August 2018 Update

This August I have mostly been focusing on my reading, and haven't really been watching much in the way of television. So because of this, I'm including movies in here as well that I won't be reviewing in depth.

Started Watching:

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Medici : Masters of Florence - gave up on
I didn't give up on this series because it was bad. I simply just forgot about it. I got through the first episode (or was it two?), and intended to keep going, but I didn't remember I had even been watching it after about two days. The volume quality was poor, and the plot was rather slow to begin with. I don't necessarily recommend it or discourage watching it, but I don't plan on continuing it so far. If you've seen it and think I should give it a second chance, let me know.

TMST: Covers That Don't Work

This week's Tell Me Something Tuesday topic from the lovely Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings is "does is bother you when a book cover doesn't fit the characters in the book?" I am so excited to share my thoughts on this one, you have no idea!

Does it bother me? 100%, absolutely, no doubt about it, it drives me nuts! I've talked about the accuracy of cover art a bit in the past, where I evaluated covers of The Picture of Dorian Gray, but I get very bothered if simple details are not kept in mind when designing a cover. If the main character has blond, curly hair, and the cover has a person on it, the person should have blond, curly hair (unless they are evidently depicting a different character of course).

Back to School

This week's Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl is a Back to School/Learning Freebie, so I decided to focus on books where a large portion (or the entire portion) takes place in a school setting and is of importance to the plot.

1) P.S. Your Not Listening - Eleanor Craig
2) Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli
3) The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
4) Matilda - Roald Dahl

Haul-lelujah

A couple of months back I thought about doing a book haul post. I started making a list of all of the books I had bought over the past 6 months or so...and then promptly forgot about it. Stumbling back upon it last week, I decided now was the time! So, every year my city has a large booksale, during which I go on the best shopping spree of my life. By this point (it's nearing the next one), I don't remember everything that I got there and after, but here's at least some of my "recent" purchases, as well as a few gifts I've been given!

Crome Yellow - Aldous Huxley

The Hammer of God - Arthur C. Clarke

Sabriel - Garth Nix

Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare

Jamaica Inn/Frenchman's Creek/Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

Vampire Knight volumes 1-19

Claylord vol. 1

Clover (CLAMP)

Mini-Reviews: The Spectacular Now, Joy, Pompeii, The Edge of Seventeen

I've watched several films over the past few months that I just haven't felt motivated to review in depth. I don't have tons to say about any of these, but at the same time I wanted to let you all know what I thought about them! That being said, here are some mini-reviews so that you get the gist. If anyone wants to know more about any of these movies, please leave me a comment!

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The Spectacular Now

Based on the novel by Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now is a slice of teenage awkwardness. It's fairly likely you've met both an Aimee and a Sutter at some point in your life (whether in high school or college), so these characters feel fairly realistic. The question is, do you like Sutter or do you want to punch him in the face? Well, you'll probably feel both things at some point but that's sort of a good thing. My one major complaint about this one was that the volume was very inconsistent throughout. Overall a decent movie.

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Joy

The beginning is rage-inducing and frustrating, and anyone who has family troubles will relate to this horrible dynamic, and want to punch something. The movie picks up quite well and ends up being surprisingly interesting (yes it is about a mop, but it is really about so much more than that). It was overall enjoyable, and Jennifer Lawrence does a good job with this one.

RFID Poetry

For many of those working in today's libraries, RFID is a term you are more than familiar with - radio-frequency identification. Tags are placed inside books, movies, and other library materials which act as both a security feature and a quick and easy way to sign out items. This allows these materials to be checked out without using the barcode, and for users to borrow and return items without the help of library staff.
RFID poetry is a form of book spine poetry (placing spines of books next to each other and reading the titles in order to create a poem). Created by checking out or returning items with the use of RFID scanners, the resulting receipt can create some deep, hilarious, or downright weird poetic creations depending on the order the items are scanned.

Books You'd Mash Together

This week's Top Ten Tuesday by That Artsy Reader Girl is Books That You'd Mash Together. I absolutely love this one, and have been working on it for a few weeks now. I'm super excited to share these ones with you!:

1) Robin Hood and The Hunger Games
Outside of the arena, Robin steals from the Capital. Inside, Katniss kicks butt and takes names. Later, they share tips on taking down a deer by bow and arrow.

2) The Secret Garden and Frankenstein
You know why they keep the garden a secret?  Corpse reanimation.

3) The Thorn Birds and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
One day the roles will be reversed. What then? Also, what would a baby do with that kind of money?

4) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Yes, Willy Wonka is the Wizard, Oompa Loompas are the Munchkins, and The Wicked Witch is trying to steal factory secrets.

5) Anne of Green Gables and The Girl Who Owned a City
Can Anne uphold her romantic ideals amidst the apocalypse?