Crafts:
In April, I gave my friend her birthday present. I got the pattern off of etsy of course. She's the one who introduced me to Flight of the Conchords, so I felt this gift was only fitting:
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| A freaky dream... |
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| Come on! Let's make a break for it! |
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| They were just so cute...and went well with the giraffe themed gift. |
Movies:
In April, I saw only one movie: Woman in Gold. If you did not see this movie, definitely rent it when it's on DVD. Helen Mirren plays a woman who escaped at the last minute from Vienna when the Nazi's took over. Her family lost everything, including the Klimt painting of her aunt. This is the story of her suing for reparations and deciding the fate of Klimt's woman in gold. It's a really great story based on true events.
In May, I saw two movies: Tomorrowland and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Tomorrowland was fun...very fluffy, a little emotional, and interesting to see on a large screen. The movie kept my attention the whole time. Like I said, it was fun.
Age of Ultron was awesome. James Spader is a genius robot bad guy. The additions of Quicksilver (although you can't call him that in this movie) and the Scarlet Witch were well done. There were a few parts that dragged, but it's information we'll need to get us through the next phase of Marvel movies, so I'm ok with it. I know I'm biased toward loving these movies, so take it with a grain of salt. I had a great time and will see it again and own it.
Books:
In April I read: Patriot Threat by Steve Berry, Serena by Ron Rash, A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab, and The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain.
Again a disclaimer: not everyone likes the political thrillers...I do. Steve Berry wrote another great book. The Patriot Threat has all the action of the other Cotton Malone books...but this time, no family drama or girlfriend drama. It's been a while since I read it, but I remember enjoying it a lot and that it read fast. My favorite is still the one about Queen Elizabeth I, but this one, for being based in American politics, was really good. I'd rank it better than the Lincoln Myth, but not as good as the Jefferson Key (of the mainly America-based mysteries).
Serena was about a husband and wife in the logging industry back when people became worried about public lands and parks and such. The story goes through their marital ups and downs, the characters involved in their lives for better or worse, and the downfall of their business and marriage. It was recently made into a movie with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. I can see this playing well on the screen...might be worth a rental if you're not up for reading it.
A Darker Shade of Magic was a book about magical kingdoms...how all the realms are magical, but some more than others. The base of the story is in London...gray London is regular London as we would know it (no magic), black London (bad magic) is sealed, red London is the purest and best run magical realm, and white London is the one trying to get more magic back and do bad things with it. The main character can travel between these magical realms and ends up involved in a plot to undo things done in the past and let loose the uncontrollable magic. He finds a friend who helps him along the way and learns more about himself during the journeys between realms. It was ok. In a world without new Harry Potter novels, sometimes I take magic-based stories where I can get them. I'm not sure how I found out about this one, but it did keep my interest.
Mark Twain wasn't someone I expected to write about Adam and Eve, but he did so very, very humorously. The story is diary entries from both Adam and Eve about each other and the animals and the beginning of time. I'd read somewhere in an article that Jarmusch was loosely influenced by this story when he was making Only Lovers Left Alive...which makes sense. It's not a play-by-play interpretation, but I could see where he read it and had ideas. It's short and pretty funny. The complaints of the original people were the same complaints men and women have about each other today.
In May I read: The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris, The Lost Island by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, The Fatal Crown by Ellen Jones, and All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner.
The Gospel of Loki is a book I've been waiting for a while to read. When I went to London last year, it had been released there and I had to wait for it to come here. Joanne Harris also wrote Chocolat and I love that book and the movie interpretation. Loki's story was very entertaining. It's the entire beginning and end of the Norse gods as told from only Loki's point of view. It didn't hurt that when I think of Loki, I think of Tom Hiddleston...that may have influenced my liking of the book a notch or two. If you like the Norse myths, it's just a fun read.
I picked up The Lost Island to take on a trip with me. It ended up being so good that I was halfway done before I even got off the plane. I had to go to a bookstore and find another one in the series to read...I chose Gideon's Sword since it was the first of the three. Gideon Crew has a terminal illness and changes from his life as a worker at Los Almos National Labs to using his former thievery skills to complete specific jobs as required by his new boss, Glinn, and his elusive company that works in failure management and pyschosocial engineering. Both books are fast paced and full of action and have plots that seem completely insane. Gideon's Sword has Gideon first tracking down and dispensing payback to the man who framed and murdered his mathematician father, then meeting Glinn and having to track down a Chinese invention while an assassin thwarts his every move. The Lost Island is the third book and Glinn sends Gideon and another employee to find a cure all off the coast of Nicaragua, based on a map hidden under the paint on a page in the Book of Kells, which was based on a map made by the ancient Greeks. This led them to tying a historical work of fiction to real life in the modern world...and massive destruction of said real life. They are very fun, completely implausible reads that you kind of wish could be true. After I finish up the stack of books I've got right now, I'm probably going to buy the one I've not read yet.
The Fatal Crown has been hanging around me for a while. After all the action/adventure, I needed a little history. This book focuses on Maud (who became the female head of the Plantagenet line) and Steven (House of Blois) and their fight for the English Crown after Maud's ver forward thinking father made her head of England when he died. Steven usurped the crown with help from others (mostly because people wouldn't be ruled by a woman, no matter how qualified). It also included an interesting twist of having the cousins be in love with each other and them siring a child that would one day become King of England. It was not overly factual, but most of the characters did exist. It was an interesting take on the story...and one I believe I've read before in a very different, more factual format. There are two sequels...I am not sure if I'll get to those or not.
All Fall Down is typical Jennifer Weiner. That means it's well written, I get a little bored about halfway through, but end up not wanting to put it down until it's done because the story itself is good and she doesn't always take the easy way out with her characters (ie, not always a every thread sewn up perfect happy ending). In this book, Allison and her husband have kind of a perfect life that is slowly deteriorating. Their little girl is sensitive to a lot of things; Allison's blogging job has become more than full time; her dad has developed Alzheimers; her mom is still not able to take care of anything on her own; and Allison has turned to prescription drugs to even get through an hour of a day. The story follows Allison ignoring all the signs, ultimately being put into rehab, and slowly pulling herself back together. It's a really good read.
Well, that's two months worth of stuff. Hopefully I'll get back on schedule now. Later!
