Thursday Movie Picks #449: Companion Reads

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Companion Reads (Pair a book to a movie that makes a good companion read because they feature similar themes/subject - not necessarily the book it was based on)

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This is coming in late. I'm picking some of the movies I’ve enjoyed and paired them with some of books I like that I think make great companion reads.

Strangers on a Train (1951) and The Kind Worth Killing (2015)

Strangers on a Train itself is adapted from a Patricia Highsmith novel, but if you want something contemporary, a little similar but different, try The Kind Worth Killing, which according to its own blurb is a reimagining of Strangers on a Train. The initial premise is certainly very similar, two strangers meet in an airport, one of them expresses a desire to kill their cheating spouse and the other willing to do it. That’s where the similarity ends as The Kind Worth Killing gets a whole lot more twisty, it even kills one of its major character quickly and on the whole is such a wicked fun read. This has a sequel, The Kind Worth Saving, which was released just the past week.

Practical Magic (1998) and Garden Spells (2007)
Practical Magic the movie is a little different being more supernatural and magical as compared to the book which is more of a family drama of a gifted family and Garden Spells is more like the Practical Magic book. But the basic premise is very similar, a family with two sisters with some magical skills, with one sister returning to the family home after a long time away. I really enjoyed Garden Spells so if you’ve enjoyed Practical Magic, movie or book, it’s likely you’ll enjoy it too.

Promising Young Woman (2020) and Sadie (2018)

In Promising Young Woman Cassandra’s best friend died when she was in medical school and for the years after that Cassandra has been out on a reckless and suicidal quest for justice and revenge. In Sadie, Sadie’s sister was recently killed and she herself had recently disappeared out on a desperate, reckless and suicidal quest for justice and revenge. Sadie is a dual narrator novel; the other (the first is Sadie) narrator is a radio host who has been tasked to start a true crime podcast. When Sadie’s disappearance gets his attention, the missing Sadie becomes the focus of the podcast. If you like Promising Young Woman I highly recommend Sadie as it is quite similar in its basic premise and is soo good. However, in all its bleakness Promising Young Woman still had moments where it was darkly funny…Sadie on the other hand is relentlessly bleak and heartbreaking.

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Thursday Movie Picks #436: Book Adaptations

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Book Adaptations

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This is coming a little late. Anyway, I'm picking some of my recent watches, which were all adapted from YA books I haven't read.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021)

This is a charming gentle teen drama about two teens stuck in a time loop repeating the same day. Each day they go out looking for a new adventure to stave off the boredom of being stuck and find perfect things like seeing a skateboarder complete a perfect trick, witnessing a bird of prey swooping into the water catching a fish and watching a treehouse lit up with fairy lights; all moments they would've have missed if they had not lived the same day again, while also trying to figure out why they are stuck and and how to escape it.

Rosaline (2022)

Adapted from a book that is a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet from the perspective of Rosaline, you know the girl Romeo had been infatuated with and conveniently forgot about when he met Juliet, in a high school setting. The movie, however, changed the setting back to Renaissance Italy, which I'm glad as it made it a lot more fun to watch with the costumes and beautiful sets and locations. The movie is also funny and Rosaline played by Kaitlin Dever is pretty good as the title character.

Catherine Called Birdy (2022)

I love this, it was so much fun and just very funny...my favourite of today's theme. The movie follows Birdy a 14 year old girl in medieval England as she navigates becoming a young woman and trying to avoid getting married off by her family to some rich suitor in order to prevent them from getting bankrupt. The cast is great in this especially Bella Ramsey who plays the title character and just has that look...like she belongs in medieval England, which I suppose was why she was in Game of Thrones too.

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Thursday Movie Picks #361: Worst Book to Movie Adaptations

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Worst Book to Movie Adaptations [Suggested by ThePunkTheory]

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Today's theme is a suggestion from ThePunkTheory. There are quite a number of movies that are based on books that are bad but I'm making this more challenging and only picking movies adapted from books I've read, so my choices are a little limited.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

A man stays ageless as a portrait of him grows older and uglier. I love the book and really really dislike this adaptation. The actor playing Dorian Gray was terrible; he was so wooden and expressionless. I also thought Angela Lansbury way miscast as Sibyl Vane. Even in her youth, Lansbury has a sort of maturity and old soul look to her which did not really fit Vane whom I thought was suppose to be really young, sweet and naive.

 

The Lovely Bones (2009)
A murdered young girl watches the people she leaves behind from an afterlife. I had read this book around the time it was first published. It had been hugely popular and I had liked the book too so I was really looking forward to the movie. Well what a disappointment. If I'm remembering correctly, the story in the book is told from the perspective of dead girl while she is in some kind of heaven...now that there is going to be difficult to adapt...heaven had the potential to be real cheesy on screen. Anyway I don't think the movie did "heaven" too well. I thought it would have been better if they took out all the scenes that showed the girl in heaven from the movie and just let her do the voice over narration of her flash backs and observations on the current state of her family.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)

When her mother disappears, a teenage girl learns that she is descended from warriors who protect the world from demons. I read the book before seeing the movie. Not a fan at all. The movie was not any better. And Jamie Campbell Bower being miscast as Jace didn't help; he had looked a little too gaunt for the role.

 

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Monthly Book Picks: The Month of August 2018

Hey, if you've ventured past my usual movies post and found this book blog post, welcome. It's a new series that I've started: Monthly Book Picks where I select my favourite reads of the past month on the first Monday.

