2016 Reading Challenge and Final Fiscal 2016 Movie Challenge
In addition to my usual challenges (read 50 books, see 25 or more movies each year), I am adding two more, starting with this one:
So far I've ticked off:
...A book published this year (Kings Rising)
...A book you can finish in a day (Captive Prince)
...A book published before you w...ere born (Passing)
...A book that intimidates you (The Bluest Eye)
...A book you previously abandoned (The Goldfinch)
...A book you've already read at least once (Prince's Gambit)
This time I am adding:
...A book recommended for you by your local librarian or bookseller. (H is for Hawk)
...A book that was banned at some point. (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian)
I also challenged myself to read at least 12 books from my TBR pile. This month I started and abandoned "Invisible Man" because I found it so upsetting. That it affected me that deeply is an argument for finishing it, I know, but I am well aware that there are hateful people in the world who enjoy humiliating young people: I don't need to read about them. I passed the book on to someone who wanted it.
Altogether, I read three books and saw four movies in less than a month. The four movies bring me to 25 movies in the fiscal year that ended yesterday: score! The three books means that it's more and more unlikely that I'll read fifty books by 31 December 2016 since I've only read 16 with just six months left in the year. There was a time in my life where I would have read 34 books in six months; this is not that time. FanSee
2016 Reading Challnge
1. Truth by Peter Temple.
2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
3. Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat.
4. Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat.
5. Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat.
6. The Hard Problem by Tom Stoppard.
7. Passing by Nella Larsen.
8. Visitor by C.J. Cherryh.
9. Extreme Prey by John Sandford.
10. Imperial Spain (1469-1716) by J.H. Eliot.
11. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
12. The English Bride by Joan Wolf.
13. Troublemaker by Linda Howard.
14. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. I bought "H is for Hawk" because of its rapturous review by the New York Times. (I substituted the NYT in for my 'local librarian or bookseller' because I don't have any sort of a relationship with either my librarian or a local bookseller but I have an intense relationship with the NYT.) I was surprised when I found it a difficult read even though Macdonald writes eloquently, and even though I found her attempt to work through her grief at the death of her father by training a goshawk absorbing. Rather I found her counterpoint theme dealing with T. H. White's attempts to train a goshawk in the 1930's off-putting. As a child, I loved T. H. White's "Once and Future King" intensely, but knew nothing about him. Now I know a great deal more about him than I want to, including the benighted methods he used on his goshawk. I am glad I persisted and finished the book, but it will not be one I'll be rereading.
15. The Reluctant Earl by Joan Wolf. Now that I know that Joan Wolf is again writing Regencies, I went straight from "Hawk" to Wolf, and it worked. TRE had everything I expected in a Wolf Regency: an attractive young couple, horses and riding, and a bucolic England we wish existed. Its drawbacks? It is short, even for a Regency, and the ending is odd though certainly not impossible or even unlikely. Enjoyable fluff.
16. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Let me start off by thanking spacefem for recommending Indian and noting that it has been banned in several school districts, apparently for being too realistic for a YA book. Too bad, because yes, some people, starting with people who live on Indian reservations, are very poor, go to awful schools, and have people they love die tragically. YA readers are not too young to encounter those ideas. With all that, Junior is a funny, smart, practical 14-year-old, and his cartoons (drawn by Ellen Forney) enhance the text.
FY2016 Movie Challenge
1. Mission Impossible : Rogue Nation with Tom Cruise.
2. Non-Stop with Liam Neeson and Michele Dockery.
3. The End of the Tour with Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segal.
4. Into the Woods with Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, and Chris Pine.
5. Dope with Shameik Moore.
6. San Andreas with Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino.
7. The Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance.
8. Jurassic World with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
9. Spotlight with Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton.
10. Legend with Tom Hardy and Emily Browning.
11. Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac.
12. Carol with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
13. The Danish Girl with Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander.
14. Mad Max: Fury Road with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.
15. Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac.
16. The Naked Civil Servant with John Hurt.
17. The Hunting Ground, written and directed by Kirby Dick
18. The Wolfpack directed by Crystal Moselle.
19. Mr. Right with Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell.
20. The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara directed by Errol Morris.
21. Concussion with Will Smith and Alec Baldwin.
22. Hello, My Name is Doris with Sally Field and Max Greenfield. In this movie Sally Field plays Doris, a cute, little, eccentric 60-something whom I did not instantly fall in love with or even, actually, in like. I liked Tyne Daly as her gruff, bossy BFF much better; I could relate to Roz. Max Greenfield was bland. Not my kind of movie.
23. The Intern with Robert de Niro and Ann Hathaway. Thank you, sjmpets, for turning on this movie for us to watch. I loved it. Robert de Niro in a beautifully tailored suit, crisp shirts, and tasteful ties solving a 30-something's business and personal problems without losing his cool for one second: what could be more entertaining. Only by exercising great self control have I managed not to rewatch it already. Expect to see it listed here again soon.
24. The Martian with Matt Damon. I decided not to see this movie in the theater because I thought it might be very upsetting. Mistake! And thank you, eileen_donovan, for recommending it so strongly: I loved it. It was funny, heart-warming, thrilling, exciting, and suspenseful. Damon, who carried most of the load, was convincing in all his many moods, but the large supporting cast gave excellent performances, too. An all-around well done movie.
25. Monsters, Inc. directed by Pete Docter, David Silverman, and Lee Unkrich. I decided to watch one more movie on the last day of the 2016 fiscal year under the delusion that it would be my 26th movie, one over my goal. Good thing I did, too! or I wouldn't have made it. In the beginning, I had difficulty getting interested and wondered if I'm made a mistake in skipping my nap, but then Sulley accidently kidnapped Boo and I was right there for the rest of the movie. I have to admit, though, that I ended up falling for Randall in a big way: about the slinkiest, slimiest villain I've seen this year.
