Film Review: La La Land

I finally watched La La Land a decade after it was released, and I was completely bowled over. I should have seen it in the theatres, for it's the kind of film made for the big screen—but also one of those films that are worth the wait. Never mind the missing popcorn.

La La Land was a lovely, emotionally charged film about two people—Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a struggling jazz musician—chasing their dreams in Los Angeles while falling for each other and desperately trying to stay in love.

Does their relationship survive when their dreams get in the way? That's the heart of the film, literally and figuratively. Their dramatised world of love, ambition, success—and sacrifice, if you like—would resonate with people caught in the real world of college and office romances, and other affairs of the heart.

Everything about La La Land was old school. It had that feel—the story, music and dance, colours and lighting, camera work—which made it feel magical. It reminded me of those classic Hollywood musicals from way back, with old music—jazz in this instance—playing in the background. I could picture the film in black and white or Technicolor.

La La Land had several heartwarming moments that made it special, heightened by the mature on-screen chemistry of Stone and Gosling. In that sense, the movie felt both modern and nostalgic at the same time.

So yeah, if you haven't seen the film, just watch it.

Images: Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate Films

New Fiction: Books about books, libraries and bookshops

There seems to be no shortage of novels about books, libraries, and bookshops. There is a growing audience for what might be called “books about books,” or bibliophilic fiction, as it’s also known. I have seen more films and television shows revolving around books and literary culture than I have read novels in this genre.

Below are only a few such books that caught my attention, though I haven't read any of them. There are many others in this ever-growing bookish genre—some I have read about, many I still have to discover.

The Book of Lost Hours, a debut novel by Hayley Gelfuso, follows two remarkable women moving between postwar and Cold War-era America and the mysterious time space, a library filled with books containing the memories of those who bore witness to history. One fateful evening, eleven-year-old Lisavet Levy finds herself trapped in the time space—a vast, enchanted library where memories of the dead are bound into books. As she grows up among the stacks, she discovers that government agents are infiltrating and destroying books to maintain their preferred version of history. Determined to salvage what she can, Lisavet creates her own book of memories...until an American agent, Ernest Duquesne, arrives to stop her, setting off a battle over memory and truth that could change history itself.

In 1965, sixteen-year-old Amelia Duquesne is mourning the disappearance of her uncle Ernest when an enigmatic CIA agent seeks her help in tracking down a book of memories her uncle had once sought. But as Amelia visits the time space for the first time, she realizes that the past—and the truth—might not be as linear as she’d like to believe.

Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
August 26, 2025
400 pages
———

The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop is written by Takuya Asakura and translated by Yuka Maeno The Cherry Blossom Bookshop is a haven for book lovers that only appears during the fleeting cherry blossom season. Nestled amidst the bloom of delicate petals, you’ll find a sanctuary for those burdened by regrets and past sorrows. Here, Sakura, the mysterious young owner, and her wise calico cat, Kobako, patiently await the arrival of souls in need of solace and healing. Told over four seasons, each visitor to the bookshop holds a book that bridges their past and present, guiding them towards understanding and acceptance. Within the antique charm of the shop and the soothing aroma of freshly brewed coffee, Sakura and Kobako help their guests confront their lingering sadness through the power of stories, enabling them to move forward with renewed hope.

HarperCollins
August 28, 2025
194 pages

———

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans is a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime.

Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter. Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Crown Publishing Group, an imprint of Penguin Random House
April 29, 2025
304 pages

———

A prequel to Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree's Bookshops & Bonedust takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and secondhand books.

Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned. Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it.

What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine.

Still, adventure isn't all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.

Tor Books, an imprint of Tor Publishing Group
October 29, 2024
352 pages
———

The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Apothecary in this charming, mystery-filled novel by Evie Woods.

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder…where nothing is as it seems.

One More Chapter, an imprint of HarperCollins
June 22, 2023
444 pages
———

A bookseller must escape the infamously haunted library that holds her darkest secrets, but with a murderer in her tour group, escaping alive is not as simple as it seems, in this twisty locked-room thriller by Ande Pliego.

Aria Stokes is finally feeling settled—she lives in a tiny New York apartment, works as a bookseller at a local shop, and has even taken a leap of faith in love by indulging her attraction to bookstore regular Jasper. And he seems to already know her so well.