This is one of the rare times that I actually remember to do a post when I'm supposed. Here are my picks for August.

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sarra Manning (2011)
Formerly obese Neve who is still working towards a size 10 begins a practice relationship with her sister's colleague Max, so that she can be ready for a real relationship with her crush William, who is coming home after years of working abroad.
While I have read a few Sarra Manning's YA titles, this is the only adult title of hers that I've read and I am pleasantly surprised as I didn't like her YA titles that much, but I love this. I enjoyed her writing much more here and the story is just sweet, charming and funny. I definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy UK chick lit especially those by Sophie Kinsella and Mhairi McFarlane.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (2018)
1950, Vermont. A girl from a boarding school for troubled girls goes missing. 2014, Vermont. Fiona, a journalist, is still haunted by the murder of the her sister 20 years ago whose body was found near the ruins of a girls' boarding school. When a shocking discovery is made during the restoration and renovation of the same school, a link is soon found between what is found now to the events of 1950 and 20 years ago. 
This book is like so hot this year, I keep seeing it on a lot of 2018 books-to-read lists and I can totally see why now because I really like it. It's part mystery thriller and part ghost story which made it such a good spooky atmospheric read. I especially love the ghost story part of this and how the ghost haunts is just so creepy and scary. I'd recommend it to anyone that like mystery thrillers with a side of paranormal.

Monthly Book Picks: The Month of June and July 2018

Hey, if you've ventured past my usual movies post and found this book blog post, welcome. It's a new series that I've started: Monthly Book Picks where I select my favourite reads of the past month on the first Monday.

I'm so terrible at this; because it is a once-a-month thing, last month I forgot to do a post. So this month, it will again be for two months: June and July.

June 2018

“I am shocking. What was done to me was shocking. I am outside the boundaries forever, no longer decent.”

All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry (2013)
The Gist: Four years ago, Judith disappeared from her town. Two years ago, she finally returns with her tongue cut out. While Judith herself is unable to speak about what happened to her, she is assumed to be a fallen woman thus now an outcast ignored by family and friends. Only when something threatens her town does the past slowly reveals itself. Let's start off with the cover; I hate it. The cover makes it seem like it is some grungy high school contemporary story. It is not. This is actually historical fiction set in unnamed period which is likely during the time of the Puritans. The rest of it I actually love (ok maybe not so much the ending, just because it feels as if everything wraps up a little too quickly in the last 10% and a little too nicely, but maybe that's just me being a little too nitpicky). I especially love the second person narration; Judith telling us her story through silently speaking to her childhood crush (now a man, out of reach for her now due to her outcast status and him being engaged to another) in her thoughts. It's filled with such longing and wanting to be seen and not assumed the worst that is so excruciatingly heartbreaking which just further fittingly illustrates her isolation and loneliness.

“Learn to spot irrelevant people. Don't expect someone who doesn't know who they are to care who you are.”   

Who’s That Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane (2015)
The Gist: When Edie is found kissing the groom at a colleague's wedding, all the blame falls on her, and she is quickly shamed online and at work. In order to give the incident some time to cool off, Edie's boss sends her away to ghostwrite an autobiography of a hot new actor currently filming in her hometown. I used be such a book snob (I still am :), but in other ways) and turn up my nose on chick lit, but now I greatly enjoy them and I love love this one. The best chick lits, isn't all about the romance. It's usually about overcoming something usually with the help of family and friends, finding romance along the way and all with a lot of humor mixed in it...and Who's That Girl? is I think one of the best I've read thus far.


July 2018

“It's a special art, asking people to do things, yet making it seem as if you never asked at all.”   

Sunburn by Laura Lippman (2018)
The Gist: Two strangers, Polly and Adam, meet at a local tavern. Both are supposedly just passing through in the summer, yet they end up staying, starting an affair. But neither of them is being truthful about who they really are and when someone dies, the truth slowly begins to surface. I really enjoyed this. The book had like little hints of Gone Girl in the beginning with Polly being such a strong character who just dominates the story. With her true self/back story revealed ever so slowly, Polly always just seemed she could be so much more dangerous than she let on, which made Sunburn such a page turner for me.

Monthly Book Picks: The Month of May 2018

Hey, if you've ventured past my usual movies post and found this book blog post, welcome. It's a new series that I've started: Monthly Book Picks where I select my favourite reads of the past month.

“People are dumb. I’ll never get over how dumb people are.”

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn (2015)
The Gist: A young woman makes a living as a con artist, the most recent, pretending to be a psychic. She is approached by rich, beautiful Susan, desperate for help: there seems to be an evil presence in her home which might have possessed her stepson. The narrator soon does psychic home visits to Susan's home to cleanse it and she is about to make a surprising discovery. Too bad it is just a novella; I really like it and wanted more. The story definitely looks like it could have been expanded into a novel. I have to say, in the beginning, the edginess of the character and her questionable profession kinda reminds me of the beginnings of a Palahniuk novel. Then it took a different direction when we get to Susan and her haunted house which really was pretty terrifying. But things are never as it seems in a Flynn novel so there were tons of fun twist and turns at the end and you just can't decide what's real or not.

“It was a woman--as pale and luminescent as a ghost, with swirling white hair. Ezra startled, dropping his pencil into the water. Her face snapped toward him. Her eyes were too large, clear green, and had horizontal, slit-shaped pupils, reminiscent of an octopus.”   

Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama (2012)
The Gist: 140 years ago, a mermaid gave up her life underwater to be with a young naturalist but their love story ended in tragedy. In the present day, a 17 year old girl meets a mysterious stranger with whom she feels a strange connection with and he helps her investigate the mysterious affliction that have plagued the women in her family causing them all to die soon after giving birth. This is my first mermaid book and I really enjoyed this; it's a blend of contemporary, historical, horror and fantasy fiction with a little bit of romance. Ultimately it's a dark and tragic tale the way fairy tales were before they were heavily edited for young readers. I'd definitely recommend this to those that like to read folk tales and the un-Disneyfied fairy tales.

Monthly Book Picks: The Month of March 2018

Hey, if you've ventured past my usual movies post and found this book blog post, welcome. It's a new series that I've started: Monthly Book Picks where I select my favourite reads of the past month. Last month turned out to be a solitary endeavour but if you want to join in this month do leave a link using the inlinkz gadget below. Monthly Book Picks will go up every first Monday of the month.

 

“Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom."

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (2006)
The Gist: Back on the job after a brief stay at psych hospital, a journalist is assigned to return to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. There's something about the women in a Gillian Flynn novel. They're never simply one thing. They are often messy and most likely very messed up. In Sharp Objects even the children are too. They are so creepy; some are drinking and taking drugs at such a young age and others are wild in an almost feral like way. As a mystery, I think it is better than Gone Girl; Sharp Objects certainly has a lot more stuff to unpack and to sieve through to the truth.

“No one tells you it’s all about to change, to be taken away. There’s no proximity alert, no indication that you’re standing on the precipice. And maybe that’s what makes tragedy so tragic. Not just what happens, but how it happens: a sucker punch that comes at you out of nowhere, when you’re least expecting it. No time to flinch or brace.”  

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (2016)
The Gist: After being abducted and knocked unconscious, Jason wakes up surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. He soon learns that in the world he has woken up to, he did not marry the woman who was his wife and his son was never born. I remember seeing Dark Matter on a lot of top book lists in 2016 and finally read it last March. Wow, what a mind fuck of a book. This was such a fun thrilling fast paced read that was also nightmarish and horrifying with the infinite possibilities it presents.

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Monthly Book Picks: The Month of January and February 2018

Hey, if you have read my blog the last month or so you may have heard me talking about starting a Monthly Book Picks where you select your favourite reads of the last month; so here it is. Since I missed January, I'll be doing both January and February picks this month. If you want to join in do leave a link using the inlinkz gadget below. Monthly Book Picks will go up every first Monday of the month.

January 2018

“There are no good men in this game.”

Vicious (The Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab (2013)
The Gist: College roommates become vicious enemies after developing superpowers through their science experiments. Ten years later, one of them has come back to execute his revenge.
Imagine The Prestige movie but instead of magicians it's people with wicked superpowers. I had high expectations going into this because it has a high rating on Goodreads which was definitely met and Vicious has become my one of favourites. It has great writing, plot, pacing and fascinating characters. If you're tired of the usual superhero fare, as the quote above implies, there are no heroes here.  I can't wait for the sequel and the film adaptation which I'm surprised has not come sooner.


February 2018

“There was a small part of me that was still childish, stubborn in her hope, thinking I could somehow have everything. ...That I could be all the versions of me, stacked inside one another, and find someone who would want them all. But that's childhood. Before you realize that every step is a choice. That something must be given up for something to be gained. Everything on a scale, a weighing of desires, an ordering of which you want more--and what you'd be willing to give for it.” 

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda (2016) 
The Gist: Nicollete has returned to her hometown for the summer to help her brother fix their old house so that they can sell it to use the sale money for the father's nursing home expanses. Then her father, who has dementia, starts saying that he has seen the disappeared girl on their porch, only he has not been to their house a year since his nursing home stay and which girl was he referring too? Nicollete's best friend who disappeared ten years ago or the latest girl that has gone missing, their neighbour. Told in reverse, the link between the girls is slowly revealed as the past resurface.
This is actually my second reading, I loved it on the first read but it being a mystery told in reverse and with a first person narration,you know how unreliable they all are, I knew I was missing a lot of the breadcrumbs the first time around. And yes this is definitely one of those stories/books that you'll continually discover new things you missed before. I also love the writing and the narrator's voice that has a certain reflective wariness to it. Overall just a satisfying suspenseful mystery, one of the best I'd say that I read the last year or so.

“Power. What men like best for themselves and least in their women.”

The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief #2) by Megan Whalen Turner (2000) 
This is the second book in the YA fantasy series The Queen's Thief. The first book The Thief is about a thief who claims he is able to steal anything so he is recruited and goes on a journey with the king's scholar, a soldier and two apprentices to recover a treasure. The first two thirds of the first book, for me, was boring. But the last third was excellent. In the second book, The Queen of Attolia, the thief this time is enlisted more for stealing information and that really is all I can say lest I spoil the first book. Also that, unlike the first book, it is great from the start. It has action, drama, political intrigue with plenty of twist and turns and even has a little romance. I love The Queen of Attolia more, but you definitely can't jump to reading this without reading the first book and all the essential world building.

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Top Ten Tuesday #4: Ten Book Related Problems I Have

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish where bloggers share a list based on a weekly theme.

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I haven't been doing any bookish posts lately so I thought I'd do this week Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Related Problems. I only manage to come up with only eight problems which is good I suppose.

