The books of June 2012

I still haven’t signed up for internets at home. Once again, it’s just me and a Word document that I will put on a thumb-drive and transfer to my blog. Not overly tech, but definitely some tech involved.

Crafts:

Finally did some crafts! Hurrah! I made one for a friend of a friend who apparently has a thing for Mexican food. 

And really? Who doesn't feel this way?

The other was for an Iron Craft challenge. I’d taken some time off from those to move and it ended up making me sad to not create things, so I made something for the red, white, and blue challenge. The only stipulation was to use two of the color choices (I used red and white), so I was able to create a cross-stitch from my favorite quote from a book I read this month, Jen Lancaster’s Jeneration X. 

Truer words never written...or cross-stitched...

Movies:

This is quickly turning into the summer of movies. I’ve seen at least one new movie every weekend, and there will be more to come! Snow White and the Huntsman looked like it would be really, really good. Charlize Theron was very believable and her costumes and the magical imagery surrounding here were amazing. Chris Hemsworth (aka Thor) was also really good…really believable. And then we see Kristen Stewart. Bless her heart. She nearly ruined the whole thing for us. It boggles the mind to think that we were supposed to take her seriously when she gave the “rousing speech”…ugh. Not so much.

My friends seem to be mixed in their reviews of Prometheus. I enjoyed it. Was it the best thing ever? No. I thought we went over this…best thing ever is the Avengers. But, as sci-fi flicks go, I thought it was a plausible storyline and gave you plenty to think about afterward…and you’re able to see the leap from it to Alien. Overall, decent job…probably not necessary to have seen it on the big screen…more than likely better to watch it and then Alien and Aliens in a row.

Rock of Ages. Eighties. Rock’n’roll cheesy goodness. This movie was so much fun that I can not wait to own it and sing along loudly in the privacy of my own home. I am no fan of Tom Cruise, but he really commits to his roles and he was perfect as the rock star. Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand were hysterical. This is very much a feel good movie and you’ll want to see it more than once.

Brave was very sweet. I mean, seriously, I think we all know Pixar’s not going to put out something crappy. It was a strong story about mothers and daughters…and bears. Very entertaining.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I know, I know. People always say it, but the book really was better for this one. Don’t get me wrong, this movie was totally great! But what I loved about the book was how effortlessly it wove history and vampire hunting together…and made complete and utter sense. Here is was kind of like, you know who this guy is, well, here are some vampires and he’s gonna kill them. Which is fine, it was still a good story and the people playing the vampires were some of my favorite actors…and the way they did include history was good. But I think I was looking forward to bits that just weren’t included. Still, I’d see it again…and read it again, but I think I must have given the book to someone else because it hasn’t shown up in the unpacking.

On the last day of June, I saw Moonrise Kingdom. Those of you who know me well have heard me go on and on about how amazing I think Wes Anderson is. Well, he’s done it again. This movie was funny, sad, quirky, complex, simple, and normal all at the same time. This kid can tell a story and keep you completely invested in it the whole time and even when you think you know, you don’t quite know. I highly recommend this…as well as the DVD when it comes out because his movies always have extensive extras.

Books:

Not a lot of purchases this month. I bought the new Charlaine Harris and the Jenny Lawson books. Mostly I’m still reading things from my stash or getting items from the library. Oh! I did pre-order/order a stash of books from Amazon, but I won’t get them until mid-July: the new Meg Cabot, the new Stacey Ballis, a couple of chick-lit/memoir-type books, and one other one that I can’t remember right now…I’ll list them for real in July.

This month’s choices started strong and then I did something stupid…I picked up book six of a series that should’ve stopped at book three. Anyway I read: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Steig Larsson, Jeneration X: One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner by Jen Lancaster, A Shore Thing by Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Blankets by Craig Thompson, Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris, Kiss of Night by Debbie Viguié, The Song Remains the Same by Alison Winn Scotch, and An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon.

The last of the Millennium Trilogy was so good. I’d already seen the Swedish movies, but I waited for the book to come out the same size as the other two and then I moved, so it was a while before I got to it. There were definitely some differences between the book and the movie (as with the other two books) but both versions are solid story-telling. I didn’t want to put this down and I am very sad that we may never see any more of Salandar’s story. She’s kind of awesome.

