Book of the Month: January

I read a lot of books. I read 80 books last year and my goal this year is actually to try to limit myself to only reading 50 books this year so I will give myself more of a chance to work on other projects. It is only February 3rd and I am already ahead of schedule. I think the only way to keep within my allotted number of books for the year is to read some really long ones...

Every month there is a guarantee that I will read at least two books: one for my in-person Women Reading Women book club, and one for Emma Watson's online feminist book club. Anyway you look at that, it means I will be reading several books per month and while I think it would be a great exercise to write reviews for every single book I read, that just doesn't seem very likely. Some books warrant longer discussions than others. Also, I'm not a huge fan of writing long, drawn out accounts of books I didn't particularly enjoy. To me, that feels like not enjoying it twice. Instead I've decided to pick one book each month that particularly stands out of all the books I finished that month. That way, at the end of the year, I will in theory have a list of my twelve favorite reads of the year. We shall see how this actually turns out but it is worth a shot, right?

I finished six books in January. Most of them were quite enjoyable. (If you want to see how I felt about all six books, you should follow me on GoodReads.com) My favorite book for January was the book I read because of Emma Watson's book club. Gloria Steinem's, "My Life on the Road," was a beautiful tale about how traveling has shaped her work and her views about the world. The majority of her travels were within the United States so she was able to see firsthand what was important to different people and different areas. Steinem has been a revolutionary in a time of continued revolution. She participated in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, she has been an advocate for women's rights of all kinds, she is the co-founder of Ms. magazine, she has also advocated for Native American and gay rights. She is a person for people and as such an advocate, she has facilitated many town hall discussions to enable ordinary citizens to make their voices heard. In this process, Steinem has found the huge discrepancies between what the media says that Americans want and what average citizens tell her they want.

What I most loved about this book was Steinem's positive outlook about the impact travel has upon a person. It is difficult to remain ignorant to the struggles of ordinary people when you are looking them in the eye. The only way to truly know a place is to actually talk to the people who live there and have lived there for generations. While single women especially are dissuaded from traveling on their own, Steinem argues that travel of this kind is essential for a person's growth. An unexplored life is a wasted opportunity.

I would encourage anyone who has traveled or wishes to travel to read this book. Not only does this book tell the tale of the fight for feminism and civil rights in this county, but of the individuals who helped make change possible at a micro level.

Jupiter Ascending Review

I've been thinking about this movie all day trying to decide how best to tackle my feelings concerning the whole... thing. I feel like I need to start out positive.

HEY! If you're going to see one movie in which Channing Tatum is half naked (and sometimes totally naked) this year, you should totally see "Jupiter Ascending," instead of that weird stripper one. Not that this movie isn't a weird version of its genre... It totally is. Hmmm.... Let's try a different approach. I may get a little spoilery. Sorry.

One of the things I really admire about Wachowski movies is their use of strong, female leads in their films. As a teen, I idolized Trinity from the Matrix trilogy, "Bound" is all about the lady power and "Cloud Atlas," has a plethora of strong female leads to choose from. However, the woman who "Jupiter Ascending," is named for is a bit of a disappointment. While at times, she showed a willingness to fight and a strong heart, other times she kind of became a whining, mewling mess or just made some obviously super bad decision.

I mean, it is totally understandable to be a bit overwhelming to learn that not only to other inhabited worlds exist, but you're royalty of some kind there! Sort of... Well, You aren't royalty but your DNA matches someone who was royalty so by that standard, yeah sure! Why the hell not? She didn't seem to have trouble adjusting to much though. Weird alien humanoids? Cool. Channing Tatum is like, 60% dog? Would totally still bone him. "I love dogs!" Whoa, weirdly okay with bestiality. Bees will never sting you? Effing sweet! I'm queen of the damn bees! What'd the only thing she's flinching at? Her dress is too fancy. Really? REALLY?! *SIGH*

So after being informed that she is the new owner of Earth, Jupiter Jones is met by the three children of the woman she is the DNA reincarnate of and they each try to seduce her in their own way. Kaliques' all, "Join me and we can be young and hot forever!" Which Jupiter was like, "Cool but also kind of creepy." Titus was like, "Soylent Green is people! We should get married RIGHT NOW because REASONS." To which Jupiter was like, "That's a totally reasonable thing to do considering our circumstances. We should get married but I'm going to remind you throughout the ceremony that I'M NOT YOUR MOTHER which totally isn't creepy at all. Isn't my hat pretty? Oh, shiny object. JK on the whole wedding thing, I forgot I wanted to bone the dog man." And the last baddie, Balem didn't even bother pretending to be nice to her and Jupiter collapsed at his feet like a bitch... but then realized he's a little bitch and punched him causing there to be a whole lot of angsty noises.

This movie is really pretty and as long as you don't think about the story too hard, it's pretty good! This would be a great movie to mute and have in the background of a space opera themed party. It has a lot of good in it but it also has a lot of questionable. The soundtrack is amazing and it is visually stunning to see in theaters, but it's basically a two-hour-long climax. You don't get a moment to breathe and you know, sometimes gasps of air are nice.

