Tips for Tuesday - Books: The Rumor Game & The Aardvark Book Club & Movies: Tribal

We may have been given complimentary copies and/or access for review purposes to any books, products, and/or any other visual or audio media mentioned below. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Books: The Rumor Game & The Aardvark Book Club

Today we are talking about The Rumor Game by Thomas Mullen. This is a surprisingly timely novel even though it takes place during World War II. It is all about hatred, antisemitism, racism, and the spread of hatred and misinformation. Anne is a reporter who writes a column for a newspaper dispelling rumors. She runs into Devon, an old acquaintance from her neighborhood who is now an FBI agent.  He is investigating a murder case that may involve stolen munitions and more. When their cases intersect, they limitedly begin to work together despite their mutual distrust. They also develop a personal relationship even though their mutual mistrust never really goes away.

This book raises some important questions. First of all, how far is it okay to bend the rules during wartime? Secondly, does family loyalty really trump all no matter the circumstances?

The book has a quite interesting but rather complicated plot with numerous characters. Accordingly, it is often hard to keep track of who is who and what exactly is going on. Most of the characters are extremely morally ambiguous even the two main characters. While Anne and Devon's tenaciousness and seeming desire to get to the truth and see justice served are admirable, their willingness to take unnecessary risks and bend the rules to suit their needs is not. However, their less admirable traits do add to the excitement of the story. 

If you are looking for a book that plays like an action movie, this one definitely fits the bill. However, if you are in it for the romance, you will probably be disappointed.  On the whole, the story is intriguing and remains interesting throughout. but even though in the end the mystery is satisfactorily resolved, some parts of the ending are not as satisfactory. 

Today we are recommending Aardvark Book Club. If you are a voracious reader looking for a great way to accumulate a lot of books at a low cost, you might want to check out Aardvark. For a monthly cost of $17.99 ($25.99 Canadian), you can choose up to three books each month from a specially curated catalog of books. The books will be delivered right to your door. They are available in a variety of genres including contemporary fiction, literary fiction, thriller, mystery, historical fiction, romance, and more. 

Our sample box contained the above-pictured books. Other recent book choices have included The Clinic by Kate Quinn, The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden, and A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams. 

Five or six new releases are offered in each genre every month. You can also find a list of previous monthly choices on the Aardvark Book Club website. In addition to your monthly choices, you can choose up to two additional books from any month for $9.99 each. With the average price of a hardcover book hovering somewhere in the $25 to $30 range, you simply can't beat these prices. Accordingly, if you looking for an inexpensive way to feed your book-buying habit, you are definitely going to want to give Aardvark Book Club a try.

For more information or to sign up, visit aardvarkbookclub.com.

Movie: Tribal

Today we are talking about Tribal. This documentary shows what life is really like for soldiers during and after their service time through a look at the experiences of three soldiers as told in their own words. Their heartwrenching accounts are quite detailed and include frank discussions and/or descriptions that may be triggering for some people of among other things soldiers being killed or gravely injured in battle and/or committing suicide. However, if you can handle it, it's an important film that reminds us of the bravery and heroicness of our military members and what poor job we do of helping them process their experiences and transition back to civilian life in a mentally healthy way.

Tribal is available now digitally for purchase or rental.

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

Book images used in this post are our own.  Film images have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and/or  PR firms and are used by permission. If there is a problem with the rights to any image, please contact us here, and we will look into the matter.