Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.
Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.
My Life and Blog
Life: Last weekend ended up being a lot of fun. Sunday was my 11th wedding anniversary. We went to a nice dinner on Saturday, and then went to a good friend's party on Sunday. I made a very yummy rose lemonade (rose wine, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup), and drank my fair share of it. It ended up being a gorgeous day in the mid-70s, which was such a nice break from the 90 degree weather we've been having. One of my closest friends moved to Arizona a couple of months ago, and I seriously cannot even imagine dealing with, like, 115 degree weather. I'm from the Mountain West, so I know that there is definitely a difference between dry and humid heat...but it doesn't matter if it is a dry heat once you get over 100 degrees.
For those who showed concern the last time I talked about it, my fat kitty is still alive and doing alright. He has definitely lost some weight, but he is still very interested in food and wants to be petted and loved, so I don't think we need to worry about putting him out of his misery yet. I've loved spending time with him and my other lovely kitty this summer.
Blog and reading: A WoW this week and a review for The Female of the Species (which is pretty early, but I couldn't wait to share my thoughts on this important book). I'm having a hard time getting into anything after reading The Female of the Species, but I plan on reading Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda next, which I purchased yesterday. I also started Smash & Grab last night, but only got through the first chapter before falling asleep.
New Books: I have a nice handful of pretties to share with you today. So without further ado, I hope you are all having fabulous weekends!
For Review
This book is dark and violent and important. The link to my review is above if you're interested.
I love this cover and was hoping for a Heist Society-type story when I snagged this. I've only read the first chapter and a half or so, but I'm not loving it so far. My biggest complaint is that male POV (in what I'm assuming is just a dual POV story) is apparently Hispanic because he keeps dropping Spanish words...but really awkwardly. I'm going to give it another 10% or so.
A teen girl gets a dream job as a dating blogger/intern for a NY magazine, but she lied about her dating experience to get it. Sounds cute.
I think this book about a woman on a cruise who swears she saw the woman next door go into the water has a good chance of being the "big thriller" of the summer. Anyone read this one yet?
I've heard nothing but good things about this one. I read the first few chapters months ago, but had to take it back to the library before I could finish it. I'm looking forward to finishing this one.
Over the course of a night, a couple decides if they are going to try for a long-distance relationship or split up before they leave for separate colleges.
What I snagged from the library
Books:
I was so excited to read this last fall...and then just kind of forgot about it. I'm trying to read a mix of books I couldn't get to over the school year and ARCs this summer.
I have to admit that I was way more excited to read this book before I realized that it was by an author whose debut I kind of hated last year. I'm going to give it a shot, though, so we'll see.
Movies:
10 Cloverfield Lane
We watched this last night. It is pretty good. John Goodman is so very, very creepy, and I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who I always think of as Ramona Flowers).
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
My love of Tina Fey knows no bounds. I'm so excited for this one.
Well that's it for me this week. Feel free to leave a link to whatever weekend post you do (Stacking the Shelves, In My Mailbox, etc). I love to see what books people have recently snagged and especially enjoy hearing about my fellow bloggers' weeks. I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!
Friday, July 29, 2016
Weekly Rewind 7.30.16
Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.
Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.
Blog and reading: I was actually quite productive on the blog this week. I posted a review for P.S. I Like You (which was adorable but predictable), a WoW, and I started a new feature called Natflix on Netflix where I'll review movies/shows I've watched on streaming channels. This week I reviewed a movie called Final Girl, which is currently on Netflix. It has great cast, but suffers from an obviously very small budget. I'm currently in the middle of half a dozen books. I'm reading Tell the Truth Shame the Devil, The Hopefuls, How to Hang a Witch, and Simon and the Homo Sapien Agenda. I'm also rereading Maine and Sloppy Firsts. Yes, I know that is ridiculous, but that's just how I roll. I've been listening to Eligible, but I'm probably going to switch to Truly, Madly, Guilty because I know I won't be able to renew it. I'm probably also not going to be to finish it in my car as I'm currently leaving my house at a fairly consistent rate of once every three days or so. Lol.
New Books: Just a couple on the review book front this week, but I did buy a couple of books, and my library habit is as strong as ever. So without further ado, I hope you are all having fabulous weekends!
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Natflix On Netflix (Episode 1) Final Girl
Natflix On Netflix
We all know what it's like to scroll, scroll, scroll through the many choices that Netflix has to offer. Sometimes I spend so much time looking for something to watch, that I could have watched a whole episode or movie. It's even worse when you are trying to find something with another person. Well, Natflix to the rescue! I'm going to occasionally share some of the stuff I watch on Netflix to help make your choices (or avoidances) easier.
Director: Tyler Shields
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Alexander Ludwig, and Wes Bentley
Release Date: August 15, 2015
Synopsis via IMDb:
So a couple of days ago, the hubs and I were doing the endless scroll through Netflix. He is adamant about not starting any new series, and Netflix seems to be all about binge-watching shows these days and less about movies (at least on the home screen), so pickins were a little slim. We read the synopsis for Final Girl and agreed that it sounded okay.
