The Eight-Book Summer, and a few movies.

Summer is OVER. It seriously flew by, and now I am trying to recuperate off my first week of being a real teacher. One of the things I am proud of though, is that I read EIGHT books this summer. It has been such a long time since I had the time to sit down and read, and luckily I have a bunch of audio books via the library on my iPod so I can continue to get some books in throughout the year. Here are my eight books and my thoughts about them. (PS- I am not a book/movie reviewer in any way shape or form haha, so I don't really know what the point of this is other than... well yeah I don't really know the point of this ha. Take it for what its worth)

#1: My Name is Asher Lev
My Name is Asher Lev is Matthew's favorite book, so I took it upon myself to give it a try. It is about a hasidic Jew, who is also an artist- 2 things that don't really mix in 1950's New York City. I thought it was beautifully written, lots of emotion, and it really made you think. The whole theme is about being true to yourself and what is in your heart. It was a little weird though for me, just because it seems like he is pushing away from his religion to find his innermost artist-self. So I didn't like that aspect of it, but I thought the rest was really good.

#2: Peter Pan

In 7th grade I was given this "mega book list" of classical books that everyone should read, one of them being Peter Pan. I made it a goal right then and there to read every book on that list. However, one time I was driving back from Utah to Texas and was listening to Pride and Prejudice on tape, and at some point I realized that I had not been paying attention for a good 2 hours because I was so BORED. I'd rather read Harry Potter. But then this one wasn't too long so I just pushed through. Peter Pan. Obviously, I was comparing it to the disney movie. It was similar, but also very different. It's very dark. Much darker than the Disney movie. And it was strange and interesting all at the same time. And bizarre. Peter suffers from short-term amnesia, and its almost like watching Dory in Finding Nemo where she's in the middle of a conversation and forgets who the heck she's talking to. Tinkerbell has foul language, Hook is cray-cray and just kills people to make an example. It's a lot more similar to the live-action Peter Pan with Jeremy Sumpter. Side note: Huge pre-teen crush on Jeremy Sumpter. Huge. So it was ok and weird, but still good.

#3: The Fault in Our Stars

It was good. However, I think I would have loved it more like 5 years ago. I don't think it was AS good as people are raving about, but I did really enjoy it and read it in about 2 days. It was cute, witty, and really just clever. I watched the movie last night and was even more impressed as to how close they stayed to the book. Didn't love Ansel as Gus, cause he was a little TOO much for me, but otherwise it was great. I cried. Of course. It's a cancer love story- who doesn't love a cancer love story?? 

#4, 5, 6: The Maze Runner Trilogy

This was recommended to me by a co-worker (Garen), and when I got home for the summer, Brookelyn had all the books so I just went for it. It was good! I feel like I get an immediate turn off when I hear about a dystopian - apocalyptic - society book series, but somehow they've all ben pretty good. It was very much like Hunger Games, even the way the trilogy progressed. The first book was great, the second was still good but strange, and the third was the worst, but still had its good parts. I think I liked the 3rd novel (Death Cure) better than mocking jay, but I still think Hunger Games topped the other 2 books. The movie is coming out this november; looking forward to that! Oh and I'm so mad about the girl that the main character ends up with. SO DUMB. That was the only sucky part. 

#7: Inferno

I've always been a Dan Brown Fan. Angels and Demons was my first and I vowed to go to Rome someday... which I still plan on doing. The remaining 3 I've listened to on tape: DaVinci Code on the way to Texas from Utah, The Lost Symbol on my way to Utah from California, and Inferno on our way from Texas to North Carolina. These books are so thought provoking. I am a huge history buff and this gives me a good fix. It's like national treasure, but more awesome. Inferno was really good. The "legend" or "myth" in this book is based on Dante's Inferno and is about this crazy guy who invents this disease to wipe out part of the world's population to overcome overpopulation. Super interesting. Overpopulation is an interesting topic that I've thought a lot about, but is also hard to think about because I just want to be a mom!

#8: The Secret Life of Bees

Hands down, one of my new favorite books. It was so beautifully told, the characters are so real, and there is humor, tragedy, romance, and action all wrapped into one. I don't have anything else to say other than it was wonderful. Looking forward to seeing the movie. 

And then a quick blip about the movies we saw this summer:

• Godzilla- not as bad as I thought it would be, but still a little weird
• How to Train Your Dragon 2: So good. I loved that they included Jonsi in the soundtrack. Not as good as the first one, but still so good.
• The Amazing Spiderman 2- Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are adorable. So awkward, but adorable. I liked this one too, even though my in-laws ruined the ending for me hahaha ;)
• Winter's Tale- DO NOT SEE. Dumbest movie EVER. Will Smith as Satan was pretty hilarious though ha
• Noah- what the weird??? Super bizarre. I was angry the entire movie because it was just absolutely ridiculous. It was like... good I guess, but just so strange
• The Other Woman- very similar to 'John Tucker Must Die' but so much better. It was so funny and so good.
• The Fault in Our Stars- as aforementioned, mostly awesome
• Divergent- Um surprisingly good! Like I said with the whole dystopian apocalyptic issue, this was actually pretty good. Looking forward to reading the book.
• Heaven is For Real- weird
• Guardians of the Galaxy- SO GOOD. Probably the best movie of the summer. Chris Pratt is like one of my favorite people
• Captain America Winter Soldier- awesome. Loved, loved, loved it.
• Not a movie, but HOUSE MD. We just finished the series the other night. Hilarious, awesome, and phenomenal series. 
• 24: Live another day. I like wanted to cry this was so good. We're going to go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing so Matt can see. 

On the docket...

• Atonement, Ian McEwan
• The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• Divergent, Veronica Roth
• If I Stay, Gayle Forman (Suggested to me by my students; no idea what its about)
• The Giver??? SERIOUS reservations. This is my favorite book of all time and I just have a feeling they totally ruined it in the movie. 
• TMNT- only cause Matt is dying to see it ha
• 24 (TV series)- I have to share this joy with Matt