A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS (2017) Has a Church Scene EXACTLY like the Scene in HOME ALONE (1990)!

So I FINALLY saw A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) with my own mother just in time for Christmas and was pleased to see a scene in there that exactly mirrors my favorite scene from Home Alone (1990). I was actually quite surprised to see it and wonder if the similarities are intentional. :)

By the way, this blog post includes some spoilers for both films I guess, but especially A Bad Moms Christmas.

I've blogged about the scene before and the blog post for it seems pretty popular on here. Long story short, the kid Kevin is left behind by his family on Christmas and goes to the local church and sits in a pew as he listens to the choir sing. He is joined there by Old Man Marley, an old man of whom he is afraid. However, there the two bond and from that point on Kevin is no longer afraid of him.

Interestingly enough, Home Alone and A Bad Moms Christmas are very similar. Both are comedy films with slapstick (and in Bad Moms's case, raunchiness as well) and yet have this quiet moment to form solace between two characters.

We meet Amy again, played by Mila Kunis, who again, along with her comrades from the first film Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn), is so sick of the pressure of being a perfect mother. The premise is very similar to the first film, except this time the plot involves Christmas. The trio makes a pact to take Christmas back so that they can enjoy Christmas for themselves as well.

Why IT (2017) is Significant for People Who Turned 27 in 2017...Like Me

This is something I have to acknowledge on here before 2017 is up because this is only significant in this year of 2017!

I'm not the only one who noticed this. In fact, other people's observations have brought it to my attention, but I still find it mind-blowing enough to share on here. The connections to myself and other current 27-year-olds is the only new thing I am bringing to this theory.

As you probably know, the first installment of the feature film adaptation of Stephen King's It played in theaters starting September 8, 2017, starring Bill Skarsgard as the infamous Pennywise, the Dancing Clown that feasts on the fears of children. People have loved this movie. Skarsgard and the kids have all been receiving positive responses for their work on this.

The rule of this story is that Pennywise awakes from its slumber every 27 years and wreaks havoc in Derry, Maine. Why that specific number? Not sure.

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - Final Update

You know, as fun as this was, I couldn't wait to finish this summer reading challenge. lol

This is it, friends. We've reached the end. :( And it's now fall, so I REALLY need to get this blog post out.

I HATE that I am like THREE MONTHS late with this! Ugh! I want to move onto other books and reading challenges!

You'd be excited to know (I know I am) that I actually managed to complete my reading of TWO (2) books since my last update! I'm going to talk about them in this blog! lol

I did read a little bit of Tina Fey's Bossypants during this time as well, but it didn't fully grab me. I don't really connect much with her humor, although her stories are interesting. Also, I didn't attempt Nicholas Sparks's The Wedding. :P

Okay now, back to the book reviews at hand.

Now, since they are both fiction pieces that I have completed, this blog post is littered with spoilers that I want to discuss, so please read at your own risk here. 

I actually haven't read any books yet since these two because I wanted to get this blog post out first before I resume my reading. I want to write about these books while they are still fresh in my mind instead of trying to remember them while reading others. And I'm tired of keeping myself from reading more books on my list!

(Edit: I actually have been reading more books now, which further inspired me to come back to write this blog, so that's good. :) )

But now that time has passed, it's not as fresh in my mind anymore of what I wanted to say and analyze, which I HATE, but I'll do my best.

Let's start with The Woman in the Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware.

"In The Vault" Season One Finale Recap Thoughts

A week ago today was the Season One finale of go90's "In the Vault". I had a lot of fun watching this series every Wednesday and am looking forward to more from Ben Epstein, the show's creator and writer.

Now you don't have to wait weekly like I did to watch each new episode. Here is the link to the series in its entirety. Happy binge-watching! :D

Okay so now that the season is over, I am going to go back and give my opinions about each character, considering that each of them had his or her own episode.

I'm including spoilers in this, so be careful when reading! 

I'M SERIOUS!!! DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!

Okay! Let's go! :)

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - Final Update PREVIEW

Hey all! I haven't forgotten about this series! I want to complete it soon! It's always in the back of my mind!

