Another month is gone...and with it, possibly the last of the snow for middle and southern Illinois (never say never). As predicted, the allergens changed and are out in full force. Time to change the allergy meds.
Crafts:
Craft mode hasn't really kicked in after all the frantic Christmas cross-stitching of last year. I'm very slowly working on the first Christmas gift of this year (the birthday is long past...she got a different gift instead). And I've actually already purchased a Christmas gift from another crafter. So, I'm well on my way to being so organized that I forgot I had these gifts for people and buy them something else later. Awesome.
Movies:
I only saw one movie in April, and it was a really good one: Oblivion. I've talked about my not-so-stellar feelings for Tom Cruise before, but in no way did he mess up this movie. It was a solid story; it was sci-fi, yet believable. Plus, when is Morgan Freeman bad? Pretty much never (I'm not talking about that one...what was it? Chain Reaction maybe? Ugh. That wasn't his fault.) When it comes out to rent...or if it's still playing right now, check it out.
Books:
I ended up reading more than I thought I would this month. Which is good. Because when I look at the crafts and movies section, I wonder just what the crap I did all month. Apparently I watched tv, dvds, and read, so I think it's all ok.
This month I read: Beautiful Chaos and Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology by Mary H. Foster, The Mystery of Mercy Close: A Walsh Sister Novel by Marian Keyes, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, Bossypants by Tina Fey, The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell, and Paris: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd.
The last two books of the Beautiful Creatures books followed up and closed the story nicely. I enjoyed the entire series as a whole. These last two books follow Ethan and Lena through more of the casters' worlds and the south's past. These tales are sad and funny and compelling. I don't want to give away spoilers, but there are definitely some surprises that aren't what you want to read, but when the story ends, the entire tale feels right...even with all that's happened in between. Good, evil, light, dark, love, death, love beyond death, demons, casters, ghosts, succubi, the civil war, and southern cooking all feature heavily in these books. Enjoy!
I was in the mood to read about Thor and Loki since the second movie will be out this fall. Asgard Stories was basically a quick peek into Norse mythology. Not all the characters were covered, but it nice to revisit the tales. I've enjoyed pretty much all mythology since my first intro to Egyptian mythology back in the third grade.
The Mystery of Mercy Close is great! I've waited for this book for a long time. I really enjoy Marian Keyes writing and I really, REALLY enjoy stories from her that include the Walsh family. I think Helen is the last of the daughters, so it was nice to finally read about her...and to get an inside look on what Keyes was going through during her depressive times that kept her from writing. It had to feel good to get that out there. In previous books, Helen was the biting wit, jealous and sarcastic, and possibly a bit spoiled, but through her own ability to persuade people to her way. In this one, Helen's grown up and has a real job (as real as she can have) and definitely real problems. The investigation she gets, to find the missing member of a boy band in the midst of a reunion/comeback tour is a fun twist to a crime novel. I can't actually say enough good things about this book...which is kind of what happens with most of Keyes books. So I'll stop. It's good...it's fun...it's explanatory about depressive behaviors...do yourself a favor and read it.
I got The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight because (a) the title intrigued me and (b) the Kindle version was a deal of the day one time, so I got it super cheap. It was such a delightful read. that I stayed up past my bedtime so I could finish it. The main character, Hadley, is the only child of a couple who split when her dad moved to England to teach. She and her mom were going to follow, but things happened and Hadley had been estranged from her father for many reasons ever since. But now her dad was remarrying and wanted her there. She missed her flight and took the red eye to London a few hours later. While at the airport, she meets a young, British man, Oliver, who's also going to London to see family. In the intense hours they spend together, they fall for each other and help each other get through very difficult and complicated family issues. It was a quick read, but a very good one.
Bossypants was also on a Kindle deal one day, so I finally bought it. It's Tina Fey, so of course, it is hysterical. Nothing earth shattering here...just that I like and respect her more after reading this book than I already did. Get it when you need some chuckles.
The Carrie Diaries is a re-read. I love, love, LOVE the series on the CW (which means it'll probably get canceled), but I didn't remember loving the book as much. So I read it again. It's a decent read, but really? I think you should watch the show. It's set in the 80s, so the music is fabulous. The clothes are era appropriate and awesome. The details of the things in their house for the era kind of blow my mind. Don't bother comparing this Carrie to the jaded Carrie we all know from Sex and the City. You can see the beginnings of how she gets there, but it's just more sweet and fun back in her high school days. Also, there are appearances by people as adult characters in this show that were on SATC as one time characters. Kind of fun to spot those things.
The last book of the month was a hefty one. Paris, by Edward Rutherfurd, was one that I got excited to read when I saw the blurb on the website. This book takes a handful of families and follows their slowly entangling lineages throughout about 700 years of the city of Paris. I think my favorite part was when they were building the Eiffel Tower...and then much later when Germany invaded and the Gestapo was in charge of much of Paris (not the resistance, bien sur!). You learn a lot about the city's geography and history as told through these families and their involvements with each other. It's a little over 800 pages, so be aware of what you're getting into, but I thought it was well done. I'll probably read another by him...all of his city/history books are fairly large, so I'll wait a while before tackling another.
That's it for April. I've already read a book (Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc. by David Sedaris) and am nearly a quarter of the way through another (Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie), so next month's list should be good. I also already saw Iron Man 3. Loved it!