As a Valentine’s Day surprise, Jasper gets the two of them tickets to an exclusive, after-dark tour of the Daedalus Library—the grandiose establishment famed for its immersive genre-based reading rooms and, more notoriously, its rumored hauntings. While Aria normally loves all things ghastly, this place holds more dark secrets than she’d prefer Jasper to know. Like that the last time she was here, she left a body behind.

But when the automatic-door entry malfunctions and Aria, Jasper, and the five other people in their tour group become trapped in the library, they are forced to venture through the storied rooms and hidden passageways of the Daedalus in search of escape...and Aria quite literally has nowhere to hide from the shadows of her past. Then the group learns there’s a murderer in their midst.

Bantam/Penguin Random House
May 05, 2026
368 pages
———

The Charmed Library is a love letter to libraries, favourite childhood stories, and readers who have fallen for fictional heroes.

Like many other public libraries, the one in Blue Sky Valley, North Carolina, is a haven for readers. But it’s also unlike any other. In this library, fictional characters step off the page into real life. Assistant librarian Stella Parker has no idea. Still reeling from her father’s death and–more recently–a breakup, she hasn’t noticed. All she knows is she’s stuck in a job she’s overqualified for and stumped about what to do with her life.

Everything changes when she burns her beloved journal.

Stella stumbles upon strange characters in the library after hours. One is an oddly familiar World War II soldier who introduces himself as Jack–Jack Mathis, the main character from her favorite book. A fictional hero and Stella’s first crush. Standing in front of her in the flesh.

Jack tells Stella about the magic hidden in the library. Skeptical, Stella rashly invites a villain to visit, and chaos ensues. As she discovers the importance of protecting the library’s secret and gets to know the real Jack, words continue to appear. What are they trying to tell her?

Much too quickly, Stella is faced with the reality that all stories must end, and magic comes at a price. The characters who visit the library can only stay for fourteen days. And Jack’s time is almost up.

Harper Muse, an imprint of HarperCollins
January 26, 2026
352 pages
———

The Booklover's Library by Madeline Martin is a heartwarming story about a mother and daughter in wartime England and the power of the books that bring them together.

In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job to provide for herself and her beloved daughter, Olivia. But with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her.

When the threat of war becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In her daughter’s absence, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, as well as the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing, and her work forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.

Hanover Square Press, an imprint of Harlequin Trade Publishing (a division of HarperCollins)
September 10, 2024
432 pages

Have you read any of these books about books? What other bibliophilic fiction would you recommend?

Book Review: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

I can never guess the culprit in Agatha Christie novels until Hercule Poirot lays it all out at the end. In the same way, I didn’t see the signs or the twists coming in Alex Michaelides’ debut novel The Silent Patient (2019), even if at times they might have seemed obvious. Just not to me. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention; so absorbed was I in this cleverly crafted psychological thriller.

The Silent Patient, to use a cliché, pulls you in from the start with an unsettling theme: thirty-three-year-old Alicia Berenson, a once-famous painter, shoots her husband and stops talking completely. Theo Faber, a psychotherapist, reads about her case in the papers and is determined to make her talk and find out why she did it—and, in fact, you can’t wait until he does. After all, Alicia, by her own admission, loved Gabriel and couldn’t imagine life without him.

Alicia is sent to a psychiatric hospital called The Grove, where Theo manages to find a job and convinces its director, Professor Diomedes, to assign her case to him. Theo begins his therapy sessions with Alicia but gets nowhere with her. For anyone else, it would be like banging their head against a wall, but not Theo, who comes across as kind and empathetic. He believes it’s only a matter of time before he can get Alicia to speak again.

The Theo-Alicia relationship and all that transpires between them are told through Theo’s first-person narrative—his point of view—and entries from Alicia’s secret diary and her art; the latter, just as silent and mysterious as she is. Together, they help the reader understand the whole story and how, in many ways, their lives are similar and linked in unexpected ways.

The Silent Patient deals with themes like trauma, guilt and repression, and the somewhat complicated relationship between a therapist with a single-minded obsession and a patient who doesn’t seem to care whether she ever speaks again. What’s clear from the start is that Alicia may be the patient, but her therapist is no less troubled. Here, the author, who, according to online sources, studied psychotherapy and screenwriting, does a brilliant job of not giving away much even as he keeps the suspense alive.