I've just been so busy with the play and my freelancing and such that I haven't really been able to devote the time and effort I need for the final installment. There's a lot I want to say about the final two books and I don't want to rush it. I hope to read more books soon too. I've been holding off a bit because I haven't written about the last summer ones yet and don't want to forget them. :P

I'm a little annoyed that I couldn't have gotten it done before autumn hit like I wanted to, but I hope to deliver soon!

When is it Appropriate to Cheer During a Live Performance?

A few years ago I went with my friend Lauren and her family to see 'Jersey Boys' on Broadway. I blogged about this before.

One of the plot points was that Frankie Valli had written a song about his wife, but no one liked it to the point where it almost never existed. Finally the guy playing Valli began singing said song, and it turned out to be "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You". As soon as he breathed the initial line, the audience started cheering.

Lauren turned to me and whispered, "Why are they all cheering? They are supposed to be quiet." She was insinuating that because it was theater, us audience members were supposed to be quiet and respect the performance.

I usually agree. I'm against talking a great deal during a performance, of course, but I wanted to explain that people were reacting to one of the Four Seasons' greatest hits, thus it was appropriate.

I remembered that above story after something that came to my attention more recently.

This past summer SYTYCD produced its 14th season. In one of the episodes, four of the dancers (Kiki Nyemchek, Koine Iwasaki, Mark Villaver, and Taylor Sieve) performed a contemporary piece about diversity and standing up against hate, choreographed by Sean Cheesman.

It's a beautiful piece and obviously one that is much needed nowadays. They performed it to Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise," as recited by Alexis Henry. So therefore, they performed a dance not to music, but a poem. I was spellbound watching it, and I tried to envision how I would react to such a piece live. I felt that I would be so entranced by it, as if I was consumed by it as an experience, temporarily forgetting that it was a performance I was witnessing.

However, there is one problem I have with it.

People would NOT stop cheering.

I wanted to listen to the poem as it complemented their movements, but all of the audible reactions just reminded me that it was a routine executed by competing dancers with the audience applauding the impressive motions and positions that told the story. I found the cheers distracting and felt that they took away from the experience and the piece itself.

In fact, I felt so strongly about this that I made a comment on YouTube about it:

The screaming ruined this one. This piece is beautiful and is one of those art forms that just needs to be witnessed without interrupting cheering in the background.

And then I even took it upon myself to tweet my feelings:

The audience cheering is not necessary. This deserved to be just experienced for the art that it is. #SYTYCD https://t.co/pm7LGj39sg

— Stef Sears (@MissStefSears) September 17, 2017

However, this is where it gets interesting. A Twitter friend of mine and fellow SYTYCD fan Michelle Waxman, who was actually in the live studio audience for this performance, responded to my tweet with a different opinion. Our conversation is as follows:

Michelle:
I disagree. Especially being there in person. They tell you to cheer if you like something. See something so beautiful like this had the crowd go absolutely nuts. It was life changing.

Me:
I can see your point. :) For me I just find the cheering distracting from the piece. Cheering is appropriate depending on the dance. You do bring up a good point about being so moved and reacting as such. For me, watching it made me speechless, so a different reaction. This one feels like you need to quietly be immersed in it as an experience to get the full effect. I really like your counter though. :)

Lol you're kinda making me reconsider my argument now. Lol

Michelle:
Lol well just being there makes it so different than watching through a tv screen

Me:

See I would think being there would make you feel more entranced, hence not likely to cheer.

Michelle:

It's hard to explain!

I had a difficult time explaining my point as well. Even though I still stand by my own argument, I began to see Michelle's side. I personally believe that there is a time and place for such constant cheering, like a lively hip hop performance. However, people have the right to react to an art form that moves them in any way they like, just like that 'Jersey Boys' audience that one 2011 afternoon. And who knows? Maybe there will be moments when I may respond certain ways to certain things that move me as well. Plus, time and time again I often hear how audience reactions encourages the performing dancers. 

So what side do you take in this argument? Does appropriate cheering depend on what type of live performance it is, or does it not matter?

