The Mid-Year Freakout Book Tag
Originated at Maureen’s Books, but I first saw it at Carol’s Notebook.
I’ve read 31 books this year and I feel pretty good about that.
1 – The Best Book You’ve Read So Far In 2017
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman. I fell in love with Ove and his collection of merry wo(men) around him. For every trouble he caused those surrounding him, at least one blessing was given out. Ove was a man with a heart, who didn’t always play well with others. I think everyone knows an Ove, some of us better than others.
2 – Your Favorite Sequel This Year
Waiting On You by Kristan Higgins, Blue Heron #3. I love this series set in New York wine country. The small town is charming, the people are eccentric and the dialogue is snappy. As with the first two books I laughed out loud many times and was brought to tears at least once. Higgins is so talented. I can’t wait to read everything she’s written.
3 – A New Release You Haven’t Read But Really Want To
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. I read his interview in Poets & Writers magazine and am eager to pick it up.
4 – Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half of the Year
Whatever the yearly Harlan Coben release is!
5 – Biggest Disappointment
Strange Bedpersons by Jennifer Crusie. I usually love her but this oldie was too dated and stereotypical.
6 – Biggest Surprise
Dream More:Celebrate the Dreamer in You by Dolly Parton. I’ve never really followed Dolly Parton, but after listening to her narrate her book I’m a fan.
7 – Favorite New Author (Debut Or New To You)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Fantastic debut about something so important going on right now. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
8 – Your New Fictional Crush
I had a little crush on Ove 🙂 He may have been a 59 year old curmudgeon, but I loved him.
9 – A Book That Made You Cry
A Man Called Ove, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
10 – A Book That Made You Happy
Good romances always make me happy and I’ve read several so far this year. The Cold-Hearted Rake by Lisa Kleypas, When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James, Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins
11 – Your Favorite Book To Movie Adaption That You’ve Seen This Year
A Man Called Ove was well done, subtitles and all. Although the book and movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close were different, I thought they were both well done.
12 – Favorite Book Post You Published This Year
I loved having my first Bookish Wine Party and hope to make it a yearly thing.
13 – The Most Beautiful Book You Have Bought/ Received This Year
Of the books I’ve read I really liked Almost Famous Women
14 – What Are Some Books That You Need To Read By The End Of The Year
I need to knock a few of my Classics Club list. I’m woefully behind.
If you want to have some fun, consider yourself tagged.
George Washington’s Birthday
We went to Michigan over the long President’s Day weekend to visit Jason’s family (his mother starts chemo tomorrow for stage four tonsil cancer). Gage came back with a cold so two days (so far) with mom at home. Today we did some George Washington activities since it’s his birthday.
I don’t watch a lot of historical films, unless Jason makes me, but there have been a few over the years that have stood out for me because I loved the Presidential portrayal.
I loved Bruce Greenwood as JFK in Thirteen Days.
I thought Bill Murray was a surprisingly good FDR in Hyde Park on Hudson.
I LOVED Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt in Night at the Museum.
And, of course, Daniel Day-Lewis is tough to beat as Lincoln in Lincoln.
Is there a President in the movies that stands out for you?
My favorite love stories
I grew up reading romances. I started with the teen romances of the 80’s, moved on to Harlequin, and then to the full-fledged romances for big kids. I earned a degree in English Ed with lots of classic reading for classes so my weekend historical romance reading was relaxing. Here are a few of the love stories that have stuck with me.
Books
1-Jamie and Claire from the Outlander series. Although I am woefully behind in the series I love this couple so much.
2-Rochester and Jane. They became my first classic love story and I love them still. I watched a bunch of the Jane Eyre films a few years ago and Timothy Dalton was my favorite Rochester.
3-Darcy and Elizabeth from Pride & Prejudice and Anne and Wentworth from Persuasion are the two Jane Austen couples I love the most.
4-Almost Heaven (historical) and Paradise (contemporary) are two oldie but goodies from Judith McNaught. I’ve read all of her books, many multiple times. I wish she was still writing!
5-I remember reading so many of Jude Deveraux’s historicals as a teen, but A Knight in Shining Armor still stands out for me.
