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Dear Girls by Ali Wong

Following the success of her hit Netflix comedy specials, “Baby Cobra” and “Hard Knock Wife”, Netflix show, “Tuca and Bertie”, and Netflix movie, “Always Be My Maybe”, stand-up comedian, actress, writer, and mother, Ali Wong presents her first book, “Dear Girls”.

“Dear Girls” is a book of personal stories, advice, and TMI insights presented as a collection of several letters to her two daughters to be read expressly after turning the age of twenty-one. Throughout the book, in her signature raunchy, yet charmingly relatable way, Ali recounts moments in her life for the girls such as how she and the girls’ father fell in love, her pregnancy experience, and how she reconnected with her roots. She shares the wisdom that life experience gave her on being single in NYC, parenting war stories, and even shares an in-depth breakdown of how to select a great Asian restaurant, lest her daughters embarrass her in the future by wasting meals over bad food.

I enjoyed this read! Ali Wong is as raw and unfiltered in her writing as she is real in her stand-up sets. It was absurdly hilarious, heartwarming, and overall a pleasure to read. I loved that the book was structured as letters to Ali’s two daughters and found myself reading as if I was along for the ride as daughter number three. Ali’s personality shined through her writing, and I really appreciated the way she covered topics that are normally taboo in Asian cultures. I found myself relating to a lot of her experiences as a fellow member of an ethnic minority in America. I also loved the stories about her husband, so much so that I “googled” his photo afterwards to see what he looks like (spoiler alert: Ali did indeed marry a very handsome man). The afterword, which was written by her husband, was also very undeniably sweet.

I would recommend this read for fans of Ali Wong, mothers, daughters, those who want to laugh, and aspiring stand-up comedians; however, those with sensitive ears or looking for clean comedy might want to look elsewhere. 

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Fragments by Dan Wells

Fragments is the second book of the Partials trilogy by Dan Wells. The plot alternates between Kira and Marcus’s points of view. Kira has left East Meadow with Partials Samm and Heron in search of the old ParaGen headquarters, where she hopes to find answers to mysteries such as the origin of RM. This journey requires crossing a toxic wasteland. In East Meadow, Marcus seeks to make peace with the Partials.

With this second installment, Dan Wells expands on the post apocalyptic world he introduced in book 1. He continues to keep readers on their toes, with several plot twists throughout. This installment has less of a focus on science then its predecessor, with more focus on action and trying to work with the Partials. I liked switching between Kira and Marcus’s points of view; it allowed the reader to get to see a different, more serious side of Marcus. Oftentimes, the second book in a trilogy can fall a bit short as it sets up for the big finale. With Fragments, this is far from the case-it’s tense and action packed, and also the longest book of the trilogy. I recommend this series to any who enjoy dystopian and sci fi books. 

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Liar, Liar by LIsa Jackson

Remmi Storm is a thirty something year old woman who has overcome a troubled childhood to attend college and work as an assistant to an elderly real estate owner in San Francisco. Her employer, Greta has become Remmi's family and allows Remmi to live in the third floor of her huge house rent free. Remmi's mother, Las Vegas showgirl Didi Storm, abandoned Remmi when she was only 15 years old. Not knowing if her mother was dead or alive, she went to live with her Aunt and Uncle whom she had never met. When Remmi turned 18, she fled from her relative's house and never looked back. During the last 20 years, Remmi has often wondered what became of her mother and her siblings who were infants at the time.

Right around the same time a tell-all book came out about former celebrity Didi Storm and her mysterious disappearance, a woman who looks like Didi jumps to her death from a tall building in San Francisco. Remmi just happens to be in the crowd of witnesses on the sidewalk. Is the jumper Remmi's long lost Mother? Has she been alive all of this time only to die before Remmi can connect with her? Remmi goes on a perilous search to find the truth to the mystery of Didi Storm and the missing twins.  

Lisa Jackson's story takes a few twists and turns as it is told in both the present day and twenty years ago. The characters are interesting and well described, but she keeps the reader guessing as to how they are all connected. I would recommend it to readers of suspense, but be warned that it is violent at times. 

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The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Writer Anthony Peardew had his happiness cut short the day his fiancé, Therese unexpectedly passed away. That same day Anthony also lost a keepsake that Therese had given him with the promise that he would always keep it with him.

