Entertainment Meme

Because I have a ton I want to say on the subject:

Books: I read throughout the year but when summer comes and I a) have little new TV to watch and b) more leisure time with the kids out of school, I find myself blowing through books. This summer after re-reading Eclipse and the new Stephenie Meyer novella about Bree Tanner, I turned to the Steig Larrson trilogy (Dragon Tattoo, Played with Fire and Hornet's Nest). They were real page turners, although the violence and graphic nature was a little shocking, especially after reading so much YA lately. Still, I really enjoyed them and I loved the character development, imperfect as they were.

I just finished reading Kristen Hannah's The Things We Do For Love and it was also very good, sappy in the tradition of a Nicholas Sparks novel and a little predictable but the relationships that developed out of the storyline were heartbreakingly beautiful. I would really like to read more of her stuff. Now I am just biding my time until August 24th when the MUCH anticipated final book in the Hunger Games series comes out, Mockingjay. I discovered that series the fall the first book came out, so I have definitely paid my dues waiting to see how this story concludes. Feel free to comment, are you Team Peeta or Team Gale?

Movies: And speaking of teams, I haven't watched too many more since I have been spending so much time reading but I never did blog about my thoughts on the third installment of the Twilight movie franchise, Eclipse. Or maybe that was on purpose since when I posted on Facebook how disappointing it was, I got raked over the coals. Apparently THIS is the movie everybody has chosen to like. Now in all fairness, I haven't seen it a second time and I tend to like these movies better the second time when my expectations are not so high but I just felt that while it was not as off track as the original Twilight movie, they could have done SO much better. This was by far the most "filmable" of the books. Instead, I would still say New Moon was the best of the movies and at this point I don't even know if I want to see what they do with a two part Breaking Dawn film.

I also went and saw "The Kids are All Right" and it was exactly "my" kind of movie. I can't say I loved the plot line or how it concluded but I can say that is was poignant, funny and superbly acted. Oh, and it had a really awesome soundtrack too. I highly recommend this movie, especially if you need or want a break from the typical summer blockbusters.

Music: My summer soundtrack is full upbeat alt-indie tracks. I am really, really loving the new Shiny Toy Guns singles' "Le Disko" and "Rainy Monday", The New Politics "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" and Temper Trap's follow single to "Sweet Disposition" entitled "Fader". Sorry folks, but what you won't find on my iPod is Katy Perry's "California Girls" (barf) or anything by either Usher or Taio Cruz. Here's my current fave mixed CD:

Silversun Pickups - The Royal We
The Futureheads - Heartbeat Song and Skip to the End
The Black Keys - Tighten Up
Crash Kings - You Got Me
AFI - Beautiful Thieves
Goralliz - Rhinestone Eyes
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
Vampire Weekend - Giving up the Gun
Phoenix - Listomania
Band of Skulls - Death by Diamond and Pearls and Light of the Morning
Ring Ring - Sleigh Bells
Neon Trees - Animal
Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss a Beat
MGMT - Flash Delirium
The Raconteurs - Steady as She Goes

And finally TV: Like I said, I don't watch much during the summer months but Joe is a big fan of Deadliest Catch and over its previous seasons I have watched quite a bit of it with him. I find it fascinating and like so many other people took a special interest in the Cornelius Maria because of the complex relationship between Captain Phil and his sons. I was very saddened when I heard of his passing back in February and have watched this season intently as his journey came to an end. I have to say, they really did a respectable job of putting the footage together all things considering. It was heartbreaking to hear Phil tell his son that he was sorry for not being a better father. Seeing grown men cry? That really gets me. The whole thing was super emotional and sometimes you kind of felt like you were peering into a window in which the curtains really should have been drawn shut. But my understanding was that Phil insisted the crews stay and film It will be interesting to see how everyone is doing, especially his sons, when the new season starts. My heart goes out to the entire crab fishing community for their loss.

AND I finally (apparently along with 4 million others) jumped on the Tosh.O train and have been watching re-runs of past episodes all summer with Joe. This is MY kind of humor - unapologetic and completely politically incorrect. Why people put these videos on the internet in the first place is beyond me but EW's bullseye hit the mark when they said, Who knew the internet could be even funnier on T.V? So so very true.

So that's my entertainment update for the summer. In my next meme installment, I will be giving everyone a health and fitness update. Oh the excitement!