Is it just me or has this month completely flown by insanely fast? I can't believe it's August...time for all the back-to-school issues of magazines. I used to love those. Now I think it's more just about Vogue's September Issue (also an excellent movie)...which I am anxiously awaiting to see. I did some crafts at the beginning of the month, but since they're gifts, I can't show them right now. I went home for about a week and hung out with family. Also, I had some crazy allergic reaction to a combination of things that resulted in a trip to the doctor and my swearing off of chia seeds forever.
Movies:
July was a good movie month. I started with Despicable Me 2. I love, love, LOVED it. I can not wait until it comes out on DVD. The storyline is cute and the minions are awesome. If you didn't see it, rent it when it comes out.
When I was a kid, I used to watch reruns of The Lone Ranger on TV on the weekends. I remember always liking it...the music and the catch phrase made me very happy. Turns out, those two things also made me very happy when I saw the movie last month. I imagine if I'd never seen the original, this would've been a strange movie...a western with loads of explosives and Jack Sparrow from the Pirates movies, only he was wearing weird make-up and a bird on his head. But since I knew the characters already, I found this highly enjoyable. It was more violent than I expected, especially for a Disney flick.
I know a lot of people didn't like this one, but I liked Pacific Rim quite a bit. Idris! Idris! Idris! That's really all it needed, but it also had giant sea monster aliens and giant robots. Clearly, I would find this to be a winning combination. It was very much like old Godzilla movies, only without the stomping of buildings. The monsters and the robots pretty much destroyed everything in their fighting, not by stomping. I wouldn't recommend this to all of you, but if you enjoy things like this, go for it. It's totally fun!
Champaign finally got Much Ado About Nothing. Which means I got to see it. I really like the Kenneth Branaugh one that came out years ago. After watching this and also really liking it set in modern times, I think that maybe this could be my favorite Shakespeare offering. The story can clearly translate, but what's great is how the dialog, given the actors' intonations, can seem so very now. Everyone did a great job...and of course, any time Joss Whedon is involved, I'm going to love it. I think the biggest surprise was figuring out that Borachio was the kid from Gladiator.
Lastly, I saw Wolverine. WOLVERINE! The whole experience started out great...there was a guy at the theater dressed up like Wolverine, adamantium "claws" and all. The storyline was ok, but the fighting and everything was pretty awesome. Hugh Jackman really owns this character. The wee preview at the end of the movie makes me super excited to see the next X-Men movie!
Books:
Looking at my book list, I'm guessing I spent a lot of time on my couch again.The library really came through on some of my early requests for newer titles.
This month I read Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follet; Coming to My Senses: A Story of Perfume, Pleasure, and an Unlikely Bride by Alyssa Harad; Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger by Beth Harbison; Freud's Mistress by Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman; Topsy: The Startling Story of the Crooked Tailed Elephant, P. T. Barnum, and the American Wizard, Thomas Edison by Michael Daly; Blood and Beauty: The Borgias: A Novel by Sarah Dunant; I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) by Chuck Klosterman; and I finally finished Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie.
Fall of Giants was epic. It covers time before World War I through a bit after the end of the war. It follows many characters through mining troubles, aristocratic upheavals, the suffragette movement, thievery, the mafia, birth, death, and the war itself. The people take us through Russia, England, Wales, France, Germany, and America. It's very well researched and written. I was sucked into the book by the third chapter and rarely wanted to put it down. The second book comes out in paperback this month, so I think I'll be reading it soon.
Coming to My Senses sparked a major interest in perfume and scent. The author's story of coming to love the different smells and finding her favorites made me request many more books about perfume from the library (I apologize in advance if you're not interested in scent...next month will have a lot of reviews on books about scent). It kept reminding me of the chapter on smell in Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses. I've loved perfume for a while...I find it very interesting how the different scents interact with skin and how something that doesn't smell great on me may smell amazing on one of my friends. The author's research into the history and science of scent was easy to follow. I liked how different scents not only hit memory notes for her and others, but also triggered confidence in herself and curiosity among her friends and family. This was a lovely book and I really appreciate my friend giving it to me for Christmas :)
I needed a break from heavier topics and I read Chose the Wrong Man, Gave Him the Wrong Finger. Besides being an awesome title, it was a pretty funny book. The main character never leaves her hometown and she runs a bridal shop and makes one of a kind wedding dresses. Kind of a sad job for a gal who ran out on her wedding with the groom's best man...who was also his brother. The set up of the story (and the title) drew me to the book. It's a very fast read and a cute story.
Freud's Mistress was a bit more substantial. I don't know much about Freud and this was new information for me. Did you know that it's been proved that Freud had a long time affair with his own sister-in-law? I didn't. This fiction novel is based on actual history and events...letters, hotel guest books, and so on. I thought this seemed like a decent representation of what happened...and how the affair could've happened and how it would've progressed. An interesting read.
Topsy wasn't my favorite read...and I'm not sure I'd recommend it. I didn't know a lot about the beginnings of the circus in the US, but now I see how it's tied to so many different parts of our history. I think what I didn't like was reading about the abuse of the elephants and how Edison and others ran all the experiments on stray dogs. Those parts were really not cool. But I would've never have put together the circus, Barnum, Edison, and electricity.
I've watched both of the Borgia series through their second seasons (one on Netflix and one on Showtime) and I enjoyed both...although I think the one on Netflix is better overall. So I was pretty excited to find a new book about the Borgias by Sarah Dunant. I love all the different takes on their history. Each retelling of their story breathes new life into the old family. It doesn't hurt that it all takes place in Italy...mostly in the Vatican. All that history...the politics, the plotting, the murders...it's just really complicated and really intriguing. I highly recommend both shows and Blood and Beauty.
I generally enjoy Chuck Klosterman's essays. I did enjoy some of this book, but overall, I didn't think it was his best effort. I think I like his unrelated essays better than having the theme of villainy run through the whole book. I still laughed out loud many times, but it was just a downer topic, I guess. I don't know...I'd recommend his older books, but I don't think this one makes my list. I've not read his fiction works, but after this, one theme throughout? I'm thinking I wouldn't like it much either.
And hurrah! I finally finished Catherine the Great. It was so good! Massie is a fabulous author. He tells history as a story and pulls you into the people's lives. Bringing together the pieces of Catherine's life before and during her rule was a massive piece of work. He said it took him eight years of research and writing. I didn't know of her correspondence with many of the great writers and artists of the time. It was truly a fascinating read.
OK, that's it for July. I've started the latest Philippa Gregory and am looking forward to the second Percy Jackson movie, Elysium, and that September issue of Vogue.