Choosing What to Read
That is the primary problem isn't it? There are only so many hours in a day and so many that I want to read.

Books or Audiobooks
I'm really enjoy listening to audiobooks especially since I can do other things while listening. This brings about another problem: which book should I read and which should I listen because I still enjoy just reading a book the traditional way.

Book Amnesia

I guess it's natural to forget plots of books the more you read but it sucks when you're reading a series and can't remember what happens in the previous book which I recently encountered when I read The Infinite Sea (I couldn't remember who the secondary characters were).

Read It or Watch It First?

As a fan of both books and movies I am continually torn on this. Either way I lose the experience of going into one of them not knowing anything.

Mixing It All Up

I like watching adaptations and for some books I have watch a few different adaptations that it has. I have found that when I have watched the adaptations, eventually the stories have kind of get mixed up and overlap where I can no longer remember what was actually in the book and what was just stuff that the adaptations changed and added in.

Borrowing More Than I Can Read

When the books I want to read become available I can't help myself from borrowing it even though I already have like a stack of library books at home still unread.

Not Reading the Books I Own

The last time I read a book from my own bookshelf was probably more than a year ago. They are so neglected.

Rotting Books

Here in the tropics humidity is high, accelerating decomposition...basically my books are rotting...ok I'm exaggerating. But they are yellowing terribly fast and of course the mass market paperback fare the worst. The pages of the books that I bought some ten years ago now look ancient.

Weekly Recap #15: The Infinite Sea, Lullabies, The Flash, TMNT ...

I haven't been doing this for a while partly because I just wasn't able to squeeze writing a post and partly because some the TV shows I was following went on mid season break and so there wasn't  much to recap on the TV side. That said the mid season break has certainly threw me off the TV watching momentum and I haven't got back on to watching even though some of the series have comeback from their break. I guess now I have to wait for them to either air marathons or wait for the DVDs which probably means September or October.

Read

The Infinite Sea
This is the second book of the Fifth Wave series by Rick Yancey. If you haven't heard of this series before you will very soon since its been made into a movie with Chloe Moretz as the lead to be released in 2016. I read the first book, the Fifth Wave, a year and a half ago and I have to say getting back into the world in The Infinite Sea was difficult because I remember very little of what happened in the first book. Usually I rely on a website called The Recaptains where a group of bloggers recap books from YA series to help readers get into the next book in a series but unfortunately this time it didn't help at all. Basically I was totally lost and it affected my enjoyment of the Infinite Sea. I think in part it was also because in the first book I was more invested in what happened to the main characters and in the second book the secondary characters have a greater role in the story and I just can't remember who they were. Do you ever get that? Read a book and come across characters that you remember nothing about?

Lullabies
Sometime in 2013 I began seeing Love & Misadventure Lang Leav's first book of poetry on Tumblr. Now I don't really read poetry beyond the epigraphs in books or poems that are referenced in books/movies/TV but the cover of Love & Misadventure, which was very pretty, attracted me to it. I was initially surprised by how short and simple the poetry was but there was a touch of whimsy to them and I actually like a couple plus I suppose it is its simpleness that makes it accessible to non poetry readers like me. Anyway Lullabies came out last year so naturally I decided to check it out and I have a much different reaction to this. I used to think the poet's poetry was short and cute, now with this second book I'm of the opinion that it's simplistic, too childlike and cliche. So my question again is, is this poetry? Because they sound more and more like little love notes between lovers and quotes found in greeting cards. But what really made me want to chuck this book halfway through it was that it's full of romantic love poems: finding love, being in love and heartbreak. What about regret, failure, guilt, shame, fear, contentment, anger...I'm sure these emotions would have made great themes for poetry too? I mean I get it, the poet's probably in love or out of love or whatever but with a title like Lullabies I expected it to have moved away from the themes of love which was already well explore in Love & Misadventure. I probably won't recommend Lullabies but I am now terribly curious what people who actually read poetry would think of it.

Watched

TV

The Flash
I've only watched a few episodes so I am totally not up to date with the series at all but I am loving it thus far. I used to watch the 90's series but I remember nothing of it, so the story is like new to me. I was a little worried that the series wasn't going to hold me being too episodic with a meta human of the week to torment Barry, but so far they have done a good job of weaving the normal everyday drama and the continuing mystery of who murdered Barry's mother into the narrative so there is definitely something to look forward to the next week. Now I like Arrow (the series the Flash spins off from) but Oliver is very reserved, distant and guarded so much so it's very hard to see any emotion from him. In contrast, Barry wears his heart on his sleeve; we get to see the full extent of his emotions (like his excitement over the cool stuff he can do with his new powers which is very cute) and that just make him a much more human, likeable and endearing character. He and all his friends are a lot more fun to watch. And I love that Barry's rival in the romance department is such a nice guy. Barry just can't hate him and neither can we. I know there's a The Flash movie coming in 2018(?) and it's interesting that they have another actor, Ezra Miller, in the title role. I mean I know this has been done before with Superman Returns/Smallville but Grant Gustin who plays Barry in this series is just so good as Barry. And if the movie is another origin story that begins at the same point...I really don't see the point of the movie version within 3 years of the TV series.

American Idol

The new season has just started. They started off the show a little differently this time around by letting us hear, but not see, the finalists singing...I guest it's meant to give the audience a taste of the talent we can look forward too. I also noticed they've been showing fewer of the wacky attention-seeking auditions, good move because I can't stand them. Next week is the hollywood week which is always intense for the contestants and fun for us to watch.

