I went into this week thinking it was going to be very
iffy. I thought I’d be lucky to read one
book and get through two movies.
Instead, I got through three books—past my Goodreads goal of 70!—and saw
six films. After such a productive week,
I’m going to try and keep the momentum going, but I may crap out by Wednesday.
Let's hope not!
Anyway, here is what I read and watched last week.
Books
The Assistants
by Camille Perri – B-. Reviewed here. Very silly, yet enjoyable.
A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman – C+. Enjoyable, yet episodic. I read this because the film adaptation was
playing at a local theater. This is one
of those rare cases of me liking the film more than the book. I also had the same issue with the movie—sensitive
material being played for comedy. I’ll
be a little less vague below.
George
by Alex Gino – B. Adorable middle grade book which should
absolutely be available for kids to read.
I suppose my only quibble is that the prose could have been better constructed
(or edited).
Movies
Keeping Up with
the Joneses - C-.
I got invited for an advanced screening of this film, due out on Friday. I liked it better when it was called Date Night. I feel like this is the most
derivative movie I’ve seen in years. In an unrelated note, I know "keeping up with the Joneses" is a fairly standard idiom, but I never cared for the spelling of Joneses; it just looks misspelled.
Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer's Stone – B. I watched the Harry Potter
movies before reading the book (DO NOT DO THIS) so this is my first time
watching the films since reading them.
This one was a pretty good adaptation.
Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets - C+. Chamber of Secrets is my least favorite book (too zany, not enough Hermione,
lame conclusion), so it’s not surprising that I’m not too fond of this in
comparison to the others.
13th
– A.
An absolute punch to the gut.
Denial
– B+. To be fair, it’s a standard
procedural film, but I was enthralled by the story and the acting of the full
cast. Also: Rachel Weisz!!!
A Man Called Ove
- B-. I liked it slightly more than the book. I'm
still not a fan of the suicide attempts being played for laughs, though. Other
than that, it’s a hilariously heartfelt film that ends about as you’d expect it
to.
And here’s what I plan on reading and watching this
week.
Books
Thirteen Reasons
Why by Jay Asher. This is evidently my sister’s
favorite book, so I feel a familial obligation to get through this. Also, I’m going to an author event for Jay
Asher at the end of the month, so I can get my sister’s copy signed. I’m liking it so far, which is slightly
surprising because when my sister told me the plot of the book about eight
years ago, I was mortified.
Drums, Girls
& Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. I went to (yet another) author event last
week and got this personalized by him. I
wasn’t even thinking of this book, but hearing him talk about why he wrote it,
I knew I had to pick it up. It’s a very
short book (written in double spaced Arial font for some reason), so I’ll
probably finish reading it before I finish writing the end of this sentence.
Rose Madder
by Stephen King. I just started this on
audiobook. It’s widely considered one of
the worst Stephen King books—even by the author himself, who has all but
disowned it. Even so, it has a fairly
large fan following due to its subject matter (domestic abuse).
Movies
American Honey
– I heard about this after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Its length (two hours and 40 minutes) gives
me pause, but by all accounts it’s quite good.
The Accountant
– This may or may not happen, depending on my schedule.
Captain
Fantastic – Another film that may or may not
happen. I’m looking forward to it, and
it’s at my local bargain theater ($2 on Tuesdays!).
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