Posted on February 4, 2014 in Books
The Fourth Classics Spin from the Classics Club. As with before, I must pick twenty books, then a random number will be selected and each of us must read the number listed at X number by April 1, 2014.
These Spins are really useful because other reads and activities have taken me away from the challenge often.
My challenge is that I own almost every one of these books so I must read them to clear them from my shelves.
Posted on February 3, 2014 in TV
My third Netflix show this month. I’m just going through them based on recommendations and why not, so far all of them are entertaining,
In general, I do not like prison shows or movies. They can be excessively violent, but I heard great reviews of this show. Furthermore, I heard it wasn’t too violent and that it was humanistic. I’m also interested in female centric shows. There are a lot of male centric or shows with large male casts, but this show is a rare thing which is rather sad. Besides Captain Janeway is in it!
If you enjoy good acting and good character development, this is a great show. It is real and tells stories of women who are marginalized in society. It does not make them into stereotypes or tropes. There are strong friendships and relationships. There is a large cast of characters and I was interested in almost all of them except one notable example. This is rather rare for me because I often find that with ensemble shows, I only really like a couple of characters and am largely indifferent to the others. With this one, I was engaged with most of the characters early on.
Notably, as much as I find Piper the protagonist annoying, we are supposed to and the show does not hold back from being critical of her. I’ve never warmed to Laura Prepon even though I adored “That 70s Show,” but I think the casting worked perfectly for her here. I adore Kate Mulgrew so she was pitch perfect here as the matriarchal Red. There a slew of great characters and actors. I think the only one who truly fell short for me was the born again Christian meth head girl who came off as one note for me. The writing also kept pushing her as an antagonist. The character was overdone and I am not enamoured by the actor either.
All in all, this is probably the best of the Netflix shows I’ve seen in terms of writing. While it is intense at times, it is done because it is real and honest. I look forward to where they will take the show the next season.
Watched January 26, 2013.
Posted on January 23, 2014 in Books
If there was one book you could make sure nobody ever read again … what would it be? And why? – BTT
I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t “hate” many things. There are many books I find boring, but few that I truly hate or dislike. Here’s a run down of books that are just not for me:
What are some books that you didn’t like?
Posted on January 21, 2014 in Books
Young adult books writers like John Green are the reason I still read young adult and children’s literature. When reading this book, I found it sweet. I mean this as big compliment as I rarely find books sweet and endearing to this degree. I even want to find a partner who is sweet as the characters to each other in the book. There is a loving thread that goes through the friendships, the romance, and the parental-child relationships of the book.
This book is extremely popular at the moment, and I can see why. I don’t find it mawkish or maudlin. I like that both the protagonists have physical disabilities. I like that they deal with things realistically. I find Green writes teenagers that believable and true.
Aside from the characters, I loved the interlude in Amsterdam. I remember that city fondly and would go back.
I look forward to seeing how they adapt the movie.
“And in freedom, most people find sin.”
Read January 19, 2014.
Posted on January 19, 2014 in Books, Fitness, TV
Hello, everyone! It’s been a busy time for me, both with work and personally. I have been recovering from this cough that I’ve had for a month. It was very cold earlier in the month, but we had a milder week. Still, I’ve felt a touch of the January blues with my work load and personal responsibilities.
Today, I am going to read John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars.
Yesterday, I went on my first run in about 5-6 weeks. It felt good, but the last 1km of the 6km was a bit tiring! I hope to get back to shape for my first 10km race in two months time. I started swimming lessons which were really difficult for me. I didn’t go this week, but I really hope I get proficient soon as I want to become at least decent at it.
In book news, I read Georgette Heyer’s The Talisman Ring over a week ago. It was average and had some nice Heyer moments, but nothing worth a blog post.
This week, I watched Netflix’s Norwegian-American comedy show “Lilyhammer” based on a friend’s recommendation. It is quite funny and I enjoy watching a foreign show with a touch of American influence. Sometimes, it was a bit too violent and dark more than funny, but still entertaining.
How is your January shaping up?
Posted on January 10, 2014 in TV
This post reviews both the original UK “House of Cards” trilogy and season one of the American (2013) version.
House of Cards Trilogy (1990-1995)
The first series in this trilogy is a perfect miniseries. Francis Urquhart as played by Ian Richardson is one of the best antihero characters on TV. He is perfectly smooth, Machiavellian, and yet rootable for me. It is simply amazing how he played this part. It’s pitch perfect and nothing is wasted in the first series. I definitely think the first series is one of my favourite mini series ever and Urquhart is one of the most interesting TV characters.
Posted on January 8, 2014 in Books
This is a tale of a couple who circumnavigate the globe without flying in a plane. I picked up this book because I I really liked Stevenson’s prose. He appears more than once in the Best American Travel Writing series. His sense of humour seems closely aligned to mine. It’s sometimes dry, often observant and understated
The way he describes horrible travel conditions is hilarious, even when it shouldn’t be. I love travel as much as Stevenson does, but is is quite awful yet wonderful all at once. At the same time, the book offers some intelligent observations about cultures and above all else, transportation and means of travel.
