What I’ve Been Watching: April/May

Buckle your seatbelts and grab a snack, this is going to be a long post. So after my Descendants of the Sun watch, I’m kind of on a Korean drama binge watch phase. It’s already starting to wear off because I just DNF’d a lot of them but still..Anyways, I loved most of what I watched these past two months. Being an organization crazed person and knowing that you probably don’t want to read through this entire list, I have assembled a list of the things I watched in order by type. They’re in order so just scroll down respectively to see my thoughts on them. BUT the two shows at the bottom of the list are the ones I would recommend the most out of all the things I’ve watched. Enjoy! =)

Sidenote: All summaries are from Wikipedia.

Movies

• Zootopia
• Room
• Captain America: The First Avenger

TV Shows

• Friends
• Futurama

Youtube

• Jenn from Clothesencounters

Korean Dramas

• Reply 1988
• Signal
• Descendants of the Sun

Movies

Zootopia

Sigh, this movie just makes me so happy, one of the better Disney movies of late because it strikes a near perfect balance of lovable characters, hilarious moments, action scenes, and an engaging, relatable story. Sometimes it’s a little too on-the-nose with the parallels to our society which makes me feel like these messages of anti-prejudice were being shoved down my throat. A little subtlety would have been appreciated although this is me speaking as a person who analyzes things all the dang time. I’m sure kids will love it.

Room

What It’s About: Held captive for seven years in an enclosed space, a woman (Larson) and her 5-year-old son (Tremblay) finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.

The movie is actually better than the book. Granted, I forgot a lot of what happened in the book but I believe the movie delved a lot more into the aftermath of being in Room rather than being in Room which I thought was fascinating because half the battle was actually escaping but I came to realize that they’ll never really escape it; it will always be with them. A well-deserved Academy Award for Best Actress for Brie Larson. 

Captain America: The First Avenger

I think I know what the writers of Captain America were thinking when they were writing the script for this movie…

“Hey Jerry, um, people are really liking superhero movies right now, let’s just copy the basic formula. People will eat it up.”

“Ok, Dave, that’s sounds like an easy route to millions. Ok, um, an underdog that’s a white guy, oh and um a badass girl who’s in the army too!!

“Oh cool, what’s her story?

“What story? She just needs to shoot a gun like twice so feminists will not be angry with us and be the love interest.”

“Ok, sure, sounds good, ok, um, a bad guy!”

“Yeah, sure, a bad guy, write that down. He says muahahaha.. And oh, throw in some action scenes!!”

“Let’s do one where he jumps—

“Jerry, who cares about originality, just have the bad guys shoot at him while he’s riding a motorcycle!!”

“Ok, done with the script”

Christ. I seriously hope Winter’s Soldier is better than this.

TV Shows

Friends

I finished all ten seasons of Friends for the first time!!! Honestly it was easy because Netflix has that thing where it just automatically goes to the next episode for you..You know how binge watching works don’t you Netflix..Ah, I grew so attached to these characters and it’s so rare that a TV show doesn’t dip in quality through 10 seasons. Not sure how I feel about the ending with the whole Ross/Rachel thing mostly because they’re my least favorite characters lol but anyway..

Sidenotes: OH. MY. GOD. IS JANICE FOLLOWING THEM EVERYWHERE LOL

-Best romance award goes to Joey and Chandler.

-The whole Monica/Chandler side plot especially in later seasons was so adorable and surprisingly really emotional.

 

Futurama

What It’s About: The series follows the adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who, after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century.

Currently on: Season 3

Finally I know where all these old popular memes are coming from lol. But surprisingly this show is so sweet. I thought it would just have really crass humor similar to like South Park, Family Guy and it does have that but it balances out so well with its sweet undertone. It’s also really clever and a really funny parody and satire. 

Youtube

Clothesencounters

I’ve only recently subscribed to Jenn but she’s already one of my favorite beauty channels. I think she puts in so much work to her videos because the details are so unique from the typography to the editing and camera movements to the placement of products. I also love her chic/edgy fashion style although I wouldn’t look good in like half the things she wears.