Overcome with the feeling of losing his love twice, Anthony spends the rest of his life collecting items that other people have lost in hopes that he might one day reunite them with their owners. He writes stories about each item, imagining the person that owned it and how it came to be lost. 

Anthony passes away without having found the owner of any of the items he’d collected over the years, and leaves his entire estate to his housekeeper, Laura. Laura is also a “lost thing”. Divorced, and feeling that she let her parents down, she answered an ad to become a housekeeper for Anthony several years ago. Through her time working at Padua, Anthony’s estate, she has grown to love and respect the place and thinks of Anthony as a friend and father figure.

Laura is tasked be Anthony in his will that she be the one to reunite the lost things with their owners, and to befriend Sunshine, the girl that lives across the green, because Anthony feels that she also may be “lost”. 

Sunshine takes it upon herself to be Laura’s new friend since Anthony’s passing, and shows up at Padua the day Laura moves in.

As Laura, Sunshine, and Freddy the gardener, begin to catalog the lost things for a website, Laura starts to notice odd things happening around the house. She’s got a temperamental ghost on her hands, that’s trying to tell her something but Laura is having a time trying to figure it out.

This book is sweet, silly, and a bit sad. I loved it. If you like magical realism I’d recommend this one.  

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My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix 

What would you do if your best friend was possessed? Would you be willing to do anything to get her back? Those are the hard questions that 16-year-old Abby faces when her long-time best friend, Gretchen, is taken over by a demon. 

Abby and Gretchen become fast friends, when they stand up to their grade school bully.  After that they are inseparable. They continue to grow up together, even after Abby’s parents fall on hard times.  Abby and her family are forced to move to the “wrong side of town.”  Abby is lucky enough to get a scholarship that keeps her at the same private school as Gretchen.  During their sophomore year in 1988 they team up with two more girls, Margaret and Glee, and become a pack of willful teenagers.   

One night the foursome decide they are ready to try something new.  They take LSD at Margaret’s house. It seems that nothing is happening and it’s just another boring night when Gretchen goes streaking into the woods.  The friends can’t find her for hours.  It gets dark and ominous outside.  Finally, when day breaks Abby finds Gretchen in a creepy run down shed deep in the woods.  She is disheveled and weak.  They friends get her back to the house and eventually Abby gets her home. It doesn’t take long before Abby notices something is terribly wrong with Gretchen. She is behaving oddly and not bathing or changing her clothes.  Her other friends think she is just going crazy, but Abby knows there is something else to Gretchen’s transformation.  As quickly as she changed Gretchen comes back to school seemingly perfectly normal.   Only Abby still knows something is terribly wrong. Who can help her save her best friend?  

As a fan of horror and the paranormal I found this book very entertaining.  It had just the right amount of scare factor mixed with 80’s teenage drama.  At the heart of the story is a journey of true friendship.  The descriptions of some events might be too intense for younger YA readers.  

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Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse

Published by Titan Books

This book introduces us to a 23 year old Mycroft Holmes, secretary to England's Secretary of State for War. He is  engaged to be married to Georgiana Sutton, a Londoner whose family comes from Port of Spain, Trinidad.  Mycroft is enjoying the annual race between Cambridge University and Oxford University rowing teams along the bank of the Thames. Mycroft's good friend Cyrus Douglas, also from Port of Spain, receives word that people have been disappearing from his village and several children have been found dead. As a member of the British Government, Holmes is tasked with solving this mystery and investigating funds that have mysteriously disappeared from this British colony.

This book, the first in a new series,  was written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (with Anna Waterhouse). The basketball legend, coach, actor, activist and writer  brings the famous and fictional character Mycroft Holmes to the page. Tackling this character is no easy task. Even though Mycroft Holmes only appears in four Conan Doyle stories, modern adaptations  have been portrayed by Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Mark Gatiss, just to name a few. The character is in video games, comic books, television series and big screen movies. Mycroft Holmes has traditionally been portrayed as an intelligent problem solver, even exceeding Sherlock's ability of observation.  He is an unmarried member of the Diogenes Club, preferring an armchair rather than action in the field. But the Mycroft Holmes we have come to know is a much older version of Abdul-Jabbar's. It will be interesting to see how the series will connect the dots. The book was action packed, however I found the language to be too modern by Conan Doyle standards. Parts of the book serve as a history lesson, an added bonus.

