Music
C’est si bon – Emilie-Claire Barlow
A very sweet French song by a wonderful young singer…
Love in Portofino – Fred Buscaglione
Fred Buscaglione is truly exceptional. With his deep voice and Italian charm he can transport you back in time, to a setting taken out of an old Hollywood film…
Old Money – Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey’s music is spoken poetry at it’s best form. This particular song feels like a modern Shakespeare story as it uses the melody of ”What Is A Youth” from the 1968 Romeo and Juliet movie adaptation.
How Do I Stop Loving You – Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck is the singer I didn’t know I needed! How do you cease the love you feel for another? Is it possible? And if so, how can you forget all the memories you shared together?
Café – Engelbert Humperdinck
This little song seems so charming! Yet when you pay attention to the lyrics you realise it speaks of no happy randezvous at a café but of two lovers saying their final goodbyes to each other.
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Engelbert Humperdinck
A delightful version of the famous Frankie Valli’s ”Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”.
A Man And A Woman – Engelbert Humperdinck
Oh how I adore Engelbert’s voice as he sings this hymn to love!
Salvatore – Lana Del Rey
Salvatore is easily the best Land Del Rey song I’ve heard. So hypnotic and melancholic at the same time…
Books
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
The women at the center of The Enchanted April are alike only in their dissatisfaction with their everyday lives. They find each other—and the castle of their dreams—through a classified ad in a London newspaper one rainy February afternoon. The ladies expect a pleasant holiday, but they don’t anticipate that the month they spend in Portofino will reintroduce them to their true natures and reacquaint them with joy. Now, if the same transformation can be worked on their husbands and lovers, the enchantment will be complete.
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang
This is the story of a hen named Sprout. No longer content to lay eggs on command, only to have them carted off to the market, she glimpses her future every morning through the barn doors, where the other animals roam free, and comes up with a plan to escape into the wild—and to hatch an egg of her own.
Sons of the Sphinx by Cheryl Carpinello
Sons of the Sphinx is based on the schism that the Pharaoh Akhenaten shot through ancient Egypt when, according to historians, he turned his back on Thebes and the gods of Egypt. He built his own city to honor his god the Aten, and he insisted that the people of Egypt do the same. Along with this, he supposedly refused to send troops to defend Egypt’s borders thus incurring the wrath of the then General Horemheb. When Tutankhamen becomes pharaoh, he reverses Akhenaten’s proclamations and returns the governing center to Thebes and the worship back to the god Amun.
However, the damage has been done, and by the time Horemheb attains pharaoh status, he has proclaimed the betrayal of the Egyptian people by Akhenaten so widely and so much, all members of the family including Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamun and Ay are dishonored. Horemheb further insults the family by defacing Ay’s tomb after his death. It is Ay’s decision before his death to ensure that Ankhesenamun is not subject to dishonor by keeping her final resting place a secret.
Armed with what she considers her grandmother’s curse, 15-year-old Rosa agrees to help the ghost of King Tut find his lost queen Hesena. Thrust back into Ancient Egypt with Tut, Rosa discovers that finding Hesena is not all she must do. She must keep out of the reach of the living Horemheb – who crosses mortal boundaries using Seth’s evil magic – if she is to stay alive to make it back home.
Sea of Strangers by Lang Leav
This completely original collection of poetry and prose will not only delight Lang Leav’s fans but is sure to capture the imagination of a whole new audience. With the turn of every page, Sea of Strangers invites you to go beyond love and loss to explore themes of self-discovery and empowerment as you navigate your way around the human heart.
The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie
When Alice Asher is murdered in Andover, Hercule Poirot is already looking into the clues. Alphabetically speaking, it’s one letter down, twenty-five to go.
There’s a serial killer on the loose. His macabre calling card is to leave the ABC Railway Guide beside each victim’s body. But if A is for Alice Asher, bludgeoned to death in Andover, and B is for Betty Bernard, strangled with her belt on the beach at Bexhill, who will then be Victim C? More importantly, why is this happening?
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.
Movies
Enola Holmes (2020)
When Enola Holmes (Sherlock’s teen sister) discovers her mother is missing, she endeavors to find her, becoming a super-sleuth in her own right as she outwits her famous brother and unravels a dangerous conspiracy.
You’ve Got Mail (1998)
Book superstore magnate Joe Fox and independent book shop owner Kathleen Kelly fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet, both blissfully unaware that he’s trying to put her out of business.
The Nun’s Story (1959)
After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.
Sunrise in Heaven (2019)
A true love story that spans a lifetime but eventually results in a painful loss of love. Jan is the daughter of an overly protective militant father, but that doesn’t stop her from falling love with Steve, a young GI in the Air Force.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
After two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, but further complications set in.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.
How to Steal A Million (1966)
The daughter of an art forger teams up with a burglar to steal one of her father’s forgeries and protect his secret.
My Fair Lady (1964)
In 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
Gilda (1946)
Just arrived in Argentina, small-time crooked gambler Johnny Farrell is saved from a gunman by sinister Ballin Mundson, who later makes Johnny his right-hand man. But their friendship based on mutual lack of scruples is strained when Mundson returns from a trip with a wife: the supremely desirable Gilda, whom Johnny once knew and learned to hate.
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
At a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air-freight company is forced to risk his pilots’ lives in order to win an important contract as a traveling American showgirl stops in town.
You’ll Never Get Rich (1941)
In order to cover up his philandering ways, a married Broadway producer sets one of his dancers up on a date with a chorus girl for whom he had bought a gift, but the two dancers fall in love for real.
TV series
Cranford (2007-2010)
In the 1840s, Cranford is ruled by the ladies. They adore good gossip and romance and change is in the air, as the unwelcome grasp of the Industrial Revolution rapidly approaches their beloved rural market-town.
The English (2022)
An Englishwoman, Lady Cornelia Locke, comes to the West in 1890 looking for revenge on the man she sees as responsible for the death of her son and meets Eli Whipp, ex-cavalry scout and member of the Pawnee Nation by birth, on his way to Nebraska to claim the land he is owed for his service in the US army, despite having been told that the white men will not honour their debt. They discover a possible shared history.
The Bletchley Circle (2012-2014)
In 1952, four women who worked at the wartime code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, reunite to track down a serial killer.
Land Girls (2009-2011)
Follow the lives, loves and highs and lows of four members of the Women’s Land Army who are working at the Hoxley Estate during World War II.
Youtubers
Rajiv Surendra
Rajiv Surrendra is known for his role as Kevin Gnapoor in the 2004 teen comedy film Mean Girls. His Youtube channel is verstile with life advice, cooking ideas as well as cleaning and housekeeping tips.