Korean Dramas

Reply 1988

What It’s About: It is a family drama set in the year 1988, about five families living in the same neighborhood of Ssangmun-dong, Dobong District, NorthernSeoul.

After DotS, I wanted to watch the majority of the dramas nominated in the 52nd Paeksang Arts Awards which I’ve heard is like the Golden Globes. Honestly, this just made me want to watch Reply 1997 again (my favorite kdrama of all time) and not in a good way. To be quite honest, I don’t know why I stopped after 5 episodes especially since the first episode made me cry and it’s actually written very well. I did really like the emphasis on the family dynamics and community but I guess the main characters weren’t compelling enough? Or maybe I’m just not in the mood for a family drama. I think I might come back to this one.

Sidenote: I think this show is basically 90% everyone yelling at each other. Like honestly, everyone needs to chill.

Signal

What It’s about: A mysterious walkie talkie allows a detective in 1989 to communicate with a cold case profiler from 2015; with the power of fore and hindsight the two not only solve crimes but prevent them from ever taking place. However a long standing murder case is closer to home than either realizes.

Signal is another nominee in the Paeksang Awards but I was wary because I loathe procedural cop shows. Signal is a procedural cop show. But I loved it. I suppose it’s more of the fact that it resembles BBC Sherlock a lot more than say Criminal Minds in that it focuses more on the intricacies of the puzzle than who actually did it. This drama is a prime example of what a well-written, tight, and suspenseful plot can do for a story. Usually cop shows go from a suspenseful scene to a calm one in order to develop the characters but Signal seamlessly weaves in the suspense and the calm so that it feels like your heart is being constantly squeezed throughout the entire episode. A lot of cop shows also rely on sensationalized murders to amp up the dramatic like “hey that guy killed 25 women and always kills them by the neck on Saturdays at 5pm” or something like that. As horrible as that is, it gets boring because it’s just episode after episode of these. But I love that Signal takes the time to get us to know the murderer and it is handled with such delicacy. And that makes all the difference. Because the plot is not just used to move the story along, it’s used to reveal what our characters’ motivations and deepest fears are. So that means very few aspects of the plot feel without purpose. It was fascinating to see our main characters, idealistic cops who believe in the power of justice face police corruption and frustrating bureaucracy. It’s honestly too bad that the last two episodes basically serve as a plea for a second season. It’s also too bad that they completely butcher the only main female character’s arc. *Rolls eyes* But the show’s amazing cinematography, melancholy color tones, and award-winning performances combined with all the good parts I mentioned above make this show a must-watch.Also, this is the first kdrama I’ve watched that has no romance whatsoever and it was kind of awesome actually.

Sidenotes: Omurice is a significant dish in the show and it looked so good so I made it and it turned out to be surprisingly good considering my cooking..

-The main character, Park-Hae Young who is played by Lee Je-Hoon is actually too cute for words. Like his low-key cuteness just kind of sneaks up on you.

Descendants of the Sun

Another opportunity to shove this drama down people’s throats?? Sign me up..I’ve already mentioned this drama in like 4 posts so if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s my review. Also if anyone can buy me that poster, I don’t care if you’ve killed puppies, you’ll be my favorite forever and ever. Jk. Kind of.

I’m seriously ashamed to say that I haven’t caught up with Orphan Black since the 2nd episode of the new season. Woops..I promise I’ll catch up in June but yeah that’s probably what I’m going to be watching next. What have you been watching lately? Any recommendations? I’d love to know =)

 

 

 

Book Review: We are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

Title: We are the Ants

Author: Shaun David Hutchinson

Genre: YA, scifi, contemporary

Pages: 455

Synopsis: Goodreads

Rating: 

 

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If you knew the world was ending and you could save it by pressing a button, would you?

To be honest, if given the choice, some days I don’t think I would press the button. Those are probably the days I remember that I have no job, that my future is uncertain, that my relationship with my mom is rocky and awkward at best and that my dad is struggling with dementia and seizures on a daily basis. The easy days are obviously easy but what happens on my darkest days? When my problems seem too much to bear and I feel trapped and it’d be easier to just let go? Is this world worth it?

