Monday, June 30, 2014

June in review

Another month down guys, where does all the time go?

Let's just jump in, shall we?



BOOKS:

What I Read:

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore (my review)
Psycho by Robert Bloch (my review)
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (review to come)
X-Men: Days of Future Past by Chris Clairmont and John Byrne (my review)
Ms Marvel by G.Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona (my review)
Wonder Woman: Blood by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins (my review)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven (review to come)
Captain Marvel: Down by Kelly Sue Deconnick, Christopher Sebela, Dexter Soy and Filipe Andrade (review to come)


Book Stats:

63% male / 37% female
75% American / 25% International
12.5% physical copy / 62.5% ebook / 25% audiobook
100% fiction
63% graphic novels / 37% novels

Big ol' comics month for me. I actually started another half dozen arcs, but since I'm only one or two issues in I didn't bother counting them. If you're after some new comic series to get in on though, definitely check out Warren Ellis' new Trees, The Wicked and the Devine by Kieron Gillen and Ms Marvel, which I've already reviewed and recommended, but seriously, it is tops.

I spent much of the month reading Lamb and listening to Burial Rites and both are brilliant in completely different ways. Listening to Burial Rites was a hell of an experience. Morven Christie is phenomenal, I found myself crying as I drove to work several times because of the way her voice would break as she read. She brought that book to life, so seriously, listen to this book. STAT. Lamb, which I've already reviewed, is hilarious and after I finished I jumped onto Audible to see what books of his were available, so now I am toying with starting Fool straight away, or listening to How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran before we start the readalong of her new book this month. Actually, since typing this I started How to be a Woman and it is fantastic. It's read by Moran, and it is actually the best.

MOVIES/TV:


Not a big month for movies actually. I saw Maleficent with Tom and thought it would have been a lot better if it wasn't based on Sleeping Beauty. If it had just been about a random fairy brutally assaulted by man who then takes revenge on man's daughter and then learns a valuable lesson it could have been poignant and complex, but instead I spent the whole time saying "you can't do that" "that's not how that's supposed to happen" "YOU CHANGED ALL THE IMPORTANT PARTS". And I know, I know, the Disney movie is only loosely based on the actual fairytale but since Maleficent isn't actually in the original fairytale that argument holds little water in my opinion. There is a reason that Wicked works, it's because it gives the story behind the story, it doesn't actually alter the story to make the bad guy a good guy who got screwed over. But Angelina Jolie is flippin' great, and beautiful and obviously having so much fun. I would like to look like her and fly around with giant eagle wings please and thank you.

There is an Australian film out called The Rover. It stars Guy Pierce and Robert Pattinson and is written and directed by David Michod, who also wrote/directed Animal Kingdom, and it is beautiful. Australian drama is such an under-appreciated gem, both here in Australia and overseas. It's always very sparse in terms of dialogue and intent (i.e. there's a lot left to the audience to decide/rationalise) and I think that makes people uncomfortable. Guy Pierce is phenomenal in this, and he's dressed just like my uncles (seriously, cargo shorts, worn-out button down and joggers/boat shoes is basically the uniform of middle class South Australia) which probably won't make you like the movie more/less but now you can visualise what my uncles look like. Also, Robert Pattinson was flippin' great. I've always enjoyed his interviews (his disdain for Twilight is brilliant) but he really impressed me here. I never expected to feel that way about a RPatz performance. 

I binge watched and reviewed Orange is the New Black, so if you have also watched that head over so we can discuss it and share our favourite gifs and moments. It'll be beautiful. 

VIDEOGAMES/MUSIC

I played a bunch of videogames this month. Or, I played two. I played the latest "chapter" of The Wolf Among Us, which is the Telltale Noir detective game based on the Fables graphic novel. It's really excellent, and if you've ever been interested in playing a videogame but weren't sure you would be able to handle the controls or like the full on war or world games then you should look into Telltale. Their games are very storybook-esque (partly since a lot are based on actual graphic novels) and more about the story than just mashing buttons. It's a lot of fun unfolding the story chapter by chapter, and the game is canonical, so you can use it as a jumping off point into the series! I've also caught up on The Walking Dead game by Telltale. I played the bridging episode and started the second season and ugh, it's as heartbreaking as the first. I really don't care for TWD (comic or TV) but the game is superb. Every action you make has consequences and you really feel the weight of you choices. People die around you, a lot of them because of what decision you decide to make. You finish the chapter feeling heavy with it all, which I guess a lot of people wouldn't like, but there's also something really cathartic about it.



I've been listening to Asgeir on repeat over the last two months. He's super-dreamy and his music just seems really wintery so it just feels really appropriate when I sit at my computer with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. I also went on a Dolly Parton spree thanks to Laura mentioning the Dolly concert she bought tickets to for her and her mum. Which lead me to the Jolene cover by The White Stripes (which has always been my most favourite of covers) which lead me back into The White Stripes back catalogue, which I haven't listened to for aaaages. So it's been a very 'down the rabbit hole' kinda month for me music-wise.



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And I think that'll do for this monthly wrap-up. How was everyone's June? 

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