Turning the Page on January 2017

*The most exciting part of January was picking out a boxer puppy! She'll be coming home with us next week and we're so excited! Isn't she just darling?

*With getting adjusted to my new job, I hardly went to the beach at all in December, but I think I rectified that pretty well in January.

*I made a fun Valentine's-themed staff picks display at work. And since one of my co-workers just left I get to take over the giant wall display in the kids' section. I'm enjoying getting to be crafty at work!

*It wasn't the healthiest month for my family. On New Year's Day, Jarrod stepped on a chunk of glass at the beach while he was heading out to surf and sliced his foot open. It was deep, it was gory, and anyone else but my husband would've gone to the E.R. to get stitches. My mom broke her foot and is in a walking boot. I spent two weeks hacking and snotting because of the excess vog (volcanic haze) that blew up to Oahu from the Big Island. And my grandma was just discovered to have an aortic aneurysm and has to have immediate surgery. Hopefully this just means we got all the health problems out of the way at the beginning of the year and the rest of 2017 will be smooth sailing.

*At the beginning of the month we binge-watched season 5 of "Homeland" in advance of the new season. Since then we've been catching up on episodes of "Elementary" on the DVR and I started watching "Victoria" on Masterpiece. We also finally got to see "The Secret Life of Pets" (adorable!). And I watched "Bridget Jones's Baby," which was ok... I just can't understand why they decided to deviate completely from the third book ("Mad About the Boy"), which I really liked!

*Songs on repeat: "Waiting For A Girl Like You" by Foreigner (from "Stranger Things" -- it put me on an '80s music kick), "Paris" by the Chainsmokers, "Give Me Love" and "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran.

Books read: 8

Currently reading: "The Lonely Hearts Hotel" by Heather O'Neill and "Lab Girl" by Hope Jahren

Favorite book: "The Fire by Night" by Teresa Messineo, a dual narrative WWII story. I also really enjoyed "All Our Wrong Todays." And I know the memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" will stick with me for a long, long time. And of course there's "Saga"!

Biggest let-down: "The Mothers." Pretty much everyone else loved it and I was expecting it be a a favorite of mine too, but it just didn't do it for me.

February release I'm most excited about: "Swimming Lessons" by Claire Fuller. I really enjoyed her first book, "Our Endless Numbered Days."

Book I'm most looking forward to reading in February: "The Chemist" by Stephenie Meyer; I've got it checked out from the library, but I have to get through a few advance-read books before I can pick it up.

Books won: "Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk" by and "The Mother's Promise" by Sally Hepworth, both from Goodreads giveaways. (Yay!)

Books added to my to-read list: 16

Most intriguing TBR addition: "Exit West" by Mohsin Hamid. From Goodreads: "In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through."

Favorite bookstagram: Definitely not the most interesting book-themed picture I took this month, but I really like it. Maybe it's the muted colors, the hint of Hufflepuff scarf, and the dog and the acorn. ;) 

I didn't do a ton of knitting in January; I whipped up a baby hat for our new niece who's due to greet the world any day now (that yarn is from a little shop on Kauai and it makes me think of sunsets and plumeria flowers). I also made a little owl puff as a thank-you for my wonderful Broke and Bookish Secret Santa. Now I'm working on a Newt Scamander Hufflepuff scarf from "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" for a friend. It's slow going, though -- I way overdid it with early-winter advance-read books so most of my free time has been devoted to reading.

Favorite post: Kauai: October 2016. I enjoyed looking back through the photos of the gorgeous trip we took there when my mom was out for a visit in October. It's Jarrod's and my favorite Hawaiian island and I feel so rejuvenated every time we go. The vibe there is a lot more mellow than Oahu, and the natural beauty of the island is breathtaking.

Favorite link-up post: So Many Books, So Little Time: 2016 Releases I Didn't Get To (But Will Soon -- Right?!). It's always fun looking back at the year's releases and remembering which ones I really wanted to read! (And -- success! -- I read two books from the list in January!)

