June 2018 Update

I have been watching so many things that I barely know where to start (even though it won't look like it)! I started and finished a few series this month, so formatting this update is going to be a bit interesting - bear with me! (Grr, I'm a bear).

Started Watching:

hypable.com

The Shannara Chronicles season 2 - started and finished

I missed the first couple of episodes of season 2 when it aired, so I decided to wait until I could get it on DVD. I got it right when I was in the middle of several shows, but I still breezed through it in a few days. It definitely had a different feel to season 1, but I still enjoyed it (even though not as much as the first season). Unfortunately no one picked this show up for season 3, so it looks like it's done.

bustle.com

One More Time - started and finished
I was having some K-drama withdrawal (as you'll see why later), so I needed something as a quick distraction and picked this one. At only eight half-hour episodes, this is a quick one to whip through when you just need to get your drama fix. I finished this in two days, and liked it. It's a much simpler one than some of the others I've been watching lately, but that made it a nice change. As a heads-up, this is a Netflix original.

TMST: Worst Type of Ending

This week's Tell Me Something Tuesday question from Rainy Day Ramblings is "What is worse: cliffhanger, abrupt ending or open ending?"

This is a fun one that I can answer without too much difficulty. I can't stand abrupt endings! Protagonist wakes and it was all a dream? The end.
Big explosion ends the world. The end.
Main character dies and three seconds of mourning. The end.
I absolutely can't stand it, because it feels like a cop out. It feels like an excuse to not have to go into greater character development or to think through all the loose ends that need to be tied up. The only exception I have had to this so far has been the book The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham, because it actually felt like things were being tied up properly and that this ending was the only way to make things work. I have never felt even similarly with other abrupt endings.

Series I'd Still Like to Read

Have you ever wanted to read a series for so long that you've essentially forgotten what it was about, and why you wanted to read it in the first place? Or perhaps ones you've wanted to wait to start until the whole series (or most of it) is out? Well, I have built up quite the list of these by now, so here are some of the ones I've been waiting a long time to get into, but still plan on reading (thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl for today's TTT prompt):

1) Gemma Doyle Trilogy - Libba Bray
I'll be reading the first book, A Great and Terrible Beauty, for my TBR Challenge this year

2) The Remnant Chronicles - Mary E. Pearson
I'll be reading the first book, The Kiss of Deception, for my TBR Challenge this year

3) Inkheart Trilogy - Cornelia Funke
I absolutely adored Inkheart when it came out, and asked for the sequel Inkspell for Christmas one year, but it was a couple of years later and I couldn't get into it right away unfortunately. I really want to re-read Inkheart and then finish this series.

4) Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
I tried getting into this more than once, and I usually don't make it beyond chapter two for some reason. I absolutely adore the 1985 mini-series (and its direct sequel), so it breaks my heart not automatically getting into the books. I know once I push myself to get through the first bit that it'll be much smoother sailing!

5) The Maze Runner - James Dashner
This book was so overly hyped that I just didn't want to pick it up. After watching the first movie though, I thought the concept was interesting and plan to at least give it a try. The first book, The Maze Runner, is part of my TBR Challenge this year.

6) The Ascendance Trilogy - Jennifer A. Nielsen
The plot for this middle grade series sounds great, but it just hasn't been high on my priority list unfortunately. It doesn't help that I try not to review MG fiction on my blog, which pushes it further down.

Period Dramas: Dark Angel

usatoday.com

What It's About:

Mary Ann Cotton is a wife and a mother - just like any other in the mid-1800s. She struggles with balancing the care of her children, the house, and putting food on the table while her husband William is away for work. When William stops bringing in enough money, Mary Ann decides that he's more trouble than he's worth, and takes things into her own hands.Well, maybe she's not quite like any other wife and mother. Dark Angel details the life and actions of the first female serial killer in Britain, from the events before her first crimes, until the brief months after her last.

Favourite Five: Childhood Movie Musicals

Since it's nearly impossible to narrow down my top five favourite musicals, I decided to limit these to ones that I loved the most when I was younger (and I am still fond of today!). I have taken Disney animated movies off of here otherwise I would never stand a chance of getting a list less than twenty. So, here are my favourite five in no particular order:

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1) Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)

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2) Muppet Treasure Island (1996)

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3) The King and I (1956)

TMST: Midyear Update

Thanks to the work of Rainy Day Ramblings again, this week's TMST topic is a Midyear Update.

So, I guess the first place to start is that I have now been running this blog for nearly a year and a half (I guess closer to a year and a third?), so I am looking forward to how things go over the next while. Life is general is getting busier, so I don't know what I will have time for, but I am trying to commit to at least one post a week, although lately I am generally doing more than that. My original date for posting was Tuesdays, but since I often like to do Top Ten Tuesday or Tell Me Something Tuesday, I have currently flipped it on over to Fridays. We'll see how that goes.

Alright, now onto the proper mid-year update. My two main goals for this year are my Goodreads Goal and my TBR Challenge, although there are a few other things I do hope to achieve by the end of the year. For Goodreads, I decided for this year to try and get through 35 books. I'm currently at 13, and not far away from finishing two more, so I'm on good track (even though according to where Goodreads thinks I should be I am two behind). Where my TBR Challenge is concerned, well, I'm not doing the greatest (aka failing miserably). I'm supposed to complete 12 books that I chose for this year, and I have completed 2. I am a good chunk of the way through the third one, and I have a few that I think I should be able to finish quickly, so I'm not officially worried, but I really need to pick up the pace. Unfortunately with my schooling at the moment I have weekly assignments, so that is really cutting into my reading and blogging time. My other goals for the year (although unofficial), are these:

Period Drama: Hidden Figures

Based on real events, and the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, this film was nominated for three academy awards.

hollywoodreporter.com

What It's About:

In 1961, before the public use of computers, men and women were employed at NASA to calculate by hand the delicate math required for space travel. Three of these "human computers", Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, struggle to be heard and treated fairly amongst their colleagues, as they are not only women in a men's world, but African American. Fighting gender inequality and racial prejudice, these three women pave the way for women in STEM, and are invaluable in NASA's success during the Space Race.

May 2018 Update

You know how I said May would pick up? Well, May is crazy time at work (through until September), and everything started in April that I was watching and hasn't finished yet. So because of that, I'm including a few movies that I am not planning on reviewing, rather than just television shows.

Started Watching:

bbcamerica.com

Merlin season 3
I've slowed down a bit on Merlin since I've been busy with The 100 and The Handmaid's Tale this month, but I'm still watching it. The plot development is better this season, with storylines carrying forward more than they did in past seasons. Still a nice show to casually watch.

koreandramaland.com

Something in the Rain
This is a sweet little K-drama that I just started watching about two people who have known each other since childhood. As they get to spend more time together, they become closer and closer and fall for each other. I'm only a few episodes in, but really enjoying it. It's nice to find another K-drama I'm liking after having a string of bad ones!