Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me (and Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling – I love any and all books by a funny lady (hello…Tina Fey’s book is amazing!) and I love Mindy Kaling! Her book was a really easy, very light read – I burned through this is 24 hours and cracked up while doing so. I love her take on so many things and I love her witty outlook on life. This was a good read for sure!

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon – The eighth (and final??) book in the Outlander series! I will admit that I’m not quite finished with this one yet…mostly because it has something along the lines of 150+ chapters! The story follows Jamie, (returned from his presumed watery grave) Claire and a myriad grouping of their extended family and friends as they navigate their way through the end of the Revolutionary War. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it so far and can’t wait to see how it winds up!

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen – The book for our July meeting of book club! I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever read this one through all the way, even though I love Jane Austen! Also, who doesn’t love Mr. Darcy??

Property by Valerie Martin – The book club book for the month of August! I’m very intrigued by this book, here is a little description of the story from Amazon: The year is 1828, the setting a Louisiana sugar plantation where Manon Gaudet, pretty, bitterly intelligent and monstrously self-absorbed, seethes under the dominion of her boorish husband. In particular his relationship with her slave Sarah, who is both his victim and his mistress.

The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory – This is the first in a series of six books about the House of Lancaster and York as they battle for the throne of England. I’ve read several series by Phillipa Gregory before and loved them all; especially her books about the Tudors and the Wideacre Trilogy. I’m sure this book (and the series) will be no different!

Amazing – not terrifying. At least not for Daenerys.

This game was intense! A 5-4 Nationals win after 11 innings!

Poldark – New Show Alert!!! Can I just tell you, I am loving this show! It’s only two episodes in and I’m definitely hooked! 🙂 The show tells the story of Ross Poldark, returned home from fighting the Revolutionary War and not exactly given a heroes welcome! Presumed dead, Ross returns home to find his Father has died and left him with very little money, the woman he was in love with and promised to has married his cousin and the life he’d planned for himself while away has crumbled into nothing. Ross rescues poor street urchin Demelza from her abusive Father and hires her as a kitchen maid and decides to re-open his family mine; he is determined to try and rebuild the life he once knew…

And that’s all I know so far, since I’ve only seen two episodes…but something (like maybe that picture and the preview for next week’s episode) leads me to believe that Demelza won’t be a kitchen maid for long…

So funny & awkward.

Tammy – This movie though; it cracked me up! This was a Friday night find on HBO and the girls I worked with had mentioned it being funny – plus, I love Melissa McCarthy. Tammy is a woman down on her luck: she hit a deer on the way to work, got fired and came home to find her husband is cheating on her…so she packs up her things, commandeers her Grandma’s car (with Grandma in tow) and takes off for Niagara Falls. What follows is hilarity and misadventure as Tammy learns that if she wants her life to be different; to be better, she has to make the changes. This movie is also hilarious because again…Melissa McCarthy.

The road did hit back & it was hilarious!

Hello Ladies-The Movie – So, this was a show on HBO and it kind of cracked me up…but it only got one season! It starred Stephen Merchant, who I know from watching way too much An Idiot Abroad (which, if you’ve never seen that…look it up on Netflix) as a smart but awkward, slightly too full of himself tech programmer in LA, looking for love. He always thwarts his own efforts by being a little too confident, a little too ridiculous and generally making an idiot of himself…all the while missing that the best person for him is probably right in front of him in the guise of his best friend, Jessica. I won’t spoil the ending but if you have HBO, I’d encourage you to check out the show – it’s funny; in an offbeat way, and somewhat endearing. It’s also not nearly as crass/violent/exploitative as most HBO shows…which may explain why it only had one season?

So awkward & wonderful – I love it!

The Maze Runner – I wanted this movie to be good because I really enjoyed the book…but it just sort of fell flat for me. I’m glad I waited to rent this because it didn’t just blow me away. I’m not sure if it was because it was changed so drastically from the book or what…but I just couldn’t stay focused. The story follows a group of boys living in The Glade; a large open pasture surrounded by walls that open into a maze, the walls open each day allowing “runners” to go into the maze in an effort to find an escape but the walls close at dusk and at night the maze is filled with grievers – horrible nightmare creatures. Once Thomas arrives in the Glade, things begin to change and most of the boys have a renewed hope for escape…but when Teresa…the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade, makes her appearance and remembers Thomas, the boys start to question why he is there and what he knows. – as they make a play to escape, the risks only escalate…but what’s waiting outside the maze may not be quite what they’d hoped for.

Not quite as thrilling as I’d hoped…

Jurassic World – I watched Jurassic Park years ago at a friend’s birthday party…I’m fairly certain I was about ten and it was just scary enough to be fun and creep me out a little bit simultaneously…so I ended up seeing The Lost World and Jurassic Park III…which were both disappointing. As soon as I saw this trailer though…I was intrigued – they’d gone back to what originally worked, given it a spin and then put Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard into the film as the leads – and it works! The story follows brothers Zach and Gray Mitchell as they travel to Isla Nublar to spend a week with their Aunt Claire, who also happens to be the Operations Manager at Jurassic World; the theme park rebuilt on the ruins of the original Jurassic Park. The boys arrive prior to the unveiling of the newest dinosaur that the park’s geneticist have cooked up: Indominus Rex – he’s bigger, louder and has more teeth. He’s also smarter and of course…he breaks free and chaos ensues. The movie is all around fun, will make you jump out of your seat (ask my Mom…she did more than once) and has plenty of tongue in cheek throwbacks to the original. Go see it! Also – the website is crazy cool..check it out!

Will they never learn? Dinos always escape & wreck havoc….

The Book of Life – This is an animated movie by Guillermo del Toro and man; it was definitely colorful! I think that is what I enjoyed the most; the vibrance of the characters and their settings, especially the Land of the Remembered. The story follows childhood friends Maria, Joaquin and Manolo, both boys are in love with Maria and want to marry her but what they don’t know is that La Muerte (the ruler of the Land of the Remembered) and Xibalba (the ruler of the Land of the Forgotten) have struck a bargain about the young children. If Manolo marries Maria, La Muerte wins and Xibalba will no longer interfere in mortal affairs but if Joaquin marries Maria, Xibalba wins and he gets to switch realms with La Muerte. The movie was cute and somewhat intriguing…like I said, I really loved the colors! 

This movie was crazy colorful!

This is Where I Leave You – I really enjoyed this movie! The film follows the reunion of the four Altman siblings and their Mother as they fulfill their Father’s dying wish that they sit Shiva; which means seven days of bonding time. The sibling start out at one another’s throats but as the week progresses, they grow closer and help one another through the trials they are each facing in their own lives. I’m a big fan of Jason Bateman and Tina Fey so that is what drew me to this movie but the ensemble cast is really excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was funny with some heart-tugging moments thrown in for good measure!

Families are complicated…this movie makes that an understatement…

Exodus: Gods & Kings – I really wanted this to be good…or maybe I just really wanted this to not be completely awful and inaccurate, but I should have known better. The acting was splendid and the sets were amazing; I still hope to visit Egypt one day. The story though; oh me. I just had too many issues with the story but was probably most bothered by God being portrayed as a petulant child who seemed to be looking to brutally punish the Egyptians and took too much sick glee in their pain. I think Christian Bale is an excellent actor but his portrayal of Moses made him seem slightly deranged; however after reading his comments that he believe Moses was likely “schizophrenic and mentally unhinged” I see why he might have played him as such. Impressive visually but otherwise, this left a bad taste in my mouth.