Book reviews:
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (4 stars)
The River at Night by Erica Ferencik (3.5 stars)
The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers (3.5 stars)

The Fire by Night by Teresa Messineo (4.5 stars)

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (4 stars)

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (4 stars)

16 Good Movies Based on Books I'll Probably Never Read

This week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish blog) is a movie-themed freebie. I LOVE movies but I don't really have that many concrete favorites, so doing a straightforward faves list was out. Instead I decided to put together a list of book-to-movie adaptations that I enjoyed -- but have not, and probably never will, read the books they're based on. In these cases, the movie was good enough for me!

Have you enjoyed any of these movies? Are there any books I should make a point to read?

"War and Peace" is last because, as a TV miniseries, it's a little bit of a cheat -- but it was so good that I couldn't resist giving it some love here!

When Books Go to Hollywood: The Good and the Bad

The ladies at The Broke and the Bookish have asked us faithful list-loving bookworms to talk about upcoming book-to-movie adaptations we're excited about. But I actually did that back in June (you can see that post here), so I'm putting a bit of a spin on the topic. (Before I digress, I must say that I'm excited about "The Devil in the White City" becoming a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and that Jennifer Lawrence is supposed to star in "The Rosie Project." And Emily Blunt is set to play Rachel in "The Girl on the Train." All good news!)

Movies are hardly ever as good as the books they're based on, but I usually find them to be acceptable representations, especially when I have some distance from the book. Sometimes, though, the movie tragically butchers the book. And other times -- very seldom, but it happens -- I actually find that I enjoy the movie more than I did its literary counterpart. Below are 10 examples:

The movie/show was painful:
1. "Confessions of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella
2. "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
3. "Horns" by Joe Hill
4. "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini
5. "Under the Dome" by Stephen King

Ugh. Just ugh. I was embarrassed to have dragged my husband to see "Percy Jackson" at the theater, and I spent all of "Horns" (which we suffered through on DVD) explaining the plot to him and picking out the many differences. I haven't actually read "Under the Dome," but I somehow stuck with all three (increasingly awful) seasons of the show. I know a few people who've read the book and they assured me that the show (which all of them abandoned) was nothing like the book.

The movie/show was significantly better:
1. "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert
2. "The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling
3. "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
4. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson
5. "Sherlock" based on stories by Arthur Conan Doyle

Shocker! Every so often, Hollywood turns a mediocre book into an awesome film. I didn't really like "Eat, Pray, Love," I hated "The Casual Vacancy," I struggled to relate to Hazel and Gus in the book version of "The Fault in Our Stars," I was bored by "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and I couldn't finish "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest." But I liked the first three movies and I loved the Swedish "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" (really, all of the Swedish Stieg Larsson movies are excellent). And "Sherlock," one of my all-time favorite shows, needs no extra explanation.

Which books do you think Hollywood has butchered? Are there any movies you vastly prefer over the books?

15 Wonderful Reads Becoming Movies (Or TV Shows)

 This week the ladies at the Broke and the Bookish have assigned us to talk about movies -- specifically, books we'd like to see adapted for the screen. But there are already soooo many books I love that are headed for theaters or TV sets that I decided to talk about those instead. Some are theater-ready while others have just had the movie rights purchased -- but they will hopefully all be awesome as the books they're about! (And fingers crossed that the ones in pre-production will actually become movies!).

Coming Soon:

 Release date: November 25, 2015

 I am soooo excited about this movie! The book was phenomenal and the movie should be just as good -- funny and intense and gripping! When I read the novel I pictured Mark Wahlberg as the main character; Matt Damon is the star of the movie and -- seeing as they kinda look alike -- I'm pretty pleased with the casting! (P.S. If you haven't read this book yet, do it!)

Release date: November 18, 2016

Another movie set in the Harry Potter-verse!!!! Who even cares what it's about; I'll be seeing it (while wearing my Gryffindor scarf) along with legions of other fans. It's rumored that Eddie Redmayne (of "The Theory of Everything") will be playing Newt Scamander.

Release date: 2016

I loved this book and I'm fully prepared to love this movie. The casting is spot-on: Emilia Clarke (Daenerys on "Game of Thrones") and Sam Claflin (Finnick from the Hunger Games movies) are starring. Squee!

