Tips for Tuesday - Books: That Summer & Games: 100 Songs Every Theatre Nerd Should Know

We may have been given a complimentary copies for review purposes of any books and/or other products mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Books: That Summer

Today we are recommending That Summer by Jennifer Weiner. A young girl's life is irrevocably changed on a beach one summer night. Years later, a woman named Diana, who goes by the name of Daisy, starts accidentally getting e-mails meant for another woman named Diana with a very similar e-mail address. The two women meet and strike up a friendship but there is more to the other Diana than meets the eye, and it all has to do with what happened that summer. This book is different than Jennifer Weiner's other books which often deal with the subject of weight and feature plus-size heroines. In this book, the subject of weight isn't mentioned at all. However, this is still a very timely book that deals with another very important issue the Me Too Movement. At the center of the book are two very well drawn likable heroines. The story is interesting and unpredictable and moves along at a good pace. Although the main conclusion of the story is satisfactory, the coda at the end is not. Although you can imply what the author meant to show by including it, it makes the end of the book feel kind of abrupt and leaves you to draw your own conclusions. It might be better and make the ending stronger and more satisfactory for the reader if her intentions for including the code were more implicitly stated.

Games: 100 Songs Every Theatre Nerd Should Know

Today we are recommending 100 Songs Every Theatre Nerd Should Know. This is a really fun card game for theater fans. There are 6 different ways to play including charades, three-word song descriptions, and hum a song. The game comes in two different versions. The songs in the classic version are from older shows that have been revived numerous times on Broadway or Off-Broadway and/or are often performed in regional and community theaters and in high schools all over the world. These include songs from My Fair Lady, Les Miserables, and Mary Poppins. The modern version includes songs from more recent shows, such as, Dear Evan Hansen, Beetlejuice, and The Book of Mormon. The game can be played for as long or as short a time as you want and with as many or as few people as you want.  If you love theater, you will definitely enjoy this game.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Where-To-Go Wednesday.