January's Stories I Ate This Month

I got this idea from one of the many BookTubers that I watch on YouTube all of the time, Christine Riccio. Her channel name is polandbananasBOOKS. I will link her most recent "Stories I Ate This Month." The reason that I prefer this over a monthly reading wrap up is that it includes all of the stories, no matter the format that they are in, that I have consumed over the month. So here are my stories. Also, any reviews that I have posted so far, I will link. 

Movies

• The Greatest Showman 
• Such a good movie!! I have not stopped listening to the music since seeing it. 
• A+
• Pitch Perfect 2
• I decided to watch this after seeing the third one because I realized that I hadn't watched it. It was pretty good. I think that the first one will forever be my favorite though. 
• B+
• Pitch Perfect 3
• Went and saw this on New Years with my best friend. It was good. I've been listening to some of the songs still actually. I just loved that it was surrounding a USO tour. 
• A-

TV Shows

• Marvel's Runaways - a Hulu original
• SOOOOOOOO GOOOD!!!!!! I am so obsessed with this show. It made me read the comics as you will see further down in this wrap-up. It was so damn good!!! I can not wait for season 2. 
• A+
• Good Girls Revolt - an Amazon original
• I'm really sad that there isn't going to be a season 2 of this. It was really good and I wish that we could see what would happen now that the girls' lawsuit went public!!
• A+
• Shooter (season 1)
• It was a good, suspenseful show. Exactly what I wanted. When season 2 comes on Netflix, I definitely will be watching it. 
• A
• She's Gotta Have It - a Netflix original
• This was such a good show. I binged it in two nights! It does a great job of going against the stigma of casual sex for women, deals with PTSD like symptoms after a sexual assault, artistry, etc. I loved the cinematography. 
• A+

Audiobooks

• Our Revolution - Bernie Sanders; narrated by Bernie Sanders and Mark Ruffalo
• Such an inspiring read. It made me understand why Sanders believes what he does and I think that is important when you are supporting someone or not for that matter. 
• A+
• The Last Black Unicorn - Tiffany Haddish; narrated by the author
• Hilarious!! I was laughing the entire time I read this. It also made me feel other things for her as well. I'll elaborate in my review. 
• A+

Books

• The Sign of The Four - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Exactly what I expect from a Sherlock Holmes story.
• A-
• Far From The Tree - Robin Benway
• I cried, a lot! I've never watched This Is Us but this has been compared to it often in reviews and if they are similar then I can guarantee that I will be watching This Is Us as soon as I get a chance. 
• A+
• The Nowhere Girls - Amy Reed
• At first, I wasn't sure that I was going to really get into this. It seemed like it was going to be very similar to Moxie by Jennifer Mattieu, which I loved, but I just knew that I wasn't going to want to read the same story again. Thankfully this is very different even though it has many similarities. So good!
• A

Comic Books/Graphic Novels

• Runaways Vol 1: Pride and Joy - Brian Vaughan
• Runaways Vol 2: Teenage Wasteland - Brian Vaughan
• Runaways: Vol 3 The Good Die Young - Brian Vaughan
• Runaways Vol 4: True Believers - Brian Vaughan
• Runaways Vol 5: Escape to New York - Brian Vaughan
• Runaways Vol 6: Parental Guidance - Brian Vaughan
• Runaways Vol 7: Live Fast - Brian Vaughan
• Runaways Vol 8: Dead End Kids: Dead End Kids Premiere - Joss Whedon
• Runaways Vol 9: Dead Wrong -Terry Moore
• Runaways Vol 10: Rock Zombies -Terry Moore
• Runaways Vol 11: Homeschooling - Kathryn Immomen
• Runaways #1 - Rainbow Rowell
• Runaways #2 - Rainbow Rowell
• Runaways #3 - Rainbow Rowell
• Runaways #4 - Rainbow Rowell
  
  *I did a collective review for all of those!
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  *The rest of the books that I read or listened that I have not provided links for will have reviews going up throughout the coming weeks.

Movie Review: The Greatest Showman

First movie review on my blog, I think. Going to see this movie was my Christmas present from my best friend. We always go see movies together and the last time we went, the trailer for this one came up. I was beyond excited. One, Hugh Jackman. Two, Zac Efron. Three, Zendaya. 

Four, Circus.

We heard some mixed ideas about it. Some said that it wasn't historically accurate. That Barnum wasn't enough of a douchebag. Others were angery at the weak plot. The rest, raved about the incredible music. Well, going into this movie, I didn't care about the historical inaccuracies or even the weak plot as long as the music was good and the movie made me feel something great. Well, it did that. 

The music was obviously incredible and I think much of what I felt came from the music itself. "This Is Me," being sung by Keala Settle who is a powerhouse in herself, but the emotion on her face, in her voice, and in how she led the others was incredible. This was the point where she and the others decided not to care how they looked, not to care about their pasts, not to care what others thought of them anymore!

Another one of my favorite songs was the duet between Zac Efron and Zendaya's characters. The entire scene was gorgeous, so visually stimulating. It starts due to their fears of a relationship between a white boy and black girl. That's obvious from the minute they meet. This song develops their fears and their wants. The actors that play on those fears and those wants do it so well, that I felt their pain.  Zendaya is a strong badass flying all over the place whilst singing beautifully. Zac is just trying to get the girl, even jumping off of a balcony and onto the trapeze with her, all while singing. By the way, this is the first time that I have really heard him sing since High School Musical, and I am loving it. 

Beyond the music, I just loved that it told the story of a man bringing together so many outcasts. This part may be inaccurate historically, but in this movie, Barnum finds all of the outcasts, all of the people who couldn't live their lives out in the open without being laughed at or hated. He made them a family and created the circus, their home.

The movie was worth seeing. Especially if you love great musicals.