LJ Book Bingo

Definitely want to go back to this some year, but not this year. I've been so busy cleaning out books the last year or so that I'm exhausted and am focusing now more on books I want to read. Plus, if it's a choice between writing and reading, it's always writing, 'cause who really has enough hours to do both?

Update...

Charlie Countryman was pretty damn good, but I wish it had been longer and I think I wanted to like it more than I actually did. Except... Evan Rachel Woods was gorgeous (especially with accent), seeing a homicidal Mads Mikkelsen was a real treat, and Shia Labeouf is a fantastic actor (so much fucking emotion). 

Came home late one night and popped in Insurgent to re-watch. I saw it in IMAX in the theater and adored it then, and was pleasantly surprised that I loved it just as much on a second watch and on a second screen. Theo James is adorable as Four and Shailene Woodley is incredible as Tris (god, can she act). Plus TrisFour is just perfection. Still have to read the books....

Creed, the latest Rocky installment (and I am totally calling it that), was really good. I've never seen Stallone in anything I haven't loved, so I knew it would be, but he had so many scenes and I liked the other actors too, so of course I had to watch it again. 

Season 2 of The Middle was just as good and as funny as the first. Seriously, I have no idea how that show does it. I've been looking for a good comedy show for years and have tried plenty and have never found one even remotely as good as this one. 

Halfway through Season 2 of Z Nation and it's just as good as the first. To be honest, I like this series as much as I like The Walking Dead. I feel it's just as original and adds a certain lightness and humor that The Walking Dead doesn't have, while also adding in serious and heartbreaking scenes just as well as The Walking Dead. 

As far as books go, last month I read Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie for my Gilded Age class and adored it. Not only superbly well-written, but also almost a history book as it talks about the time period. One of the best books I have ever read. Frank Holt's Into the Land of Bones, a requirement for my Age of Alexander course, was also fantastic: easy to get through and interesting and Holt also making me want to attack his references and read more about Seleucid history especially. I'm currently reading Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here for my Fascism class and I hate it. Half of it is incredibly dull and the other half I can't even understand. I'm pretty picky on books in general, less so on Classics, and this book is gonna be hell to get through. 

And I finally read and just finished Richelle Mead's The Ruby Circle, and I swear to god that book was written for me. For those of you who aren't familiar with Richelle Mead's young adult books (her adult books are forced and terrible, okay, sorry), Vampire Academy is the first series and Bloodlines the second and a spin-off of Vampire Academy, with some major and some minor characters and even some new characters. Richelle Mead created this fully fleshed out and kick-ass world where half-vampire, half-human Dhampirs protect royal vampires, Moroi, from the evil Strigoi, or the evil vampires. If this doesn't sound awesome enough, she also creates the Alchemists, a religious organization that hides the vampire world from humans and work with the Moroi to do this (even though they claim all vampires are evil).

SPOILERS: These two series have EVERYTHING: resurrection, chases, vacations to Russia, wielding magic to heal and/or damage, murder, friendship, kidnapping, heart-melting romance and SO much more. The Ruby Circle, unfortunately, is the last book of the Bloodlines series. While VA started out as my favorite series (Romitri and Rose & Lissa), Bloodlines became my favorite by The Fiery Heart, primarily because of Adrian/Sydney. Sydney is a lot like me, especially with her obsession with ancient history, and Adrian/Sydney quickly became my favorite couple. Not only that but SPOILERS! by the end of the series they finally finally FINALLY get their happy ending and live in Northern Maine (so totally my dream state). See what I mean? Book totally written for me. They could have moved anywhere but they chose MAINE. Not only that, but it was totally my dream for Eddie to stay with them and I was completely expecting this not to come true and IT DID. Still crying over that ending, sobbing actually. 

Here's some music to brighten your day. 

Homework most of the day, but I did get to start reading Tempestuous, the third book in Lesley Livingston's YA faerie series. I always have to read books out of order, but this is the first series in a long while I've been able to read in order and all in the same year too... what a victory. 

Tomorrow I'll finish up homework and re-watch Buffy again and read more. Fuck writing right now, it's just too frustrating. 



Also... more Tori Amos. Video not mine.