Sunday, August 31, 2014

August Wrap-Up

Books I Read

Mercy Mode by Em Garner

4/5


Recommended to fans of The Program and Divergent, zombie-lovers (though it will appeal to those who don't like our rotting friends so much), and both paranormal-newbies and paranormal-junkies. You can read my review of it HERE.


The Program by Suzanne Young

5/5

Recommended to anyone who likes books that make you cry, romance, Divergent, and dystopian books.

Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth

5/5

Divergent, quick reads, a chance to get into another character's head, short stories, anthologies, and anyone who is in desperate need of more Fourtris.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

5/5

Recommended to anyone who likes fluffy reads, terrible writing but a fun story, a cast of characters that you'll instantly love, a typical romance, and happy and predictable endings. I lied.

The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

DNF

Blech. This whole book (or what I managed to force myself to read) seemed like a Harry Potter ripoff to me. I had so much more hope for these two authors, but it didn't really work out.

Movies I Watched

"Dead Poets Society"

5/5

Recommended to anyone who likes simple movies, inspirational messages, and a good cry.

"Aladdin"

4/5 

Recommended to anyone who likes a classic Disney movie and likes to laugh.

"What If"

5/5 

Recommended to anyone who likes Indie movies, likes to laugh, and a best-friends-first-couple-later kind of romance.

"The Hundred-Foot Journey"

5/5 

Recommended to anyone who likes Indie movies, likes to laugh, and loves good food. Similar to "Julie & Julia," this is not a movie to watch on an empty stomach!

Quotes I Wrote

I grinned. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” And I could imagine the eyebrow wiggle that would accompany his mysterious tone. “But make sure you get all gussied up.”
I snorted. “Gussied up? Are we going square dancing?”
--Beneath the Moon and Stars

“Becca told me she thinks your mother is borderline.”
“Becca thinks everyone is borderline.”
“You know, she’s probably right. She is a psychology major.”
And when I didn’t answer, she laughed.
“I win!”
“What? How did you ‘win?’”
“Any time you can’t think of a response to something I say, I win.”
--Beneath the Moon and Stars

I laughed. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It doesn’t have to.”
“Why not?”
“Because life doesn’t make sense, so why should we?”
“I have a theory,” I said, ignoring her, “Oh boy, here we go.” I sat up. “Maybe we do make sense, and it’s everyone else that doesn’t. What if all the weirdos and freaks of the world are actually the normal ones, and the normal ones are actually the weirdos and freaks of the world?”
“You make my brain hurt.”
“The feeling’s reciprocal.”
--Beneath the Moon and Stars

"I need you to do me a favor. Marcus is having a party tonight and I couldn’t find the movies. Can you go to Wal-Mart and see if they have the movies? Quickly?"
"Yeah, ‘course. What’s your apartment number?"
"Two-twenty-one."
"As in B Baker Street?"
"Lane."
"All right, I'm going."
--Beneath the Moon and Stars

“That looks bad.” Lane sat down next to me and dragged my hand away from my mouth.
“Nothing you can do about it,” I mumbled.
“I can kill him. That’s always an option.”
The corners of my mouth twitched, but even that hurt. “That’s not an option.”
Lane’s eyes still burned with a fiery rage. “Why not?”
I pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Because you’d be arrested as a convicted murderer and I’d never see you again.”
“I’m sure there are visiting days.”
“Not an option, Lane.”
--Beneath the Moon and Stars

Obsessions I Acquired

Synthesia. I found a few piano tutorials on YouTube by accident, and now I'm hooked. It's a great way to learn a song before printing out the sheet music. I'm working on the "Doomsday" theme from "Doctor Who" and the "Sherlock" theme song.

My job at the Renaissance Faire. Technically I've been working there since June, but I only started working costumed weekends at the beginning of this month. It's so much fun! :) I'm actually leaving to go in a couple of hours as I'm writing this.

My YA contemporary romance novel, Beneath the Moon and Stars. I wrote over 15,000 words this week alone, and it's almost finished! I had no idea I would have this much fun writing a romance novel.

Picture of the Month

I went a little photoshop crazy.


How was your August?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pfft, "We Were Liars" did have terrible writing. I didn't think the plot twists, characters, or anything else was all that spectacular either, but... the writing style. What was going on there?! It felt really sloppy. :/

I like the Doctor Who/Dr. Seuss book cover. :P

Also, that's so cool that you're learning to play songs from TV shows on the piano! Can you send me the link to the tutorial for "Doomsday?" I have a piano arrangement for "Rose's Theme" and I want to put together a medley of that and "Doomsday," I think they would be really pretty together. (Also, FEELS ABOUT ROSE.)

The Magic Violinist said...

@nevillegirl Agree to disagree, I suppose. :P I can see how the writing style wouldn't appeal to everyone, though.

Thanks! :)

Prepare to be addicted! :) There are a few different parts you can play, so it's necessary to practice it several times over in order to get the timing right and everything. That would be a really cool medley. I couldn't ever find a tutorial for Rose's theme, though, even though I would love it. :P

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTa_CgVXnqw&index=3&list=LLNxfZF9_my-fQJsgVLUSMsQ

Emma said...

I read "The Program" and loved it! I'm looking forward to reading "We Were Liars" though I've heard a lot of mixed things.

(Also, I probably laughed way too hard at the Dr. Who Cover. I couldn't help myself, it was funny!)

The Magic Violinist said...

@Emma I didn't expect to like The Program as much as I did! :) And I can see how some people wouldn't really like We Were Liars, but I did, and if our tastes are similar, you probably will, too.

Ha ha, thanks. ;)

Nikki P said...

Putting up life updates like this is a cute idea! A lot of people have recommended me to read Divergent. Maybe I'll give it a try sometime!

-Riley XO
smilesnomatter.blogspot.com

The Magic Violinist said...

@Riley Sinclair Thanks! :) Divergent is really good, you should read it!

Boquinha said...

Loooooove these quotes! I think you really have a knack for dialogue. It's my favorite thing to write, I think. That, and my ramblings, I guess. Oooh, and satirical reviews!

I can't see the picture now for some reason??

Also, so many good movies!!