Our main character, Henry Denton seeks to answer these questions. To be quite frank, I can see why he initially doesn’t want to have anything to do with his life anymore. His mom is always stressed from work; his grandmother is suffering from worsening dementia; his brother Charlie, who is going to be a father soon, bullies him mercilessly; the school bully Marcus repeatedly beats him up. He has no friends and and an all consuming guilt  about his boyfriend Jesse’s suicide. Oh, and to top if off, aliens are kidnapping him at random times to do experiments on him and gives him the choice of whether or not to save the world in 144 days. Joy.

The aliens (scifi) comprise only about 3% of the book, the rest is 97% YA contemporary as we follow Henry and see he struggles with asking why his boyfriend would leave him in this world alone and coming to terms about the fact that sometimes there are things that are not his fault. The aliens are really only used as a framing device (and a good one at that) to provide a sense of urgency and realness to the question. It’s one thing for a teenage main character to think about ending the world (he’s not) and another to actually be burdened with the real choice. It really gives a magnitude to the struggles that Henry is facing and a sense of responsibility to Henry.

So this book is mostly YA contemporary. YA contemporaries can easily delve into melodrama, pretentiousness, oversimplification, or worst of all, falsely and forcefully inspirational and there were times when I thought this book was borderline two of the above but it saves itself. There are 2 reasons for this. One is Henry’s narrative voice. His perspective is the perfect balance of sarcastic, biting humor and open honesty.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to believe Charlie and I come from the same parents. I’m tall, he’s short; I’m skinny, he used to be muscular, though most of it turned to fat after high school; I can count to five without using my fingers. . . . Charlie has fingers.”

But I felt for him because he always insists his struggles don’t matter and he goes about his life just trying to survive when I thought he deserved so much more. But even as I hated some of the secondary characters particularly Marcus and his brother, I realize that none of them exist just to give Henry a hard time and make him want to end the world. Every single secondary character gets their own moments to shine and it somehow feels satisfying and so real and not something the author just made up for convenience to the story. That’s when you know an author respects the characters he writes.

The second reason is, the book doesn’t pretend that everything is fine or will ever be fine. It knows that life doesn’t exist as one clear-cut problem and then a clear-cut solution. There’s only problems and possibly routes to solutions and sometimes there is no solution and I appreciated that honesty a lot.

“The universe may forget us, but it doesn’t matter.Because we are the ants, and we’ll keep marching on.”

So does Henry end up pressing that button? I think you already know. But how Henry finds his silver lining is just one of the things that make this book worth reading.

 

Comment Challenge: June Link-Up

I’m beyond excited to announce that I will be participating in the Comment Challenge for June! If you don’t know what the comment challenge is, bloggers are paired up and encouraged to comment on each other’s posts for that month. The bloggers will be paired by the hosts Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense and Lonna @ FLYLēF. I believe today is the last day to sign up for the month of June but this challenge will go up all the way to the end of August so feel free to sign up for July or August or both! If you’re interested, all the information on how to sign up can be found on Alicia’s post.

I decided to do the 5-10 post option because let’s face it, my commitment levels on book challenges and readathons are like a fuckboy’s commitment to relationships. I should really stop with the analogies..BUT I’m determined to see this through because I love commenting on other people’s blogs and discussing books and all that but I also love it when that orange circle appears on the little white bell sign and I see someone has commented on one of my posts. It honestly kind of makes my day. I do blog about all age categories of books especially YA and adult but I decided to say that I blog most about Adult fiction because I have been reading a lot of Adult fiction lately and I don’t see that changing anytime in the month of June.

I think that’s all I have to say for this post..I will see you again in my next post which will probably be a book review or a What I’ve Been Watching post. I don’t know, which one would you like to see next? Sigh, I think it’s very apparent in this post that I’m a VERY indecisive person..

Bookstagram: A Parody

*Disclaimer: 99 percent sarcasm below

Looking at all these lovely bookstagram pictures makes me want to start an instagram. How hard can it be? I just have to copy some of the famous types of book pictures and add my own twist.

For example, I know that everyone loves sock pictures with cute kneehigh socks and books.

Instagram pic from @bookbaristas

Why stop there? How about ankle socks? How about all the socks??

I think bookstagrammers also like to take pictures of books with cups of coffee or tea at shops and cafes.

 

And I really wanted to do that too!  But I forgot to take a picture before I drank it so I’m just gonna show an empty Starbucks cup. Same thing. I don’t know it how it fell on its side but whatever it just adds to the aesthetic.

 

Right?

Wow, fine, ok so I’m not at a coffee shop so you say it doesn’t count. I’ve seen people take pictures of books when they travel around to cool places.

Hmm, I’ll do that. I like to read near bags of plastic water bottles because it’s just so calming you know?

I think my favorite kinds of book pictures is the one where they artfully arrange different things around the book. Sometimes random. That shouldn’t be too hard.

Everyone likes books and food. So I’ll use marinara sauce to complement the red from the book cover and I found some buttermilk pancake mix and honey mustard dressing so why not?

I always see stacks of pretty books together. But that’s just limited. Why don’t I stack everything? I mean, isn’t it discrimanatory to only stack books? Are books the only stackable things out there??

And, of course, I didn’t forget about filters and lighting. Who do you take me for?? You have to take pictures in bright light.

So like this one?

I can totally see behind the book clearly. What? You can barely see the book? Well, damn, I can’t control the way the light hits. Gosh.

And let it not be said that I don’t know how to be dramatic. Just add a black and white filter.

Simple. Here I combine both an artful arrangement with the black and white filter. I mean I don’t get why people are saying it just looks like a messy desk. It’s not, it’s called a beautifully artful arrangement like this one.

 

In all seriousness, I love bookstagram and I love looking at pictures of beautiful books. Actual beautiful pictures taken from these bookstagrams (who are way more talented at picturetaking and editing than me) and that you should definitely follow:

From top to bottom:

Bookbaristas

Foldedpagesdistillery

ursula_uriate

blueeyedbiblio

Xingsings

Some of these bookstagrams were featured in my favorite bookstagrams post a while back so feel free to check that out if you want.

 

Book Review: Ruined by Amy Tintera

Title: Ruined

Author: Amy Tintera

Genre: YA, fantasy

Pages: 368

Synopsis: Goodreads

Rating: 

 

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Does anyone remember the dystopian craze a few years ago after the Hunger Games was published? When every single clone of The Hunger Games hiding behind a different cover was sitting on the shelves of Barnes and Nobles? AKA The Testing, Matched, Possession, etc. etc. Well, Ruined is like that except it’s the clone of better YA fantasy. It’s like my Diet Coke to your Coke. Pepsi to your Coke?

To be fair, I will say that it does start off differently than other YA fantasies. In the first few pages, we witness our main character Emmelina Flores murder someone. Pretty gutsy for a YA novel. Who has she killed? Mary, the princess of Vallos who was on her way to marry Prince Casimir, the prince of Lera to forge an alliance. Instead, Emmelina pretending to be Mary will…marry Casimir and exact revenge on the royal family because they had killed her family who so happens to be the rulers of Ruina, a kingdom with people of magical powers. While there, she will also try and lead an attack on Lera to help her people conquer Lera. You can guess what happens next when *gasp* she starts to falling for the prince??!! What a dilemma. Such original. #fakeprincessproblems

Sarcastic as I am about that synopsis, I can’t help falling for it because I’m such a sucker for fantasy action plots and star-crossed romance between two sympathetic characters. And I found…some of that here. It does have a well-paced plot with entertaining combat scenes. The characters, who are only a little more rounded than flat Stanley (more 3D?), hit the right beats and their interactions are interesting. In fact, I came to like Em and Cas. Even though they’re almost carbon copies of other YA heroes and heroines, at least, they had consistent character arcs, motivations and thought processes. Em, who can’t walk into a room without planning how to kill someone. Cas, who is a boy of few words and is way more diplomatic and slightly naive being a sheltered prince. They complemented each other well and they learn a lot from each other. Through them, Tintera explores the consequences of blindly justifying your actions and judging a people based on one individual. The romance is less than you might expect; the buildup is gradual, but it satisfied me. As for the side characters, there were almost all caricatures, you’ve got the murdering father, the nagging mother, the captain of the guard who is the best friend, the other best friend who could have been part of a love triangle but thankfully wasn’t; they were just kind of there to serve as obstacles for our main two characters.

