February Wrap-Up: T.V, Movies, Books, and More

Life

February has been busy for me. The long-term substitute job I had lined up started about five weeks earlier than I had expected it too, so I have been a bit scrambled. That also means that my February reading plans did not happen, as I found myself without a lot of reading time. However, I did manage to read and watch a few things this month, that I wanted to tell you about. I'm going to to try to stick to two posts a week during this new teaching job, but we will see what I can get done. 

T.V. and Movies

I've been in the mood for documentaries lately, so I started the month off with Paris is Burning which is a documentary made in 1990 about the Drag Queen scene in Harlem New York. I found this one really interesting, as I didn't know anything about the 90s drag scene. The documentary interviews various frequenters of the club Paris is Burning, and interviews them about their life inside and out of the nightclub. I found it fascinating to see that a lot of the slang that black drag queens had invented is coming back in style, and that they are responsible for a lot of cultural elements that they are not given credit for. This documentary is both series and funny, and I really enjoyed watching it. 

The second documentary I watched this month was Finding Vivian Maier. This one reminded me of Packed in a Trunk, which I loved, as they both centered around an undiscovered woman artist. This was is about a nanny who was a secret street photographer and took hundreds of thousands of photos in her lifetime. I really loved this one as it was a dynamic look at her art and her life, and was so engrossing. The photos Vivian Maier took are absolutely stunning, and you can see some of them on the website dedicated to her art here.  

My mom and I devoured the Queer Eye for a Straight Guy reboot in a matter of two days this month! I LOVE this show! The new fab five is so sweet and funny, and this show has so much heart. It's so much more than a makeover show. It's about human connection and understanding and doesn't shy away from current social topics. This show had me tearing up from emotion and laughter, and I hope there is a million more seasons! 

I really loved Black Panther and I was glad to see that it lived up to the hype! The Afro-futurism setting was super cool; everyone in this movie is so beautiful; and it had more interesting female characters in it than all of the other marvel movies combined. I'm excited to see where this franchise goes, and I'm hoping that Marvel keeps delivering movies like this with complex and diverse characters. 

Books 

 

A Wrinkle in Time- 4/5 stars- This was a first-time read for me, and I really enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to this movie!
Mary's Monster-5/5 stars- This book was gorgeous! It's an illustrated biography of Mary Shelley and the art is breathtaking. 

 

My Life on the Road-5/5 stars- This was my first read of Steinem's work, and I really loved it. The writing is great and her experiences and knowledge of our society are so vast and intricate. She has really inspired me to concentrate on listening even more than I was before reading this novel.

This Darkness Mine- 3.5/5 stars- This book was a wild ride in true Mindy McGinnis style. This book was addicting and dark and cemented McGinnis' place on my auto-read list.

Posts to Check Out

Ten Books That Made a Romance Skeptic Swoon (this one goes all

the way back to my teenage reading years)

Poetry Spotlight: Black History Month

Stay tuned for some Women's History Month themed posts in March! 

January Wrap-Up: T.V. Books and Movies

I had a really great month of consuming! Here's a quick look at what I read and watched this month.

T.V and Movies

I watched the first season of Glow on Netflix in two days. It's been in my list since it came out, and I was just craving a new show to binge and started it on a whim. I really, really liked it! It was funny, smart, and full of beautiful 80s leotards. I loved the majority female cast, and the concept of female wrestling. I really liked Alison Brie in Mad Men and loved seeing her in a leading role. I'm really exited for season two. I recommend checking this one out if you're looking for a quick and entertaining watch.

This was my first time watching this 80s cult classic and I loved it! If you've been here before, you know that I LOVE a well-done satire, and that's exactly what this is! This was a super smart and hilarious satire of the typical 'teen-movie.' Winona Ryder is brilliant of course, and I'm already itching to watch this one again! If you have ever watched a typical teen-movie, you'll love how this one pokes fun at them. It also holds up extremely well, as teen-movies haven't changed much in the past thirty years. This one is on Netflix U.S.  

Carol has been on my to-watch list since the Oscars last year, and it finally came to Netflix. This was a quiet but powerful movie, and I have a feeling that the book it is based on is even better; it was immediately added to my TBR after finishing the movie. This movie is beautiful to look at, and both Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett give great performances. This would make a great Valentine's Day watch.  

I LOVE Robert Redford (who doesn't?) so I always pick up his movies when I see them out and about. I love 'classic' and older movies and have a pretty large collection of them. This is one that I bought during the summer last year and then never watched, so I figured it was about time. This movie was a lot more than I expected it to be. Streisand's character was so interesting and the ending was a lot different than I expected. This isn't your typical romance movie, and it has a lot to say about love and compromise. 

