2019 Movie Favorites and Stats (with my favorite Netflix binges)

December 30, 2019December 29, 201910 Comments

I watched 50 movies this year, up 10 from last year.

2019 was my most watched release year with 19.

I saw 15 of those at the movie theater and 6 were animated.

I wrote 1 Book vs. Movie post (The Little Prince).

I wrote 1 Fave Movie post (#51 Crash).

The oldest movie I watched was Little Shop Around the Corner, 1940.

Newest crush – RBG, The Opposite of Sex.

Cutest Couple – Harold & Maude, of course (Harold & Maude, 1971)

Most disappointing movie of the year, A Wrinkle in Time.

Most watched actor was Chris Evans (Cellular, Avengers Infinity War, Avengers Endgame, Knives Out)

Most watched actress was a 9 way tie with 9 actresses! That’s a first. Not worth listing them all 🙂

I continued my 5 Word Movie Reviews with $ for Charity . Keep adding to my reviews and maybe you can choose the next charity!

My 5 favorite movies this year

Ford vs. Ferrari, 2019

Avengers Endgame, 2019

Hacksaw Ridge, 2016

Green Book, 2018

On the Basis of Sex.jpeg On the Basis of Sex, 2018

Our favorite Netflix series that we watched this year were Marianne, The Haunting of Hill House, Ozark 2, Stranger Things 3. I’m always open to good suggestions!

December’s Movies

December 28, 2019January 16, 202014 Comments

What did you see this month that you’d recommend? I admit that I’ve watched way too many Hallmark movies already 🙂

You know the drill, add your 5 words (or less!) to mine in a comment and earn $1 for charity. Once we get to $100 the person with the most reviews will choose the charity. Click here to see the past winners, the charities they chose and the other reviews you can add to. Anyone is welcome to join in at any time.

We’re at $27 right now. Your charity could be next

A blonde-haired man sits behind the wheel. He wears a fleece jacket and a pair of brown driving gloves. Above reads a tagline, "There Are No Clean Getaways". Drive, 2011 (Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac) Grade B+

One bad decision leads to another.

Knives Out poster.jpeg Knives Out, 2019 (Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Amas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Christopher Plummer) Grade B+

Stylish star-studded who-dun-it.

Klaus, 2019 (voices-Jason Swartzman, JK Simmons, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Norm MacDonald, Joan Cusack) Grade B+

Mail Carriers are the true heroes.

I fell asleep during the movie. 😦 (Kathy – sorry it was too funny not to share only because I loved it so much :))

Nicely done. I even cried. (Michelle)

New favorite Christmas time movie. (Heather)

Home alone poster.jpg Home Alone, 1990 (Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara, John Heard) Grade B

A very resourceful 8 year old.

I just don’t believe that’s possible. (Janet’s Smiles)

We never miss watching yearly. (Michelle)

So ridiculous, you can’t stop. (Emily)

His family is the worst! (Heather)

Drawing of Harold holding various deadly items (left) and Maude on the right Harold and Maude, 1971 (Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles) Grade B

Love knows no age.

Loved Harold and Maude. (Lloyd)

My Greatest Hits From The 2010’s

December 27, 2019December 26, 201910 Comments

A decade has come and in a few short days will be gone here at Stacy’s Books and I thought I’d take a look at my all-time most popular posts from the decade (in pure clicks, not engagement).

2012 – Book vs. Movie – Under the Tuscan Sun
2012 – Book vs. Movie – The Secret Life of Bees
2010 – Baby-To-Be Update
2010 – Baby Movie Quiz
2017 – Book vs. Movie – And Then There Were None
2010 – The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
2011 – Monday Movie Meme – Bring on the Heat
2015 – Book vs. Movie – The Hound of the Baskervilles
2016- Book vs. Movie – The Blind Side
2012- Graphic Novels Quiz

I’m glad to see a few of my weekly quizzes made the cut. I loved doing them, but am just not in a place to do it right now. I’m also glad to see that a Monday Movie Meme made the list. I miss seeing my friend Molly blog (she was also my partner in crime reading War and Peace). It was fun to read the update on Gage before we knew he wouldn’t be a Tara or Lily. Only one book review in the bunch, but a worthy one. And then domination by my continued book vs. movie series. I need to get busy – I only posted one of those in 2019 and apparently they are in demand, lol.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the new decade will bring!

