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Past Lives directed by Celine Song
105 minutes
Drama/Romance
Korean and English
5* out of 5
Formats: Blu-Ray, DVD, streaming on Kanopy
Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.
Past Lives is a quiet film. It’s a film that allows its characters to sit and process their emotions. The dialog is almost less important than the spaces between.
Told in three parts, Past Lives is the story of Hae Sung and Nora: first as children, then as young adults, and finally as more mature adults. Exploring the Korean idea of In-Yun, a concept which says our encounters with one another throughout all of our past lives builds layers of connections between two souls. We feel the connection between these two individuals that won’t allow them to separate from each other’s lives for very long. But there’s a few complications: Nora moved to the United States and marries Arthur while Hae Sung stays in Korea and studies to become an engineer.
But what is fascinating about this film is that there is no villain. While we see the In-Yun that connects Hae Sung and Nora, we don’t hate Arthur. He isn’t in the way; and it’s hard to root against him. The In-Yun between them is rich, but we ache for something different.
Past Lives is a beautiful film that is best enjoyed on a rainy day, with a warm cup of tea, and time to process the romance and melancholy of Hae Sung and Nora’s interconnectedness that transcends time and space.
Justin
The library is a beautiful place full of books and people, and those people give amazing book recommendations. Here in library land, we call this book recommending phenomenon-Reader’s Advisory, or RA for short. Most of us here at the library are avid readers, and we are constantly bothering each other for new things to read; we have a lot of internal RA going on here in the group chat. If you ever asked someone for a book to read, you participated in the wild, wild world of RA! As Smokey the Bear would say, “you too can prevent reading boredom.” Well, he would say that if forest fires were books. Recently library employees were asked to participate in a Book Swap. (Participation was voluntary.) The deal was: fill out a form letting the proverbial them know what you like and dislike, and they give your info to a random employee. That random employee/book swap buddy will find a book to gift you based on the information you submitted. This is actually a treat and not work because books are still fun ladies and gentlemen. Big fun. The facts are I love a good challenge, and I love talking about books with people; hence my working at KHCPL. This is the golden opportunity to really go nuts for donuts or books, in this case. Herein lies the beauty of the book swap: learning more about the people around you. You may love horror but find out your book swap buddy loves romance. This is ample time to get to know themes you never pick up and break out of your comfort zone. Learning what a person loves to read gives a good tell about who they are and what they like, a glimpse of personality if you will; you can find things out about people through books that you wouldn’t in regular conversation. Importantly, you also learn about yourself: what you like, and maybe find a book to add to your own overflowing TBR pile. (I’m convinced adding to your TBR is a hobby too.) Little book-shaped parcels, as pictured above, started floating around and so did the smiles. My coworkers started opening up their recommendations and ran to tell everyone that they were bumping up their gifts to be read next. Another thing that makes the swap beautiful is that someone listens and they seek out something just for their buddy that they think would be loved. I’d call that a friend-building exercise. If you didn’t know reading was a communal sport, now you do. It’s much more fun to involve others in your reading. Try out book swapping, thrift some wallpaper from Goodwill, be whimsical and use it to wrap up your book recommendation, and hand it to your friends. After all that, talk about the books, share secrets, make clubs, and create obsessions! Give the gift of RA, just like us book nerds here in the library. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
For more book recommendations, please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
Bethann
What have I been up to these past few weeks? Well buckle up my friends, and let me tell you! These past few weeks, I have been deep in a reread of Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath in preparation for House of Flame and Shadow (SWOON). My first time reading these books, I basically skimmed through them to get to the good parts which had already been spoiled for me on TikTok and other social media. I wasn’t all that interested in them because I believed the world building was just too much for me, and they were so different from Maas’s other books. This time around, I read them slowly and made sure I paid attention to all the important little details. I was absolutely blown away at what I had missed the first time, and I found myself loving these even more than the A Court of Thorns and Roses series (shocker, I know).
Crescent City tells the story of a girl named Bryce Quinlan living her best life. That is until she finds all her closest friends and members of the wolf pack murdered by some sort of demon. Bryce puts her heart into investigating this horrific crime and bringing her friends’ murderer to justice. Along the way, she is partnered with the fallen angel, Hunt Athalar (watch out Rhysand), who has been promised a chance at freedom if he helps Bryce figure out who the murderer is. Together, Bryce and Hunt make discoveries that could change their world…only not for the better, and they must work together to stop the evil that is to come (and maybe there will be romance, who knows?).
Nothing could have prepared me for book three. House of Flame and Shadow was nothing but action, destruction, love, and heartbreak, and I could not put the book down once I picked it up. The character development from book one was insane. If you compared book one to book three you would be shocked at how some of the characters turned out, and you really didn’t know who to trust until book three. I can’t even talk much about the book because I will quite literally spoil it. Just trust me, ok? If you have not given Crescent City a shot, be sure to pick it up and tell me what you think!
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
-Samantha
What Happens Later
1 Hr. 44 Min.
Comedy/Romance
4/5*
Formats available: DVD, Blu-Ray
Ex-lovers reunite when they both become stranded in an airport overnight. They find themselves drawn together to revisit their past to discuss what could have been and what may happen in the future.