A few honorable mentions – Francesca and Calder from Brenda Joyce’s Deadly series and the authors Susanna Kearsley, Kristan Higgins and Eloisa James are consistently good.
Movies
1-CK Dexter Haven and Tracy Lord from A Philadelphia Story. I loved the maturity and reality of their relationship. Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart were superb.
2-Harry and Sally. Loved the movie and Billy and Meg in the lead. When Harry Met Sally remains a favorite.
3-Lucy, Jack, Peter and family all won me over in While You Were Sleeping.
4-Colin, Bridget and Hugh made Bridget Jones’s Diary a treat to watch. That last scene gets me every time 🙂
5-Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable make a memorable couple in the classic It Happened One Night.
So tell me. Who are your favorite couples in books and film?
2016 Movie Faves & Stats
Movies
I watched 41 movies. That’s way down from 54 last year, probably due to our new 30 Day challenges.
I wrote 2 Book vs. Movie posts (The Blind Side, Still Alice), reviewed 1 of my 100 favorite movies (#29 Serendipity), tried to get a few movie features going but failed due to lack of time and effort, and continued my 5 word movie reviews asking for your participation. Please consider adding your thoughts to these reviews since they count towards money for charity, maybe even yours!
January was the month I saw the most movies with 7.
2016 was my most watched movie year with 13.
Sadly, Hope Floats (1998) was the oldest movie I watched. I love old movies so I expect this to change next year.
Favorite animated movie – Mr. Peabody and Sherman, 2014
Cutest Couple – Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr. in Hope Floats.
I usually list the movie I hated the most, but this year there were 2 movies I hated and they were BOTH Nicholas Sparks movies. Message in a Bottle and the worst of the worst, The Best of Me.
I always list my most watched actress and this year it was a 5 way tie with 2 movies a piece-Rachel McAdams (Spotlight, Doctor Strange), Sandra Bullock (Minions, Hope Floats), Scarlett Johanssen (Chef, Captain America Civil War), Tilda Swinton (Trainwreck, Doctor Strange), Lake Bell (No Strings Attached, The Secret Life of Pets)
My most watched actor was a 3 way tie with 3 movies a piece – Tom Hardy (Mad Max Fury Road, Child 44, Revenant), Jeremey Renner (Captain America Civil War, The Arrival, Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters), Kevin Hart (Get Hard, Secret Life of Pets, Central Intelligence)
Every year I list my 5 favorite movies of the year, but this year I’m adding a category with just one movie in it. I can’t call it a favorite because it devastated me, but it was the best movie I saw this year.
Best movie I saw this year
Manchester by the Sea, 2016. See it.
My 5 faves of the year
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Spotlight, 2015. Worthy Oscar winner.
2.
The Big Short, 2015. It’ll make you mad all over again.
3.
Chef, 2014. Foodies unite!
4.
The Nice Guys, 2016. It surprises me as much as it surprises you to find this here, but I loved these two and the 70’s vibe.
5.
Captain Fantastic, 2016. Viggo rarely makes a movie that I don’t love.
So tell me, what was your favorite movie this year?
A year of firsts and a look at BG (Before Gage)
I joined Instagram. Why would I join yet another time-sucking social media site (I mean really, when does it stop?)?? Well, I was thinking of taking one photo to capture the day for a whole year and then I joined and wanted a bit more focus. So, it’s my goal to capture a year of firsts. Everyday. It’ll be a challenge for sure. You can follow me if you click on my link on the sidebar.
Now onto my other project for the year, one inspired by Kay’s Bookish Nostalgia. I love her glimpses into her reading past and have been thinking of a way I could steal the idea but make it my own 😉 I think I have it. I am 5+ year mother. Due to many things (stay-at-home mom to a kid with medical mysteries and special dietary needs being the biggest one) I remember carefree reading and blogging days from afar. So, I decided to choose the year Gage was born and revisit it every month. If January is any indication, I think this will inspire me.