In fact, you know what? If any of you reading this plan on attending the tour this year and this routine is a part of the lineup, which I see it is based on a tour video I saw, tell me how you reacted to it live and why. :)

You Have to Check Out go90's "In the Vault"! :D

Let's talk about go90's new 8 episode series "In the Vault", starring "So You Think You Can Dance" (SYTYCD) star Paul Karmiryan.

A bit about Paul. Paul is a Top 10 finalist from Season 10 of SYTYCD. I met him at the Season 10 Live Tour at the Pine Belt Arena in Tom's River, New Jersey. He's a down to earth guy and I still follow his career. Although he is still heavily involved with SYTYCD as an All-Star, he is also embarking on an acting career. He has been featured in (and written) various skits on YouTube and was recently seen in the Hallmark film The Stalker Club (2017). "In the Vault" is his latest project that premiered on go90 on September 13, 2017.

So, if you liked Ryan Murphy's "Scream Queens" on FOX and you miss it, you're going to love "In the Vault" to fill that void.

Like "Scream Queens", the first season is a murder mystery that takes place during the main character's first semester her freshman year of college on a fictional college campus. We meet Liv Steele, played by Claudia Lee, who also provides the voiceover narration, a storytelling technique reminiscent of "Scream Queens". A previous bad girl, she wants to use college as an opportunity to reinvent herself and leave her past behind her. A "Reformed Queen Bee" (according to IMDb), if you will. I really appreciate how good-natured her character is. She lives on the same floor of her residence hall called "The Vault" (hence the title) at Woodlawn College as the rest of the students who make up our colorful cast of characters. She meets her straight edge Russian roommate Jane Sidorova (Audrey Whitby), the overachieving Denise Parlsey (Sadie Schwolsky) whose whole thing is that she eats, breathes, and sleeps studying, the jock Evin Watson (Caleb Castille), the accented but unpleasant womanizer Omid Ayman (Karmiryan), the former movie star and apparent heartthrob Taylor Price (Timothy Granaderos) with whom Liv of course starts a sexual, social media relationship, Taylor's strange and creepy roommate Karlis Kehoe (Taylor Gray) who so far just films everybody all the time, and Evin's roommate Chris Rummel (Jac Bernhard), the...ahem...Christian.

For some reason people assume that because we are Christians, we don't drink. One of my favorite lines and biggest laughs from the first episode is when all of the characters go to a party and Omid literally duct tapes liquor bottles to Chris's hands to get him to drink and Chris says something like "I don't/can't drink. I'm a Christian." to which Omid responds, "And I'm Muslim. What's you point?"

It's hilarious to me knowing how kind Paul is in real life and seeing him play such jerks. lol

It's also nice to see a religious Christian/Muslim joke actually work in this day and age.

Then we are introduced to the final member of the cast, Denise's social justice warrior roommate Valentina Velez (Julia Kelly) who definitely keeps this story current and relevant. She has some sort of an unrevealed past with Liv, therefore causing friction between the two.

So the way this show works is that each episode is dedicated to one of the characters, the first being Liv. At the end of Liv's episode, someone dies. Now everyone is a suspect because each of them seems to have a motive to kill said victim and we get to see the story from every one of their points of view until we determine the true culprit.

Here is the official description:
One month into college, a freshman dies – suicide or murder? Everyone on the dorm hall suspects one another of foul play. Each week spotlights a different character, so a hero one week is a villain the next.

For some reason, suicide is a suggested result even though right now I don't see why that is.

As you can see, it is way similar to the first season of "Scream Queens" in terms of plot, setting, eccentric characters, humor, and quotable lines, as well as to how it is shot with accompanying sinister background music. However, it is not as juvenile as "Scream Queens". "In the Vault" uses more adult language (f bombs), and although both have their share of dirty jokes and intriguing word usage, the students in "In the Vault" come across more normal as opposed to the over the top, flamboyant Chanels of "Scream Queens". Also, I think for "In the Vault" we only investigate the one death, whereas "Scream Queens" was a parody about slasher films.

