Hello friends, happy Monday! I hope you’re all doing well and had a good month! April felt a lot like March in the sense that it was long, yet it’s over and I don’t feel like I did all that much, but let’s get into it!

Currently Reading:

Different Seasons by: Stephen King. I’ve now read 2 of the 4 short stories in this collection. The first Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption was so good, Apt Pupil was not so good; it was long with a lot of unnecessary scenes, but the end was actually really good. Now I’ve started the Body which I have high expectations of because I really love the movie.

The Three Theban Plays by: Sophocles. This is my next classic read! I’ve already read 2 of the 3 plays and I’ve enjoyed the first one over the second, but I’ve thought they both have been interesting and brought up good topics. These are definitely plays I’ve heard about and know of reference to, so it’s good to actually read them.

Kat and Meg Conquer the World by: Anna Priemaza. This has been such a journey to read (I’m so close to the finish!); the main characters have been so different in their own ways, but watching them come together has been so sweet and so rewarding!

What I’ve Read:

46/100

Here We Are Now by: Jasmine Warga. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked this book, but it wasn’t completely amazing. I had issues with the plot and how believable it felt, but the messages about love were great!

The Art of War by: Sun Tzu. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I have no regrets reading this; I’m glad I did, but it was also full of a lot of concepts to take in.

Blood Scion by: Deborah Falaye. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book had so many layers and great writing, I can’t wait for book two!

The Death of Vivek Oji by: Akwaeke Emezi. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ At first, this wasn’t it for me, but wow how fast this turned around – it was so good and clever and full of heart.

The Great Gatsby by: E. Scott Fitzgerald. ⭐️⭐️ This classic really disappointed me. I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters so when things happened to them, I really couldn’t care less. In theory, this sounded great, it just wasn’t for me.

Omens by: Kelley Armstrong. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I started a new series by this author that I love – I loved this set-up to this but I also found it reads similar to another one of her series, but I’m still going to continue with this because it was so well written.

The Wolf by: Nate Blakeslee. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’m not super into wolves, but if that is your thing, this non-fiction would be for you. This takes a look at a few wolves over a generation and the threats that are posed to their lives.

Signal to Noise by: Silvia Moreno-Garcia. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ You can tell this was her debut novel; it had the essence of her brilliant writing and plots, but it wasn’t laid out the best. I still enjoyed this but her writing is so much stronger now.

One of Us is Lying by: Karen M. McManus. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting; I thought it would be focused on the murder more… and it wasn’t. It was fast-paced though and easy to get through.

Links to my my blog posts this past month:

Links to posts I enjoyed around the blogosphere:

Sam @Spines in a Line talked about the Canada Reads 2023 books

Briana @Pages Unbound talked about how her parents didn’t discuss books with her

The Orangutan Librarian discussed the hate around audiobooks

Nyx @Drizzle and Hurricane Books talked about how her reading has changed in the last 10 years

I started this month really well… then 4 days in I took my back out doing nothing out of the ordinary, c’est la vie as they say. I’m doing better now, but it was a slow process – it took almost all of the month to get back to normal. That didn’t stop me from doing things and going outside… even though our snow has turned to rain, I will take the rain!

Highlights:

✨Went to sit by the lake and read (before it started to rain!)

✨Had a girls night with great food and good friends

✨Went to see John Wick: Chapter 4 in theatres – so good!

✨Went on some adventures with a friend

✨Had a good Easter lunch with family, and good food

✨Went out to dinner with my group of friends

✨Went to places I’ve never been in Ontario

✨Went on a book-hop trip with one of my best friend’s on Independent Bookstore Day!

✨Bought some new books to add to my collection

✨Went to Cows Ice Cream for the second time (and bought cow slippers!)

✨Watched the Leafs make it to round 2 in the NHL Playoffs (they haven’t done this in 19 years!!!)

