The Willow Tree

If you like foreign film you should try The Willow Tree, a lovely Iranian film about a blind man whose sight is restored.

I found it profound, quite frankly.

But foreign film REALLY has to be your thing if you are going to like this. There's no violence or "scenes"---about as rough as it gets is that a man throws some papers off his veranda (but he does it intensely!) . . . it's all about character development. So if no/low action and low/no humor and low/no fast-paced anything is your speed, and you can handle long scenery scenes and long episodes of a man's grieving face (which I fast forwarded through, I can only handle so much grieving face), try it.

If not. Pass. You will think this movie is weird.

Bake the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jen Reese

I liked Bake the Bread, Buy the butter by Jennifer Reese. It's a cookbook, but it's a fun read. She examines what to cook from scratch and what to just go ahead and buy.

By "read" I mean I read the parts that I was interested in. Not so interested in curing meats, didn't go there.

She's a good writer, recipes look interesting. Might even buy a copy to keep on my shelf.

My other favorite cookbook to read is Fannie Flagg's Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook. Good Southern cooking and good solid writing. There are days when I have no intention of cooking any recipe in the book but I'll pull the book off my shelf for a good laugh.

Courageous, the movie

So I'm on a Christian movie kick . . . it came after my British mystery kick . . . my Monk phase . . . my foreign film phase . . . after I saw The Shunning, I was intrigued to watch more movies by the same filmmakers.

Courageous is the latest on my list. And I would recommend it. It's about four police officers, fighting crime and saving the day. But the real heroes they become are when the decide to make fatherhood, and being good fathers, the priority in their lives.

Yes the script is sometimes cheesy. Yes the acting is occasionally too forced.

But the message is fantastic. Fatherhood is important---man up, take responsibility and be a good dad. Inspiring to see a movie with this message.

It's police work, so there's some violence. A true PG-13, too much for kids. But I thought it was worth watching for adults.

The Covenant by Beverly Lewis

I read The Covenant by Beverly Lewis because I couldn't find The Shunning in our library.

Lewis weaves beautiful dramas about life in the Amish community. I really liked The Covenant, about four daughters of marriageable age. Usual conflicts: what to believe, who to marry, when to rebel, when to submit. Nice! Lewis isn't Wilde (or wild for that matter) as far as word choice and description, but she tells a good tale and keeps the story moving.

Part of the appeal was the "otherness" of the Amish, and Lewis neither grandizes them or demeans them. Not a complex work, but good for readers who want a good story.

Good for a church book club? Maybe. Clean enough. Good pick for a book club that wants a non-Twilight "YIKES-what was that two pages of kissing?"benign read. Not a stellar choice if you have a book club looking for the next Jane Austen.

But. I liked it. This is the first in the series and I'd read the rest if the mood struck me.

The Family Nobody Wanted by Helen Doss

I breezed through The Family Nobody Wanted by Helen Doss, who writes about her journey as she and her husband adopt 12 children into their family during the 1940's. Doss and her husband are unable to conceive children on their own, so they adopt the "unwanted" children of the time---children of different races and ethnicities.

It's a lovable story about acceptance in a time that was unaccepting. There are very, very dated references to old ideas about color of skin and race. It was almost laughable in parts where I knew Doss was being very, very serious, when she talked about how un-white children were viewed. Ah, times have changed. Or have changed in many places.

I thought about my son attending school, now in 2012, where he's the minority because he's one of two white boys in his class. When I ask him about his friends, he doesn't see color or race. He just sees his pals. Black hair, brown eyes, udon for lunch, light skin, blue eyes, PBJ, it's all the same to him. To my son, there is no "them" and "us". There are just kids.

But I think the story of family love here is timeless. Families who are considering adopting children would be especially endeared.

Great recommendation, Meg in Sheridan!

More 8-12, especially girls

Thanks for your comment, Michelle! It reminded me about my new batch of books I needed to post. My mom cleaned out her books and let me take what I wanted. Treasurers! Here are some more for girls 8-12. I'm not good at judging grade level, but these are innocent fun reads for this age group.

1. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
2. Borrowers (I think it's a series) by Mary Norton
3. Mixed-up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler by Konigsburg
4. Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassidy
5. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
6. Tom's Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearce
7. Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kastner (I just re-read this. It's darling.)
8. The One of a Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor . . . completely endearing

Good luck!