June and July Picks

So, June as a, shall we say, interesting month, I never got around to posting my picks. Just in the case someone was hanging on the edge of their seat to see what I chose to indulge in during these last two months, here goes!

I splurged on a few different books in June; it was a pretty rough month, and I was still celebrating my birthday a bit. So, among other things, I bought Ross Poledark: A Novel of Cornwall. I had watched the first season of the mini-series and enjoyed it, so I wanted to see what the books were like. The mini-series was quite faithful actually, and in some ways more enjoyable as the way the author wrote his characters they are rather distant and harder to engage with. I think the character of Ross shines thought better on the screen. I plan to read at least a few more of these books, but right now I’m on a mystery binge.

Speaking of mysteries, I also have started working my way through the Nero Wolfe mysteries, and I have decided to do them in order even though there isn’t any strong chronology, so in June I downloaded the second one, The League of Frightened Men. A very enjoyable read; Archie was drugged by a vengeful wife! As I continue my end of term murder mystery kick, I’m enjoying some Lord Peter Whimsy in the form of short stories and the first novel, Whose Body?.

For July, I picked the book Night Circus after seeing it in a friend’s post on Facebook. I haven’t read it yet; I’m saving it as my reward for surviving the end of term, but I can’t wait based on the person who posted it, and the synopsis I saw on Amazon.

For music in June I had two picks. First, an album of the Beach Boys greatest hits. I suddenly found myself with a Beach Boys craving, realized I had almost none of their music, and set out to correct that immediately. Total fluff, but oh such good memories of listening to oldies with my dad!

The second album I went with was the soundtrack for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. The fact that it suddenly decreased in price might have had something to do with it! While others have complained that it didn’t have a strong theme like the other new movies, I loved Rey’s theme, and thought that John Williams did a much better job than Howard Shore did when he revisited his previous scores with The Hobbit movies. I’m not a huge John Williams fan like my brother, but I have been enjoying getting into the Star Wars mood…a few months after everybody else. December, I’m gonna be there baby!

For July’s pick I pre-ordered and then immediately began enjoying Needtobreath’s new album, Hard Love. Once again, they knocked it out of the park. While they are going in a more rock direction, I’m still loving this band. Their songs have great lyrics, great energy, and as with Rivers in the Wasteland there were a few songs that I could swear were written just for me. I particularly loved the title, “Hard Love,” and “Great Night,” and “Happiness.” Keep making music guys—I’m going to need another album in about a year the way my life is going!

So, that's it folks. I finished re-watching through Jeeves and Wooster as my marking TV, and am looking forward to some non-marking watching once school ends!