What I’ve watched:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer; season 7. I finally did it, I finished Buffy! I’m happy to have made it through this. This season wasn’t as bad as the last one, thank goodness, but that doesn’t mean I enjoyed it per se. I found myself really bored throughout the season because we have ALL these new secondary characters join the show because we spend the whole season gearing up for the last final battle. I feel like it took too much time to really hype it up and maybe that’s why I got bored. But even the final epiosdes just didn’t hold my attention either. It was nice to see old characters come back. I actually liked seeing Faith again, even though I couldn’t stand her the first time. I get why they brought Angel back for the final episode… but was it really needed? He came back just to be jealous of Spike, like really? Then, speaking of Spike, he still didn’t redeem himself for me. Even though he was better this season, I just can’t look past everything he’s done, he’s so icky to me. Anyways, I liked seeing Willow try to really figure out her powers and find love again. Xander and Anya had an interesting season, I didn’t expect how their story would end. Oh and I actually enjoyed Andrew’s storyline. Even though he was part of the three evil guys after Buffy last season, when he was by himself and not under Warren’s thumb, he wasn’t so bad… I mean, I know he’s always been spineless, but we got to see him somewhat gain one, not a big one, but I didn’t hate him; he was definitely used as comic relief.

One Tree Hill; season 5. I’m now into the later years and I never noticed how this season is a bridge between seasons 4 and 6. Like it’s a lot of catch up since we’ve seen these characters in season 4 and a lot of set-up for season 6. Because a lot of things I think happened in 5… happened in 6. Anyways! I didn’t hate this as much as I thought I would. I always find the jump so weird and disorienting because these characters don’t feel 21/22, they feel anywhere from 25-30 because I know at 21/22 I was not in the position these characters are in. I was still in school, just graduating and trying to find a job as a new grad (which is really hard) so they always feel too adult for me. But I love the addition of Q, he’s such a troublemaker but he has a heart of gold underneath it. The nanny Carrie plot is crazy, still, but it is entertaining. The whole plot with her and Nathan makes a lot of sense, since the guy has been married since high school; watching him come out of his self pity is always a bit inspiring. The Lucas/Lindsey/Peyton drama I still don’t care about – I get why Lindsey is brought in, but every time I can’t stand her just because she doesn’t fit. I like that we get to meet Brooke’s mom, Victoria because it brings a new side of Brooke we haven’t seen before. And of course I can’t forget about Jamie, that kid was SO small when he started and he’s just so cute and he only gets cuter in his dialogue.

The Chair; limited series. I’m finally going through everything on my List on Netflix and this was one of the shows I had there. This was so good, I wish it had been longer than 6 episodes. This was so chaotic and messy, but I think that’s half the reason I liked this. They had so many different elements that I feel like they could have expanded on and made this longer, but alas. Sandra Oh did such a great job in this. All she wants to do is be better and do better for her department at the university she works at, but it’s not as easy as you’d think. The people who are above her think she’s asking too much, while the people she manages don’t think she’s doing enough so she’s constantly feeling caught in the middle. Then she has to deal with Bill, a professor who does not make ANYTHING easier for her and the plot with her daughter too is something else. Her daughter is adopted and the struggles she has with her identity being brought up in a Korean household while being Mexican is hard, which I can only imagine. I did like that she connected with Bill, go figure. He has strong dad vibes and he’s not a bad guy, but he’s not good at showing he’s good. Anyways, this was a short easy binge-watchable show.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; season 3. This season stepped up a lot. We got to see Odo’s people and learn more about the Changelings, which was a lot of fun because their species causes so much havoc, but that’s what makes it interesting. Not only do we start learning about them as a species and how they fit into the world as the Dominion and everything, but we got to learn more about Odo as a person. He’s the only one who would take a ‘solid’s’ side and seeing him learn more about where he comes from, since he never knew was so interesting to watch. It just made me love him even more. I’m not sure where they’re going(?) with the plot that he’s in love with Kira, but I’m glad they’ve dropped it… for now. Kira went through a lot this season too, losing the love of her life, it was so sad, and then you have her people, especially the high priestess (whoever she is), who has no compassion is all about what’s written by the prophets. We also learn more about Dax when she got to meet with all the past hosts, which was so fascinating. We got to see where Quark was from, which I loved. We got to see the home he grew up in and his mother and the dynamics there. I loved all that; the Ferengis are slowly growing on me! Even Nog who wants to join Star Fleet I thought that was SO cute and how passionate his father is about it despite how much Quark hates it. I can’t wait to see where season 4 takes me!