I loved looking back at January 2010, I was such an active blogger! I posted 30 days. That’s right, 30 out of 31 days. I went back and read them all and, if you don’t mind me saying, they were all pretty good. I had just finished 2009 by reading 130 books and thought this might continue, lol. I was giving away books monthly, posting quizzes, joining challenges. I was also getting pregnant, but I didn’t know that yet. I attended two author events (Beth Hoffman, Tracy Chevalier) and posted two author interviews (Beth Hoffman, Shirley Tallman). I would love to do more author interviews, but probably not this year, unfortunately, they took a lot of time. I read Garden Spells and fell in love with all thinks Sarah Addison Allen.
My favorite picture from January 2010
Bonnie (Redlady’s Reading Room), bestselling author Beth Hoffman and me.
Tonight I met Bonnie from Redlady’s Reading Room for the first time. We only live about 20 minutes from each other and we decided to get together and meet Beth Hoffman, author of Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt. Bonnie is a fellow Ohio State grad and we had a lot of fun chatting before we headed to the library for the book discussion and signing. I have exchanged a few emails with Beth and knew that she was sweet. However, I think she was even sweeter in person! She was full of charm and warmth and if you have the chance to meet her on her book tour, take the opportunity! (tour locales here) She was truly inspirational.
I should note that before her discussion she talked to Bonnie and when Bonnie introduced me, Beth said, “Oh, Stacy, Max’s Mom!” Well, let’s be honest, I was floored that she remembered to mention him. How cool is that?!
Favorite Post – My Reread Project. I’m not sure why I stopped doing this, but am ready to try again.
…What does this have to do with rereading books? Well, what I get out of a book is based on many things, not the least of which is what was going on in my life when I read it. So, maybe if I read it five years later and I’m happier, sadder, more stressed out, whatever, I might have a completely different opinion of the book. So, last year I decided to commit to rereading at least one book from my Favorite Books list every year. Yes, if I only read one a year it will take me 100 years, so it is obviously not a perfect plan, but quite a few of the books on the list I have read more than once already….
Favorite Book – Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. I continue to love and recommend this book!
…Okay, first book of the year and the one I’ll be judging others by since I’m giving it 5 stars. This book made me cry and laugh and left me with a smile on my face, not something that happens very often. CeeCee was a charming girl who had led a hard life to date and my heart broke for her. I loved her and her mistakes were both funny and important, reminding me that she was still just a girl no matter how grown up she sometimes seemed…
Favorite new movie – Avatar 3D. But I did also post about one of my all-time faves – Pride and Prejudice, the mini-series with Colin Firth.
Why I love it– Um, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. I know there are lots of other great reasons to love this movie, but if you take Colin Firth out of the picture, this is no favorite! I thought Jennifer Ehle was a great Lizzie. She had warmth, sparkle, and a quick wit. The rest of her family was suitably annoying and ridiculous, but in a good way.
Now that I’ve read the book I can truly appreciate how closely this follows Austen classic. The sets were perfectly lovely and not Hollywood in any way. There were added scenes to let us see a bit more of Mr. Darcy and that made it easier for me to see him apart from only the times Elizabeth saw him, as was the case in the novel.
Well, the reason I’m reviewing this now is because Jason really, really loves me. We watched an hour a night for a week. It was so much fun introducing Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth to him. He really didn’t get Mr. Darcy’s appeal, especially for the first half of the movie. I kept telling him it was Colin Firth and that’s all he needed to know, but he still wasn’t convinced. And I’m still waiting for him to come home with a 5 hour miniseries about the history of the stock market or 100 years of Michigan State basketball.
If you were blogging in January 2010, why not leave a link to your favorite post? I’d be happy to post it here and then we’d all be taking a trip down memory lane?
Nise from Under the Boardwalk chose this post as her favorite. I looked over my posts of January 2010 and was tickled to see one about book shelves. Only one of the shelves has remained – I stack my library books on the steps in the order of their due date!
JoAnn from Lakeside Musing chose this post as her favorite. After three attempts spaced over 25 years, I’ve finally managed to finish a Virginia Woolf novel. And not only did I finish it, I liked it. I really liked it…
Winner and a 2014 reading plan
I am late getting a winner posted for the $25 Barnes & Noble gift card. Gage stayed home from school today since he’s a little sick and he helped me draw a name from his fireman’s hat.
In case you can’t read the name in the second picture, it’s
Hannah!
Thank you all for taking the time to visit my old posts. I wonder if the top posts will change in the next year?