Books 

I had a really great reading month in January too! I read six books, and really enjoyed them all. I would love to keep up this pace for February, as I want to concentrate on reading the books on my shelves. In January, 4/6 books I read came from the library, which is great, but doesn't help me reduce my physical TBR. 

Bird Box. Josh Malerman-- 3.5/5 REVIEW

The Miniaturist, Jesse Burton-- 4/5 REVIEW

Weave a Circle Around, Kari Maaren-- 3/5 REVIEW

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers who Changed the World, Rachel Ignotofsky-- 4/5 REVIEW

The Art of the Affair, Catherine Lacey and Forsyth Harmon-- 3/5 Quick thoughts: I don't think I'm going to officially review this one on the blog because I don't have that much to say. This is a small coffee table book that chronicles the connections (romantic and otherwise) between famous people of the 20th century. The layout was a bit confusing at times, and a lot of the information was scattered. I didn't know a lot of the people in this book, which made it less interesting at times, but I loved the art and it introduced me to some new super interesting people. It's worth checking it out from the library or browsing through at the bookstore.  

All the Crooked Saints, Maggie Stiefvater-- 3.5/5 REVIEW: to come

I Also Posted...

Some 2018 Intentions

TBR Spotlight: Books Set in Africa

Under the Radar 2018 Releases

Updated Women Writers List TBR

Hope you had a great January and good luck on your February goals and plans! You can see what I plan to read in February here!

2017 End of the Year Survey!

Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 48
Number of Re-Reads: 5 

Survey by The Perpetual Page Turner

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2017?- My Top Three: 

Review 

This was such a wild ride. I was gripped by this book and couldn't stop reading 

or look away. This is a must read.

Review

This was so whimsical and dark. In the same vein as Alice and Wonderland and Peter Pan.

Loved how the complex idea of the transition from childhood to adulthood was portrayed. 

Review

This is an amazing YA contemporary. Loved the characters and the themes; this 

is one I will be revisiting in the future. 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Meh. 

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

This one had me on the edge of my seat, and caught me off guard many times.

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

I recommend Sarah Waters a lot this year. Even though I have only read one of her works (Fingersmith, above) I am confident that all of her works are worth recommending. 

 5. Best series you started in 2017? Best Sequel of 2017? Best Series Ender of 2017?

I didn't actually start any new series this year! I really concentrated on stand-alones as I always felt too busy to get sucked into a series. 

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017?

Shirley Jackson!  I can't wait to read more from her in the near future.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Science based nonfiction is way out of my comfort zone, but I loved this!

The audiobook was a great experience. 

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

So addicting! 

 9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017?

11. Most memorable character of 2017?

Alex from The Female of the Species. She's so complex and different from usual YA characters.  

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017?

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017?

I did A LOT of thinking about this reread this year. Teaching and reading this novel 

was a great experience this year. This book still holds up to the test of time. 

I spent A LOT of time thinking about this one and how I felt about it. I'm still
not all that sure. Read my review for more details. 

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? 

I owned this one for years (and moved it to an apartment and then back home) 

before finally picking it up this year. 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017?

Shortest- The novella version of Flowers for Algernon

Longest 

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Loved the romances in both of these novels. 

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Loved the relationship between Sal and his dad. 

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

21. Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

There was SO much hype around this one this summer that I had to pick

it up. Glad I did!

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017?

This year's reread has lead to discover that Atticus Finch is my dream man. 

23. Best 2017 debut you read?

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2017?

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Review

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

My soul seems to have survived this year intact! I didn't read anything too emotional this year. 

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2017?

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

I was so angry for many of the characters in this book. 

Blog and Bookish Life

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017?

This was not a consistent year for me in regards to both blogging myself and reading other blogs. That being said, here are a few blogs that I made a conscious effort to keep up with this year. 

Jess @ Jessticulates

Emily @ Mixed Margins

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2017?

Either my review of The Sun is Also a Star (and thoughts on fate) or The Female of the Species

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

Always love continuing my Poetry Spotlight and Literary Look posts. 

Edna St. Vincent Millay Poetry Spotlight

4. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Literary Look: Modernism

5. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

This year I participated in the Diversity Bingo challenge with the goal to complete as many squares as possible. Here's my three update posts:  

Update 1

Update 2

Update 3

Looking Ahead

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018?

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2018 (non-debut)?

Becky Albertaili's and Adam Silvera's joint project What If It's Us  looks like a lot of fun. 

3. 2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Lots of buzz about this one already.

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2018?

Actually need more time to research this one. I'm out of the loop on 2017 series. I need to catch up. 

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2018?

Just manage to read while also getting hired for and then actually teaching my first year as a teacher! Wish me luck! 

See my 2014 survey answers 

See my 2015 survey answers

Leave me the link to your survey if you filled one out!