The Simpsons; season 5. I made it through another season and it’s been just as good as the past ones. Some of the references I find funnier than others, but it was another solid season.

List of Movies:

• Disney Movies:
  • The Great Locomotive Chase – this was based on an actual locomotive chase that took place during the Civil War, I had no idea. It was an alright film, not extremely entertaining
  • Davey Crockett and the River Pirate – this is supposed to be a prequel to the King of the Wild Frontier… but gosh this was so boring and nothing was engaging to watch
  • Secrets of Life – this was yet another documentary on nature, plants, flowers, seeds, and bees and ants, etc. and for the most part it was entertaining, but it was also on the boring side
  • Westward Ho, The Wagons! – talk about boring movie, this dealt with cowboys who were traveling the Oregon Trial and run into Indians; it’s a really slow movie that is really hard to find online
  • Johnny Tremain – I think I’m getting tired of these period pieces that Disney was putting out in the 50s. This one took place before the American Revolution and the events that lead up to it

The Shawshank Redemption – after reading the short story and enjoying it I watched the film adaption and loved it. It really worked as a movie just as much a story; they added a few things but it didn’t take away from the original story at all.

John Wick: Chapter 4 – This was really good, but I would say, I don’t think this needed to be almost 3 hours long. If they had tightened the plot just a little (because it was SO good, but it dragged a lot) it would have been really good to me.

The Upside – I feel like I’m the only one who didn’t know this was a remake of a foreign film. I watched this at a friend’s house and I thought it was pretty good; it had the pacing of a romcom but it wasn’t one, obviously, but I thought it was entertaining. I can’t say whether it was better or worse than the original (but according to the reviews on Letterboxd it was worse, no one liked this!).

What I’m watching:

The Good Doctor; season 6. The season finale is tonight so I’m curious where they’re going to leave this because the last few episodes we’ve been watching the downfall of Dr. Glassman. He’s had a stroke, can’t do surgery anymore so I’m not sure where they’re going with this. And of course Shaun’s baby is coming in which he’ll want Glassman around for it.

Station 19; season 6. It’s sad to say but this show is starting to drag for me. It was great to see Maya get help, but I’m tired of watching her get back together with her wife because it feels like it takes up so much of an episode and it’s in EVERY episode… I don’t think it needs to be in every one. The weird Andy/Travis liking/dating the same guy plot came out of left field because I didn’t see that coming, but I didn’t completely hate it, I thought it was good entertainment because even Vic and Theo are getting to the point where they are insufferable to watch. What I’m interested to see what happens now Robert and Natasha’s relationship is out what is going to happen to their jobs and where they are going to go.

Grey’s Anatomy; season 19. Where they’ve taken Bailey’s storyline is so scary, but it’s accurate. The Link/Jo storyline is sweet and the interns are extremely entertaining to watch. Maggie’s farewell episode was underwhelming, like did it need to be two hours? I really like what Addie told Amelia because it’s very true; Amelia feels like everyone is abandoning her, which is SO not true and Addie has to tell her, no everyone is just doing the best they can and it’s not about her. She’s valid to be sad that everyone is going their separate ways, but she’s taking it waaay too personally, when they’re all leaving for their own reasons.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; season 4. I haven’t even started this season yet, but I’m just keeping this here for now.

One Tree Hill; season 6. Like I said about season 5… I didn’t realize everything happens this season. Also, I didn’t realize it wasn’t until halfway through this season where we meet Julian (I honestly thought it was season 5). SO much is going and I’m loving the intro to new characters, the return of others. I forgot how sad this season starts (with the exception of Lucas and Peyton). I feel like they tried to pack so much in because they knew it was the last season they had the actors who play those two.

First Kill; season 1. I’m almost finished this so I’ll write all my thoughts in my May wrap up, but what I will say is I’m upset Netflix canceled this because this is SO good! Grr.

The Simpsons; season 6. I’m just adding this here because I’ve always wanted to watch the Simpsons from start to finish. Now that I have Disney+ I can and so I’m taking my time with it.

Instagram & YouTube videos from the month:

How was your April? Read, watch, do anything interesting? Let me know!