Blog
Available on Netflix, check out a Roku with Netflix to start watching.
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.
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.
Watch Ron's Gone Wrong on a Roku with Disney+ .
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.
.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.