February Wrap-Up

Books I Read

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

4/5

This was such a well-written middle grade book. It has everything from Shakespeare references to living through the Vietnam War to normal pre-teen shenanigans. It could be a little slow in parts, but overall, it was a simple and compelling story.

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

4/5

(Psst, I wrote a review for this and you should definitely read it . . .)

Tartuffe by Molière

3/5

This was another play I had to read for my theater class and I really enjoyed it. The style of rhyme it uses distracted me more than anything because the word choice would be weird in spots, so I didn't care for that. The story, however, is super clever. It reminded me of one of those episodes in a sitcom where seven different things are going on, but only two people know about this one thing, and the other three think the other two are doing something totally different, and two of them might talk to each other but neither of them really know what the other is talking about, and the whole thing is humorous and confusing. You know what I'm talking about. I also liked Dorine, the maid. She wasn't afraid to sass anyone (my favorite lines from the play were in a scene where Tartuffe tells her to cover up. He says, "unclean thoughts are difficult to control/such sights as that can undermine the soul" and she basically tells him his soul must have crappy defenses then, because she could catch him stark naked and she wouldn't be turned on in the slightest.).

Wires and Nerve #1 by Marissa Meyer and Douglas Holgate

5/5

Ikoooooo, my precious android warrior, I MISSED YOU. I'm also super happy about how much of Cress and Thorne we got to see, too, because there can never be too much Cress and Thorne. #OTP I was worried the illustrations would look weird because I had very vivid ideas of how each character looked, but Holgate did a nice job! (Wolf did look kinda weird to me, only because I imagined him more human than wolf, but you can't have everything.) I'm really glad there are more books in the Lunar Chronicles world for me to look forward to.

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

5/5

THIS WAS SO GOOD. It's funny (like a "crack-a-rib-from-laughing" sort of hysterical), emotional, fascinating, and totally worth the read. If you're going to check it out, go for the audiobook. Trevor is an excellent narrator. And all of the different voices and accents he does and languages he speaks makes the story come to life.

Movies I Watched

"Groundhog Day"

3.5/5

I especially liked this because of how much I love the episode "Mystery Spot" from "Supernatural." Right down to the camera angles, the song on the radio each morning, and the street the main characters walk down, there were tons of similarities that were fun to spot. Reliving the same day over and over was almost as immensely frustrating to watch as it must have been to experience. It's nice, goofy fun.

"St. Vincent"

5/5

Such a quirky movie. I loved it. It's a dark comedy with an extremely flawed character, but the little boy in the story makes for a nice balance to the curmudgeonly old man. It reminded me of "Little Miss Sunshine," to give you an idea of the overall mood.

"La La Land"

5/5

I went into this with pretty low expectations after hearing more than a few grumbles about it, but I actually loved it! It was entrancing, whimsical, and artsy. The special effects and choreography (especially in the beginning) were amazing. The music isn't typical Broadway, so don't be fooled by the advertising of the movie as a musical. There is a lot of music and singing in it, but they don't all advance the plot, making it much different from other movie musicals. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have imperfect singing voices, but it sort of fits the theme, so I didn't mind it. For a film about Hollywood life, it didn't have a Hollywood ending at all. It's bittersweet, which I love

"Lion"

5/5

Another fantastic Oscar nominated film! I had no idea how long the first part of the movie was where it's set in India with the young Saroo, but it was excellent. You don't hear any English spoken for a long time, which totally immerses you in the culture. It had great acting from everyone (and little Saroo was absolutely adorable). Get ready to bawl your eyes out, though.

"The Lego Batman Movie"

4/5

Super clever. I loved the meta humor all throughout, which is exactly what I expected from another Lego movie. The cameos from Voldemort and some Daleks were awesome. Part of me wasn't sure whether I'd be able to stomach an entire movie with an emo Lego Batman as the protagonist, but Robin (and Alfred, of course) were good additions to tone down the angst.

"Moonlight"

3.5/5

So there was a lot about this I loved, especially from the more subtle effects, like the camera angles, lighting, sound, and the score. I'm also really pleased with how much representation was in this film. It's not every day you get a movie about black LGBT issues. The first part of the movie was easily my favorite, but the second half draaagged for me. I usually like simple movies, but I felt like the plot of this one wasn't totally compelling enough to keep me interested the whole time. When the movie ended, I felt like I must have been missing something. Overall, it just didn't feel satisfying. I can't even put my finger on what exactly I didn't like, it was just sort of slow.

"Fences"

4/5

Even without knowing this had been adapted from a play, it still would have felt very much like a play, to me. Almost the entire story takes place right around and inside Troy and Rose's house. It's simplistic in that sense, and also has a small, but strong cast. Viola Davis is great in everything she does and her Oscar was much deserved. The beginning simultaneously felt a little slow (when it came to setup) and fast (because of how quickly the characters talked and their dialect, especially Denzel Washington's character). But it only took me about fifteen or twenty minutes to totally get used to the style and become immersed in the story.

Quotes I Wrote

Toni bit her lip. The song was slow, way slower than anything she was comfortable with. And his smile was charming, way too smooth. Kindness from the others was risky, but kindness from someone who looked like he could bring an entire town to its knees if he grinned wide enough? That was flat out flirting with danger.
-More Than Words

I didn't get a lot of writing done this month between school and editing, but I did add yet another project to my endless list of things to finish up. A writing prompt on Pinterest caught my eye and two hours later, I'd semi-planned a YA fantasy novel called Captain Zahira and Her Wayward Crew involving pirates and cursed treasure and mermaids. You can check out the board here.

Obsessions I Acquired

"We Rate Dogs" Twitter account - This is the sort of cute, quality content I need on social media. Adorable dog pictures tweeted with funny captions every day? Yes, please. Sign me up.

"Intertwined" by Dodie - Dodie is my new favorite find when it comes to musical artists. How had I not heard of her before now?! I have "Sick of Losing Soulmates" on repeat on Spotify, but "Intertwined" is my absolute favorite from her. It gives me chills every time I hear it because it so perfectly fits my soundtrack for More Than Words.

EpicReads book recommendation bot - So if you're looking for yet another addition to your TBR list, check out EpicReads' Facebook page and message them. They have a super cool system that allows you to tell their recommendation bot your favorite books and authors or what kind of mood you're in, and they'll send you a book they think you'll like in a message. It's really fun. You even get gifs of Margot Wood along with their recommendation sometimes.

Picture of the Month 

I went to the "Fire and Ice Festival" in Lititz with my family and my friend Dana. It was super fun to just walk around the town, drink cocoa, and see the ice sculptures.

How was your February?