Movies

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

I used to be watch this series a lot as a kid and I enjoyed recognizing characters, looking for their quirks and hearing out their catchphrases. But beyond the nostalgia, this movie did not hold my attention. The thing is I'm not fond of action movies, so I didn't care for the action here where I suppose was where much of the budget went too. The characters: I know the turtles were different sizes, they wore different eyebands, had different weapons, one was flirty, another was a techie, but seriously I couldn't match which characteristics to which turtle, which I think I could when I saw the cartoons. Here they seem like just a blur of turtles. And I have to say, seeing a live action TMNT movie is just weird. The turtles were weird. They're like turtles on steroids. I mean they were suppose to be Ninjas! Does the word "Ninja" conjure up images of muscled characters? No right! And I don't remember the cartoon turtles to be muscled so I don't get that desicion. Then there was Megan Fox as April. I get why she was casted but Megan Fox is not April! She's just too sexy and not enough ambitious journalist so it just didn't work from the start. If you like the cartoons, I'd say just stick to the cartoons.

Crush (2013)

There's so many of these crazy obsessive crush movies and though this isn't a great movie I do think it offers at least something interesting: it actually presents three simultaneous crush/stalker relationships highlighting that the line between harmless crush and plain crazy stalking is just so fine. The movie also plays up on the mystery of the secret admirer who's the real crazy one out of the three and yet there's something that gives away the identity before the movie even begins so I'm confused whether are we suppose to know? Or are we suppose to not know which means someone really screwed up and gave the identity away unintentionally?

2014 A Year in Books

We're already two thirds through January but as I've hardly made any post on books the later part of last year I'm going to rectify that by doing one now. So even though it's a little late here's my 2014 year in books.

Read
I read significantly fewer books in 2014 than in 2013 but I didn't really have any number I was aiming for so I'm happy with what I was able to read.

Adult vs Young Adult
2013 had been a year in which I rediscovered YA again so most books that I read that year were YA titles. 2014 I even it out reading an equal number of YA and Adult titles.

Audiobooks
If 2013 was the year I discovered ebooks then 2014 was the year of audiobooks. I had tried an audiobook or two in the past but did not enjoy the experience. Still last year I tried again and I was hooked. Three reasons why I think audiobooks are wonderful.

1. It's great way to "read" a book while commuting to wherever, doing chores or mundane computer work.
2. When I want to read something but am unsure that I'd enjoy it or titles that look like they could be tedious and require heavy time investment, I'd definitely listen to the audiobook instead.
3. Lastly it's also a great way to "reread" a book either to revisit the story before reading the sequel or just to experience a book I enjoyed reading in a different way.

Podcasts
I've been listening to Movies and TV show podcasts for a couple of years now and this year I've finally checked out some bookish podcasts. Unfortunately there are not as many but there are some great ones. I enjoy the usual topical type of podcasts but I'm really loving the book club/review type that either have questions from readers posed to the authors or have a bunch of podcasters discussing a book which is a great way to hear differing views. Some of the bookish podcast that have become my favourites are the BBC and Slate book clubs.

Series
I've started a lot of series the last two years or so and haven't been any good at completing those that I started. 2014 I really made an attempt to get through some of them and I ended up completing four series (I finally finished Breaking Dawn the last book in the series some 7 years after I started the Twilight); all were YA series because let's face it YA has a lot series, just look at those that eventually got movie adaptation. That said I've also read 6 first book of a series (only two of which I'll probably continue with the sequels) and tackled 5 second book of a series. Unfortunately none of the second books were better of the first.

Favourite Reads of 2014
2013 I read a lot of books that I came to love, 2014 not so much. I suppose that is to expected since I did read fewer books. Anyway here are four of my favourites from 2014:

• The Curse Workers - This YA series completely blew me away. I finished all three books this year and this is the fastest I've ever completed a series. Suffice to say I love it, and it's kinda sad that there won't be any more books in this series because the world the book is set in is just so fascinating. In brief it's set in an alternate world where humans that have supernatural skills (manipulating people's luck, emotions, memories among others) are called Curse Workers. The protagonist is a kid called Cassel born into a family of Curse Workers although he himself doesn't know what his abilities are or if he would ever eventually develop one. He increasingly feels like the outsider of his family both for his lack of special abilities and his disapproval of his family's criminal activities; his mother is a con artist working on the emotions of rich men to swindle their money while his two older brothers are using their special talents for the mob. When Cassel begins sleepwalking and encounters a white cat he begins to uncover the depth of his family's criminal activities.
• The Age of Miracles - This is another favourite read of 2014. Gorgeously written it is a haunting coming of age tale set against the backdrop of the rotation of the earth slowing down making the days longer and longer each day heading ever so slowly towards what seems like the end of the world. If this was ever made into a movie I imagine it to be as a cross between The Virgin Suicides and Melancholia.

Looking ahead, 2015
I think I've made a good start having already read 4.
I'll no doubt check out more audiobooks.
I would also like to discover more bookish podcast so if you know some great ones do recommend.

Weekly Recap #14: Deadline, Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead

Read

Deadline by Mira Grant

Recently finished the second book of the Newflesh trilogy about a bunch of bloggers uncovering some conspiracies set in a post zombie apocalypse world where blood tests and showers with bleach and sterilization of clothes are a part of every day life I really enjoyed the first book but this second one not as much. I suppose it's because we follow a new narrator, Shaun, who's not as likable. He is quite a jerk. Plus I think there was less zombie action here and more of just driving around and waiting things out.

