Crafts:
Just one birthday gift to show. Of course it's from another etsy pattern. If you've not seen Flight of the Conchords, it won't make much sense. So go watch the entire series...NOW!
 |
| A freaky, freaky dream... |
In March, I went to see two movies...I've just not been overly motivated to go to see things lately.
Cinderella (the new, live action one) was cute. I only went to see it because I knew Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter would steal the show...and they really, really did. Cate's outfits were amazing! So were Helena's...and her eyelashes were insane. I figure you all know the story by now...they played a little with the backstory of how the dad dies and delved in more to how the wicked stepmother became who she was. I also enjoyed the clothing on the stepsisters...the polka dot dresses were awesome. I probably could've waited to see this one on dvd, but I didn't mind spending the money.
Insurgent is the sequel to Divergent (there's one more coming...which I'm guessing, like all the other teen trilogies, they'll hack into two movies instead of one). When I saw Divergent, I left the theater feeling kind of like, "enh...that was ok"...which is kind of how I felt about all the books too. To prep for seeing Insurgent, I rewatched Divergent and actually enjoyed it quite a bit. So, hopes up, I went to see the second one...and left the theater feeling exactly the same as the first time. They did a really great job with casting, and I like the storyline. I guess maybe there are just too many dystopian futures out there in books and movies. A couple of the stunts did wow me though, so I'm glad I saw it in the theater.
Books:
In March, I read: Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London by Nigel Jones, Turtle Face and Beyond: Stories by Arthur Bradford, Funny Girl by Nick Hornby, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Eric Larson, and The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones.
Tower is a decent read. It has a lot of facts...and incorporates the fiction about the place as well...to give as full of a story as possible. I really liked visiting the Tower of London but this didn't really take me back to it. I do feel I know more about the structure now, but I didn't find it as interesting as I thought I would.
Turtleface and Beyond is a collection of short stories that are sometimes connected and very offbeat. I took a chance with this one. It was ok but did not make me want to read his other books. I like strange little stories, but this wasn't my cup of tea.
I thought Funny Girl was great! I think we all know that I like Nick Hornby's writing, so my feelings on the book shouldn't be a surprise. A girl from a small town in England moves to London to become a huge television star. Along the way, she meets the people who will form her urban family in the city and this is really their story as much as hers...she's just the glue for keeping them together. It follows them all (writers, actors, producers, actual family, random friends) throughout the run of the television show and to the reunion years later for the dvd release. Hornby writes characters that have plenty of flaws and make good and bad choices...this was just a really good read.
Erik Larson's books have been hit or miss with me, but the thing about all of them is that they stay with me and I find myself thinking about them long after I've read them. Dead Wake is no different. Before reading this book, all I knew about the Lusitania is that it was sunk by the Germans before the war around the UK and that some Americans died on it as well as many others. This book really showed the whole picture. History of the ship and the company who owned it; history of the captain of the ship; history of travelers on board; history of German submarines and the wartime set up that put everything in place for the sinking of the ship. I found this one to be interesting and hard to put down. I guess if I had to rank the books, I'd put this second behind Devil in the White City. You will learn something though, so if you're looking for fluff, this isn't your book.
The Wars of the Roses is something I've read about for years. Brace yourselves for this: I like books about the history of England. I keep reading them even if I've read a ton of books on the same thing. You always find something different in each author's research...or, in the case of fictionalized histories, you get a different viewpoint into what the author thinks of the cast of characters. What stood out here is that Dan Jones writes to engage the reader in the story of history and that's fantastic to me. I've got his book on the Tudors as well and I am looking forward to reading it.
Well, there's March done. We're over halfway through April and time is moving way too fast. More soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment