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What I'm Reading/Watching/Playing....for the past few months!

What I've been Reading/Watching/Playing...For the past few months!
Maybe I'll go back to doing monthly ones...Maybe not.

Reading

Stormlight Archives 1, 2, and 3 by Brandon Sanderson

Lately I've been reading The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. In February I read The Way of Kings, in March I read Words of Radiance and in April I read Oathbringer. Normally I read a few books each month, but these honking things are like 3 books in one. That said, I really like them! I enjoyed them even more the second time because I knew what to look for and what all the rules of the world were from the beginning, even though I have a terrible memory and had forgotten some of the big reveals. My favorite character is Jasnah, and I wish we got to spend more time following her. When she is around, Stuff Happens. I would totally marry Adolin if given the opportunity and he is generally just such a good guy. His lucky, happy demeanor reminds me of my own husband, actually. I like the other characters, though Shallan and Dalinar have their eye-roll "What are you doing you idiot!?" Moments. I'm really excited to read the newest book that's coming out in November!

***Also I just saw that they are releasing a Stormlight Archive expansion to the game Call to Adventure this summer! Wohoo!

The Witcher: Last Wish

Back when the show first aired on Neftlix, Gunnar and I binged all the episodes and I immediately wanted to read the books because that's how I am...but it was sold out everywhere! I tried Amazon and when it wasn't available there, I went in person to three different book stores with no luck. Finally I just ordered it on Amazon, but while I was waiting the 3 weeks for it to be delivered, I started on Stormlight and only just got to starting Last Wish last week. But anyway, I'm liking it so far and have ordered the next book as well. What I didn't realize from watching the show is that many of the stories are based on fairy tales...Renfri is Snow White, the Striga is Sleeping Beauty, etc. I don't know if the author holds to that for the rest of the series, but I definitely missed it while watching. Some parts are more horror than I'm used to, but so far nothing has been so much that I feel like I can't read it.

Watching

Since I haven't updated this in a few months, these have been accumulating! Especially with quarantine, we've been watching a lot of T.V. in the evenings after the kids are in bed. I like to sew my hexagons while we watch and just not have to use my brain! 

Knives Out

I loved this! I thought it was hilarious, quirky, and fun. A Clue-like murder mystery with lots of fun twists and good comedy.

Birds of Prey

It was better than I expected! I hadn't even heard of it before and didn't know it was the Harley Quinn movie until Gunnar told told me about it. (Why did they decide to name it that? I think they had a bad marketing team...I'm pretty much the target audience and I hadn't even heard of it!) It wasn't groundbreaking, but it was enjoyable and funny, and it had some good fight scenes. Margo Robbie is great, as usual. Much better than Suicide Squad, for sure!

Joker

This movie was really sad. It so incredibly well done visually and emotionally, but it wasn't what I was expecting. It gave me a lot to think about and a lot to talk about. I do recommend it, but I warn you that it's awkward and kinda heartbreaking.

Jojo Rabbit

Speaking of heartbreaking....Gunnar tried to tell me that this was a black comedy that made fun of Nazis, but I knew what was going to happen from the moment the boy and his mother walked past the people hanging in the square. I didn't make it much past that before I started crying and I had to stop and go play Andromeda instead. I have little boys. I can't not think about my little boys when watching this movie. Sometimes the juxtaposition of funny and sad can really work, but for me, in this, it was too jarring.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

I sat through the whole thing...barely. There was a lot of driving. Like, the characters were in their car not doing much besides driving. If you cut all that out, the remaining 45 minutes of the film were okay. Honestly, I hated this movie and consider it a waste of time. Sorry Leo, I still love you but no thanks.

El Camino

We watched Breaking Bad back in the day and really enjoyed every episode. That is truly one of the best shows ever made, and Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are amazing. This sequel movie focused on resolving Aaron Paul's character's semi cliffhanger and it was just as good of an epilogue as I could have hoped for. I really liked it and if you watched Breaking Bad you should really watch this too.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Ok, this was for the kids and I didn't pay much attention because I was cleaning up dishes and stuff while it was on, but it was a genuinely cute little movie. James in particular LOVED it and kept pretending that he was Sonic. Gunnar watched the entire thing and reports that Jim Carrey as Doctor Robotnik stole the show and was well worth watching. I'm sure I'll be watching it again soon!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I Loved this! Rosemary loves Mr. Rogers, so he was fresh in my mind when we sat down to watch it. Tom Hanks does a good job of getting Mr. Rogers mannerisms and speaking, even if he is a little bit hasty. The movie itself is more about the journalist interviewing Fred Rogers, and how his life was affected by getting to know Mr. Rogers. It's a good story with some interesting backstory on a spectacular person.

Dracula

We watched the new 3 episode miniseries on Netflix and really enjoyed it. It is definitely horror and has some very creepy and disturbing parts, but it is also a big campy and has a good dose of humor which cut down on the tenseness. It helps that Dracula is a familiar story so it's pretty easy to figure out what's going to happen. I don't usually like horror, but I liked this! Sister Van Helsing was easily the best part of the entire series, though Dracula himself was well played too.

Brooklyn 99

This is old, I know, but John recently recommended it and it's been nice to have some light sitcom comedy to mix in when we're feeling overwhelmed. It's very light, a bit repetitive, but has some funny gems in each episode. Boyle is my favorite. Besides his hilarious comments, I love how earnest and good he is, even when everything around him is crap!

Playing

Mass Effect

Still working on Mass Effect Andromeda! Still loving it!

Pokemon Sword

Okay. So I bought a Switch right before the Big Panic and started playing Pokemon Sword and...gosh it sucks so far. The hand holding and the annoying companion are just TOO MUCH. The super evolution or whatever is...not awesome. Why can't we get the Pokemon game that we all want? I'll probably come back and try to finish it later.

Dominos

We play Double 6's and it's great for "homeschool" math...getting them to add up the dots, finding multiples of 5's to score, adding and subtracting.

Catan

The boys are really getting better and better at Catan. Playing with them is truly one of the joys of my life. We've been playing a lot since they've been home from school.

Call to Adventure

Gunnar and I have been enjoying this one a lot lately. Not new, but fun and relaxing.


Minecraft

I've been playing a lot of Minecraft with Jack lately, at his request. Honestly though, I really enjoy it! They've made some great updates and changes since I was last really into it, and I forgot how soothing and addicting it is. This is a game that I've been playing for almost 10 years and I still come back to and and love it just as much as I did in Beta 1.2! One of these days I'll make a video touring some of the epic castles I've made over the yeas.

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