It’s the end of another month! My favorite post to write! Here’s everything I read and watched this month. I have a lot of good recommendations for you!
BOOKS
Meant to Be by Terri Osburn
Rating: 4 Stars
I was in the mood for a lighter series and this one was very nice. I liked this first book the most. Definitely a romance novel, but it had a great story, characters, and I loved the setting. I wish I could live on Anchor Island too! Though I don’t usually love books where the obstacle between two characters is another relationship, this book played out pretty well.
Up to the Challenge by Terri Osburn
Rating: 3 Stars
Not as good as the first book, I still enjoy a good series with revolving characters you can delve deeper into. I don’t have a ton to say about this, other than it’s a nice light read if that’s what you need.
Home to Stay by Terri Osburn
Rating: 3 Stars
About the same level of enjoyment as the second book. They moved beyond the main four characters a little bit, but everyone is still around. I liked the book, but needed to move on afterward. There’s a fourth book, but it’ll be a long time before I pick that one up.
The Best Possible Answer by E. Katherine Kottaras
Rating: 3 Stars
The story of a girl whose life was ruined by one bad photo mistake and how she deals with it while her family falls apart. I thought this book was pretty dull. I did enjoy the character and her relationships she made over the summer, but it really wasn’t a very exciting read.
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Rating: 5 Stars
I’ve had this book in my to be read list for quite awhile, but decided it was time to read it so I could watch the netflix show based off of the book. It was truly a captivating read. Fascinating, sad, full of regret. I think I read the book in a single day. I highly recommend it.
Sing Me to Sleep by Angela Morrison
Rating: 4 Stars
This was a wonderfully written book. The second half of the story really caught me off guard. It was not where I expected things to go. But I appreciated how messy and not quite perfect everything turned out to be. The book is the story about a “beast” of a girl who transforms herself for a high class choir competition. You’ll love the main character, and also want to scream at her. But it was a quick and good read.
The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Before you read this, be sure you read The Kiss of Deception first. But read them because they’re good! I read the first book a couple of years ago, probably when it first came out. So I had to read a few summaries before I was ready to move on to the next book. I kind of wish I had just re-read it because it was one of my rare five star rated books. In case you haven’t noticed, I read A LOT of young adult and contemporary type books. But every once in awhile I just love getting lost in a fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian type series. And this is a great one! I’m currently reading the final book, so I’ll let you know how that is next month! 🙂
MOVIES
Not a very good month for movies! We usually watch movies on weekends, but apparently we had other things to watch this month!
There was nothing earth shatteringly great about Passengers, but I did enjoy it. How can you not enjoy Chris Pratt in anything??
TV – Together
I think we binged this one in a week. I loved it! I mean, the premise was slightly ridiculous, but I really thought it was so funny. Be sure you’re actually watching-watching because the facial expressions and little slights here and there are what make the comedy so fantastic.
The second season of Love is a lot better than the first. You still want to murder the characters off and on, but for the most part it’s worth sticking with.
I’m just going to keep saying this: I LOVE Superstore. It’s one of my favorite tv shows of all time. I’m so glad we stumbled on it a few months ago. SO, so funny. Watch it. Seriously.
Eh, Arrow. Still sticking with it, still not overly thrilled with it. Everything is so dark and evil. I find myself much more excited about the lighthearted shows we have to watch every week.
The Flash, better than Arrow, but still kind of dragging this season.
Finished up the current season of Homeland. I am NOT happy with how it ended. My reason for watching is no longer alive. I’m not sure I’ll be watching it again next year.
Greg still really loves this one, but more often than not I find myself falling asleep during it. And I pretty much never fall asleep during tv time. It’s a really well done show, I’ll give it that. But it just doesn’t grab me the way it used to.
Always good for a laugh! Captain Holt continues to be one of my favorite characters ever.
Okay, Riverdale is pretty ridiculous. I was pretty excited about it the first few episodes, and now I’m just kind of annoyed with the characters and the storyline. It’s okay. I’d still pick it over Arrow any night.
TV- Alone
I did a lot of sewing the last few weeks, which means I’ve watched a lot of tv! Don’t judge! 🙂
The tv portrayal of this book was fantastic. I loved how deeply they delved into each of the characters and focused so strongly on the aftermath of Hannah’s suicide. So much of the book was just listening to Hannah’s tapes and Clay’s internal reactions to everything. The show is about so much more. I loved how it was done, but was also deeply saddened by it. So much regret for what could have been and what was lost. I’ve been reading some of the controversial articles about why people want this show taken off of netflix. And I kind of agree – it really does romanticize the notion of suicide. If my kids were old enough to watch it, I wouldn’t want them to. The way each character spirals after listening to the tapes, it kind of seems like everyone is heading to their own suicide. But overall…I really appreciated this show.
Okay, first of all – READ THE BOOK. It’s such a great book! One of the most memorable books I’ve ever read. And the mini-series based off the book? Amazing! I just watched all seven episodes in the last day and a half. It was SO well done. Reese Witherspoon was incredible. Everyone was. I guess it’s been awhile since I read the book, but I think very little was changed. I really love this new era of tv and mini-series being made from books. Especially when you can read first. I love seeing the characters come to life on screen. Watch this show! Read this book!
I don’t even know why I like this show, it’s pretty dumb. Ha! But I still like it and find myself watching it before anything else more often than not.
Another standby that I won’t stop watching, but don’t necessarily love. It’s good for a few laughs here and there.
Oh man, such annoying characters! I definitely have a love hate relationship with this show. Phil/Tandy is SO obnoxious. But the show is occasionally funny. Interesting premise, at least!
I was pretty angry about a major character’s death. But I’ve kept going and the show is still entertaining. I’m sad they killed him off, but I guess they need more drama. The only thing I dislike about this show is how many things are typed on screen and how many subtitles you have to read when Spanish is being spoken. Since I almost solely watch tv while sewing, it’s super annoying to always stop what I’m doing to read what’s on the screen.
iZombie is back, hooray! I love this show. So good! I’m excited to have this one to watch every week again.
Grimm is over. This kind of fit the bill for my sci-fi/fantasy television watching. It was sometimes bizarre, but I loved the core cast of characters and their friendship. I’m sad it’s over. So many of my favorite shows have ended this season.
And that’s about it! What have you been reading and watching? I’d always love more recommendations!