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Watched

Movies 

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

This was boring. I tuned out from the second half. Some of the jokes are quite funny but the lead actor has a monotous kinda voice and his delivery is just not expressive enough for an outright comedy. It's seem like it would be more suited for a satire or dark comedy for which this movie is neither. 

TV

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 5

Yes! Miss Bunting finally leaves. Good riddance. In her final goodbye to Tom, she tells him that she loves him and Tom actually has this painful winced expression like he wished she didn't confess it. She is just awful! She presumes too much that Tom likes her just as she presumes she can say whatever she thinks at those dinners she attends but just ends up being a rude guest. And Edith! She is the stupidest of all the Crawley sisters and now she is about to ruin the farmer's family.

From Dusk Till Dawn Season 1 Episode 3

I like this episode the least. It is not bad but Seth and Richie hardly share a scene together, and it's the great dialogue between the two that I love. Richie once again goes in and out of madness which makes us wonder how much of the shit he does Seth can tolerate.

Gotham Season 1 Episode 5

Penguin comes clean with his new boss and we finally see what Fish is planning with her protege. I think the show should show less of Bruce because the whole thing of making him a mini adult is just not working. 

Revenge Season 4 Episode 4

DC is out in public! He set the whole thing up right? Because it was a way to be able to walk freely instead of confessing that he faked his death...right? And surely he sees through Victoria's lies? 

The Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 2

I thought we'd see Morgan this week but nope. Not a fan of Bob, he's probably one of the weakest characters in the show...but the end of this episode was just so horrific. Reminds me of Sin City. And did Daryl really see Beth in the car? The car went by fast and I didn't catch anything.

Weekly Recap #13: Godzilla, Downton Abbey, The Walking Dead

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Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

When I first saw this book on a book blogger's blog I thought why is she reading an IKEA catalogue. It's not. It's a book about a fictional haunted retail store which is a ripoff of IKEA. I love the whole concept and the book's packaging. The story starts off strong. It got a little weird in the middle when the ghosts start to appear but the end was pretty good. 

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Watched

Movies 

Brotherhood of the Wolf

I watched this a long time ago and couldn't remember much of it and so a rewatch was in order. I actually thought it's about a werewolf which it is so not. I loved the way the main characters were introduced. They were wearing the trench coats that covered half their face as featured in the movie  poster. It created a great air of mystery to who these men were. The movie had some nice pretty scenery shots and costuming, but the story just wasn't for me.

Godzilla

Am I the only person who didn't know what's going on half the time. I mean I know the electricity was messed up and so no good lighting but it was just so dark I didn't know what I was looking at for most of the action scenes.

TV

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 4

Miss Bunting is so irritating. Can they drop her please? It's getting old. She does the same thing every episode. In other news, Cousin Violet gets a marriage proposal from a Lord. I think it's so cute! But I thought that doctor and her kinda like each other. Aren't they always having tea or something?

From Dusk Till Dawn Season 1 Episode 2

I am loving this show. Love the dialogue between Seth and Richie. Richie is showing more of his insane-ness. My theory is that Carlos hypnotized him to make sure he delivers the money across the border. We also meet some new characters in this episode as well; the family with the RV. From the promos, I suppose they will cross path with the Gecko brothers pretty soon.

Gotham Season 1 Episode 4

I think this series may be losing me a little. I hope Gotham doesn't become too episodic, what with a new mad men/killer every week. I'm liking the Penguin development but everything else is just so meh. And can Gordon please stop confiding in Bruce about police/government corruption! He's like what 11?

Revenge Season 4 Episode 3

DC found Emily. He should recognise her right? I mean the last time they met should be when Emily was a teenager. Plus how could he not know Amanda has been masquerading as Emily. I know he was holed up in a cave the last decade but surely he was curious what his enemies were doing all this time, and if ever checked out about any them in any media, he would have come across Emily right? Right?

The Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 1

I binged watch season 4 in time for the premiere of season 5 earlier this week. Season 4 was so-so. I really didn't like when the survivors were separated and whole episode s sometimes just focused on one small group. I don't think some of the characters story was strong enough to carry one whole episode. So I'm glad the gang has finally met up with each other in the premiere. As expected the sanctuary is messed up. How did the sanctuary people go from being the "cattle" to purposely baiting people to come to the sanctuary? At the end of the episode my mom was like saying  Rick's group is pretty large now and I said that can only mean one thing - one or two of them won't survive the season.

Weekly Recap #12: Blindless, Gotham, From Dusk Till Dawn...

Read

Blindness by José Saramago

The book has an interesting premise of a blindness pandemic. I think it is less about not having sight but more on exploring what people would do when they know they are not monitored by people around them. Will they continue to regulate their own behaviors like they used to or will they not, now that there is no one to literally see and judge them doing uncouth and uncivilized things. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie which was made a few years ago. The book went to some dark places and I wonder if the movie took it that far.

