my opinion matters

Every year since I think 2011, I have read 52 books each year. I am probably too proud of this, but I think it's awesome and fun and I get to read a lot of great books and some pretty terrible ones. I don't have any sort of requirement, and count graphic novels too. Here is my current hold list at the library (and yes, I said library — I refuse to pay for books to take up more space in my house — I love books, but I also live in a 700 square foot apartment with my boyfriend and dog and there is no room for the thousands of books I read and own — my Kindle rocks): The Woman in Cabin 10  — Ruth Ware → I’m really digging this psychological “I don’t know what’s happening in this book but somehow I’m still reading it” genre, and   In a Dark, Dark Wood   was surprising good Fatal  — John Lescroart → Periodically, I go through the New York Times’ Bestseller list because I like reading books that people are talking about — for this reason, I read the   Fifty Shades   tri...

Last night, I watched Arrival , nominated for Best Picture and a slew of other awards this year. Starring Amy Adams and the guy who plays Hawkeye (unconvincingly as a physicist), it’s basically the story of how Earth will react when aliens come to visit. Although it sounds like it, this is not an action movie, and that’s a surprising twist. In general, the nominees for Best Picture are a collection of some of the most depressing and weird movies that would otherwise never been seen by the general public. And once they upped the possible nominees to 10 films per year, I hoped that would mean more mainstream or palatable movies would start to be nominated. Last year, the big surprise nomination was The Martian , even though it was never going to win. And Spotlight was a great movie and everything, but it’s not exactly an upper. None of the Best Picture nominees really are. And it’s been that way as long as I can remember.   There is an upside to this, of course. If you’re like...

Sometimes you read a book you loved and then almost immediately forget everything you just read. Sometimes you read a book you hated and remember it forever. When I read The Girl on the Train , I had to tell everyone how great it was. It was before I read Gone Girl and realized there is an actual genre of "psychological-thrillers-where-you-have-no-idea-what's-happening-and-then-it-gets-awesome-and-the-ending-is-crazy" - it's a thing. Anyway, the problem became that whenever I tried to tell anyone what it was about, that was the only way I could describe it. I couldn't tell anyone what it was really about because then they would know and the book wouldn't be amazing for them. Not that I don't like spoilers - I do, probably too much - but in this case if I knew the ending ahead of time, I wouldn't have cared as much while I was reading it and trying to figure out what happened. Then, inexplicably, I completely forgot the entire book. I couldn't re...

When people use the phrase "cutting the cord" in reference to anything but childbirth, it makes me violently angry. Watching TV is not such a big problem that it requires you to cut anything to make your life livable again. TV is glorious and anyone who says anything else is wrong. That being said, I'm going to cancel cable as soon as I watch all of my recorded Olympics programming. And I'm not doing it to cut ties with society or to stop watching TV. It's just that 90% of the shows I watch are available on Hulu, Netflix, or CBS All Access anyway, so it's kind of pointless. But the phrase is the real problem. Without being overtly negative, the assumption is that I'm somehow tied down to my TV, which hasn't been true since before DVRs were invented. In fact, cancelling cable will tie me more to my TV because if I want to watch something and actually participate on Twitter, I have no choice but to watch it live - and actually live, not like I start wat...

I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on the 31st, the day it came out. It doesn't matter what I think about the book, really, or whether or not it's good. I mean, those things matter, but not to this discussion. My general opinion is that there is nothing greater than reading a brand new Harry Potter book when you haven't read one in what seems like forever. I purposefully avoided finding out anything about the book or the plot because I wanted it to be like it was when I read the other books. The internet wasn't used in the same way and I couldn't just look up the hashtag. However, what drives me crazy is that people continually shout on social media, "NO SPOILERS" and then bully those who spoil it for them. There was a time when all TV was on live, and there was no chance to record it. Since I've been around, there was always the possibility of recording onto a VHS tape, but largely, people didn't do that. To watch an episode of Friends or,...

Difficult People is the greatest show, and definitely the best Hulu original that has ever existed. Because I'm in my thirties, I assume that anything that isn't a network or cable show shouldn't be trusted. I mean, of course there are the notable exceptions: House of Cards . Okay, that's really it. But still. Anyway, you should be watching Difficult People - everyone should think it's funny, especially if they know me, because they say the kind of garbage I say all the time. It's like if my twitter feed got it's own TV show. I'm not even going to tell you what it's about - just watch the first episode. Anyway, I really wish there was a job where I could watch TV and tell people what I liked and didn't like and that was the whole thing. I would be the greatest at that because I talk a lot of shit about TV I like and also don't like. So maybe I will really try and blog again, only about the TV I watch. The new fall season is as good a tim...

I feel bad that I never blog. But I never have time to do it. I'm too busy working or thinking about work or playing with the dog or watching TV. Or, most recently, reading The Walking Dead  comic books. Not sure if comic books are supposed to be italicized or if I'm actually supposed to call them graphic novels or not. Don't care. Yes, I feel crappy that when I finally get into comic books it's like the most common and popular comic book - my geek genes are unhappy about that. However, I am loving it. The only beef I have with the writers/drawers/whatever is the PC term/colorist/grey scaler - is that they draw kids horribly. They just look like tiny adults, so it's creepy. Like when you go to an art museum and you realize the painter has never seen a baby before because it just looks like a midget. Uh oh, here I go with the PC terms again. Please insert the least offensive term. I think the changes from the comics to the TV show are fine, but some don't rea...