Tuesday, March 31, 2015

March Wrap-Up

Books I Read

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

4/5

I don't know why I didn't read this sooner! It was great from beginning to end. I loved the characters (especially Gansey) and the plot was so unique that I can't really compare it to anything. It's a paranormal book that'll appeal to people who don't like paranormal, as well. I'm excited to start The Dream Thieves.

Doctor Who: Official Guide on How to Be a Time Lord by BBC


4/5

This was a fun, fluffy read. Lots of doodles and quizzes and trivia. It's kind of like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for "Doctor Who."

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

5/5


My little brother's been begging me to read this for a while now, so I finally did. It's hysterical. It's super short--I read it in less than an hour--and is super creative the whole way through. Both younger and older kids will love it.

I also reread most of Insurgent before watching the movie, but since I didn't finish it, it doesn't count. :P But I would definitely give it a 5/5.

Movies I Watched

"Stuck In Love"

5/5

Love. This. Movie. It's funny, it has a great cast (Lily Collins, Logan Lerman, and Nat Wolff in the same movie?), and awesome music. Plus, it's about writers. It can't get much better than that.

"Iron Man"

3.5/5

Yeah, I hadn't actually seen (and understood) a Marvel movie before now. *hides in shame* I'm fixing that. "Iron Man" was great, as I expected. :) Tony Stark is hilarious, even if he can be stubborn and a little stuck up sometimes (but in the best ways). I did feel like a lot of it was set up, but that's to be expected from the first movie.

"Iron Man 2"

4/5

This one was so good! I wasn't expecting Natasha Romanoff to be in this series, so that was a pleasant surprise. She truly is awesome. I liked the villain in this movie much better than the first one. And we got to see more of Rhodey, who I think is great. Definitely a good sequel.

 "Notting Hill"

5/5

I love simple movies like this and "You've Got Mail" and "The Hundred-Foot Journey." William's character is so sweet (and funny) and I cracked up more than once at scenes with his roommate, Spike. But all of characters are great and so different from each other. Even Anna, who sometimes got on my nerves, was well-written.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame"

4/5

I should've watched this Disney movie sooner. It's short and sweet and is a great story. The ending was fantastic, too, though I won't give anything away here. The friendship between Quasimodo and Esmeralda is what really made the movie.

"Captain America"

5/5

Probably my favorite Marvel movie I've watched so far. Two words: Peggy Carter. I am so excited to watch "Agent Carter" now that I've seen for myself just how freaking awesome she is. Steve is sweet, Dr. Erskine made me sad, and Bucky made me even sadder. But the ending made me want to watch the sequel immediately, and I didn't have it on hand, so that was the tiniest bit frustrating.

"Thor"

4/5

LOKI. I knew I liked him in "The Avengers" for a reason. He's such a flawed character and I love it! I don't think he's a true villain. He's just lost and has made some bad choices. Also, Thor interacting with humans has got to be one of the best things I've seen in a superhero movie. I just about lost it when he smashed his cup on the ground. I'm sure you've all seen it before, so I won't show you again.





Whoops, my hand slipped.

"Veronica Mars"

5/5

This was the perfect ending to the series, even though I'm extremely sad that it's over. I'm just glad I got to watch it so soon after finishing season three. I can't even imagine how the fans felt waiting for seven years for a conclusion. (And the Sherlockians think they had it bad.) I highly recommend this show to anyone and everyone.

"Anastasia" (a rewatch)

4/5

Another great Disney movie! I'd watched this years ago but only remembered a vague scene of Anya walking through the snow. Yeah, it was time for a rewatch. It has everything a animated movie requires: good characters, humor, suspense, and people randomly bursting into song. The villain is delightfully freaky, too.

"Insurgent"

 5/5

I was a little worried about what they were doing to the movie when I saw the trailers and the negative reviews online, but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched it. It was fantastic! Yes, they did take some liberties with a few things, but I found the changes only enhanced the story. I actually like it when the movie strays away from the book a little bit (but only a little), because then we're not watching something that's exactly the same as what we've read. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend that Divergent fans watch it, too.

Quotes I Wrote

Nothing very quotable this month, sadly. I've mostly been doing a lot of planning for my Camp NaNoWriMo book, Plot Bunnies, which you can read about here. April 1st, tomorrow!