Fallen by Lauren Kate 
This is another YA book that has been turned into a movie, set to be release next year. I've never been attracted to angel theme books because I don't like when books get religious and preachy. The very few angel theme ones I've read are on the fantasy, romance or apocalyptic side. Fallen is more fantasy/romance and I like this the least. Firstly it has a love triangle which is just so overused in YA books. Secondly we all already know Daniel is a fallen angel and that Luce and Daniel are a cursed couple (its in the book synopsis) and the book in the doesn't really go beyond being just a story about Luce finding out what we already know about Daniel and Luce. Thirdly nothing is ever explained. The shadows? The love story; we are just suppose to take that Luce and Daniel have this epic eternal love without giving any foundation to their love story? Why are they cursed? Fourth, why are the fallen angels all in one place masquerading not only as humans and but also that they are friends even when they are on different sides. I suppose things are left unresolved for the purpose of enticing its readers to read the 2nd book (it's a 4 book series), but having read the first book...not sure I'd pick up the second

TV

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 3

Edith has become irritating again. It was a bad idea bringing the child so near and now she's meddling in the rearing of the girl. Whoa Mary! Will she drop Gillingham...sure looks like it. And can everyone stop inviting Miss Bunting upstairs!

Gotham Season 1 Episode 3

Am I missing something from the end of episode 2. So Gordon and Bullock caught the creepy kidnappers, but obviously something bigger is going on there right? I thought episode 3 was going to dig deeper into the case. But instead it's about a balloon vigilante?

Revenge Season 4 Episode 2

What is wrong with Charlotte? she like latches on any new guy that comes around? And now with the fire? She's getting nuttier and people are so going to find out because it's so obviously arson...

From Dusk Till Dawn Season 1 Episode 1

I vaguely remember the movie. It had George Clooney and Selma Hayek with a snake and crazy club filled with vampires...that's about it. It has since been made into a TV series and I'm so glad one the cable channels is airing it albeit a little late. The first episode is explosive! Even though I can't remember which actors played what role in the movie, every time I see Seth Gecko speak I can imagine George Clooney speaking the same lines. Clooney obviously played this role in the movie and I'm right after checking IMDB. I love how they dressed the Gecko brothers in this. They look like they jumped out of some fashion magazine of course and just so out of place. Which in a way works because they so obviously are and so out of their depth with the turn of events or more like Richie being a little trigger happy. And Richie and those glasses...he does look insane doesn't he? Overall this series looks promising. I like the dialogue between the brothers, their relationship is interesting and I can't wait for the second episode.

Thursday Movie Picks #13: Zombie Movies

Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! We're now in the second week of the Halloween Edition. Once again brace yourself for some scary flicks as for 5 Thursdays in the month of October, the themes will all be Halloween related. 

October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

As you can see there are some fun themes in the coming weeks. So if you haven't join us already, now is definitely the time to.

Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Zombie Movies

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Ah zombie movies...I'm relatively quite new to them having only begun seeing them in the 2000s with 28 Days Later which have been argued to not technically be a zombie movie since the infected didn't die first before reanimating. Anyhoo...I have like most of the ones I've seen and 28 Days Later is a definite favourite, but it won't be part of my picks this week as I'm going for Hidden Gems.

Fido (2006)

Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead are the more popular zombie dark comedies so I thought I'd highlight Fido for one of my picks. Fido pretty much begins where Shaun of the Dead ends but set in the 50s. So imagine a world like Pleaseantville where zombies have been domesticated by having them wear collars making them controllable and productive members of society. In this world having a zombie servant becomes a desirable thing because it's all about keeping up with the Joneses right? Until of course...accidents happen.

Warm Bodies (2013)

So we already have a zombie comedy, let's now have a zombie romance, Romeo and Juliet style. Don't worry there's no tragic suicides here because Warm Bodies is light hearted fun comedy/drama/romance set in a zombie apocalypse. Plus R the Romeo in this tale is already dead. Yep he is a zombie. His brain has limited functionality (he can't even remember his name), just enough for him to know he is hungry and needs to eat people. That is until he eats one boy's brains and inherits his memories and the emotions tied to it. R soon find himself falling for Julie, a living girl from the boy's memory, and goes to great lengths to protect her from his fellow zombies. You're probably now thinking how the romance part works out since Julie is human and R is dead...it works out...you'd just have to see it.

World War Z (2013)

After the delays, the reshoots the movie had and how different the story was reportedly to be from the book, I had expected World War Z to be disappointing. So I was quite surprise that it turn out to be an entertaining, heart pumping and action packed zombie flick. I'm not a fan of fast zombies...but it does make this zombie infested world extremely scarry. World War Z follows Gerry, a UN investigator, fly around the world to investigate the disease. So basically through him we see the zombie apocalypse on a global scale, which I don't think any other movie has done before, and certainly effectively gives a certain sense of escalating claustrophobia as we come to see no corner of the earth is untouched by the pandemic. I would also recommend the book. Other than the zombie apocalypse affecting the whole world, the story is vastly different. The major difference probably being that the book is made up of a series of accounts of the war by characters from different parts of the world from various backgrounds told to a UN agent interview style.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

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Check out my past Thursday Movie Picks

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Weekly Recap #10: Breaking Dawn, Death Comes to Pemberley, House of Cards ...

This post is linked to Stacking the Shelves (hosted by Tynga Reviews)  and The Sunday Post (hosted by Kimba @Caffeinated Book Reviewer).

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Read

Breaking Dawn
I finished reading the other books in this series years ago and it is only now that I have finally completed Breaking Dawn. I have made it nearly halfway at least twice before and was so determine to complete this series (because I've completed few series) that for the third time I took to listening to the audiobook. I actually like Twilight when I first read it but the subsequent books not so much. Maybe it's the criticism of the series as a whole that has affected me or maybe Breaking Dawn is simply just bad. Because I do find Breaking Dawn pretty bad. It's just so long and draggy. 