One thing that is kind of lost on me is Liv suggesting that Jane has a crush on Taylor. I personally don't really see any truth to that, unless the facial expression Jane gives when Liv steals Taylor away from their invigorating game of hackysack for an intense night of sexiling is any indication. Perhaps we'll get more insight in the next episode, which is dedicated to Jane, premiering September 20. :)

The beauty about go90 is that it is a free web live streaming service with no intrusive ads or subscription needed! It's awesome! :D

Here is the trailer.

And here is the first episode. 

"In the Vault" uploads a new episode every Wednesday. It's a typical murder mystery, so if you're into that, I highly recommend you check it out! :D

Are Pirates the New Hot Bad Boys of Fictional Romance?

This blog post is a long time coming because this really needs to be discussed.

Let's talk about Captain Hook. You know, the bad guy from Peter Pan. He has gotten quite a few makeovers throughout the years and I am here writing about them because it is a phenomenon that never seems to get the acknowledgment it deserves.

First I will provide examples, and then follow up with my argument.

J.M. Barrie created Captain Hook as an adversary to his titular character Peter Pan. Most children, myself included, were first introduced to him through the 1953 animated Disney film, Peter Pan.

Here he is wearing the iconic red swashbuckler outfit and of course, the famed hook. This look will be the basis of the character's overall style and is the one most associated with him.

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - Fourth Update

You know that part in "Hamilton" in "Nonstop" when the lyrics go "Why/How do you write like you're running out of time?"?

Well, I kinda feel this way now, only I am reading like I am running out of time. I'm at the point where I am juggling three books at once and wondering if this is the right way to go about it and if I should just focus on one at a time.

We are now in August, which is technically the final month of my Summer 2017 Reading Challenge, so now I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do.

Here are my pages numbers now:

Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate - 445 out of 721

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer - 99 out of 323

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware - 34 out of 340

Since I have completed Mindy Kaling's book, I have been doing some catching up with Beach Blondes. I am not in the August part yet, but the transition between June and July in the book didn't matter much for me to time it this way. There is no indication that months change between parts (even reading ahead between July and August proves such), so it doesn't make much of a difference. Also, I'm pretty sure that I will be reading the August part in August eventually anyway.

I still consider it a light read, but once I read the progress in Diana's storyline, I find myself in need of a break from it. The things that she endures are so heartbreaking that it infuriates me, so I need to break away and read some comedienne memoirs.

I hadn't been reading much of Amy Schumer's book, although I wished to continue it. However, in fact, I was also considering returning it to the library earlier due to my lack of interest in it.

I started reading The Woman in Cabin 10 and so far I am glad that I have not purchased this book or returned Schumer's in lieu of it. The action is kinda slow and because of something that happens in the first chapter, the main character Lo loses sleep and most of Ware's descriptions is explaining how tired she is, making the story an actual sleeper. I'm hoping it picks up better. I am currently a chapter away from Part 2, actually. It is due back at the library on August 14, so I have time with it.

I finally did manage to read more of Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, but I think I might be done with this book for the summer. I returned it to Sprague Library on August 2, its due date, and was actually looking forward to doing so. Throughout these blog posts I have been kinda "meh" about it, so I guess this was the best time for us to finally part.

If you plan on reading this book thinking that it is going to be her being funny, you are highly mistaken. This was my surprise.

I mean, she's somewhat funny at certain times. But for the most part, she isn't.

What's interesting is that when I first picked up this book, I was initially more excited to read it than Kaling's (before I actually started reading Kaling's). I felt more of a connection to Schumer and so I was looking forward to reading about what we had in common and maybe learn some things from her. Don't get me wrong, there are some similarities that she and I do share and I found that I have more in common with her than I thought. I appreciate learning this kind of stuff because I originally saw her one way, but because this book allows her to be truthful about herself, it made it a partial interesting read and easier for me to relate to her.

