Title Recommendations based on Shirley Schmidt
Rose of Versailles is set in France on the brink of upheaval. Poverty racks the streets, the peasants are grossly overtaxed, and the nobles are indifferent. Princess Marie Antoinette has just arrived in Paris, and Oscar Jarjayes's job is to protect her. Born a female but raised as a male because her parents wanted a boy, Oscar is uniquely suited to care for the Princess.
Heart of Darkness follows Marlow, a riverboat captain, on a voyage into the African Congo at the height of European colonialism. Astounded by the brutal depravity he witnesses, Marlow becomes obsessed with meeting Kurtz, a famously idealistic and able man stationed farther along the river. What he finally discovers, however, is a horror beyond imagining.
The Meiji Era was one of great renewal for Japan, where swords and killing were outlawed. However, many survivors from the time of Revolution still live, lurking in the shadows and waiting for a chance to use their killing blades again. Only Kenshin Himura, formerly one of the most brutal of killers, hopes to keep his swordsman's honor and still live in the new era.
A New York writer on sex and love is finally getting married to her Mr. Big. But her three best girlfriends must console her after the wedding gets called off.
A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife—all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
The Metamorphosis begins with a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, waking to find himself transformed into an insect. The tale is about family, alienation, and a giant bug.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood follows the brothers Alphonse and Edward Elric as they try to restore what they lost in a misguided attempt to bring back their deceased mother through alchemy - an incident that left half of Edward's body gone, replaced by mechanical prosthetics, and Alphonse's body gone completely, his soul inhabiting a suit of armor.
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.
Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink white Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.
Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman's noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby snaps Polaroids of people and places, jotting down contextual notes on the backs of photos to aid in his search and jog his memory. He even tattoos his own body in a desperate bid to remember.
Sucessful attorney Rebecca Bunch realizes that she's made herself miserable pushing herself to be the best and live up to expectations. When she runs into her ex-boyfriend from sleep-away camp, Josh, Rebecca realizes that being with him was the last time she was truly happy. So, in an effort to track down that happiness, Rebecca follows him out to the sunny suburbs of West Covina, California.
In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. The cynical lone wolf Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the sycophantic police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining a Czechoslovak underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick's surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick's one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris. But when he learns she had good reason to leave, they plan to run off together again using the letters of transit. Well, that was their original plan.
Determined to prove herself, Officer Judy Hopps, the first bunny on Zootopia's police force, jumps at the chance to crack her first case—even if it means partnering with scam-artist fox Nick Wilde to solve the mystery.
Mima Kirigoe is a singer who leaves her trio to become an actress, a career move that angers her fans, who prefer to see her as the pop idol. Plagued by self-doubt and tormented by humiliating compromises, she begins to be stalked. In her waking and sleeping moments, she faces her alter ego who claims to be "the real Mima."
Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard—with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths—and about the villain who's to blame.