2019 Book Favorites and Stats

December 26, 2019December 26, 201914 Comments

I read 86 books this year.

17 were published in 2019 and 17 in 2018.

64 were fiction, 22 were non-fiction.

Of those fiction 27 were authors new to me.

48 women authors, 36 men and 1 both.

33 were audio books. (I think that’s a record!)

Favorite Cover The Bungalow by Sarah Jio

I continued with 11 series (Lucas Davenport #28 & #29, Mrs. Pollifax #11 & #12, Kinsey Millhone F & G, Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence # 2 & #3, Blue Heron #5, Inspector Rebus #2, #3 & #4, Ravenels #4 & #5, Lincoln Rhyme #13 & #14, Cormoran Strike #4, Robert Langdon #5, Me Before You #3)

I tried 9 new series books (not sure what I’ll continue with at this point).

I read 9 books for the Classics Club (Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant, Sarah, Plain and Tallby Patricia MacLachlan, The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon,The Giver by Lois Lowry, Animal Farm by George Orwell, Washington Square by Henry James, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum,The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expury)

I read two books first published in the 1800’s – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and Washington Square in 1880

Shortest book – Sound Bites by Aaron Broadstreet, 44 pages

Longest book – Lethal White by Robert Galbaith, 656 pages

Most read authors with 3 each, Ian Rankin and Maria Shriver.

My 5 Favorite Books

Title: Becoming, Author: Michelle Obama Becoming by Michelle Obama. “Michelle Obama was a normal, yet accomplished young woman with a lucrative career and two Ivy League degrees when she was introduced to a hot shot intern who would change her life forever. She is real and warm and selfless in so many ways. I always respected her strength as first lady and was happily surprised to have her exceed any expectation I placed on her.”

Title: A Ladder to the Sky, Author: John Boyne A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne. “This is one of those novels with a main character so horribly delicious that it makes you want to look away. It may even force you to shut the book and put it down for awhile, but you keep glancing at it and eventually you pick it back up and steel yourself for some ugly happenings. Okay, maybe that was just me. The storytelling for this book was just so good. Love or hate the main character of Maurice, you have to revel in the way his story unfolds, first through the voices of those he had wronged and then through his.”

Title: The Flatshare, Author: Beth O'Leary The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. “Tiffy was a ray of sunshine, but was healing from a breakup, hoping it wasn’t permanent. Leon had a girlfriend who took it upon herself to screen the girl that would be sharing his flat, but couldn’t muster sympathy for his imprisoned brother. The two, never in the apartment at the same time, communicated by post-it note.”

Title: Winter Garden: A Novel, Author: Kristin Hannah The Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. “The story starts with bickering sisters Meredith and Nina, nothing too different than other stories I’ve read, but then their father takes ill and it’s important they’re all together. This is also when we start hearing about the cold mom, Anya, who seemed to dislike both girls growing up. As the three women must help each other, the story of Anya’s life in Russia takes center stage. Her story drew me in and kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. It was that good. The sisters faded into the background for me as I read in horror the things that Anya faced.”

Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh. “He is a Vietnam monk who coined the phrase ‘engaged Buddhism’. Engaged Buddhism refers to Buddhists who are seeking ways to apply the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental and economic suffering and injustice. (wikipedia) Because of his peaceful protest belief he influenced Martin Luther King Jr. during the Vietnam War and was actually nominated by King for the Nobel Peace Prize that year.”

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2019December 26, 20196 Comments

It’s been a merry Christmas here with a day we all stayed in our jammies. We introduced Gage to Home Alone for the first time 🙂 I hope you all had a great day, and that you all received at least one gift that you loved as much as Sammi loved her new green mouse. For Gage it was the microscope Santa brought him. He spent hours making slides.

I read a book that I had given my mother at Thanksgiving and she gave back to me yesterday saying that she loved it. Today was a perfect time for the short read The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren. At only 127 pages it was a quick read about the reason we celebrate Christmas and all of the ways that Jesus Christ has changed the world and how we can accept him and do the same. He wrote it for believers and non-believers alike.