However, this ultimately lead to my biggest issue with the book: it's morbidity. Instead of talking about her career and the many humorous things that have happened to her, which was what I was anticipating and she does briefly, she mainly discusses family problems, sexual assault, relationship abuse, gun violence, etc. Every time I went to read another chapter thinking it was going to be any less heavy, it turned out to be yet another story that made me even sadder about life. They read more like PSA announcements. She provides a personal example and then ends with her testimony.

When I read a book or watch a movie or play, I understand that these art forms are used to take a stand and can brilliantly achieve this, but I also do so to get inspired or explore another domain for a bit. If I wanted to read about or see how horrible the world is, I'd just go on social media or read any news article. I read books and watch films to get away from this.

Basically put, this book is a collection of Amy Schumer's serious side, or as what I like to call, "Serious Schumer."

However, this being said, I now see her in a new light and respect her more for this too. Each chapter focuses on a certain topic that she talks about for a reason and she is completely honest. Though each one comes across morbid at first, she uses them as opportunities to offer lessons or epiphanies from her life. She clearly wants to make several statements with this book and I really admire that she wants you to learn from her experiences. She sincerely cares about her readers. As much as I want to stop reading, I also want to press on. She provides nice insight. She also has a chapter dedicated to her stuffed animals. Other readers don't seem to like this, but I'm okay with it.

As a side note, she talks about sex and needlessly references her vagina way too much. Not that that's BAD, but it is just a little too overboard. It's one thing for her to talk about sex life, which she does enough of, but it's another thing for her to randomly bring up her vagina when discussing a carnival ride. Even this isn't totally awful, but just seems a bit unwarranted, as if she must mention her genitals for the sake of mentioning her genitals.

I recommend that if you do read this book, choose certain chapters that seem of interest to you and read sporadically. Upon realizing that I would be returning the book the following day without much eagerness to check it out again, I chose to read chapters sporadically from the Table of Contents to get as much out of the book as I could. This was when I noticed that whatever chapter I chose, I kept receiving desolate material. Because of these intense chapters, I noticed that she follows up with comic relief sections as reprieves, so perhaps my suggestion is pointless because it is formatted in this specific way.

Schumer has every right to discuss what she wants to in her own book, no matter how dark. There's nothing wrong with that. It just wasn't what I was expecting or looking for at the moment regarding my summer reading. Even though it may not be for me, I appreciate her writing it. I hope to return to it because I don't totally despise it.

I'll end my review of Schumer's book with my favorite passage from it, from actually one of my favorite chapters. In "Officially a Woman," she talks about making people laugh for the first time at her Bat Mitzvah, which helped her recognize that she wanted to become a comedienne. I thought that was nice.

She ends the chapter by saying that afterward she and her friends went to Medieval Times in New Jersey!!! :D

I LOVE that place and I love that she went to the one that I go to! What made this even cooler was that I had just recently been there about a week before first reading this! :D

This was one of the few parts of the book that made me happy.

So, because of my overall unfortunate disappointment in Schumer's book, I decided to change up my Summer 2017 Reading Challenge YET AGAIN.

I've heard a lot good about the following two books. I often see them available at Barnes and Noble and think that they will provide the reading enjoyment that I am looking for, so now I am officially adding them to my list.

Two female professional best friends and writers. Perfect.

I had originally seen Amy Poehler's Yes Please on the Sprague Library Pop Picks shelves awhile back, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that Tina Fey's book Bossypants is also available at Sprague. I found Bossypants right away, but for some reason the available copy of Yes Please is missing, so the librarian is keeping a lookout for me. I checked out Bossypants the night I returned Schumer's book. It has the same light physical feel as Kaling's book does, so I have a good feeling about this one. :)     

I also found another book on the Pop Picks shelf that I haven't seen in a long time, so I decided to check this one out as well. I think I might have written about this one on this blog before.

I started reading Nicholas Sparks's novel The Wedding on DECEMBER 20, 2014. I entered my latest Goodreads entry for it on SEPTEMBER 5, 2015! So basically I had given up on this book TWO YEARS AGO, but yet it is still under my "Currently Reading" list.

To be fair, I hadn't seen the book again until now on the shelves. I didn't realize that the book was still in the library.