However, average characters and only a decent plot does not drive anything more than a 3 star book especially when it’s combined with atrocious worldbuilding. Seriously, it’s almost insulting. Just because, and I quote, you show a scene with townspeople “selling goods” or servants making “pastries”, mention some vague mountains south of the castle, and include two groups of people who are LITERALLY called “warriors” and “hunters” DOES NOT mean you have anything resembling a unique or even a sub-par fantasy world. I literally do not know anything about Lera except it has a tradition called the Union Battle, the people make good pastries (what’s in them? How should I know?), and they like the color blue (Why? Beats me.) And, guess what, Lera is actually the kingdom with the MOST worldbuilding. You can imagine what I know about the other 3 kingdoms that exist in this world. That’s right, nothing except their funny names. The world is basically like the cardboard castle you see at kids’ parties. Poke at it and it all comes toppling down.

I’m also honestly still confused at what Ruina powers are. Someone can squeeze windpipes and that’s all I know..The Ruina would not have powers at all and I wouldn’t have noticed.

And despite all that, will I read the sequel? Yes. (It does end on a slight cliffhanger.) Did I regret my time reading it? Nope. Bring this to the beach this summer. You’ll have fun but nothing more than that. 

Have you read this book yet? What are some things that have disappointed you about YA fantasy lately? Have you read the Reboot duology yet?

The Book Courtship Tag

After I do this tag, I’ll probably only have 90 more tags to do..No big deal..

But out of the ones I’m tagged in, for some reason, I just felt like doing this tag today. I was tagged by Charley @Bookandbakes1 and of course, Summer @xingsings. Thank you tagging me! =)

Phase 1 – Initial Attraction: A book that you bought because of the cover?

I love, love, love the cover of The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber which I got at a library sale. I think it’s very simple but mysterious at the same time. I love the gold constellation detailing which makes it easier for the reader to know right off the bat that hello this is scifi. I think I just have a thing for constellation and stars on covers because despite having people on the color, I also really liked the cover of These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner.

Phase 2 – First Impressions: A book that you got because of the summary?

I have yet to find a book retelling of Pride and Prejudice that I like but when I read the summary of Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield reimagining Pride and Prejudice in contemporary times with Elizabeth as a magazine writer and Darcy as a doctor, I was like give me that right now.

Phase 3 – Sweet Talk: A book with great writing?

The Child Thief by Brom. I love how he so seamlessly combines elements of suspenseful, eerie writing found in horror books but also combines the mysterious, abstract writing of fairytales into one book.

Phase 4 – First Date: A first book of a series which made you want to pick up the rest of the series?

I recently read Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Brooke Allen which is LITERALLY like a cartoon network show. Even the art style reminds me a lot of the art in Adventure Time. Each volume feels like a different episode so even though there was no cliffhanger, I immediately wanted to pick up the next volume.

Phase 5 – Late Night Phone Calls: A book that kept you up all night

I literally did not sleep till 4am reading The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski. My roommate wonders how I can stay up that late reading of all things. If it’s the winner’s trilogy, I’d gladly stay up all night reading (too bad I can’t pull allnighters). I don’t know people do it.

Phase 6 – Always on my mind: A book you could not stop thinking about?

Psycho by Robert Bloch. I could not stop thinking about the character’s deceptions and the really scary motel that they own and the twist was so mindblowingly insane. INSANE I TELL YOU. Fun fact, this was the book that inspired the Alfred Hitchcock movie and the tv series, Bates Motel.

Phase 7 – Getting Physical: A book which you love the way it feels?

Chew Omnivore Edition 1. As much as I buy hardcover books with flaps, I actually love hardbound books, this one is so sturdy and just the right size where it’s not too heavy but not too small where you can’t enjoy every detail of the artwork. It’s the kind of book that you read when you’re sprawled on the floor, with your feet up and elbows on the floor.

*Not my picture

Phase 8 – Meeting the parents: A book which you would recommend to your family and friends?