I know this isn't the most structured review I've ever written but I feel like it is the review this movie deserves. Here, I can reduce it to bulletpoints:
- RUSSIANS
- ASTRONOMY
- BEES
- BEASTIALITY
- FANCY DRESSES
- SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE
- LUCHEDORA GUARDS
- INCEST
- FAMILY

So go see it but keep your expectations in check.

Mockingjay: Part 1

Hunger Games! Ya ya ya!

So it appears that there is a large percentage of my brain that has been utterly destroyed by South Park. I accept this about myself, mostly comforted by the belief that I am not alone. I am not the only person who was making up fake Lorde songs after the movie was over. I guess I should just shake my fist at Matt and Trey and let them know that they did their job. Thanks for screwing up my brain, guys.

MOCKINGJAY! Right, right... Back to Mockingjay: Part 1. I will start by saying that yes, I have read all of the books and I am a big fan. I have been very impressed thus far by how well they have kept true to the books. One of the things you usually have to do as both a book fan and a movie fan, is that you often have to forcibly divorce movies based off books from the book itself. Otherwise it is nearly impossible to enjoy most book-to-movie adaptations. This is fortunately not the case with this movie series. Directors and script-writers have stayed extremely true to the source material and as a result, the movie is entirely engrossing. There really aren't any moments where the informed viewer has to pull their attention and say, "Wait what are you doing now?" I am extremely thankful for movies like that.

I absolutely loved Mockingjay: Part 1. I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation for the entirety of the movie. The moment the credits rolled, I turned wide-eyed to Chris and said, "I CAN'T WAIT FOR PART TWO." I'm having a hard time deciding who has it worse, the unsullied who went into the movie blissfully ignorant and now have to wait to see what happens next, or those of us who have read the books and know the madness that is just beginning. I agree with where they cut the movie (though I predicted a blackout/roll credits about ten minutes too early.) and they've left so so much adventure for part 2. Part 1 seemed to mostly be a world building movie.

Mockingjay:Part 2 currently has a release date of November 20, 2015. I'm all for planning a Hunger Games marathon the week before. Who is with me?

If you haven't seen this film yet, I fully recommend it. If you're one of those people who is waiting to see it right before part 2 comes out, I'm just going to stare at you knowingly for the next year, 'kay?

Iron Man 3

It's hard to say whether I love Tony Stark or if I love Robert Downey, Jr. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and not just because there's a giant stuffed bunny. This movie does great things to develop Stark as a more human character. The fact that he has suffered from major health problems through the run of these films has made sure he was somewhat grounded in reality but the addition of PTSD caused by the incredible battle in New York stretches further to make him a more human character. Any person in his situation who was not a genetically engineered super-soldier or a demi-god from another world is likely to have a severely broken brain after that event.

It saddens me that Disney and Robert Downey, Jr. were unable to come to an agreement concerning salary so there will not be anymore movies with just Iron Man. Luckily, he will still be included in the Avenger movies that are yet to come.

I appreciate what a strong character Pepper Potts has turned out to be. Without her, Tony Stark would end up just another crazy rich guy who would end up doing more harm than good. She's great for him. She is the only thing that often stands between his ego and the rest of the world.

This movie is a great way to start the summer. Can't wait until the next Thor movie!

Oblivion

If you have ever thought to yourself, "Gee, I'd really like to watch, "Moon," "Mad Max," and "Planet of the Apes" but I just don't have that sort of time!" then "Oblivion" is for you. This movie is full of old SciFi cliches and over-dramatic acting.

Yes, this is an entertaining movie. The problem is that it is entirely predictable. Ten minutes in, I was able to go, "Hey I bet this is going to be the twist at the end," and I was right. There were several moments in which I sat and laughed at how ridiculous and cliche things were going and my sweetheart glared at me for it.

Quite visually interesting but the story is crazy old. A good movie for a drunken SciFi night, not so great for a critical theory class. If you miss this one, no big loss.

The Americans: Season 1 - Midseason review

The year is 1980. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union is going strong. If you asked anyone who they most feared, it would be Russian Spies. Now imagine you're a Russian Spy who has been living in the United States undetected for more than ten years. You're married to another Russian spy and you have two children who know nothing about your covert operations... Oh, and the family who just moved in across the street? Dad works for the FBI. Hooray! That is "The Americans" in a nutshell. And despite Keri Russell's inability to act, it's a really good show. Keri is pretty and all but she isn't my favorite actress. It's a really good thing that the character she places is kind of a Russian Ice Queen because really, I don't feel like she'd be capable of much else. She gets to be the cold stare lady. Her husband on the show is played by Matthew Rhys and he is absolutely delightful.

The character development, twisted turning relationships and incredibly suspenseful storylines make this a fantastic show that I hope is getting enough attention to stick around. According to IMDB, they've been picked up for a second season which is fantastic! I encourage everyone to check this show out. 

