Month: December 2014

Book Talk Tuesday: Big Little Lies

Published on by Live Vi-Carrie-ously

It’s just been a week or two since I reviewed THREE WISHES by this same author, and I’m not even done with the book yet, but I can tell it’s amazing.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

No one–and by no one, I mean No. One.–does back story like Liane Moriarty. I’m on the edge of my seat just reading this one. Someone is going to die. I know that much. I think I know who.

I’m torn between reading and solving my curiosity, and just setting the book aside, so I can stay in it’s story world.

I’ll publish a brief addendum when I finish the book, but so far, I’m loving it.

Like Moriarty other books, it’s set in Australia. There are three main Point of View characters. Madeleine is the uber-competent mom at the local school. She’s the one who organizes the fund raiser and keeps everyone in touch. Jane is a single mom with a son she dearly loves but is also concerned about. Celeste is the woman who has it all: she’s gorgeous, has an adoring husband, and a set of twin sons.

Moriary tells the reader up front that someone has died. But the rest of the story is well-written and drawn out with just the right amount of backstory and suspense.

Final review to come, but so far: Two thumbs up!

Media Monday: Dolphin Tale 2

Published on by Live Vi-Carrie-ously

We braved the theaters Thanksgiving week with a three-year-old. Yes, that merits at least a medal of valor.

Dolphin Tale 2
Dolphin Tale 2

Actually, it wasn’t that bad. Except … I don’t know how to say this without sounding petty and rude.

Stud Muffin likes to sit near the back, so we took our seats (after paying $20 for popcorn and a soda, but that’s another issue). Shortly after we sat down a group from the local adult day care center came and sat behind us. The clients were excited and vocal about the movie. Vocal, meaning loud.

We watched about a third of the movie, then moved closer to the screen and farther away from the vocal commentary. It was a bit quieter up there.

The movie itself was pretty good. Especially if you have a three-year-old Dolphin Tale fan with you.

The plot: Winter, the dolphin star of Dolphin Tale, is happy at her Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Until her companion dolphin, Pan, passes away. Pan was about 40 years old, so it wasn’t really a shock. But Winter went into grief mode. She wouldn’t play. She wouldn’t wear her prosthetic tail. She wouldn’t swim.

Then the aquarium rescued another dolphin named Mandy. She was being groomed to be Winter’s companion, but she went and healed up completely and the staff had to decide whether or not to release her back into the wild or keep her for Winter.

The movie was good. All the actors from the original were back. Sawyer and Hazel were older, of course. But they’re still appealing and their connection to each other and to Winter is obvious.

We caught this one at the $3.75 theater, and that’s about right. I’ll tape it, if it’s televised, and keep it with the original for when the three-year-old comes to visit. She got a bit restless, but overall she enjoyed the movie and was still talking about it a few days later.