Back in the 80’s and 90’s, Romantic Comedies (also known as Rom Coms) were all the rage. I was, and still am, a huge Rom Com fan. The Queen of the Rom Coms was Meg Ryan. Meg starred in such classics ase When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail. Imagine my delight when I heard that Meg was returning to the Rom Com world with her new release What Happens Later.
What Happens Later, which Meg also directed, tells the story of Willa (played by Meg) and Bill (played by David Duchovny). The former couple gets stranded in an airport during a snowstorm. During their time there they rehash their relationship and come to terms with what happened and what might have become of their relationship.
I found this movie very charming. It gave me vibes of Nora Ephron movies. (Meg dedicated the movie to her.) I will warn you that there is a lot of talking between the two main characters so if you don’t like that sort of thing, you probably won’t like this movie. But if you are a Rom Com fan, this is the movie for you.
AV Librarian Tonya
I think it’s safe to say we all have reading goals that include our To Be Read books and some of us have a TBR pile so long that we couldn’t even finish it in the afterlife. I fall to the side of TBR TLDR. In an attempt to remedy this, I decided to embark on a quest to see if I could help myself along and get control of the reigns on my reading. There are just so many amazing things I want to read and new genres I want to try out thus, the First 5 challenge is born. No, this challenge isn’t very innovative or new to the universe but I think myself a clever creature anyway. I decided that I would amass a stack of books and read through the first 5 chapters of each. If I want to continue after chapter 5, the book makes it to my bedside table to finish. If I don’t want to continue or I cannot make it to chapter 5, I know that the book isn’t meant for me.
Here's what I learned:
- This is a “DUH BETHANN” moment but I have to put it in even if it shows my stupidity. Books aren’t written or formatted the same. Not all books have numbered chapters or chapters with consistent lengths. West Heart Kill by Dann McDorman has long chapters divided by weekdays. The first “chapter” is 65 pages long. If I were to read the proverbial 5 chapters here, I would have the book finished. My adaptation for this book was to read chapter one only; I continued to make adjustments to other books like this staying about 65 pages long for my assessments.
- Reading 5 chapters is a lot if you’re slow like me. The change that I would make here is that I would pick 3 books at a time instead of 5. It takes the pressure off and calms my Currently Reading list on Goodreads down. (I tend to have a lot of books on that list anyways because I never read one book at a time).
- I GET TOO DISTRACTED! Plain and simple! While trying to read these chapters, I got inundated by friend suggestions, new releases, ARCs, and a load of other things I can’t keep myself from starting! I also have a currently reading list that spans about 7 books at a time; my focus is never easily captured. Advice to myself: maybe only read 1-3 books at a time or no books when I’m doing a challenge like this!
- One of the great things I learned is that when I am forced to buckle down and read, I get a lot more done! I also found myself enjoying new and different genres in the mix. Albeit I started a few and read right through to the end instead of stopping, BUT I found things that I really liked that I thought I wasn’t “into” right now. When I make the time it’s worth it.
- I used my resources more. When juggling books like this, the reality is that I don’t want to buy all of this to simply DNF them later. I was able to use Libby and Hoopla more and also borrowed more physical books from here at the library. When I was done and didn’t want to continue all I had to do was press a button or give the book back; no money spent. I was also able to pull some dusty books off my ancient TBR; when I knew I wasn’t going to read a book I could offload it by giving it away or turning it in for spend credits at my local bookstore. This opened up my bookshelves for more things I love.
This trial had its wins and fails, for that I am very glad; when we read, try new things, and push ourselves outside of what is comfortable or habitual, we can gain new insights and interests. I was able to find a few new books and genres that I would like to try and was also able to weed out some things that I couldn’t realistically get to right now. Moral of this story is to jump out, do the thing, and if it doesn’t work just scrap it and try the OTHER THING. Don’t stop reading, don’t stop creating hobbies, and don’t stop being at the library!
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
Bethann
What was your biggest reading “win” in 2023?
I had the opportunity to receive many ARCs throughout the year and to speak with quite a few amazing authors including Ellie Marney, Ann Fraistat, and Maureen Johnson!
How did you read your books?
I mostly read eBook and a few physical copies. I would like to read more physical books in 2024.
Books you DNF’ed (Did Not Finish)?
I DNF’ed The Whispering Dead by Darcy Coates and Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. The Whispering Dead started off right in the middle of action and had me confused, and Warbreaker was just a bit too heavy on world building.
Who was the author you read the most from?
Probably Rebecca Yarros and Richelle Mead
What was the book that was most fun for you to read?
Re-reading the Vampire Academy series was so nostalgic and brought back a lot of great memories of reading the series for the first time!
What was a book that dragged on?
Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead. It started out good, but then it was pretty slow.
What were some books you reread?
I did a reread on the Vampire Academy series and A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. I also started a reread of House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas in December in preparation for House of Flame and Shadow releasing January 30th!
Are there any books you read in 2023 that you would read again?
I would 1000% and will 1000% be rereading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros.
What’s on the TBR (To Be Read) list for 2024?
The TBR is so long. But my most anticipated book is the 3rd book in the Crescent City series, House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas. I am also excited to read A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat!
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
-Samantha