Final Girl is incredibly low budget. I didn't look at the movie cover closely, so was surprised to see that Abigail Breslin and Wes Bentley were the stars. The premise is that when Veronica's (Breslin) parents die when she is a young girl (5 or 6 maybe), William (Bentley) takes her under his wing with the goal of training Veronica to be a killer. You see, Veronica is a psychopath who doesn't even care that her parents are dead, so she is the perfect girl to train as his personal assassin.
Cut to when Veronica is 17. The ultimate goal, and what she has been training all her life for, is to kill the four young men who have been luring girls into the woods where they "hunt" and kill them. Veronica and William's plan is for her to bait one of the boys to become their next victim and turn the tables on them.
Despite a great cast (the main boy is played by Alexander Ludwig who was Cato in The Hunger Games and one of the other boys was the star of the excellent Rocket Science with Anna Kendrick), the film very much suffers from its low budget. The bulk of the film takes place in the woods where they are hunting Veronica (or where she is hunting them) at night. Because of this, the bright lights that shine behind and above the trees is so obviously fake that it seriously distracts from the film. I found myself laughing at the spotlight-like lighting that wasn't even trying to look natural.
I was also completely confused about when this was supposed to take place. I'm guessing by the costumes that it was supposed to be the '50 as poor Veronica is stuck in a circle-skirt dress for the majority of the film (which had to have sucked because there were times when you could see the actor's breath so she must have been freezing).
Finally, and I'm sorry to say this, but Breslin was so unconvincing as a bad-ass. I seriously doubt the girl has ever thrown a real punch in her life--which isn't a bad thing in terms of living a peaceful existence--but is a bad thing when you are playing someone who has supposedly trained for, like, 12 years to be a powerful assassin. She is also not very convincing as a psychopath, although that has to do more with the writing than it does with Breslin's acting.
Despite all of that, Final Girl is quickly paced at a slim 90 minutes, and the quality of cast does make it go down easier than it would have with no-name actors. It was entertaining enough--even if some of the entertainment value comes from laughing at things that aren't supposed to be funny. My husband also enjoyed this more than I did, so maybe keep that in mind if you are watching with a(nother) fella.
Overall, I cannot recommend this, but if you find yourself scrapping the bottom of the Netflix barrel, it isn't a horrible way to spend an hour and a half.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Waiting on Wednesday (159) The Whole Thing Together
Author: Ann Brashares
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: April 25, 2017
Goodreads:
Summer for Sasha and Ray means the sprawling old house on Long Island. Since they were children, they’ve shared almost everything—reading the same books, running down the same sandy footpaths to the beach, eating peaches from the same market, laughing around the same sun-soaked dining table. Even sleeping in the same bed, on the very same worn cotton sheets. But they’ve never met.
Sasha’s dad was once married to Ray’s mom, and together they had three daughters: Emma, the perfectionist; Mattie, the beauty; and Quinn, the favorite. But the marriage crumbled and the bitterness lingered. Now there are two new families—and neither one will give up the beach house that holds the memories, happy and sad, of summers past.
The choices we make come back to haunt us; the effect on our destinies ripples out of our control…or does it? This summer, the lives of Sasha, Ray, and their siblings intersect in ways none of them ever dreamed, in a novel about family relationships, keeping secrets, and most of all, love.
Why I'm Excited:
So I would live in a small-ass apartment if it meant I could also afford a beach house, especially because my job as a teacher gives me summers off. It is seriously my dream to spend the summers on a beach somewhere. Honestly, it doesn't even need to be the beach, I would love to have a nice little vacation home on a lake somewhere. Anyway, sorry, I love vacation homes as a setting, and I find the two disparate families who both spend time there very interesting. I loved the 4 Traveling Pants books (no, I do consider the last book part of the series--I just know something bad happens and that isn't how I want to remember the series). I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out for this one.
Monday, July 25, 2016
P.S. I Like You (Early ARC Review)
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: Point
Release date: July 26, 2016
Synopsis from Goodreads:
What if the person you were falling for was a total mystery?
While Lily is spacing out in Chemistry one day, she picks up her pencil and scribbles a line from one of her favorite songs on the desk. The next day, someone else has written back to her on the desk! Soon enough Lily and the mystery student are exchanging notes, and lyrics, and even sharing secrets. When Lily finds out that her anonymous pen pal is a guy, she's flustered -- and kind of feels like she's falling for him. She and her best friend set out to unravel the identity of the letter writer -- but when the truth is revealed, the guy is the LAST person Lily could have ever imagined it to be. Now that Lily knows the truth, can she untangle her feelings and gather the courage to listen to her heart?
From beloved author Kasie West (The Distance Between Us) comes an utterly charming story about mixed messages, missed connections, and the magic of good old-fashioned secret admirer notes.
