Monday, April 2, 2018

My March Wrap Up!

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be looking back at my March reading and viewing!

I had a really busy month in terms of schoolwork, so my reading definitely took a backburner. I did read a lot, but mostly articles for school and textbooks, which I don't talk about here. Thankfully, I really enjoyed all the books I mentioned to read this month! But some of the projects for school required me to watch some movies, and I am also taking a film class, so I did end up watching a lot of films! 


Books
1) My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
I have wanted to read My Lady Jane since its conception, and I finally got around to reading it! I'm now highly anticipating the companion novel, My Plain Jane, that comes out later this year. I listened to the audiobook of this, which I think was the right way to go for me. The narration was excellent! I'm currently writing my review right now.


2) Nyxia: Unleashed by Scott Reingten
Nyxia: Unleashed is the sequel to one of my favorite books of last year, Nyxia. What's even more exciting for me was that Reingten is a local author! I haven't been able to go to any of his events yet due to school, but hopefully I'll be able to make it one day. Though I didn't like the second book as much as the second, I thought it was a great sequel overall, even if it did drag at times. 



3) Geekerella by Ashley Poston
I picked up Geekerella on a whim during the weekend, and just ingested it! I think Geekerella is exactly what I needed, a palette cleanser of sorts. I just wanted to read something cute and angst-y, and it relieved the stress I have been having. I'm excited to get to Poston's new release, Heart of Iron! 


4) Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
Lastly is Lady Midnight! It actually took me a long time to read this, but I think it is because the action doesn't start until about a fourth of the way through. When I don't have a lot of time every day to read, and when I felt like nothing was happening, I didn't feel compelled to read it. However, once I got to a certain point where the action was ramping up, I couldn't put it down, and read about 300 pages in a day. I think I'll be reading Lord of Shadows once college lets out though, so I can invest my time in the series! 


Movies
1) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Three Billboards was definitely a hard watch, but a great one. The movie was nominated for so many awards, and rightfully so. Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell act their asses off, and it's so impressive. The movie follows McDormand, a mother angry at the police after no arrests have occurred after her daughter was raped and then killed. Despite the very dark premise, the film as a lot of laughs, which I wasn't expecting. The humor inserts just enough levity that I let my guard down, just in time to be completely taken aback by its brutality.

2) CSA: The Confederate States of America
I watched CSA for a paper I wrote, and I thought it was pretty good. However, because I was watching this for a paper, I was constantly analyzing and worrying how I would incorporate the prompt with the movie. CSA is a mockumentary that analyzes what America would be like if the Confederates won the Civil War, and not the Union. I liked the movie, and after reading some interviews with the director, Kevin Willmott, I appreciate it. CSA is available here on youtube. 

3) 42nd Street
42nd Street is another movie I had to watch for a class, and this time it was my film class. I really enjoyed this one, but I did have a hard time figuring out who's who and who the love interests were for each person at first. Once I got it down though, the movie was entertaining! The song sequence at the end was just a tad bit long for my low attention rate, especially the night before a morning class. 
4) Love, Simon
I was so excited for Love, Simon and I was not disappointed at all. I loved the book (review here) and thought that the movie stayed true to the heart of the story. I actually reviewed the movie, so you can check out all my glowing thoughts here

5) Paddington 2
Paddington 2 is just such a heartwarming movie, as the first one was. But while I didn't fully connect with the first film, I did with this. Paddington 2 is honestly mesmerizing, and the animation is beautiful. I don't have much to say, besides that you should watch this sequel and it's predecessor. I don't think the movie has the audience it deserves (at least in the US), and its sad to see such a great film not get that attention. 

6) The Martian
Maybe I set my expectations a bit too high for The Martian, or I didn't watch it in the correct setting, but I was a bit disappointed in the movie. I loved the book, and I didn't connect to Mark Watney as much as I did while reading. Also, I thought the ending of the film wasn't as good as the book. I get that movies want to be dramatic, but it felt a bit silly. I also watched this on my small television in the middle of the day, which is definitely not the best setting for what is supposed to be a high-stakes space film. Nevertheless, I thought Matt Damon's performance was strong, and I think I would enjoy the movie more if I watched it a second time. 

7) Black Panther
Black Panther was out for a couple weeks before I saw it in theaters, and I had heard amazing things not only about the representation, but the plot in general. I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed, and it was exhilarating to see a predominately black production do so well commercially and critically. 

8) The Bourne Identity
I watched The Bourne Identity for a film class I'm taking, and really enjoyed it! I've watched the movie before, but never actually payed attention. It's the movie that my dad likes and would happen upon while watching TV, not a movie that I dedicated a night to until this month. After watching the first movie in the series, I'm definitely interested in the sequels!