The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

December 21, 20199 Comments

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Finished audio 9-1-19, 3.5/5 stars. classic, pub. 1900

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the classic story of fantasy that has delighted readers young and old for decades. Dorothy finds herself transplanted to the magical land of Oz when her house is sucked up by a tornado. To get back home she must follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard to help her get back to Kansas. Along the way she meets several interesting characters, including the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, who join her on her travels to ask the Wizard for help of their own. from Goodreads

As I was updating Goodreads with my book reviews of 2019 I realized that I had somehow neglected this one. It’s been a while, but I remember being struck with how different it was from the movie. Yes, there is still Dorothy and her dog, her three companions, some witches and flying monkeys, but it was darker than the movie. There are no ruby slippers and the backstory was nonexistent.

It opens with the cyclone and Dorothy being swept off to a place that was inexplicable. She meets the tin man, lion and scarecrow and they do go off on adventures, but there is imprisonment and evil too. But as with the movie, everyone needs friends such as these, willing to go the distance with you and for you.

I liked it even though it felt (at least listening to the audio) different than the iconic movie, which is okay since I have no great love for the flick. It’s a story that you recognize but don’t really know and that somehow makes it work.

This is my 33rd selection for the Classics Club challenge. I have until January 1, 2020 to get to 50 (lol).

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

December 20, 2019December 19, 20194 Comments

The Flatshare. Finished 12-18-19-19, 4.5/5 stars, fiction, pub. 2019

Unabridged audio read by Carrie Hope Fletcher and Kwaku Fortune and these two completely sold it. They were fantastic and I looked forward to getting in the car everyday to spend more time with them! 8 CDs.

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window… from Goodreads

This was the perfect time for this! I was perusing the library shelves when I saw this and recognized it from around the blogosphere. It was light, but with some heavy issues that figured prominently into the storyline. Tiffy was a ray of sunshine, but was healing from a breakup, hoping it wasn’t permanent. Leon had a girlfriend who took it upon herself to screen the girl that would be sharing his flat, but couldn’t muster sympathy for his imprisoned brother.

The two, never in the apartment at the same time, communicated by post-it note. How weird would it be to come in one day and someone has moved in all of their stuff and you share a bed (different sides of course), but you don’t meet them? Bizarre. I loved the months and months of post-it notes that built this relationship into something that both needed. It was Tiffy who found a reason to finally meet him through their jobs, only Leon bailed and the notes continued.

I loved the romance and the issues. Tiffy’s boyfriend was emotionally abusive, Leon’s brother was wrongfully imprisoned, and a search for a long lost love brings them both together for a common cause. This was fun with just enough heft to give it legs. I do think the audio may have enhanced my enjoyment. This was a Goodreads finalist for best romance and I would have voted for it if I’d read it in time.

The Clergyman’s Wife by Molly Greeley

December 18, 2019December 18, 20196 Comments

Clergyman’s Wife. Finished 12-17-19, 4/5 stars, Pride and Prejudice story, pub. 2019

Charlotte Collins, nee Lucas, is the respectable wife of Hunsford’s vicar, and sees to her duties by rote: keeping house, caring for their adorable daughter, visiting parishioners, and patiently tolerating the lectures of her awkward husband and his condescending patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Intelligent, pragmatic, and anxious to escape the shame of spinsterhood, Charlotte chose this life, an inevitable one so socially acceptable that its quietness threatens to overwhelm her. Then she makes the acquaintance of Mr. Travis, a local farmer and tenant of Lady Catherine..

In Mr. Travis’ company, Charlotte feels appreciated, heard, and seen. For the first time in her life, Charlotte begins to understand emotional intimacy and its effect on the heart—and how breakable that heart can be. With her sensible nature confronted, and her own future about to take a turn, Charlotte must now question the role of love and passion in a woman’s life, and whether they truly matter for a clergyman’s wife. from Goodreads

I feel like I know the characters from Pride and Prejudice fairly well and I was so happy that this continuation felt like Charlotte. This was beautifully written and Greeley got the story and tone exactly right for the practical Charlotte. The other returning players, especially Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine, were well within character. We caught a few glimpses of the late parents of Mr. Collins, but for the most part his absurdity remained intact.