Last year I tried to read from a stack of books I already had on my shelves that were favorites of other bloggers. This year I decided that I don’t need to discover any new fiction authors (outside of my one book from She Reads a month). I want to rediscover the authors I already love and take the time to read their backlist or newest hardcover. Every year I fall in love with a handful of authors and before I can read more from them I’m moving on to the next thing.
A few authors I’ve only read one book from but want more! Jennifer Donnelly, Tana French, Sarah Jio, Kristin Hannah, Susanna Kearsley, Leah Stewart, JojoMoyes…
A few authors I have read all their books and always look forward to the latest. Harlan Coben, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Sarah Addison Allen, Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series…
A few favorite authors I usually love and want to read everything they’ve written. Anne Tyler, Anita Shreve, Greg Iles, Kate White, Deborah Smith, Elizabeth Berg, Alice Hoffman, Dean Koontz, Stephen King…
This is not an exhaustive list but a good starting point. I have a year of great reading ahead of me!
2013 Book and Movie Favorites and Stats
Books
I read 56 books this year (that’s one more than last year!) Here they are by the numbers-
Fiction 42, Non-fiction 14
Female authors 35, Male authors 21
Series books- continuing series 6, new series 4 (I only plan to continue one, the Louise Penny series)
Oldest book read? Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit published in 1975
Most read author? Harlan Coben with 3
My 5 favorite books this year
The Winter Sea was a romantic delight from beginning to end. I can’t wait to read more!
The Husband’s Secret had an excellent cast of characters with strong storylines that all came together in a powerful conclusion.
A Gracious Plenty had a gritty main character and a cemetery full of dead people and somehow managed to be beautiful.
The Uncommon Reader was a light escape with the Queen and her books. Hard to resist.
The Girl You Left Behind was a surprise to me because I rarely read wartime books and I found this one addicting. I want more.
Movies
I watched 62 new to me movies this year (that’s up 13 from last year). I wrote about 3 of my favorite 100 movies (#7 There’s Something About Mary, #46 Chocolat, #62 Yankee Doodle Dandy) and did one Book vs. Movie post (Ender’s Game – still time to vote in the the poll), wrote a few Friday film talks and continued my 5 word movie reviews asking for your participation and help for charity.
2013 was my most watched movie year with 18.
The oldest movie I watched was A Touch of Evil, 1958
Most watched actress- Sandra Bullock with 3 films (Gravity, The Heat, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)
Most watched actor was a 3 way tie with 3 movies each- Woody Harrelson (Catching Fire, Now You See Me, Game Change)
Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike, The Wolf of Wall Street, Boys on the Side)
Ben Kingsley (Ender’s Game, Searching for Bobby Fisher, Iron Man 3)
My 5 favorite movies this year-
The Hunger Games:Catching Fire – I love Katniss even though I’ve never read the books (for shame!) A
Prisoners – A gritty thriller that makes you think. A
Argo – Another thriller, but this one political and psuedo-true! A-
The Sting – There was not a boring minute in this con film with two handsome legends. A-
42 – An overlooked baseball movie that hit all the right bases. A-
My 5 year Blogiversary with a chance to win a favorite book!
I can hardly believe I’ve been blogging for 5 years! I started slow, got involved with the community through memes, challenges and events, and then slowed down again these past few months have really slowed down due to home demands. This slowdown will continue for the next few months, but I will still be here, reading, writing, quizzing and visiting your blogs. Only on a more laid back schedule!
It’s really the community that makes it worth the time and effort. There have been one or two times in the past year when I’ve considered giving it up because I only have so much time in the day and while I love all of you, you aren’t the ones giving me hugs and kisses at night. But I would miss it so here I am 5 years in and looking forward to 5 more.
I’ll be going some Best-of-the Best posts this weeks with giveaways. For the first one I thought I’d compare my favorite lists over the years. The only big difference I see is that I read less romances these days. I bolded my 5 favorites from these lists (at least my favorite 5 today :)). My 5 faves from the last 5 years.
GIVEAWAY-Tell me what your favorite is from these lists and you’ll be entered to win a favorite pick of your choice! Make sure you leave your email too. I’ll draw a winner on Saturday. Look for more giveaways this week!
