Books I Read
John Lennon: All I Want Is the Truth by Elizabeth Partridge3.5/5
Recommended to anyone who likes biographies and the Beatles. (That one was kind of obvious . . .)
Panic by Lauren Oliver (Can't believe I got an ARC of this!!!)
4/5
Recommended to fans of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher. A great contemporary that feels like dystopian, with touches of romance.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
DNF
I'm sorry, but I don't see what the big hoopla is over this book. I tried and failed to get into it for two months and 120 pages. I might pick it up again eventually, but right now I have other books to read.
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
5/5
You can read my review HERE.
Recommended to anyone who loves a good slow-progressing relationship (much like Hazel and Augustus's relationship in The Fault In Our Stars, but with much more dislike at the beginning. The character's practically hate each other for the first 100 pages.) and sci-fi that doesn't feel like sci-fi (much like The Host).
Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein
5/5
You can read my review HERE.
Recommended to anyone who loves games and riddles. It's a great book to read as a family.
The Order of the Stick: No Cure For the Paladin Blues by Rich Burlew
4.5/5
Recommended to anyone who loves simple cartoons, Dungeons and Dragons, and laughing out loud.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
3/5
(I know, I know, I should've read this a long time ago. That's what everyone has been telling me.) Recommended to anyone who likes fairytales and looking for symbolism. (Anyone else think that the scene where the queen kills Aslan is supposed to represent the crucifixion of Jesus?)
Movies I Watched
"Apollo 13"
4/5You can read my review HERE.
Recommended to anyone who likes space, suspense, and historical fiction.
"The Croods"
4/5Recommended to anyone who likes Pixar movies (though this movie isn't Pixar, it's DreamWorks), prehistoric times, comedy (especially slapstick humor), and people of all ages.
"Saving Mr. Banks"
5/5Recommended to anyone who likes to write and doesn't mind a good cry.
Quotes I Wrote
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Flynn smiles. “We won’t get hurt. We’re with you.”
“That’s a
dangerous way of thinking.”
“Everything’s
dangerous nowadays.”--Flightless Birds
Obsessions I Acquired
"Doctor Who" (I've only seen Christopher Eccleston and part of David Tennant so far, so no spoilers please! So far Eccleston is my favorite.)Rediscovered my love for Flightless Birds, which I had gotten stuck with in December around Christmas.
Chocolate Mocha hot chocolate.
Picture of the Month
(Psst. If you'd like, you can grab my blog button on the sidebar of my blog.) Thank you to the Notebook Sisters for showing me how to make it! :)
How was your January?
14 comments:
Sounds like you had an awesome month!
I've also tried to read The Book Thief and thought it was really, really slow... maybe I'll finish it someday. :)
And yes, the scene where Aslan is killed is definitely supposed to symbolize the crucifixion.
@nevillegirl I did! :) I can't wait for February's wrap-up post because I have read some REALLY good books this month!
I know! :P I seem to be the only one of my online friends (except for you, obviously) who doesn't get just how awesome it is. Maybe you have to push past the first 100-200 pages? I don't know. It seems to me that if you have to work that hard to get to the good stuff, the payoff isn't worth it.
Didn't get through The Book Thief, either. I haven't read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and I'm an English prof! Oh well, so many books...
I love that it's only February 5th and you've already read some awesome books this month!
@seventytwofishes Yeah, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was really good! :) It was a little slow at first, but it got better at the end, and I heard the later books are even better. I don't recommend starting with The Magician's Nephew, though. I couldn't get through that one when I first picked it up.
Okay, so I totally love these. Not only because they're fun to read, but yours are so organized!! I've seen others and some of them are kind of all over the place. I like yours a lot. Makes me wish I had had blogging as a kid and had done this, too.
Totally agree about The Book Thief. I made myself finish it and it was a good story and all, but holy moly, it did NOT have to be that long and I'm not at all convinced that it's worth all the fuss. I don't like his gimmicks (those colors/whatever at the beginning) or the whole death narrating it. I'm pretty "meh" about it. I don't think you're missing much. Sorry, Zusak.
And ditto, 72fishes - so cool that you're saying that less than a week into February - woohoo!
Does this have anything to do with us reading TKAM together? I love that book more than words can say.
Oh yes, we did a group readalong of THE BOOK THIEF last October and we failed to see what all the fuss was about, too. :/
I'm glad you loved THESE BROKEN STARS, though! Tarver is so dreamy, and Lilac was an awesome heroine.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
@Boquinha I've seen people say that the payoff of finishing The Book Thief makes up for the slow start, but for me it's just not worth it. :P Almost 200 pages just to get INTO a book?! I was nearly halfway through and still didn't like it!
@Wendy Darling Oh, Tarver and Lilac were so perfect. :) They're one of my favorite literary couples after Hazel and Augustus.
Ha, other people took the words right out of my mouth - I was just going to say that I'm impressed if you already read some great books just in the first five days of February! :)
(And what were those books?)
@nevillegirl So far I've read City of Ashes, Girl, Stolen, and reread The Giver with my mom and little brother. :) I'm in the middle of rereading The Fault In Our Stars for my book club. I'm also reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I am Malala, Catcher In the Rye, A Separate Peace, Lay That Trumpet In Our Hands, No One Else Can Have You, and City of Glass. :)
So, it's March--mid-March really--and I'm only now commenting on a January Wrap-Up? What is wrong with me?! Well, I did read it right away, and now I'm commenting. I am always amazed at how much you cram into a month. What an impressive reading list and movie list!
I found that I appreciated The Chronicles of Narnia when I read the entire series from beginning to end. There are so many themes that carry through to the end that any one book taken by itself seems a bit out of place.
The Book Thief? Snorefest. It was good, but not great.
And once again you have listed so many great suggestions but haven't given me one idea of how to extend my day to include 7 extra hours, or how to transmogrify and duplicate myself, or how to make a time machine so I can find more reading time, or any other useful idea for getting more done. :P
@Dr. Mark Yeah, I've heard that a lot about Narnia. I'll probably pick up the sequels at some point.
Have you heard this quote by Lena Dunham? "Let's be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading." Yeah. I completely agree.
Sounds good to me. Or, let everyone blow off one of the seven days we have and devote that to reading.
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