MY THOUGHTS:
Like a lot of bloggers, I've been a fan of Kasie West since her marvelous debut, Pivot Point, which is an awesome paranormal story. Since her debut (and its sequel), West seems to be focusing on contemporary romance, which I'm a huge fan of. If you pay attention to my reading habits at all, you've probably noticed that I lean pretty hard towards contemporary. That said, I have to admit that I haven't loved any of her contemporary novels nearly as much as I loved Pivot Point...until P.S. I Like You. While PP is still my favorite of hers, PS is easily my favorite of her romances.
P.S. I Like You stars a girl named Lily who is a pretty average teenager. She has a long, loving family, a great best friend, and a long-standing crush on a boy she has never talked to. She also has an antagonist relationship with Lily's ex-boyfriend, Cade.
All Lily wants is to become a song writer--and a little bit of peace and quiet in her crazy house to have the time to write. She carries around a notebook full of song lyrics, ideas, and drawings, which gets banned from her chemistry class when her teacher notices that she isn't paying attention. This leads to her writing on the desk a song lyric from her favorite band...a lyric that gets a response from somebody else in another chemistry class. This interaction leads to more and more personal notes exchanged between Lily and the mystery person until she starts to believe that she may be falling for the writer who seems to get her perfectly.
If you've ever read a book or watched a movie, you're going to figure out who this mystery writer is immediately. This book isn't setting the world aflame with its originality by any stretch of the imagination. Lily is "quirky" with her mismatched, second-hand clothes. She might have misjudged how she feels about people in the story. Yada, yada, yada. It was 100% predictable, but I didn't care at all while I was reading it. I loved Lily. I loved the romance. I swooned at the end. I read this in a day.
Sometimes we pick up certain books or watch certain movies BECAUSE we know what we are going to get. I loved this book, and if you like fluffy, adorable, swoon-y stories, then I'm willing to bet that you will, too.
Definitely recommend.
Friday, July 22, 2016
Weekly Rewind 7.23.16
Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.
Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.
Batman vs. Superman
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Waiting on Wednesday (158) Fireworks
Author: Katie Cotugno
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: April 18, 2017
Goodreads:
It was always meant to be Olivia. She was the talented one, the one who had been training to be a star her whole life. Her best friend, Dana, was the level-headed one, always on the sidelines, cheering her best friend along.
But everything changes when Dana tags along with Olivia to Orlando for the weekend, where superproducer Guy Monroe is holding auditions for a new singing group, and Dana is discovered too. Dana, who’s never sung more than Olivia’s backup. Dana, who wasn’t even looking for fame. Next thing she knows, she and Olivia are training to be pop stars, and Dana is falling for Alex, the earnest, endlessly talented boy who’s destined to be the next big thing.
It should be a dream come true, but as the days of grueling practice and constant competition take their toll, things between Olivia and Dana start to shift . . . and there’s only room at the top for one girl. For Olivia, it’s her chance at her dream. For Dana, it’s a chance to escape a future that seems to be closing in on her. And for these lifelong best friends, it’s the adventure of a lifetime—if they can make it through.
Set in evocative 1990s Orlando, New York Times bestselling author Katie Cotugno’s Fireworks brings to life the complexity of friendship, the excitement of first love, and the feeling of being on the verge of greatness.
Why I'm Excited:
I really enjoyed 99 Days (it is being released in PB on Tuesday!), so of course I'm excited for this one. I love that it is about the 90's boy/girl band craze. I love the 90s. I did a post about how much I love the 90s which you can find here (If you do decide to read this post, please disregard all the missing graphics. I just went to find the link and cannot believe how many of the pictures/gifs are now missing--and I'm way too lazy to recreate this post from over two years ago). I cannot wait to get my hands on this book.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Weekly Rewind 7.16.16
Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.
Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Waiting on Wednesday (157) Literally
Author: Lucy Keating
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: April 11, 2017
Goodreads:
Annabelle’s life has always been Perfect with a capital P. Then bestselling young adult author Lucy Keating announces that she’s writing a new novel—and Annabelle is the heroine.
It turns out, Annabelle is a character that Lucy Keating created. And Lucy has a plan for her.
But Annabelle doesn’t want to live a life where everything she does is already plotted out. Will she find a way to write her own story—or will Lucy Keating have the last word?
The real Lucy Keating’s delightful contemporary romance blurs the line between reality and fiction, and is the perfect follow-up for readers who loved her debut Dreamology, which SLJ called, “a sweet, quirky romance with appealing characters.”
Why I'm Excited:
Ok, so that really does literally (ahem) sound like Stranger Than Fiction (which is an awesome movie if you've not seen it), but it sounds really fun regardless. I love that the author in the book is the author of the book. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out for this one.
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Weekly Rewind 7.9.16
Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.
Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.
About Me
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Natalie @Natflix&Books
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