I was never crazy for Edward but now I can no longer stand him. He is just so over protective and always hovering and all tormented by what he is. Why does Bella like him? He's good looking and that's all I'm getting from the books. Do they have conversations about anything? Bella as it turns out, become a perfect vampire, and who everyone looks at with wonderment because of how perfect she is. They look Reneesme the same way as well. Can everyone stop being perfect? Here's another annoying bit...other than the vampires perfectness, Meyer over does it on their strengths and their seemingly in-destructiveness. As for Jacob, he always play the hurt card...just stop the pity party already. Either leave or stay and suck it up. And Bella can she stop stringing Jacob along? Even the rest of the Cullens, their appeal has waned. Now they always seem to be there at every turn all goodness and pure. They used to be interesting with the superpowers, not anymore when every other vampire seem to have a superpower of their own. I so dislike how the other vampires were introduced.. We've heard nothing about most of the Cullen's vampire friends in the previous books so it was annoying just how game they all are to stand by the Cullens. Of course each one more exotic than the other with super cool powers. 

Then we come to the big the supposed high stakes battle that everyone was preparing for...how anti climatic it actually turns out. No one gets dirty and brutal, no one had to make hard choices and confront whatever they think they are or stood for. I hate it when we are presented with a high stakes scenario and yet it doesn't follow through with any casualties. I'd say just watch the movie if you were thinking of reading this, at least there was more action.

Death Comes to Pemberley
It's been a long time since I've read Pride and Prejudice, possibly what I remember of it comes from the two adaptations which I have watch many times, I interpreted Pride and Prejudice as a social commentary that is often humorous. So despite the title Death Comes to Pemberley suggesting a more ominous premise, I thought it would still be witty. Rather than be a satire about marriage, wealth and courtship like in Pride and Prejudice... I had thought it would take a stab at death...what a dark comedy it would be. But no, Death Comes to Pemberley is quite serious; unless I really miss the irony and humor. Which makes the book disappointing even though i's filled with most of the characters of the original, the characteristics of some of the characters have not been retained. Lizzie isn't quite as quick witted and seems to have lost the sharp tongue of hers. Most changed perhaps is Colonel Fitzwilliam. Although Death Comes to Pemberly does try to give an explanation for the change, still he is so different from the Colonel in Pride and Prejudice where he was pretty charming especially compared to Darcy. As for the story, it does stick with what Pride and Prejudice had which includes a scandal involving, who else but the rake Wickham. Similarly everything is fixed by the cleverness of a relative who does not want the doings of Wickham to mar all those that are connected to him by blood and law.

Watched

House of Cards - Season 1
Some of my thoughts for season 1 which I just finished watching. Beware of some minor spoilers.

• Politics is dirty and makes for entertaining TV
• Oh the scheming! It's what present day Game of Thrones would be like I suppose. People making alliances, exchanging favours, backstabbing and fighting for the various positions of power.
• Frank can be a little over the top with how he is always one step ahead of everyone and having a back up plan for every failed scheme still he is one of the most interesting characters on TV now. I particularly like when he looks at the camera gives his thoughts on a situation and dispenses his principles.
• Love all the sharp dialogue.
• I think Frank and Claire may possibly have one of the best TV marriage. Though I'm sensing there's no romantic love there, it's more like a partnership. They communicate and support one another. When one of them has a problem, the other would usually say "What can I do". Not that it's always peachy. The show does attempt to explore that push comes to shove, whose ambition is deemed more important, and we do see Claire get angry that hers is always second to Frank's.
• The portrayal of women being catty and stepping over one another to get the top is getting old, so I love that Zoe and Janine's relationship takes a positive turn the later part of the season. 

Barbara (2012)

I love quiet subtle drama and this one is really good. In 1980's East Germany, Barbara is a doctor banished to work in a clinic in the country after applying to get an exit visa so that she can join her boyfriend who lives in the West. At the new clinic Barbara separates herself from her colleagues knowing everyone could play a part in her surveillance and can be tapped by Stasi to provide a report about her. Still her seperateness could also raise suspicion that she has something to hide. Barbara has to constantly be on guard with what she says, does and not do, and also has to endure the routine check ups by the Stasi's. There's always an air of danger in the quiet country as if something terrible is about to happen as Barbara goes about the normal duties of a doctor. Has someone turn on Barbara, has she been too careless or have we become paranoid for her as well?

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Around the Blog


Wednesday:  I took part in Wendell's Back to School Movie Blogathon. The game was to cast movie characters in a few school archetypes like jocks, nerds and so forth. Check out which characters made my class.
Thursday: Thursday Movie Picks #9 was Sports Movies.I'm not a big fan of sport movies but I do have some that I enjoyed. Next week's theme is Movies about Childhood/Young Love. So if you love movies, come and take part in this weekly series. You can read about future topics here.

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Other Stuff

 

• I saw a trailer of horror movie Honeymoon. The movie looks good. I am intrigued as to what is causing the bride's weird behaviour.
• I found out that Wolf Hall and Bringing Up Bodies is getting a TV adaptation. Haven't read the books, but I enjoy Tudor stories...there are a lot of interesting stuff that happened during their reign which makes for compelling movies/TV/books.