Hello, everyone! I’m back with another monthly favorite’s post. I’m sorry for the skewed dates, but my writing schedule was off after my trip to Orlando and I’m trying to fix it. I’ve decided to only update once a week from now on because even though I can post twice a week, I don’t want to. There are a lot of other things I can and should be doing with my time and I don’t want blogging to become a chore. I want to continue enjoying it.
Last Month’s Favorites Post – February 2019 Favorites (Books, Movies, Music, Etc.)
Let’s get into it!
//Books
How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell – I read this after watching the third movie. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by David Tenant. The story itself was very odd. I can see where the movies got certain things from the book, but the storyline was quite different. I don’t think I’ll read the second book, but I enjoyed listening to the first one. It was odd but entertaining.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness – This book is hard to explain. It’s a very slow moving plot. I had assumed this was low-sci-fi dystopian, but that changed real quick. This book takes place on another planet after church settlers emigrate Earth. There, they caught the “noise virus” that killed all the women and half the men. The men that did survive can hear everything everyone else is thinking. That’s all I can tell you. The book is slow moving, but gets more and more intriguing the longer you keep going. There’s going to be a movie based on it, but I have no idea how that’s going to go considering the book’s format. I plan on reading the second book soon (because the ENDING!!!!)
Ms. Marvel Vol. 3 – I’m continuing to read the Ms.Marvel comics. I finished volume 3 of the first issues and it was so good! If you don’t already know, Ms. Marvel is the first Muslim-American superhero. She is so funny and says all the things I thought when I was a kid. This volume had a subplot about dating as an immigrant, and it was very funny! (Loki also made an appearance)
Stars Above by Marissa Meyer – I finished the Lunar Chronicles earlier this year and absolutely LOVED THEM. I didn’t finish the first book the first time I read it a few years ago but loved it this time around. If you don’t know, the Lunar Chronicles are science fiction fairytale retellings. Stars Above is the short story collection that was published after the series concluded. It includes prequel stories for all the characters and an epilogue that takes place two years after the end of the final book. I don’t usually enjoy short story collections and assumed I wouldn’t like this one, but boy was I wrong. It was so nice to be in the same world again and grow with some of my favorite characters. Most of the stories add a lot to the series and I’m sure will make rereading the series even better when I do (I bought the entire series this week, so you know I’m rereading them. (I was also very happy with the epilogue)
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi– This was part of my classics reading list for this year and it’s one of my new favorites. It reminded me a lot of Alice in Wonderland, which was one of my favorite classics as a kid, and I ended up liking it more! I don’t know where Disney got their ideas from this book (well, I kind of do) because this book was all over the place. Pinocchio just kept getting into these farfetched situations and I bounced around between thinking he was a little brat and empathizing with his innocence. I like the moral at the end and was entertained the whole way through. (I read it at the airport and on the plane during Spring Break).
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan – This was one of my favorite series in middle school and I’ve been wanting to reread it for some time now (especially since I’ve reread The Hunger Games and Harry Potter series in the last two years). I think the story still holds up. I liked it a lot more in middle school and would rate it four stars now, but it’s still five stars to me because of nostalgia. This series is about the children of Greek gods. The main character, Percy, is accused of stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt and must go on a quest to clear his name.
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling – This is an example of a short story collection I didn’t like. I would’ve loved this story if it was just one narrative about Mowgli, but the stories jumped around a lot. The thing I disliked is that not all the stories included him with Bagheera, Baloo, the tiger, and the wolves. The first few short stories did, and I really loved those. After that, there were stories about random animals that came up out of nowhere that I didn’t really care about. I’m glad I read it because of the things it added to Mowgli’s backstory and that it included his time in the man village, but I would’ve liked it better if it was a novel.
//Movies
Captain Marvel – I had very low expectations for this movie based on the trailers, but I was pleasantly surprised. You can see my full spoiler-free review here. I have my problems with it, but I enjoyed it overall. It’s in my top ten. I’m excited to see her join the Avengers in Endgame.
Tag – This movie played for free at my school movie theatre, so I watched it with my friend. Hawkeye is her favorite superhero and Jeremy Renner is the only reason we watched this movie. We really enjoyed ourselves and laughed the whole way through. The movie is based on a true story about a group of friends who have been playing tag every May for 30+ years. It’s a nice feel-good movie if you’re interested.
Venom – I guess this was a Marvel movie month? This also played for free at my school theatre, which is the reason I’ve waited so long to watch it. I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t expect that. It was so good considering it wasn’t an MCU movie. I wish they were able to release the rated R version because that would’ve made it so much better. I’m excited about the sequel. It was a much shorter less serious superhero movie that was very fun to watch.
//Music
I mostly listen to audiobooks, so I barely listened to music in the first half of the month and barely any new music that I haven’t mentioned before. Everything I’m mentioning below was listened to (repeatedly) within the last week.
- I found this violinist Taylor Davis and have been listening to her violin covers.
- Rags To Riches by Timothy Elliot
- Venom by Eminem – I don’t usually like rap music, but I love this song. It’s been stuck in my head since the Venom credits after the movie.
//T.V. Shows
Cable Girls Season 3 – I would’ve watched this as soon as it came out, and I did start it, but the time jump was a bit jarring. It went from historical fiction/romance to kidnapping/political thriller within a single episode. I liked it once I got into it and apparently, Season 4 is going to be the final season. I’m ready for it after that ending. (I don’t think this person is dead). Cable Girls is a Spanish series that takes place in 1920s Madrid. It’s on Netflix and I highly recommend it.
That’s pretty much it on the show front. I’ve honestly just been reading books in my free time rather than watching T.V. I have been following along with some shows weekly like “Good Trouble,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” but that pretty much takes up the little T.V time I spend.
//Priceless
Spring Break Trip – I visited Universal Studios on my Spring Break, so this trip definitely wasn’t priceless, but the memories were. I posted my full recap here. The rest of the time I spent with my family in Orlando and we went to Daytona Beach on one of the days. It was a fun trip.
I Got An Internship – Another great thing that happened in March was that I got a summer internship at Marcus Autism Center. I applied in February, did the phone interview while I was in Orlando, and was notified within a week. I’m super excited about this and will tell you more in the coming weeks.
That’s it for now! I’ll see you next time!
I’d Appreciate Your Support Of This Blog By Following Me On:
Did you read any good books last month? Movies? T.V Shows? Music?