As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, this book has been on my ' to read'  list for some time. I have been gradually returning to my normal thriller/killer reads and I thought this was the perfect time to read something a little less cozy than my prior reviews.  It was an enjoyable story. However if you follow the distinctive style of Conan Doyle and the traditional portrayal of this character, you may be disappointed. That being said, I will continue reading this series and see how Abdul-Jabbar develops this character into the one we all know. 

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Partials by Dan Wells

Partials is a YA dystopian/medical thriller book. In the Isolation War, the US company ParaGen engineered super soldiers known as “Partials.” While these soldiers allowed them to win the war, they turned on their creators in an event known as “the Break,” releasing a virus known as RM. RM wiped out 99.9% of the human population. Eleven years later, 16-year-old Kira Walker is a medical intern in East Meadow, a group of around 40,000 survivors in New York, immune to RM. Every baby that is born quickly dies of RM, and a cure is constantly being researched. Kira decides studying a Partial’s biology could lead to a cure for RM, as Partials are said to have created the virus and are immune to it. She embarks on a dangerous mission into Partial territory with her friends to capture a Partial for study. A narrow success, the Partial, Samm, has some mind-blowing revelations regarding the source of RM and the intentions of the Partials. This leads Kira to question the plans of the Senate in charge of East Meadow. She and her friends break Samm out of East Meadow and enter the ruins of civilization to find out the truth behind ParaGen, the Partials, and RM.

Dan Wells creates a bleak picture of humanity’s future. While this book follows the standard YA dystopian pattern (the people in charge are actually evil, the citizens overthrow them, teenaged protagonist saves the day, etc.) there is a focus on science (mainly virology) in the book.  The reader follows Kira’s research projects on RM, and Wells explains it all in a way that anyone can follow. The characters are diverse, 3-D, and likable, and the fast pace will keep readers engaged. I recommend this book to those who enjoy dystopian, science, and lots of action.

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The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine 

Have you ever viewed a Lifetime channel movie? Sure, they are full of the predictable tropes of their genres and the dialogue and plot are often simple, at times unbelievable, but escaping into a different life for a couple minutes, salacious melodrama, and stories of comeuppance are really what you’re there for. Imagine one of those movies as a book and you’ll have something like “The Last Mrs. Parrish” by Liv Constantine. 

“The Last Mrs. Parrish” is a story of betrayal and manipulation divided into three parts. Desperate to be rich and powerful, Amber Patterson insinuates herself into the home and life of socialite and philanthropist Daphne Parrish, with the intent of seducing her husband. Amber covets wealth and power, and plays those around her to get it. Little does she know, Mr. and Mrs. Parrish are something else too. 

There are two kinds of people: those who really enjoy the Lifetime channel and those who do not. After having read “The Last Mrs. Parrish” by Liv Constantine, I concluded that this book probably garners a similar division in reception. While this book wasn’t my cup of tea, I could see how it could be right up the alley of someone looking for a quick and easy page turner with all of the hallmarks of a true beach read.  

Fun Fact: This book was written by Liv Constantine, which is actually a shared pen name for two sisters, Valerie and Lynne Constantine who collaborated on the book back and forth via facetime and email. 

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Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

In her thirties, Liz Gilbert seemed to have achieve the "American Dream". She had a country home, an apartment in Manhattan, a husband, and a successful career, but something was missing. She wasn't feeling happy and realized she needed to change that. After divorcing her husband and from bouncing from relationship to relationship since she was 15 she decided to be on her own and embark on a year of discovery. She decides to visit Italy to find pleasure, India to find spirituality, and finally Indonesia to find balance between the two. She has her ups and downs as she travels the world on her own trying to build herself back up and find her true happiness.

I know this book (and film) has sort of become old news and a bit of a cliche, but it was always a book I wanted to read. A few friends and I decided to start a book club to add some normalcy in a time when there is almost zero. This book was our first choice and I have to say all of us were pleasantly surprised. For some it was not the typical book they would choose and for me I kind of just went into it with low expectations. I was hooked from the start. Gilbert makes it feel like she is talking to a friend and you feel so involved in her life. I wanted to be there in all the countries with her especially when she was eating pizza in Naples!