While this book was written about seven years ago, the discussion about the airline industry and flying is still relevant. Flying sucks, and like Stevenson, I much prefer trains or even boats. He also has criticism against cruises in general. All of this inspires me that if I had the means, I would do a similar travel voyage around the world with as few flights as possible.
Read January 5, 2014.
Posted on January 4, 2014 in Books
An analysis of books consumed in 2013. This year, I read 68 new books with a total of 19800 pages.
Memorable Books from this year: This is not a definitive list by any means:
Longest Book: Game of Thrones with 811 pages.
Most Challenging Books: Walden by Henry David Thoreau
New-to-me Authors I look forward to reading more: Robin Sloan, David Mitchell, John Green
Classics Club update: I’m up to 17 books now, and I am quite behind.
Most Read Author: Georgette Heyer and Neil Gaiman.
Poetry: None! Sad.
Month Read the Most: August
Total number of books read: 68 out of projected modest goal of 65.
2013: 68
2012: 65
2011: 50
2010: 67
2009: 20
2008: 83
2007: 52
2006: 61
2005: 83
2004: 71
2005: 66
2002: 66
2014 Reading Goals:
As I am spending less time online and more time in the real world, I have decided to simplify my reading goals a little bit more. As much as I enjoy joining reading challenges, I am going to make one definitive list of goals I’d like to accomplish and review it at the end of year.
Finally, a complete list of books for 2013 which can all by accessed via the 2013 Books tag: Continue reading →
Posted on December 31, 2013 in Books
Yet another young adult novel set at boarding school! I’ve been attracting them this year. I’m starting to wish I could have gone to boarding school. Apparently, they make for interesting and intense upbringings. Of course, being a teenager is an intense and weird experience. I must say that young adult fiction is better now than when it was when I was a teenager. I read more adult novels from age fourteen onward than young adult novels.
This novel is very similar to Winger, and if I were to pick the two, I think Winger got to me more. It had more humour, but this one had some light moments too. I felt the rawness of youth with it. I also questioned mortality a lot when I became a teenager. A lot of the questions on religion an the after life posed in this novel affected me when I was thirteen and fourteen.
This was my first John Green novel and I chose to read this before his even more acclaimed The Fault in Our Stars. I liked the experience even though I find it a bit too dark and intense for me at times. I definitely think Green can write.
Recommended if you enjoy raw and honest young adult fiction.
Read December 29-30, 2013.
Posted on December 30, 2013 in Books, Movies
When I was around the age of Sara Crewe, I had seen the 1995 movie adaptation of this book and liked it. It was magical. I really adored the message about every girl being a princess and the sense of magic in the work. I didn’t know how true the movie was to the book until now.
Posted on December 29, 2013 in Books
Hello! I hope everyone is having a good holiday so far. I’ve been quite busy and even sick the last couple of weeks. It feels a lot has happened. I’m not working until the 6th which is great but a bit strange since I’ve been working so much the last couple of months.
Yesterday, I read A Little Princess and the review for it and the 1995 movie will be up tomorrow. Today, I think I’ll read John Green’s Looking for Alaska.
I plan on doing the Classics Club Readathon on January 4. I won’t read the whole day, but I’ll definitely make a concerted effort to read a classic that day.
For the rest of my time off, I’ll be seeing some friends, organizing my Filofax planner(s), making job applications, and cleaning my desk and filing cabinet in anticipation of the new year.
Yesterday, I started drafting up my 2014 reading goals and challenges. I usually do a review of 2013, but I may not do it this year because I am busy. I completed most of my reading challenges for 2013 and have tweaked my 2014 goals accordingly. How was your 2013 reading goals? What do you plan for in the new year?
Posted on December 24, 2013 in Books
This is novel’s setting tone and style is highly reminiscent of “Downton Abbey”, Edith Wharton, andHenry James. If you enjoy any of those three like I do, you’ll at least find this novel mildly interesting.
Like DA, this novel has several elements of soap opera. It has many predictable moments, public humiliation, men and women with mother issues, love affairs and love squares. Most of the characters are not well drawn. The writer has just enough about each of them, but not enough for me to find it remarkable or anywhere near a character study.
I really only liked Cora the protagonist towards the end. I identified with her because even with her spoilt upbringing, she is straight forward and frank. I felt bad for her as well. As a result, the ending left me dissatisfied. It reminded me about how I felt with the ending of James’s A Portrait of a Lady. I wasn’t exactly ecstatic or pleased with how it ended. It just ended almost abruptly.
It did make me reflect how the rich in those days had such insufferable lifestyles where you had to host so many parties, live in idleness and all the gossip and the social machinations that goes with it. It really makes you think how things are better without such foolishness especially for women.
This was a decent debut novel, and it got better as the somewhat predictable plot progressed. I started to care for the characters as it went on, but I don’t think this is an outstanding work. It suited my day of recovering from illness. It was a fine read for my mood.
Read Dec 22 2013.