I love Jen Lancaster’s blog and books. This was no exception. I laughed out loud many times while reading it. Come on! It inspired me to make the cross-stitch quote pictured above…what more persuasion do you need to read this book?! Read all of her books! Well, first finish this post and then go read her books. She is consistently entertaining.

Ah, Snooki. How I’ve missed my weekly dose of crappy, crappy television. A Shore Thing is about as close as you can get to watching an episode of Jersey Shore without having to actually watch it. Although, it’s written pretty well (yes, of course she had help) and not nearly as chaotic as watching them all self-destruct on air. It’s an extremely fluffy read…kind of perfect for the beach or something. I doubt it’s going to win a Pulitzer, but it had some funny moments. The characters aren’t meant to be her and J-Woww exactly, but you could see them represented very easily. Fun, but not necessary…or recommended really.

Blankets is a graphic novel that my friend loaned to me. I read it over a couple of hours one afternoon. It was one of the more interesting graphic novels I’ve read that wasn’t a known comic. Basically, the artist draws about his life and coming to terms with his spirituality and talent in a small town…I don’t want to spoil any plot, but y’all should know that I liked it a lot.

Deadlocked was awesome! I read recently that it’s the next to last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. That makes me happy and sad at the same time. I love reading them, but it’s been a bit ridiculous (in a good way) for a while now.  Again, no spoilers, but I kind of felt like the end of this one had been building up throughout the series, so I’m pretty excited to see how it closes out. I’m really glad the show deviated from the books because now it’s like there are two sets of stories that I can see these people acting out in my head. Whoever does the casting for the HBO series is pretty much a genius.

Kiss of Night was a pretty standard “good” vampire versus “bad” vampire story. It seemed that it would have a follow-up book, but I haven’t looked for one. The main character went to Prague (I think…somewhere like that at least) for her grandmother’s funeral and found out that (a) there are vampires, (b) her grandmother and her grandmother’s family had been mixed up in vampire stuff for centuries, (c) there was a war coming between the good and bad vampires (all of whom seem to be named after the main Angels mentioned in the Bible…which I’m sure will come into play if there is a sequel), and (d) damsels are in distress and need to be rescued. As I said, standard. Not a bad read at all, just not overly memorable if you’re wanting a good vampire novel to, ahem, sink your teeth into…<ducks>

The Song Remains the Same was another good one from this author. The main character is one of two survivors (the other is a B actor who will become more famous because of his survival) in a plane crash. Her family rallies around her to try and help her regain her memory, which is totally gone. Not all of their stories are what they seem and the book is spent unraveling truth from lies and finding out who’s really there for her and who’s only out for himself or herself. This one’s pretty emotional, but well done.

Last, and painstakingly least, the latest of the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone. UGH! This book is 814 long pages. Very long. In small typeface. UGH! I loved Outlander and I liked to two following it, but it has gotten completely ridiculous. The storyline is split more now as Claire’s daughter, Brianna, is in 1980s Scotland with her husband, Roger, and their two kids, Jem and Mandy.  Claire and Jamie (and Young Ian, Rollo the wolf dog, Fergus, his family, John Gray and some of his family) are in the time of the American Revolution. Standout historical character here: Benedict Arnold. These are just getting harder to follow. I could’ve sworn they were in the civil war, but apparently I forgot a chunk of storyline. Anyway, most everyone’s still alive, despite constant peril. The more interesting parts are now in the 1980s with Roger researching how the time traveling works and how they are finding more and more spots where the traveling can occur. About two-thirds through the book, Roger’s great-great-great-great…many greats…grandfather, I guess, shows up…the one he met before who was pretty dodgy. So they’re leery of him and in it, missing the real danger…the real danger that happens RIGHT AT THE VERY END OF THE DARN BOOK SO THAT YOU HAVE TO READ YET ANOTHER TOME OF CRAP! And Claire becomes super-further-entangled into past craziness with John Gray and seriously, only the last few chapters are what you need to read if you want to be caught up for book seven…which I believe is coming later this year or early next year. I read the last 150-or-so pages much more rapt than the rest of the book. It seems like it took me ages to get through the whole thing (I stopped and read the last two books I talked about after I’d started this one cause I was bored with it)…I just hope this next one is the last because if it ends with all parts of the families in epic cliffhangers again, I will be very, very angry that I’ve kept reading them. At some point, people need to catch a break. Even freaking Scottish time-travelers!