I always recommend YA contemporary to my friends because it’s quick and easy to read. I’ve recommended Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson multiple times. I also like to recommend graphic novels like Saga by Brian K Vaughn because there are pictures and people are more interested in that I guess if they don’t read a lot. But I kind of shouldn’t recommend that considering I don’t know how comfortable people are with explicit content. As you can see, I am really bad at recommending stuff. I’m always worried they won’t like it.

Phase 9 – Thinking about the future: A book or series you know you will re read many times in the future?

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. A sweeping coming of age story about obsession and grief. It’s a massive book and I probably missed a lot of details but it was such an immersive ride. And the next time I read it, I can savor it more than just focusing on what’s going to happen next.

Phase 10 – Share the love: Who do you tag?

I think I’m quite possibly the last person on the book blogging community to do this tag so I tag anyone who hasn’t done this yet. I also would like to tag some people I want to get to know more =)

Jorelene @ PageChronicles

Aldana @ perfectioinbooks

Meg @ maginibooks

It was actually kind of hard thinking of one book to answer these questions because there’s so many that could fit each one. Let me know what your answers would be for these questions! =)

April 2016 Favorites

I wish I could stay in April forever like another 2 months. It was just so relatively stress-free. If my life were a book, the chapter on April would be like the calm before the storm, the kiss before the big battle scene, the comic-relief scene before one unfortunate side character dies off.

I wish I could tell you that besides getting a letter of recommendation from my professor

Not my picture. It’s from the Keyclack blog

(finally), signing up for Anatomy summer classes, and sleeving cables (I sleeve USB cables for extra money), I was actually productive but I wasn’t. I basically skipped the majority of my classes. Probably used that time to watch TV and movies (which I’ll talk about in my What I’ve Been Watching post) or playing Stardew Valley. I was seriously addicted to Stardew Valley which is essentially like Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing from what I hear. It’s a farming game where you can meet people of the town and marry and grow crops and mine and even fight monsters. It sounds basic but you seriously never run out of things to do and it’s such a relaxing game.

Hey look it’s me and my farm. Only on a virtual farm will my plants actually grow -_- (my irl plants are all dead..)

I also took up Zumba which is actually so fun and such a good cardio workout but also such a good stress-reliever even if I don’t actually know any of the moves.. lol.. I also played badminton for the first time in what 4 years? I’d forgotten how much I loved it and how much energy it actually takes. Never underestimate how much sweat you accumulate just from waving a stick and hitting a birdie. And I even squeezed in two hikes. The first one was to the Jurupa Mountains Discovery Center where my friends and I went on a trail with a bunch of dinosaur statues.

We weren’t suppose to go up the mountain by ourselves but we did it anyways because we wanted the pictures. Eventually we got caught by the tourist guide because we suck at hiding but I felt like a little kid again going to see dinosaurs lol. The other one was to Heartrock where your destination is actually a rock shaped like a..heart..

do you see it?

Obviously after hikes, you gotta eat. I’ve been obsessed with acai bowls. How can something be so healthy and so good but look easy to make and is also really expensive at

Top: Juice It Up; Bottom: I forgot where I got this one but it was delicious

 

the same time?? I guess I can also say that about these chocolate bananas I love at Trader Joe’s. I thought I could make them myself but it turned out aesthetically not pleasing.

I tried Chinese dandan noodles for the first time which were essentially these noodles wrapped in peanut sauce and green onion. Also who can forget sushi?

Dragon Roll at Sushi OK; just the right blend of crispy and soft

 

And speaking of obsession, can I just say I still have feelings from watching Descendants of the Sun (review here). You know the obsession is real when it’s on your phone wallpaper and you get emotional just listening to the soundtrack. And in between listening to that, I really liked My House by Flo Rida, Inside Out by Chainsmokers and finally getting on the Porter Robinson bandwagon. I also really liked Close by Nick Jonas ft. Tove Lo.

So all in all, a pretty good month even though it wasn’t super crazy. I think after my March, it was time to start appreciating the little things more. How was your April?? Were there any little things that might not seem big but made you excited? I hope it went really well and that there were little things that made you happy =)