Obsessions I Acquired

"Teen Wolf"/the music from "Teen Wolf" When I started watching "Teen Wolf" (thanks for another great rec, Cait), one thing I hadn't expected was how great the music was going to be. I've made a lot of wonderful discoveries because of it. Some of my favorite songs from the series so far (I'm watching season three now, so no spoilers, please!) are "Who Are You Really" and "We Must Be Killers" by Mikky Ekko, "Black Sheep" and "Kill of the Night" by Gin Wigmore, and "Just a Little Bit" by Kids of 88. They're all very catchy, though, so consider yourself warned.

Tumblr I finally gave in to the temptation, and while my productivity might not be any better because of it, it's definitely a great place to go for a good laugh. I originally got on to follow some of my favorite authors who have active Tumblr blogs (like Rainbow Rowell, Amie Kaufman, and Meagan Spooner), but the fandom world sucked me in as it always does. And let me tell you, it's a great time to be alive on Tumblr as a member of the Supernatural fandom. We truly rule the website. Just like the Sherlock fandom is notorious for reaching Moriarty levels of insanity, the SPN fandom is known for their uncanny ability to find a completely relevant gif from the show for any post on there. It's especially hysterical when they reply in all caps with something like "HOW DO YOU GUYS HAVE A GIF FOR EVERYTHING?!" It's tons of fun.

This video. This is the video I will show to anyone I'm trying to convince to watch "Supernatural." The song choice is perfect, the editing is flawless, and the whole thing captures the heart of the story and the characters. I can't stop watching it!

Marvel movies. (Thank you, Cait and nevillegirl, for getting me hooked!) Apparently it's a crime to call yourself a fangirl if you haven't watched at least one Marvel movie. As you can see from the movies section of this post, I've fixed that and have not stopped watching.

Fanart While I'm not very good (yet), I've been practicing and am having lots of fun trying to copy some of my favorite fictional characters. I think I'm doing okay. It's definitely going to take time to get as good as some artists I've seen online (yowza).

Picture of the Month

Your generic demon eye





By the way, Alexia Stevens and I are starting a group for teen writers called Bean Bags and Sofa's Writers Group. If you're interested in joining our community, please take our survey so we know what to add!

How was your March?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I should definitely start reading Maggie St-whatisthatandhowdoIpronounceit. But, yeah, Awesome-Cait has been throwing it my way. Also, Stuck in Love? I'd watch it over and over and over again! It's just so.... was-this-film-MADE-FOR-ME! Another thing I should probably start? Watching more Marvel/superhero movies. AND LOKI. Don't even get me started, Kate.

On a sadder note, Insurgent is my least favorite of the trilogy and the film adaptation even less. I mean, I'm sure you have reasons for loving it but it felt superficial to me. Like, where is the character depth and introspection? But anyway that's just me.

Boquinha said...

Okay, so I love these posts! I am really enjoying hearing your more specific thoughts on the books and movies especially. I'm so excited about your newest book. And I don't know how you keep up with so much social media! Remember when you were exclusively on Twitter? Remember when you weren't on ANY? I get overwhelmed by it. Look at all you do! I'm a little jealous and trying to do more myself!

N o v a - Z a y said...

Is it crazy that Anastasia isn't a disney movie? it's Fox 20th Century! I was surprised when I found out too!

ALL THE MARVEL LOVE <3 And I totally get it. I love those movies so much. I am FREAKING over the next Avengers movie!

The Magic Violinist said...

@bookishandawesome LOL, you should! ;) (And someone told me it's pronounced "steef-vahter." Who knew?)

Ha ha, we can both watch more Marvel movies together! I want to be all caught up before "Age of Ultron" comes out so I can go see it with my friend. I haven't been disappointed with a single one yet. :)

Wow, less than Allegiant? Divergent was definitely the best, but I thought the second one was better than the third. :P The overall ending to the series was good, but I felt like most of it was fluff and poorly thought out plot twists. I can see what you're saying, though. It's definitely not for everyone.

@Boquinha Thanks! :) I'm really excited about it, too! I'm still in set-up mode right now, but I have sooo many plans for the middle of the book.

Honestly, I have no idea how I keep up with it, either. :P Although with things like Pinterest and Tumblr I feel like I don't have to see every single thing because they're both mostly just for fun. The best posts end up getting reposted often enough anyway that I eventually see them.

@Nova Whoops, "Anastasia" wasn't Disney? xD My bad . ..

I'm loving them! How did I miss them for so long?! I'm excited to watch "The Winter Soldier" and "Iron Man 3."