Everyone can relate to the way the Gilbert felt. She was lost. She needed to find away back to herself. She discussed loneliness and depression and made you feel better that everyone feels that way and everyone can deal with it in different ways. This book honestly made me feel a little bit better about my own spirituality. I felt like however I choose to practice my spirituality is okay. You don't have to go to a church or temple to practice and that's okay. She also made you feel like it is okay to indulge every once in a while and enjoy things. I also felt like I was able to take little trip in a time when I can barely leave my own home. I have also been practicing yoga a lot and I feel that I was able to bring something new to the mat.

Overall I would suggest this book to just about anyone. There is so many different aspects that I feel it can appeal to most people.If you decide you would like to read this I would suggest going in with an open mind. Our book club all enjoyed this book and all took different things from it and I hope that you can too. 

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Barmy in Wonderland by P. G. Wodehouse

Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps (pronounced "Fungy Fips") has been living in New York for the past few years. Before he left London he visited a fortune teller that told him he would travel, come into money, have trouble with a dark man, and meet a fair girl that would be the love of his life. 

While living in New York he learns that his maternal grandfather has passed away leaving him a sum of money. Barmy's actor friend, Mervin Potter, assumes Barmy has inherited millions and tells Mr. J.G. Anderson, Barmy's boss at the Washinton Hotel, about it. Mr. Anderson sees this as his ticket to retire and offers to sell the hotel to Barmy for a hundred thousand dollars When Barmy tells him he's only got twenty-two thousand and eighteen cents, Anderson takes offense and fires Barmy. Mervin Potter, still thinking that Barmy is loaded, tries talking him into investing in the new play that he's going to be starring in. After being fired, Barmy is out for a walk to clear his head and sees Eileen "Dinty" Moore gazing a hat in a shop window. He's so lovestruck by this "fair girl" that he tosses his cigar away and accidentally sets her hat on fire. Embarrassed, he buys her the one from the window and she leaves before they can exchange names.

Barmy then meets up with the play's producers Mr. Lehman and Mr. McClure and agrees to sign on as a partner for ten thousand dollars. He was reluctant to do so but Dinty happens to be Mr. Lehman's secretary and Barmy think's he'll be able to see her more often if he signs on to the play. 

The play opens in Syracuse and is a disaster. After the show everyone meets up in Barmy’s hotel room to discuss what needs fixing. Barmy has ideas but Lehman won’t let him speak. Barmy tries several times to make him point and Lehman all but tries to throw him out of his own hotel room. Dinty stands up for Barmy and Lehman fires her for it. Barmy says she’s going to work for him instead and offers to buy the show and all the rights to Lehmac Productions from Lehman and McClure for ten thousand dollars (which is the remainder of his inheritance). They agree, and Barmy having bought the play throws everyone out of his room. Dinty and Barmy remain. 

Dinty tells Barmy she loves him and that it was sweet of him to do that, but that the show is likely to lose money without another ten thousand to put into it. Thinking they’re sunk Barmy and Dinty are brooding in the room when assistant hotel manager, Oscar Fritchie, enters and is disappointed to be late to the party. Mr. Fritchie tells the two that he’s always loved the theatre and theatre folks and that it’s always been a dream of his to work in the industry one day. Dinty and Barmy, with the help of Mervin Potter, convince Oscar Fritchie to become a partner in the play.

Through their work the show turns out to be a huge success! Everything is going great until just before the show is set to open on Broadway and an attorney in a dark suit shows up. The play was adapted from a novelette whose rights had been purchased by Lehman and McClure unbeknownst to Barmy, and now the author of the novelette is accusing Barmy and Fritchie of plagiarism unless they give him 66.75% of the profits. Dinty and Barmy ask the man for half an hour to talk it over. While the lawyer is out, Lehman and McClure return, intending to take over the now-successful play again. Barmy sells it to them for a hundred thousand dollars. Barmy cheerfully sets off with Dinty to marry her and buy Anderson's hotel, where Fritchie will be the manager.