What made the novel stand out for me is its focus on how trauma at a young age can shape our behaviour as we become adults, often compelling us to hide the truth from others and even from ourselves, and how we might sometimes turn to silence instead of words—for better or worse.

I liked Alex Michaelides’ writing. It’s straightforward and easy to follow. The author sets up everything nicely—especially Theo and Alicia’s stories and their perspectives—until you reach the last few pages and are left wondering, ‘What just happened?’ I will be reading his other two books, The Maidens (2021) and The Fury (2021).

Have you read The Silent Patient? What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.

I got bookends for Christmas, but no books

I didn't get any books for Christmas. Instead, my family gifted me a lovely pair of horse-shaped bookends among other things, perhaps in the hope that I might be tempted to read the books on display if I saw them every day. Never mind all the other unread books carefully tucked away in cabinets.

You read the ones you have first, and then we'll see about more books.

The trick, if it was one, seemed to have worked. Perhaps it was a sense of guilt that made me put The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides and Shiver by Allie Reynolds on display. Both were gifts from my daughter two years ago.

I had started reading The Silent Patient and even wrote about the book on this blog in 2024, and then completely forgot about it.

The bookends were a reminder to pick up the book where I'd left off. Except I had to start from the beginning, having forgotten what I'd read up to the bookmarked page. You can't just open page 52, so to speak, and continue reading as if you'd been there only yesterday.

People often ask on social media what book they would read first in the new year. With me it's usually a half-read book from December 31. So no surprises or hidden gems there—unless I’m tempted to let other books jump the queue.

But I'm optimistic, as I am every New Year, that I'll not only finish the leftovers but also read more books this year. 

Maybe then I'll get books for Christmas.

The wild ginger is in flower. So is agrimony, lady's lace, wild geranium. The ferns are turning yellow. The fruit of the snake lily has turned red, signifying an end to the rains. A thrush whistles cheerfully on the branch of a dead tree.

Yes, and when all the wars are done, a butterfly will still be beautiful.

— Ruskin Bond, author and poet, in his introduction to Delhi Is Not Far: The Best of Ruskin Bond, September 7, 1994 

Book Review: The Confession by John Grisham

I finished John Grisham’s The Confession in four straight days, and the first thing I did afterward was put up an Instagram story (the one that disappears after twenty-four hours) with the cover and the line: Reading this felt like an emotional gut punch. I found the story morally and ethically charged on the one hand, and riveting and unsettling on the other. Perhaps because it was uncomfortably close to reality.

The Confession is the heartbreaking story of Donté Drumm, a young local Black football player from the small East Texas town of Sloan, who is wrongfully convicted of the abduction, rape and murder of Nicole Yarber, a popular high school White cheerleader—and sent to death row.

Following a malicious witness testimony, Drew Kerber, a crooked detective with the Sloan Police Department, picks up Donté and, after a gruelling and intimidating interrogation filled with lies, extracts a false confession from him.

There is no evidence against Donté and the case is riddled with holes. Despite the fact that he later recants his forced confession and that the girl’s body is never found, Donté is tried before an all-White jury and convicted of a crime he did not commit.

But that’s not where Grisham’s novel begins. It actually starts nine years after Donté’s incarceration, when Travis Boyette—a serial rapist and registered sex offender out on parole in another case—is struck by a rare moment of conscience and confesses to the crime before Keith Schroeder, a Lutheran minister living hundreds of miles away in Topeka, Kansas. Travis wants to clear Donté’s name—‘He didn’t do anything wrong’—because he is dying of an inoperable brain tumour and wants to do one good thing before he takes his last breath.

With less than twenty-four hours to go before the execution, Keith, much against the advice of his wife and a lawyer friend, drives Travis all the way to Sloan in the dead of night to meet Donté’s lawyer, Robbie Flak, in a last-ditch effort to save his life.

Can a guilty man, especially a depraved, loathsome one at that, convince the police, judges, district attorneys, the media, politicians and a state governor—many of them indirectly complicit—that they’re about to execute an innocent man?

The Confession goes well beyond crime and punishment. It explores the profound impact of a wrongful conviction on families, society, and the criminal justice system in Texas, across America, and beyond. The story feels hauntingly close to real-life cases where those serving life sentences, awaiting execution, or perhaps already executed were later found innocent.