Release date: September 2, 2015

Robert Redford plays Bill Bryson in this humorous memoir of an Appalachian Trail hike. The book inspired me to possibly, maybe, kinda think about hiking the AT one day. It would definitely be an experience!

Release date: January 15, 2016

Something to look forward to in the middle of next winter! I recently read and enjoyed this book, the first in a trilogy. I think Chloe Grace Moretz is a great choice to play Cassie. Too bad this is filmed in Georgia, not here in the Dayton, Ohio, area where the book is set. :(

Release date: March 4, 2016

This is one all-star filled cast, with Asa Butterfield, Eva Green, Judi Dench, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris O'Dowd and more. The book was unique and fun, and I'm sure the movie will be good too! (P.S. The movie has a slightly shortened title: "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiars.")

Release date: 2015?

It sounds like this movie is all filmed and ready to go, but there's no specified release date. I'm looking forward to the screen adaptation of the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife who find an abandoned baby.

In the Works:

Bonus!
 

I haven't read either of these books (and I definitely intend to read "Into Thin Air" eventually) but I'm looking forward to upcoming screen versions of these non-fiction tales.

I planned to read "The Astronaut Wives Club" until I saw the horrible reviews, many of which focused on the poor writing (which is a HUGE sticking point for me) and I decided not to bother with it. But the story is intriguing and I was excited to see that it has been turned into a TV show on ABC that starts June 18. I love stories set in this time period and, even though it looks a tad cheesy, I will absolutely be checking this show out!

And the story Jon Krakauer tells in "Into Thin Air" has been turned into a movie called "Everest" staring Jake Gyllenhaal. It goes to the theater September 18, and while I'm not sure it's worth my $10 to see there I will definitely watch it when it comes out on DVD.

Monday Musings 2

Do you ever have weeks where you're just in a funk? Where you're in a perpetual state of grumpiness, you feel like crap mentally and physically, everything seems just... blah, everyone you know gets on your nerves, and you just feel burnt out on your day-to-day life? Where you're fully aware that you're acting like a total bitch, yet you can't stop? That was me last week.

Here's hoping I can leave my melancholy mood behind and enjoy Thanksgiving week! For now, here are some of the good things that happened to me while I was busy being a grouch:

I spent Monday morning doing this:

Snow day! We had 3-4 inches of snow from Sunday to Monday and I got to go into work 2 1/2 hours late. And what better way to spend a snowy, cold morning than work on my Gryffindor scarf while watching "Harry Potter"?!

These arrived:

I've had my eye on these teal pointy-toe flats from Old Navy forever, but I never saw them at the store and I didn't want to pay $7 for shipping. Finally they went on sale -- and there was free shipping! You can bet I snatched these puppies up. How sweet are these shoes?!

I wore this:

I wear jeans a lot. Like, almost every single day of the year regardless of the season. They're my daily uniform. But this summer I bought a couple skirts hoping to branch out a bit. This one was too short to wear to work without something under it, but it looks pretty awesome with leggings. I took a step out of my comfort zone with this outfit and was rewarded with several compliments. Woo hoo!

We bought these:

Florida Georgia Line, baby! We went to see them with Jason Aldean in Columbus back in September, but it was a total clusterfuck getting into the concert and we missed half of FGL! This time they're going to be right here in Dayton and I couldn't be more excited to have a second chance to see my favorite country group!

I whipped this up:

That is one badass pom-pom, if I do say so myself! :)

We saw this:

It was really good, though I wasn't quite as blown away as I was with "Catching Fire." I'm already looking forward to the conclusion next year. I wonder what they'll do about Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character, or if they'd already done most of the filming before he died? If you've already seen "Mockingjay," what did you think? Ooh, and I really loved that Lorde song that played during the credits, "Flicker." Look it up if you like Lorde!

I discovered this guy:

I first heard "Take Me To Church" a few months ago (which is not actually about going to church at all, but rather more of a political commentary) and finally listened to Hozier's whole album on Spotify. What a gorgeous, soulful sound he has!