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The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward

    The year is 1983.  Charlotte Perkins is 39.  Charlotte is on vacation with her husband Winston, their children, Lee who is six, Cord four, and baby Regan.  This will be her last vacation with her family until thirty two years later.

    Charlotte is seventy one, a widow, and has just buried her best friend Minnie. She is very lonely.  Charlotte enters the “Become a Jetsetter” contest.  The grand prize is a Mediterranean Cruise.  Charlotte dreams of winning and reuniting her estranged children.

    Charlotte wins the contest and the children agree to go on the cruise.  Lee is now an almost famous actress.  Cord is a Manhattan venture capitalists. Regan is an unhappy married mother of two.

    The story is told in alternating chapters by each character reliving the past thirty two years.  They want to find forgiveness, happiness, and love for each other.

    I chose this book because I wanted to read something light.  The book is dysfunctional family fiction at it’s best!

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I've Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark

  Laurie Moran is a television producer working on a new reality TV series that looks back at unsolved crimes and the people who have lived under the shadow of suspicion for years or decades. The series "Under Suspicion" will feature a twenty-year-old crime for the first episode. Laurie has contacted all of the people who were in the home the night of the murder of Betsy Powell after a Graduation Gala held at the mansion of billionaire Robert Powell. The four graduates who were being celebrated that evening have all agreed to be a part of the show and try to clear their names after being offered large sums of money from the show and from the wealthy Robert Powell. Who among the graduates had a motive for murder?

  Laurie's own husband was murdered five years ago and that crime also remains unsolved. Her son Timmy, who was just 3 years old at the time witnessed the crime and also heard the killer's threat, " Timmy, tell your mother that she's next, then it's your turn." Laurie has lived in fear since that day, and has had her father, ex-cop Leo, provide protection for her and Timmy. Can he protect her from a possible killer at the mansion while trying to protect Timmy at summer camp?

Mary Higgins Clark has been called the "Queen of Suspense" and she doesn't disappoint in the first book of the "Under Suspicion" series. There are more than a few characters to keep track of in this story, but Clark develops their back stories nicely and gives details in pieces over the nearly 500 page book. I would recommend this book to lovers of mysteries in which you know the killer is among the people gathered in the house and the reader anticipates the reveal. Mary Higgins Clark is the author of over 35 books, many of which were bestsellers.

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Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico

Question:  What does a beautiful young Italian woman do after her husband mysteriously disappears in a boating accident in Florida? 

Answer:  She goes to Queens, New York to help her Mafioso father run a banquet hall.

The only problem is she ends up in the middle of a murder investigation…again.

Mia Carina thought she left her troubles down in Florida. In the middle of a bachelor party at her father's banquet hall, a woman is murdered. And not just any woman. This woman was an internet call girl found dead  inside the cake that was wheeled into the bachelor party. You just can't make this stuff up…. or can you?

This book is the first in a new series by Maria DiRico, a pen name for Ellen Byron, who wrote the Cajun Country Mystery Series.  The characters are well developed and very likable. The writer left a few  loose ends, setting the stage for the next book in this series. This book had plenty of characters to raise an eyebrow at, which left you guessing til the end.

I thought this book would be a great way to dip my toes back into the murder mystery pool. I loved how the writer, being from an Italian family herself,  was able to use some of the quirks and traditions of an Italian family. The main character's  "Nonna",  with her plastic slip covers and Blessed Mother statue, reminded me of my own. The Italian slang was reminiscent of conversations in my own home. This book was entertaining, humorous in parts and it's light tone was exactly what I was looking for.  The recipes at the end of the book were the perfect icing on the proverbial cake. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a cozy mystery to spend an afternoon with. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

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Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend by Jenny Colgan 

   Can money really help you live a happy life?  Sophie Chesterton doesn’t have a clue because it is all she has ever known.  Her family’s wealth allows her to shop, party, and most importantly not have a real job or responsibilities.  Then tragedy hits and she suddenly loses everything she thinks is important.  She is forced to start over as a common poor person living on the wrong side of town.  Through this she learns what real life is really like as well as how to do simple things like clean and make a cup of tea.  She also learns what she really would like in a partner, now that being rich is out of her reach.  In the end, she will have to start over with her idea of who “Mr. Right” could be. 