As always, Grisham’s writing is gripping, and the story unfolds at a brisk pace, overlooking no detail—whether of characters, events or the judicial process. I thought some of the lengthy descriptions and backstories could have been left out, but that’s the author’s prerogative, not to mention his trademark style. But, in doing so, Grisham explores sensitive issues such as the fairness—or the lack thereof—of the justice system, bigotry and racial bias, social prejudices and, above all, the death penalty.

The two main characters—Donté’s lawyer Robbie Flak (and his legal team) and minister Keith Schroeder—handle the crisis with a sense of urgency and compassion. Travis Boyette’s attempt at redemption isn’t quite convincing. I expected his character to be more chilling than it is, especially when he repeatedly tells Keith his wife is cute and that they must be having fun together.

In the end, The Confession is more than a legal thriller; it makes a strong case for empathy in law enforcement, due legal processes and criminal justice reforms. To err may be human, but to be fallible in matters of the death penalty is unthinkable. And it made me think, as we all do from time to time: Why do bad things happen to good people?

Have you read The Confession? What other legal thrillers by John Grisham have you read and recommend?

5 heartwarming movies that will lift your spirits

There are days when nothing feels right—when things seem heavy, when we need a nudge to remind us that hope and joy still exist. In those moments, we either want to be alone, waiting for the feeling to pass, occasionally going for long, brisk walks to shake off the gloom, or we talk to close family and friends. And sometimes, we turn to books, movies and music. Books aside, movies can be like friends who step in with vivid characters and stories that make us laugh, cry, and feel alive again.

Here are five uplifting films that are more than just entertaining—they carry valuable lessons about life, hope, love and joy, and have a way of gently putting us in the right frame of mind.

It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946

It’s a Wonderful Life is the moving story of George Bailey, a family man weighed down by hardship, who is shown by an angel how deeply his life has touched others and what the world would be like if he had never existed. Steven Spielberg is believed to have said of the film: “It’s a Wonderful Life shows that every human being on this Earth matters—and that’s a very powerful message.” Rightly called “a holiday classic that never grows old,” the film is perfect for the whole family on Christmas or any other day.

Amélie, 2001

This charming French film is about a shy waitress in Paris who quietly helps others get on with their lives. She overcomes her own loneliness by being good to others and bringing joy to those around her, and finds love along the way. It’s a delightful film that reminds us of beauty even in everyday life, and how small acts of kindness can influence others in unexpected and positive ways.

Little Miss Sunshine, 2006

A dysfunctional family takes a road trip from New Mexico to California in their beat-up VW so seven-year-old Olive can fulfil her dream of reaching the finals of the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Along the way, her parents, grandfather, brother and uncle navigate a chaotic and often hilarious journey. The film tells us that good things happen when families rally around each other, no matter what else is going on in their lives.

The Pursuit of Happyness, 2006

Based on a true story, The Pursuit of Happyness is one of those films you’ll want to watch more than once, because you can relate to Chris Gardner’s life on many levels—financial hardship, lack of steady income, hard work, single parenting, and even homelessness. Yet through it all, Chris, a struggling salesman, shows tremendous grit as he builds a better life—indeed, a life of dignity—for himself and his son. The film makes you both sad and joyful at the same time, but ultimately leaves you hopeful for better days ahead.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 2013

In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, based on a short story by James Thurber, an office worker escapes his ordinary life by daydreaming—a daring commander one day, a brilliant surgeon the next and a fearless explorer the day after. Until one day, he stop dreaming and sets off on a real-life adventure to find a missing photograph for Life magazine. Sometimes, all it takes is stepping out of our comfort zones on an unexpected journey to discover who we truly are.

Which of these films have you seen and liked? Which other feel-good films would you add to the list? Share your favourites in the comments—we’d love to hear about them.

© pocketfulofhappiness.com

Poetry: If by Rudyard Kipling

 

Whenever you're going through a reading slump, turn to poetry. But slump or not, here we read poetry as often as we can or remember to. This time, it was Rudyard Kipling's timeless and uplifting poem If (1910), where he tells his son—and us—how to live a good life. He reminds us to stay calm when things go well and when they go badly; to be patient, honest and humble; and to never give up even when we fail. The poem teaches us to keep trying, learn from mistakes, and always do the right thing. If we live this way, we can grow wise and strong.

If you can keep your head when all about you   
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;   
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;   
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,   
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

The poem sounds even better when Sir Michael Caine recites it in this video,  courtesy of sigunat on YouTube.

© Pocketful of Happiness