9) Blockers

Blockers is a new movie coming out early this month, that was screening early at my college campus. What I was worried was going to be another movie reprimanding teenage women for owning their sexuality was surprisingly sex positive and hilarious. Though I got aggravated at the parents sometimes - three of them try and stop their daughters from having sex on prom night - they act out of love, and they come around. I don't think the marketing is way off, but hopefully people will still go and see it! 

10) The Landlord
The Landlord is another movie I watched for a college class, but I didn't like it nearly as much. The film is a satire on segregation, but if I wasn't told that by my professor, I would not have known. I just didn't know what to make of this. The Landlord is a film I'll have to watch twice to truly understand it, but I didn't enjoy the movie enough to warrant watching it a second time.   


So those are the books I read and the movies I watched! After this next week, my schoolwork should relax, but I probably won't have a lot of free time until finals start approaching. Until then, I don't think I'll be reading as much as I'd like, but I keep reminding myself that I'm doing the best I can, and I shouldn't care about numbers too much!

Have you read any of the books or watched any of the movies?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

14 comments:

  1. I want to read My Lady Jane at some point this year; I've only heard good things about it! We loved Black Panther and now I'm so excited for the rest of the Marvel movies this year!

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    1. I highly recommend it, especially the audiobook if you like them! I am too! I feel like once you start seeing MCU movies, you are kind of compelled to see the rest of them and get the whole story.

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  2. I can't wait for My Plain Jane to come out!!!! I adored Love, Simon and if I had the time and money I would see it again in theaters. :)

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    1. Me too Kay!! I would too! Unfortunately, I don't have a car on my college campus so I'll have to wait to see it again on redbox or when it starts streaming. :)

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  3. I LOVED Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri! What a powerful film. Frances Mc Dormand is my spirit animal. :-)
    Happy April!

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    1. It was fantastic! I don't know if she's mine...I tend to clam up in situations and she's such a badass!
      Thanks Freda. :) You too!

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  4. You did pretty good looks like considering how busy you were! Glad that Nyxia Unleashed was good despite being a little less awesome than the first one, and Geekerella looks fun too. I also liked Black Panther, and I'm a fan of the Bourne films. :)

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    1. Thanks Greg! I was able to read some pretty great books. :) I haven't gotten around to the second movie, but I want to soon!

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  5. Genni! Sorry, I'm still busy catching up on everything! My blog is still a month behind but I'm slowly clawing my way back I think!

    My Lady Jane is on my TBR! It sounds awesome.

    I enjoyed Lady Midnight too! I think I need to re-read a few Shadowhunter book and catch back up. Lord of Shadows has been sitting on my shelf since it released!

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    1. Hi Di! You are totally fine. :) Good on you for catching back up! Honestly, I would probably have not responded to all those comments, haha!

      It's a weird feeling being caught up in the series, and I definitely understand why so many people reread the books now! I think I'll be reading Lord of Shadows during the summer just so I don't forget everything that happens when Queen of Air and Darkness releases!

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  6. I'm so excited for My Plain Jane! I bet My Lady Jane was awesome on audio!

    You know, I read the Bourne books before I watched the movies - the movies are good, but they're so much different!

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    1. Yay for My Plain Jane!! It was amazing, one of my favorite audiobooks so far!

      I had no idea that there were even Bourne books. I don't know if I would read the series, but I do like the movies!

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  7. I was also really impressed with Matt Damon's performance in The Martian! It's kind of a hard role because he's by himself for so long and he basically has to carry like 80% of the plot all by himself so I was really impressed. I still haven't gotten to see Black Panther but I really want to! I've heard mixed things but I've been hearing that the visuals are good across the board and I think that's what I'm most excited for. I also love the Bourne movies! The last one (I think it's the fourth one) is slightly removed from the rest, but I think they do well as a series. I definitely like them better than the James Bond franchise for so many reasons. I hope you have an absolutely love April, Genni!

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    1. Yes, Matt Damon was fantastic! He completely encapsulated Mark Watney for me, and did a great job of emoting! Where I live, I've only heard amazing things about Black Panther. I do think that might be because of my age (I'm 18) and most of the people I interact with are similar ages as well. My dad liked the movie (I saw it with him), but I don't think as much as I did. Hopefully you'll be able to empathize with the villain! There's always a trend of having irredeemable villains, but I actually felt for Killmonger and saw where he was coming from. The visuals are amazing, and the costume design is spectacular. :)

      I grew up watching the James Bond franchise (my dad loves the films!) so I'm pretty biased. But then again, he also likes the Bourne Identity films as well. I've just been so heavily exposed to James Bond throughout my years though. It's astounding that the series has gone on for so long!

      Thank you Laura! Have an excellent rest of your April! :D

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