   I am a fan of Jenny Colgan and have read serval of her novels.  This book was originally published in 2009, then reprinted in 2020.  This makes it a little dated as far as current events.  I have to say I do like her later work better.  The young, rich socialite main character is hard to relate to.  On the other hand, the challenges she comes up against in her new poor life are very humorous.  It was nice to see Sophie develop from a spoiled brat into a decent person.  She blossoms despite her hardships and comes to realize that her life could have been much richer if she would have paid attention and gotten to know the people who she passed up as servants when she had money.   

   I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was very good.  She had an excellent English accent which she changed slightly for the different characters.  This really kept my interest in the story.  It enhanced the storytelling and kept me going.   This wasn’t Jenny Colgan’s best novel, I suggest one of her trilogies, but I think it is worth a listen.  

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Hitchcock/Truffaut

Filmmaker: Alfred Hitchcock / Kent Jones

My latest in documentary viewing last week was  “Hitchcock/Truffaut” which was an interesting study into the mind of Alfred Hitchcock through the eyes of French filmmaker Francois Truffaut.

The story is told using audio recordings of an interview Truffaut did with Hitchcock for a book Truffaut was writing breaking down, shot by shot, some of Hitch’s most famous and iconic movie scenes. 

I am a movie buff and a fan of Hitchcock’s work but didn’t know a whole lot of Truffaut. The film does a good job describing who Truffaut was and I found myself writing down the names of his films to possibly check out in the future. It doesn’t delve too much into Hitchcock as a person and concentrates almost solely on his filmmaking style. It was also surprising to me that I was unfamiliar with the book , Hitchcock/Truffaut, as it is described by the various famous directors that were interviewed for the doc (including Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson as well as others) as being “one of the greatest cinema lessons of all time”.

I enjoyed this film but like I said I am not only a fan of Hitchcock, I am a filmmaking buff. I wonder if you’re not interested in the ART of filmmaking if the film might get slow at times as they break down the shot in fierce details down to the shape and lighting and speed and motivation. I was interested but possibly wouldn’t scream to recommend it as much as some of the other films I’ve watched and reviewed.

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The Finisher by David Baldacci 

Vega Jane is a “finisher” who lives in Wormwood, a town controlled by a council, and works in a factory. She lives with her younger brother Jon in a boarding house and barely makes enough to scrape by. One day she witnesses her mentor Quentin leaving Wormwood and heading into the unknown wilderness beyond, known as the “Quag,” being chased by the council. She discovers a map of the Quag left to her by Quentin. After his disappearance, the council declares a wall must be built around Wormwood to keep dangerous creatures out. Vega begins to suspect that there is more to Wormwood then she is being told. Along with her friend Delph and canine companion Harry Two, Vega sets out to escape Wormwood and follow the clues into the Quag. 

I had a vague sense of confusion the entire book. Characters in the book are referred to as “wugs,” which made me unsure if they were human or not (as far as I could tell, they were.) The world-building is somewhat vague, but I suspect it will become more cohesive as the series continues. I did not like Baldacci’s decision to replace words like “minutes” with “slivers” and “year” with “session,” it just made reading a bit more confusing. Overall, Vega is a likable protagonist; she’s fierce, loyal, and determined. The plot was engaging and fast paced. I would recommend The Finisher to those who like sci-fi and mystery. I would be interested in reading some of Baldacci’s other books, as I feel maybe this genre isn’t where his strength lies. 

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Autism: A Family’s Journey

Documentary 

Producer: Deamscape Media

2017

This short documentary follows the journey of J.R., the son of Lori and Jim Cairns.   When he was still a baby, Lori started to notice he could not make eye contact, cried a lot and could not communicate.  At two years old, he is diagnosed as autistic and mentally retarded and they were told that he would be institutionalized by age 17.  This diagnosis was made in 1996 when little was known about autism and the government offered few helpful resources and hope for any type of recovery.  Thanks to much work from parents, family and professionals, it is now known that it is a developmental disability that is on a spectrum with many different levels.  Many people still dismiss any hope of recovery but J.R. is living proof that it can happen. Having a grandson on the spectrum, I read or watch things all the time that have to do with autism.   Watching this documentary gave me hope and maybe can give hope to others who have an autistic person in their life.