When I started on January 7, 2008 these were the books I listed as favorites from the year before…
the 5 Prey novels by John Sandford (Broken, Chosen, Mortal, Naked, Hidden)
Natural Born Lover by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling
Sophie Metropolis by Tori Carrington
A year later and my 2008 list looked like this…
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
The Coffin Dancer by Jeffrey Deaver
Here are my 2009 favorites
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
My 2010 faves may be my favorite of the lists…
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
2011 had more great reading
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams
Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigani
Husband and Wife by Leah Stewart
The Missing Ink by Karen Olson
And finally last year’s list
Thank you all for being such great reading buddies these past years and always steering my to awesome books I wouldn’t have found otherwise.
2012 in review
The blog, while still having some of the same features-Tuesday Quizzes, Sundays with Gage and Monthly 5 Word Movie Reviews being the constants- also managed some book reviews 😉 I read 55 books, a new low since I began blogging 5 years ago.
Here are the books by the numbers-
43 Fiction, 12 Non-Fiction (that’s a high percentage of non-fiction for me!)
39 women, 15 men, 1 both (let’s hear it for the gals!)
9 from a continuing series, 7 from a new series. (of those new series books I will continue on with 6!)
Most read author? Karen E Olson with 3 when I finished up her Tattoo Shop series.
The 3 Rounds of Quizzes this year were exciting! Nise (Under the Boardwalk) took the first two rounds and Hannah (Word Lily) was the winner of the last round. I hope that you all will jump in when the new season starts. You don’t have to win to get a prize. Marie (Boston Bibliophile), Staci (Life in the Thumb), and Carol M all won special prizes just for playing. If you want to browse through old quizzes click here.
Gage has been a big part of the blog this year. If you want to look through all his posts for what you may have missed click here. Here are the first and last photos of 2012.
Think he’s changed this year? The boy sure does keep me busy.
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The year I’ve watched 49 new-to-me movies, reviewed 3 from my Top 100 list, wrote 3 book vs. movies posts, and even had a few Friday Movie Talks. My monthly 5 word movie reviews are tied to money for charity. You still have a few hours (until 7om EST) to get your reviews in to be counted for charity. $1 for every 5 word review you contribute. I already told you about my favorite movies, what about a few stats?
Surprisingly, I watched more movies released in 2012 (19) than in any other. Surprising because I consider myself a classic movie lover!
The oldest movie I watched was War and Peace released in 1956.
My most viewed actor- Denzel Washington, 3 movies
Most viewed actress- Helena Bonham Carter, 4 movies (weird since this woman really bothers me)
2012 has been a good year and I’m happy the Mayans were wrong and there is the possibility of 2013 being better than all the other years before it. I wish that for all of us.
Best Fathers in Film
#1 Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) I don’t think too many people will disagree that this widower was evrything a father should be. He loved his children and wanted to instill good values. He didn’t just tell his kids how to be a good human being, he showed them in everything he did. He wasn’t perfect, but as close as you can get.
#2 George Banks (Father of the Bride) I have a soft spot for poor George. He’s trying to come to terms with his little girl all grown up and ready to marry and his love for her is so obvious. Every girl wants a dad who loves her so much.
#3 Daniel (Crash) Who didn’t fall in love with this dad who played a game with his daughter at night to make her feel safe in a city that wasn’t. His devotion to her was tear worthy.
#4 Chris Gardner (Pursuit of Happyness) You don’t need a home or money to have the most important thing in life, the love of a parent struggling to do right.
#5 Richard Hoover (Little Miss Sunshine) Putting his daughter’s dream first, no matter the circumstances or motivations, makes this dad an easy pick.
#6 Leon (The Professional) Okay, so this assassin wasn’t really Mathilda’s dad, but he was better than her dad. He was willing to protect her life with his own.
#7 Daniel (Love Actually) A stepdad becomes sole provider when his wife dies and his grace and humor win the boy, and us, over.
#8 Furious Styles (Boyz ‘N the Hood) Furious is trying to keep his son on the straight and narrow in a neighborhood that can be anything but. I loved his devotion to raising his son, and any other boy, well.
So tell me, who are your favorite movie dads?
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What Jane Austen heroine are you?
