boyd.

Master and Commander (PG-13) is available for checkout on DVD.



Ron's Gone Wrong

I laughed so much during this movie. The awkwardness of the robot Ron is cute and funny. Barney wants to fit in and with the new invention of B-Bots' ability to make friends, everyone has one, except for him. When he does get a B-Bot it turns his life upside down. A fun journey of friendship.

Watch Ron's Gone Wrong on a Roku with Disney+ .

The Black Widow

Israeli master spy Gabriel Alon is called on to find and stop the mysterious ISIS terrorist Saladin in this suspense thriller. Following a deadly ISIS attack in Paris, Alon recruits Natalie Mizrahi, a Jewish female doctor, to infiltrate ISIS, then locate and identify Saladin. Posing as Leila Hadawi, a Palestinian doctor with a vengeful rage against Israel, Natalie becomes the black widow.

The Black Widow (2016) by Daniel Silva is the sixteenth book in the Gabriel Alon series, but it was my first. You don't need to read any of the previous Alon books to be absorbed by this one.

George Guidell narrates the audiobook in just under 14 hours, but the very intense action and surprising twists make it seem much quicker. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and award-winning George Guidell is one of my favorite readers.

Visit eMediaLibrary to read the book or listen to the audiobook today.


Jungle Cruise

If you like action, dad jokes and more dad jokes this is the movie for you. I loved this movie and how Disney was able to transform the story of a ride from the Disney parks into such a great movie. The action of  Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt blend well into the adventures down the river. 

Available to checkout from the library on Blu-Ray and DVDAlso available to watch on Disney Plus, checkout a Roku with Disney Plus to start streaming Jungle Cruise (PG-13).

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The Hidden Oracle

If you've read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series, Trials of Apollo will be right up your alley – it's another fun, fast-paced five-book series filled with Greek and Roman mythology. The Hidden Oracle picks up six months after the end of the last Heroes of Olympus book, with the god Apollo turned into a sixteen-year-old human. He learns that all prophecy has been blocked, and as the former god of prophecy, he's been tasked with restoring all the ancient oracles to regain his immortal status. Apollo gets help from twelve-year-old Meg, a demigod from New York, and some other favorite characters that Rick Riordan fans will know and love. This series is an excellent addition to the world Rick Riordan has created, with his signature witty humor and ability to make ancient mythology easy to understand and fun for all ages.


Available as an ebook and eaudiobook on eMediaLibrary.



Battlestar Galactica

This dark, four-season remake of the 1978 TV series is full of surprises. Twelve colonies of humans in a distant star system are wiped out by the cylons, a race of metal, humanoid-like machines. The remnants of humanity, traveling aboard a ragtag fleet of ships, including Battlestar Galactica, set off to search for the 13th colony--Earth. But not all cylons are metal. Some look just like humans. In fact, some cylons are programmed to think they are human. Can you tell who is a cylon?

Starring Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Jamie Bamber.



Child of Storm

The terrific second book in the Zulu series tells of Mameena, a Zulu girl of hypnotic beauty. Her name means Child of Storm in English. Mameena uses her unparalleled beauty and charm on men to climb up the Zulu social ladder, leaving misery and death in her wake. She even tests her wiles on young but stalwart Allan Quatermain.

Child of Storm (1913) is a nonstop thrilling tale of revenge, jealousy, witchcraft, and war. Very interesting and exciting stuff written with H. Rider Haggard's poetic description of 19th century Africa. Some characters in the book are real historical persons and some of the events actually happened, including the descriptions of the tribal battles.

While this audiobook is very hard to put down on its own, listeners would benefit from first reading Marie, the first book in the trilogy. Check out my review of Marie


Visit Hoopla to listen to the audiobook or read the ebook.



The Land that Time Forgot

A rip-roaring adventure from the creator of Tarzan. It's 1916 and the Great War is raging. The U-33 has been sinking allied ships and capturing survivors. A series of twists leaves the survivors in charge and the U-33 off course and lost. The sub, following an underwater passage, surfaces to find itself on a thermal crater lake in a strange land and almost out of fuel. There is high drama, double cross, and dirty tricks as the German crew and their English and American captors fight dinosaurs, sub-humans, and each other.

The Land That Time Forgot (1918) by Edgar Rice Burroughs is told in first person from a manuscript found in a bottle at the Greenland coast. The manuscript was written by an American from California but it is a British citizen that finds the bottle and reads the manuscript. Narrator Raymond Todd reads the story with a British accent.

This is the first book in the Caspak trilogy. Listen to the audiobook or read the ebook via Hoopla.



Marie

This is the story of young Allan Quatermain. He's in love with his childhood French language classmate Marie. But there's a problem. He's English and she's a Boer. It's something like Romeo and Juliet set against the backdrop of the Cape Frontier Wars in Africa. And another complication: Marie has a cousin that wants her for himself.

The characters in this book include actual historical figures and participate in some historical events of the war including the Weenan massacre. There's plenty of drama with a racial "I like you but stay away from my daughter" plot and plenty of exciting and sometimes distressing action with Boers and Zulus. Marie's family dislike any English but have to depend on Allan. He's a smart tactician and the best marksman on the continent.

Check out Marie (1912) by H. Rider Haggard today. Shelly Frasier does well with French, English, American, and Dutch accents. Visit Hoopla to listen to the audiobook or read the ebook.

Steven Universe

This animated show is about a boy named Steven and his family, the Crystal Gems. The Crystal Gems consist of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, who are magical beings who can shapeshift, fight, and protect the planet of Earth. Steven is just a normal boy though, who can use some powers like the Crystal Gems but not consistently. Steven wants to go on the adventures and the Gems just want to keep him safe, leading to fun misadventures.

The story is a fun and exciting one with a nice art style that continues to evolve and grow as Steven does. Binge watch season 1 (2013-2015) of Steven Universe on Hoopla today.