SAPL Top 10 of 2020
Drum roll please… here they are, the Top 5 circulated movies of 2020!
I hope you all continue to discover more deep-cuts, classics, and entertaining flicks from our shelves in 2021.
Author: Geoff Manderscheid
Offbeat’s Top Books
Here they are, Offbeat’s favourite reads from 2020! Would you like to see your top picks posted this time next year? Then join the club! Here’s how.
I’m going through all her books! They are quite interesting. You get a great feel of how remote the locations are in this book.
Rule of Three by Megan McDonald
I’ve enjoyed all the books in this series with my daughter. It’s been such a great experience with lots of bonding.
In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
Since travel is off-limits, travel books have been great.
The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas J. Preston
I heard about this book from one of the Offbeat member’s top picks from last year. Loved it!
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
I got wrapped up in this story and could not put it down. Scenes of a fading starlett were done very well.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Just a fabulous read. Sounds like people either love or hate it, but I loved it.
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamil
Didn’t do as much reading I normally do but this move was a very memorable read.
Just loved it. Simply put.
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh
Desperately needed to talk to people about it this book after reading it.
I got this book as a gift from the book club and absolutely loved it.
The Trip to Echo Springs by Olivia Laing
Part memoir, part travelogue, this is just and an honest and artfully written book on the connection between alcohol and the relationships of some of literature’s memorable names.
Weekend Picks
SAPL Top 10 of 2020
There are some things from 2020 that are worth remembering. Here are the highest-circulating movies, numbers 10-6. Drop by next week when we reveal the top five!
#10 | Knives Out (413 checkouts)
#9 | Yesterday (425)
#8 | Goldfinch (443)
#7 | Downton Abbey (447)
#6 | Terminator: Dark Fate (452)
Next Read
How to Do Nothing:
Resisting the Attention Economy
by Jenny Odell
Print |eAudiobook (hoopla)
“Odell’s great strength as a writer is her ability to convey art’s unique power without overestimating or misstating its social impact. . . . Ultimately, what sets her book apart from self-help is not a less quixotic set of demands but a more life-affirming endgame.”—Megan Marz, THE BAFFLER
We’ll discuss this book and more on February, 25 at 7:00 pm via Zoom. To find out how to join email offbeat@sapl.ca
The Offbeat Book Club is a drop-in book discussion group for 20-40 somethings who want to read mostly new, sometimes bold, and always entertaining books. Basically, we read books you’ll want to read, and not the ones you “should.”
Meetings take place five times a year at various restaurants* throughout St. Albert and are facilitated by library staff.
Weekend Picks
The Tradition Continues
It’s a cringy tradition and one that you will definitely not find on Disney+…
Enjoy a not so epic classic from a galaxy not far away enough: Star Wars Holiday Special
And for some comic relief from all that awkwardness you just endured, check out this Honest Trailer
May the Force Be With You & Stay Safe!
See you in 2021.
Monday Evening Book Club | January Selection
Moon of the Crusted Snow
by Waubgeshig Rice
Print | eBook and eAudiobook (Hoopla)
The Monday Evening Book Club meets on the second Monday of the month at 7:00 PM via Zoom.
Register to drop-in and discuss this slow burning thriller and powerful story of survival.
We’ve been waiting for this story. It irresistibly turns our gaze toward something we already knew but couldn’t quite make ourselves see. The result is intense, thrilling, and vivid as the darkest dreams – much like the old Anishinaabeg stories told by the Elders. As one revelation follows another, we come face to face with mystery and responsibility of being human. ~Warren Carious, director, University of Manitoba Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture.
Further Reading
Toronto Star | At Home During COVID-19
Hamilton Review of Books Interview
Watch & Listen
Weekend Picks
Cold Ones
With this December heatwave we’re having, let’s not forget to crack open a couple of cold ones this weekend.
The Spy Who Came in From The Cold
British agent Alec Leamas refuses to come in from the Cold War during the 1960s, choosing to face another mission, which may prove to be his final one.
An idyllic family skiing vacation takes a stunning turn when an avalanche threatens the ski lodge restaurant, sending people fleeing and demanding quick decisions that change the course of the family’s dynamics and trust.
Raised by her father, an ex-CIA agent, in the wilds of Finland, Hanna’s upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one. Sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe, eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own. Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence.
Weekend Picks
Black & White Friday
These new and old movies are on sale for the everyday low price of absolutely FREE!
Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds – with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop the nuclear strike.
A woman in her late twenties living in contemporary New York tries to sort out her ambitions, finances, and above all, her tight but changing bond with her best friend Sophie. Frances Ha gets at both the frustrations and the joys of being young and unsure of where to go next.
Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he’s left with a major problem to solve.
Weekend Picks
Stache Cache
Just some guy stuff for Movember.
Enjoy,
As a border guard involved in drug smuggling along the Rio Grande, Charlie Smith (Nicholson) has crossed the line many times. But when he decides to clean up his act and help unite an “illegal” woman with her baby, he runs afoul of his corrupt department, his greedy wife (Valerie Perrine) and a ruthless neighbor (Harvey Keitel) in this action-packed suspense-thriller.
Star Stache: The Corrupt Crumb Catcher – Jack Nicholson
As waves of immigrants swell the population of New York, lawlessness and corruption thrive in lower Manhattan’s Five Points section. After years of incarceration, young Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon returns to seek revenge against the rival gang leader who killed his father.
Star Stache: The Butcher’s Special – Daniel Day-Lewis
Whether or not you’re a die-hard fan of the group, you’ll love this ‘Rockumentary’ of England’s legendary Spinal Tap. Take a behind-the-scenes look at a band whose time has come … and gone … and come again.
Star Stache: The Metal-Mo – Harry Shearer
When a man stumbles on a bloody crime scene, a pickup truck loaded with heroin, and two million dollars in irresistible cash, his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain reaction of violence.
Star Stache: The Sportsman – Josh Brolin
Weekend Picks
Noirvember Picks
The month of November can be as cold, tough, and shadowy as the distinctive characters and plot tangles from one of the most fascinating eras in film.
Trust no one, baby, but believe this… these picks are better than a deck with six aces.
A rich woman and a calculating insurance agent plot to kill her unsuspecting husband after he signs a double indemnity policy. Against a backdrop of distinctly Californian settings, the partners in crime plan the perfect murder to collect the insurance, which pays double if the death is accidental.
Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.
After his partner is murdered, private investigator Sam Spade searches for the killer while also involving himself in a mystery surrounding the existence of a jewel-encrusted statue known as the Maltese falcon.