Charlotte knew she was choosing a life as the wife of a vicar because it was the best she could hope for at the age of 27, but as the years went on she never felt particularly suited for it. She lost a child at childbirth and now had a young daughter, Louisa, who took up her time. Then she strikes a friendship with Mr. Travis, an emotionally charged friendship and she comes into her own under his warm eyes.

This was a nice, sweet read. I’m so glad that I got to know Charlotte a bit better and look forward to reading more from Greeley since this was her first novel. Well done.

I want to thank TLC Book Tours for getting this book in my hands. I’ll leave you with a passage I enjoyed,

“Though I am nowhere near as intrepid a walker as my friend Elizabeth, I feel pulled outside on days such as this, when I wake to the stifling closeness of the parsonage walls; to William’s snores and his heavy arm pinning me in place against the mattress. In my own home, and at Rosings Park, I often feel diminished. Out here, though, I also feel small, it is in the best sense of the word. I am part of the world here, humbled and expanded all at once.” Chapter 4

Since Nobody’s Perfect…How Good is Good Enough? by Andy Stanley

December 15, 20191 Comment

Since Nobody's Perfect, How Good is Good Enough? Since Nobody’s Perfect…How Good is Good Enough? Finished 11-8-19, Christianity, 94 pages, pub. 2003

Surely there’s more than one way to get to heaven? Bestselling author Andy Stanley addresses this popular belief held even among Christians. But believing that all good people go to heaven raises major problems, Stanley reveals. Is goodness not rewarded, then? Is Christianity not fair? Maybe not, he says. Readers will find out why Jesus taught that goodness is not even a requirement to enter heaven – and why Christianity is beyond fair. Andy Stanley leads believers and skeptics alike to a grateful awareness of God’s enormous grace and mercy. from Amazon

Since I’ve added morning devotional reading this year I have been able to read a variety of books, spanning different religions and beliefs. This one felt the closest to the church I grew up in. I’ve seen Andy on tv late at night after talk shows go dark and I always find him engaging, much like I felt for most of this small book (it’s one of six but I only read the one). I liked the way he talked so politely of people who believe differently. Yes, by the end he took a more dramatic tone, but I never felt disrespect. He believes he is right about the way he sees Christianity and that’s fine by me. He made some great points and made me think. Good things for a morning devotional.

If you like him on tv, you’ll like this and probably his other books of this set.

The Dalai Lama: His Essential Wisdom edited by Carol Kelly-Gangi

December 12, 2019December 12, 20192 Comments

The Dalai Lama. Finished 9-30-19, 4/5 stars, 122 pages, pub. 2007

The Dalai Lama: His Essential Wisdom is a collection of hundreds of inspiring quotations from His Holiness. The selections are drawn largely from his writings, teachings, interviews, speeches, and other statements made during the course of his more than forty-eight years as the exiled spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

In these excerpts, the Dalai Lama reflects with wisdom that is both profound and down to earth upon the need for compassion and kindness, the search for happiness, the way to peace, the meaning of pain and suffering, the role of religion, the power of meditation, and the challenges of life in the modern world. In other selections, His Holiness recalls his singular childhood and the turmoil surrounding the Communist takeover of Tibet.

Brimming with warmth, humor, and practical advice, the selections gathered here powerfully illuminate why His Holiness the Dalai Lama is beloved the world over for his timeless wisdom for all humanity. from Goodreads

The book starts with a four page introduction, which introduced the the contextual history of this, the 14th Dalai Lama. The last few pages are the chronology of the man through 2006, when the book went to print. The bulk of the book are chapters (compassion, love, kindness & friendship, happiness, environment…) full of his own words taken from his speeches or writings. The first few chapters are about the teachings of Buddhism and his own path to being the leader. Many places in the book he talks about the responsibility he feels for Tibet, his home that he cannot return to because of the Chinese government. There is a lot of wisdom here and I enjoyed it very much. If only enlightenment could be found in a book we’d all be better off, but this is the next best thing. I look forward to picking it up again in the future. Highly recommended.

Stacy's Books

books, movies, and boy

Month: December 2019