Hello, book nerds!
September was full of change. I talked about this a bit in my last blog, if you’re interested. As far as media consumption goes, though, it was a great and varied month.
- IMMORTAL DARK: Okay, so, it’s true that I had to put it down. It wasn’t sucking me in, and I think it’s because everything seemed to be a bit too easy. Things that were supposed to be hard to find were found, classes that should’ve been impossibly difficult were passed, etc. And all pretty much within the first hundred or so pages. I wasn’t invested because I never wondered if she’ll succeed. But, if you’re into YA books and liked the chaotic Jude from The Cruel Prince, you might like it.
- GILD: I gave this 3 stars mostly because of the writing style. But I also read it in about three days flat. So do with that what you will. I’ve put a hold on the sequel at the library, and I’m hoping it comes in soon because I’m interested to see where it goes from here.
- THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: I like to always have a classic lit book going in the background. So it took me a few months to finish this one, despite it being relatively short, because I read it so casually. It was fine, but the older writing style definitely kept me at arm’s length.
- PRE-RAPHAELITES: Baby’s first art book! I really enjoyed it. I look forward to reading more of these types of books.
- MOVE: I’m working on getting active more, so naturally I wanted to find some books on the topic. This was the first, and really got me thinking about the importance of movement.
- Full reviews posted for the others:
- THE BOY AND THE HERON: This was good, but I’m not going to lie, I feel like much went over my head. The art and music were fantastic.
- TUCK EVERLASTING: Before Edward and Bella, there was Jesse and Winnie. I read this book when I was in fourth or fifth grade, and it had little ten-year-old me contemplating the concepts of death and mortality and love for the first time (it’s really no wonder Twilight swept me away a few years later, I was primed from the start). I re-watched this movie for nostalgia.
- A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT: I selected this one from the on-demand section of a free streaming service. This is an older movie about life, following two brothers from childhood to adulthood. It’s cozy and meaningful, and despite not really being a “fall” movie necessarily, it definitely fit the vibe for me.
- LABYRINTH: I finally watched this fantasy classic. It was campy and fun. Some of the sequences ran long in places where it was obviously just a showcase of David Bowie’s music, but it was entertaining regardless.
- DUNE: These were excellent. I’m not sure if I have the fortitude to brave the books, but the movies were great. You do really have to pay attention, though, to keep up.
- INFINITY SONG: I just discovered this group recently, and realized they’re the ones that did the song “Hater Anthem” that was popular a while back. I love “Sinking Boat” in particular from this album.
- GLASS ANIMALS: This was a great performance. The band had a lot of energy, and the lead singer ran really close by me in order to sing in front of the back half of the crowd. What a cool moment! That’s the kind of engagement fans appreciate.
- GREEN DAY: The former (sort of) emo middle-schooler inside of me had her moment at this concert. We got to hear all of their classics from across 30 (!) years of music.
I’m still relatively new to gaming. So, I haven’t played a whole lot of console games yet, and I was surprised to learn that frequent (long) cut scenes are a thing. This seems counterintuitive to me, but maybe I haven’t played enough such games to appreciate them. However, in my mind, cut scenes seem like they would be a cheap way to add filler to a game when they don’t have the budget to include these plot points though active gameplay. Is this a valid take, or am I missing something? I honestly don’t know, I’m still new here. Maybe I’m spoiled by Batman: Arkham Trilogy, which has way less of these.