"The Americans" airs on FX every Wednesday at 10pm from now until May 1st. 

Review: The Avengers

Hi guys... I want to admit something. Yes, I have been avoiding you. I have been avoiding my blog because I was feeling severe anxiety about "The Avengers" and I didn't want to share my fears or puke up all that anxiety about this movie that I have been waiting so long for. I mean, all of the movies (Hulk aside, of course) leading up to this movie have been fantastic, fun and inspiring, one of my favorite directors made the movie, the cast is fantastic and none of the actors died. I mean, this all just seemed like a dream. How could it be real? And oh gods, what if it isn't good? What if it's Episode 1 all over again? What if we've waited and anticipated all this time and it's all just gotten too big for its britches? The fear got a hold on me.

But I was still hopeful. I was hopeful that it really was going to be everything I had hoped it would be. I put my tiny Thor charm on my cell phone, I dug out my Thor mask and my Captain America shirt.

This is me before work on Friday, May 4th. My sweetheart is no longer allowed to take pictures of me with his iPhone while he's lying in bed. Worst angle ever.

No, I didn't get to go to the midnight showing. I work at 8am and I also didn't want to go by myself. I mean, I'm sure there would have been people I know there but, driving home by myself at 3am sounded awful. Plus then I'd HAVE to see it a second time so my darling boyfriend wouldn't kill me for not being able to shut up about it. So Friday! Friday after work! Like an adult! With all the other adults! And their children! Oh yeah... Kids... Dear parents, please stop bringing your bundles of joy to the opening night showing of an action movie. Seriously, this is not a kids movie...

Anyway, this is my face after the movie and pre-dinner.

Holy crap, the movie was awesome! I was so incredibly happy with just about everything. Yes, I do think it is lame that if you blow up a mothership, all the drones magically fall out of the sky. Yes that is lame. Everything else is awesome. I love that Loki is a great villain. He thinks he's right. That is the best way to build a villain. He needs to be bitter. He needs to feel wrong by the pretty blonde guy with the huge... hammer.

So thank you. Thank you Joss Whedon. Thank you, Marvel. I really want to see Joss Whedon and Robert Downey, Jr. make more movies together. I love the banter. You know would be great? Whedon should direct Iron Man 3. Please?

So yes, I am awed, inspired and overly pleased.

Geek Girls Unite by Leslie Simon

I got this book for Christmas from my honey. I am his cute little nerd and that's the way he likes it! (Fortunately, that's the way I like it, too.) This book is great in a lot of ways but in other ways, not so much. I really, really wanted to like it but then I realized that I'm a nerd and I'm at least somewhat critical of everything. So let's break it up.

First, what I don't like about this book:
- they suggested that Twitards are people, too and that the Geek Girl community should be more welcoming to them. And also, that I should stop calling them Twitards. Not a chance.
- There were inaccuracies. When discussing Felicia Day (Queen of the Internet) they suggested that us Geek Girls are foaming at the mouth in anticipation of Miss Day reprising her role as Penny in the sequel to "Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog." Penny died. Not possible. Also, she said that in the Tank Girl movie, Tank Girl's boyfriend Booga was played by Ice T. False. Booga is played by Jeff Kober. Ice T plays a badass named T-Saint.
- She assumes we're all looking for boyfriends. Not so. The Geek Lesbian community is huge.

What I do like:
- It is pretty inclusive. There's a lot of stuff in here that I'm surprised the author was able to dig up. No she didn't get everything right, but she did get some things! Honorable.
- It's kind of like a field guide! If you were bird-watching for Geek Girls, this is the book for you. It's a whole host of topics you can use to either start a conversation and cozy up to this girl or get a drink thrown in your face for being on the wrong side of the argument.

I give this book a three out of five. I'm still undecided on if I would recommend this book to other people. Really, I think this will just be a pretty spine on my shelf.

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

This is not my usual pick but it was lent to me by a friend. I have always enjoyed learning about how other people view the world and the things that people believe in order to fill their lives with meaning. This is why I studied the Bible even though I'm not a Christian, read up on Buddhism even though I'm not a Buddhist, and read the Satanic Bible even though I'm not a Satanist. It is easier to understand why people do the things they do when you have some knowledge of their chosen mythology.

This is a somewhat spiritual look at how one man thinks that people should conduct themselves in order to create a better "You" and a better world. A lot of the things in this book are pretty self-explanitory or kind of common sense, however other stuff is interesting. It is my opinion that this book could and should have been a lot shorter. I kind of feel like the author had a page count goal and was doing his best to meet that goal even when the content is fluff.

I also feel like the author doesn't think very highly of his readers. The book is small, 138 pages long and the font is pretty big and yet, the author literally does the thing where he references a concept from chapter one in chapter 3 and then asks, "You remember what that is, right?" Ouch... Yes, I remember.

The concepts are solid and insightful and there are some people that I think would really benefit from this book and the author's teachings. I would recommend this book though selectively. 2 out of 5 stars.