Another movie filled month with slightly more reading than the month before!
Movies:
Magic Mike XXL was a funnier movie than the first. But then, it wasn't trying to cover the economic and housing issues while telling a stripper story. This one is more of a buddy reunion film with strippers. And I'm not sure if they did it wrong or not, but I left not wanting to see strippers, but wanting to learn those dance moves.
Minions was adorable! I need to be Scarlett Overkill for Halloween some year. Loved this!
Ant-Man was really, really funny. Probably more funny than people expect a superhero movie to be, but you can't put Paul Rudd in a movie and not experience that level of awesome. I mean, it's Paul Rudd. He's just great. The tie ins to the Marvel universe were pretty sweet. I'm excited for more.
Mr. Holmes was not an exciting film. It was a slow moving story of what could've happened to the greatest crime solving mind of a generation as his mind began to fail him with age. It was sad and thoughtful and very touching. A definitely rainy day afternoon type of thing.
Pixels is not good. That said, it's a great Adam Sandler movie. I'm a sucker for that...and for the 80s...and specifically 80s video games and music. I was extremely entertained the whole time. Spoiler: while the premise of the movie is hard to believe, I found it more believable than the thought that Kevin James would be president AND married to Jane Krakowski.
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation was very fun. It was definitely a great action film. As much as I dislike Tom Cruise, I will continue to see him in things like this (especially if Simon Pegg is involved) because he really does know how to do these types of movies right. (But seriously Tom, quit running like that...you know what I mean.)
Books:
In July, I guess I had a little more reading time...probably because of vacation. I read: The Rival Queens: Catherine de'Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom by Nancy Goldstone; The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes; Shoot Don't Shoot by JA Jance; Younger by Pamela Redmond Satran; Gideon's Corpse by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child; I Regret Nothing by Jen Lancaster; and Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee.
I took a chance on The Rival Queens because I like history and I like that horrible, teen-angsty show called Reign on the CW. I still like the show and I have a slightly better understanding of the history of that particular time. However, I think I like the TV show better. It so overly fictionalized that they've basically rewritten history as a crazy soap opera. The real thing was more of a downer for the characters.
I never tire of Marian Keyes. The Woman Who Stole My Life is about a married woman who slips into a paralyzing illness and her recovery and return to the world. She becomes famous for a book that her doctor wrote of their conversations (made through blinking) and travels supporting the book. She falls for the doctor; her ex-husband, trying to grab his own fifteen minutes of fame decides to give away all the things; her best friend takes her life from her...much in the same way her ex claims she did to him. A comedy of errors, with a side of serious feels. Every book of hers is just a joy to read.
Shoot Don't Shoot was a book on the shelf at the house we stayed while on vacation. It was a formulaic thriller...not particularly entertaining, but until I could get to the bookstore, it was all I had. I did finish it...so there was something to it besides my own stubborn attitude towards it.
Younger is a short read about a divorced woman in her 40s who looks much younger and restarts her career and love life, letting people assume she is much younger. There is also a TV show of this...I think on TV Land or something? It was cute. A little predictable, but cute.
Gideon's Corpse was the second Gideon Crew book (I'd already read the first and third ones). This time Gideon and the team have ten days to find and disarm a nuclear bomb in the US. A good thriller...not as good as the third one which included completely implausible realities and was, therefore, more my speed. All three of these were pretty good though. You don't really want to put them down.
I Regret Nothing is another Jen Lancaster book about her life. As usual, it was hilarious and made me want to be friends with her all over again. She talked about getting her feels together and finally making changes in her lifestyle and starting a whole new side business. And of course, she talked about the dogs and cats that are truly her and her husband's overlords. Hilarious. Read it.
Go Set A Watchman has gotten a lot of flack. After reading it, I'm not totally sure why. It's kind of like dinging JK Rowling for writing something that it's Harry Potter. Scout can't stay young and idealistic forever. She has to grow up. Family dynamics change with time. The only true constant is history. And that's where I felt Lee stayed true...and where people got mad. We were not there and we can not always be certain of people's thoughts and actions once out of the public eye. I felt this story was a very believable follow up. It took some of the heroism away from original characters, but that's to be expected sometimes. It was a slow read, but, I felt, a good one. Was it To Kill A Mockingbird good? No, but still good in its own way.
All right...that was it for July. On to August...
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