So far I've ticked off:
...A book published this year (Kings Rising)
...A book you can finish in a day (Captive Prince)
...A book published before you w...ere born (Passing)
...A book that intimidates you (The Bluest Eye)
...A book you previously abandoned (The Goldfinch)
...A book you've already read at least once (Prince's Gambit)
This time I am adding:
...A book recommended for you by your local librarian or bookseller. (H is for Hawk)
...A book that was banned at some point. (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian)
I also challenged myself to read at least 12 books from my TBR pile. This month I started and abandoned "Invisible Man" because I found it so upsetting. That it affected me that deeply is an argument for finishing it, I know, but I am well aware that there are hateful people in the world who enjoy humiliating young people: I don't need to read about them. I passed the book on to someone who wanted it.
Altogether, I read three books and saw four movies in less than a month. The four movies bring me to 25 movies in the fiscal year that ended yesterday: score! The three books means that it's more and more unlikely that I'll read fifty books by 31 December 2016 since I've only read 16 with just six months left in the year. There was a time in my life where I would have read 34 books in six months; this is not that time. FanSee
2016 Reading Challnge
1. Truth by Peter Temple.
2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
3. Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat.
4. Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat.
5. Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat.
6. The Hard Problem by Tom Stoppard.
7. Passing by Nella Larsen.
8. Visitor by C.J. Cherryh.
9. Extreme Prey by John Sandford.
10. Imperial Spain (1469-1716) by J.H. Eliot.
11. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
12. The English Bride by Joan Wolf.
13. Troublemaker by Linda Howard.
14. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. I bought "H is for Hawk" because of its rapturous review by the New York Times. (I substituted the NYT in for my 'local librarian or bookseller' because I don't have any sort of a relationship with either my librarian or a local bookseller but I have an intense relationship with the NYT.) I was surprised when I found it a difficult read even though Macdonald writes eloquently, and even though I found her attempt to work through her grief at the death of her father by training a goshawk absorbing. Rather I found her counterpoint theme dealing with T. H. White's attempts to train a goshawk in the 1930's off-putting. As a child, I loved T. H. White's "Once and Future King" intensely, but knew nothing about him. Now I know a great deal more about him than I want to, including the benighted methods he used on his goshawk. I am glad I persisted and finished the book, but it will not be one I'll be rereading.
15. The Reluctant Earl by Joan Wolf. Now that I know that Joan Wolf is again writing Regencies, I went straight from "Hawk" to Wolf, and it worked. TRE had everything I expected in a Wolf Regency: an attractive young couple, horses and riding, and a bucolic England we wish existed. Its drawbacks? It is short, even for a Regency, and the ending is odd though certainly not impossible or even unlikely. Enjoyable fluff.
16. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Let me start off by thanking spacefem for recommending Indian and noting that it has been banned in several school districts, apparently for being too realistic for a YA book. Too bad, because yes, some people, starting with people who live on Indian reservations, are very poor, go to awful schools, and have people they love die tragically. YA readers are not too young to encounter those ideas. With all that, Junior is a funny, smart, practical 14-year-old, and his cartoons (drawn by Ellen Forney) enhance the text.
FY2016 Movie Challenge
1. Mission Impossible : Rogue Nation with Tom Cruise.
2. Non-Stop with Liam Neeson and Michele Dockery.
3. The End of the Tour with Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segal.
4. Into the Woods with Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, and Chris Pine.
5. Dope with Shameik Moore.
6. San Andreas with Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino.
7. The Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance.
8. Jurassic World with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
9. Spotlight with Mark Ruffalo and Michael Keaton.
10. Legend with Tom Hardy and Emily Browning.
11. Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac.
12. Carol with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
13. The Danish Girl with Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander.
14. Mad Max: Fury Road with Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.
15. Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac.
16. The Naked Civil Servant with John Hurt.
17. The Hunting Ground, written and directed by Kirby Dick
18. The Wolfpack directed by Crystal Moselle.
19. Mr. Right with Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell.
20. The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara directed by Errol Morris.
21. Concussion with Will Smith and Alec Baldwin.
22. Hello, My Name is Doris with Sally Field and Max Greenfield. In this movie Sally Field plays Doris, a cute, little, eccentric 60-something whom I did not instantly fall in love with or even, actually, in like. I liked Tyne Daly as her gruff, bossy BFF much better; I could relate to Roz. Max Greenfield was bland. Not my kind of movie.
23. The Intern with Robert de Niro and Ann Hathaway. Thank you, sjmpets, for turning on this movie for us to watch. I loved it. Robert de Niro in a beautifully tailored suit, crisp shirts, and tasteful ties solving a 30-something's business and personal problems without losing his cool for one second: what could be more entertaining. Only by exercising great self control have I managed not to rewatch it already. Expect to see it listed here again soon.
24. The Martian with Matt Damon. I decided not to see this movie in the theater because I thought it might be very upsetting. Mistake! And thank you, eileen_donovan, for recommending it so strongly: I loved it. It was funny, heart-warming, thrilling, exciting, and suspenseful. Damon, who carried most of the load, was convincing in all his many moods, but the large supporting cast gave excellent performances, too. An all-around well done movie.
25. Monsters, Inc. directed by Pete Docter, David Silverman, and Lee Unkrich. I decided to watch one more movie on the last day of the 2016 fiscal year under the delusion that it would be my 26th movie, one over my goal. Good thing I did, too! or I wouldn't have made it. In the beginning, I had difficulty getting interested and wondered if I'm made a mistake in skipping my nap, but then Sulley accidently kidnapped Boo and I was right there for the rest of the movie. I have to admit, though, that I ended up falling for Randall in a big way: about the slinkiest, slimiest villain I've seen this year.