Five on Friday - November 17, 2023

Friday came fast this week!  We returned from vacation on Wednesday and were back to work on Thursday.  Just in time for my Five on Friday!  Here we go ~

1.  The Crown

It's back for the final season!  Netflix dropped four episodes yesterday and the next six will be released on Thursday, December 14.  This season will cover the events from 1997 to 2005.  I'll probably have these four episodes watched before the end of the weekend and will be anxiously awaiting the next six episodes coming in December.  This has been a great series and one that Eric and I watch together.  We will be sad to see it come to an end.

2.  Julia

The second season of the HBO Max series Julia was also dropped yesterday.  We loved the first season and can't wait to dive into season two.  Julia and Paul's escapades are so fun to watch.  There will be no binge-watching because they are releasing an episode each week for the next eight weeks.  I hear some of it is about their time in Paris, so now I'm even more intrigued to watch!

3.  The Little Liar:  A Novel

Mitch Albom's newest book, The Little Liar, was released this week and it went straight on my to-be-read list!  Here's the summary ~

Eleven-year-old Nico Krispis never told a lie. When the Nazi’s invade his home in Salonika, Greece, the trustworthy boy is discovered by a German officer, who offers him a chance to save his family. All Nico has to do is convince his fellow Jewish residents to board trains heading to “new homes” where they are promised jobs and safety. Unaware that this is all a cruel ruse, the innocent boy goes to the station platform every day and reassures the passengers that the journey is safe. But when the final train is at the station, Nico sees his family being loaded into a large boxcar crowded with other neighbors. Only after it is too late does Nico discover that he helped send the people he loved—and all the others—to their doom at Auschwitz.

Nico never tells the truth again.

In The Little Liar, his first novel set during the Holocaust, Mitch Albom interweaves the stories of Nico, his brother Sebastian, and their schoolmate Fanni, who miraculously survive the death camps and spend years searching for Nico, who has become a pathological liar, and the Nazi officer who radically changed their lives. As the decades pass, Albom reveals the consequences of what they said, did, and endured.

A moving parable that explores honesty, survival, revenge and devotion, The Little Liar is Mitch Albom at his very best. Narrated by the voice of Truth itself, it is a timeless story about the harm we inflict with our deceits, and the power of love to ultimately redeem us.

4.  Hunger Games:  The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Where are my Hunger Games fans?  Are you excited about the newest movie opening this weekend??  It's been a minute since I read the book, so I'm sure there will be lots of parts I'll re-remember when seeing it play out on the big screen.  Here's the summary ~

Experience the story of THE HUNGER GAMES — 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, and decades before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem. THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.

5.  Old age...

Have a fabulous weekend!  We are celebrating my birthday one more time, then the festivities will be put to rest and I'll have to get used to being 60!  Pop in next week when I'll be talking about the weekend and some of our cruise details.  Hope to see you then!