The book is a cute enough love story about a man who is trying to re-romance his wife (the daughter of Nick and Allie Calhoun from The Notebook) while planning their own daughter's wedding. The only thing is it is tedious and bland. It's not the most riveting book, but yet I kept returning and checking out again throughout that year because I wanted to see what finally happens with their relationship.

I am on page 184 out of 263, meaning that I am actually more than halfway done with it and I still haven't been able to finish it! Considering that it is still under my "Currently Reading" list, I have always wanted to. I've gotten this far!

I'm taking being reunited with this book as a sign that I must finish this copy. I have also found paperback editions at Barnes and Noble and considered buying it, but have not.

So will I finally finish reading this book by August 30, which is when this one and Bossypants are due back at the library?? We shall soon see!

Also, Basement Bookshelf has now reached 353 books! I'm proud of this because most of the recent contributions have been my own books, particularly my The New Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley collection, a series about the Olsen twins having their own detective agency and solving mysteries. I've had a pile of these books (20), some of which that I have considered donating, but I'm too attached to them because these were the first books that got me excited about reading. They also sparked my interest in the mystery genre, which is one of my favorites to read. I would rip through them so quickly as a kid and I even reread them again now as an adult. They kept taking up space in my room and bookshelves, so I'm happy to have finally found a home for them. :)   

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - Third Update

My first book of the summer has been completed!!!!! YAY! :D

Once again, beware of possible spoilers. However, I think I did pretty well not giving anything major away.

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

Began: June 3, 2017 12:23 AM

Finished: July 14, 2017 12:48 AM

It took me a month. I'm a slow reader, I guess. Then again, I was juggling this book with others. Focusing on this book alone is when I finally completed it.

I loved this book! It is because of this book that I am now a fan of Mindy Kaling. I'm going to actually miss reading it, especially outdoors, but I am looking to purchase my own copy of this one and its predecessor, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), which she occasionally refers to in Why Not Me? and seems to be a similar premise, to add to my collection. I'm looking forward to seeing what is next for her (which is actually the movie adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time coming out in March 2018).

I feel both inspired and empowered from reading this book. Even if some of her chapters seem longer, her quick humor is so easy to read through and leaves you surprised like "Wow. I am done with this section already." There is one part in her chapter called "A Perfect Courtship in my Alternate Life" that consists of fictional emails and text messages and I wasn't very excited about reading them, but she manages to make this entertaining as well. Her chapter "Harvard Law School Class Day Speech" is a transcription of her Harvard Law School 2014 commencement address and when I first read it I followed along while watching and listening to the video of it on YouTube.

Her words don't totally align and aren't exact with the book's transcription, but it was still an interesting, accurate reading experience. It was fun to see her written words literally come to life as I read them. I recommend. :)

Here is the review I wrote for Goodreads (at least so far)!

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I made it!!! The first book of the summer and my reading challenges done! :D

Such a good book! I feel so inspired! I feel like I've just been on this journey with her. Mindy Kaling gives such great, honest, life advice with lighthearted sarcastic humor and made me think of things from new perspectives. It is such a light, quick read and the mint-colored cover is so calming and inviting. It's also nice and light to hold in your hands. :)

I want to read her other book now and hopes she writes more of them! :D I also want to purchase my own copy of this book now too.

Oh! And before I conclude! Here is the Jai Courtney paragraph on page 44 that I was talking about as promised:

I kept returning to this page and paragraph just because I love it so much. And just in case you're wondering what Jai Courtney looks like...

Credit: GQ Australia - This is actually my favorite written interview with him. Very interesting read and great photos! I learned some Aussie jargon along the way too! Check it out! :)

Hamana hamana hamana 😍😍😍

So now I have been resuming my reading of Katherine Applegate's Beach Blondes. I am on page 382 out of 721. Basically I am halfway through. I'm still in the July section and need to be at page 491 by August 1. Let's attempt that goal again. If I did it last time, I think I can do it again this time.

We're still following Summer's triple romances and we still see teenagers annoyingly thinking that they are "in love," but at least Summer has been learning from past mistakes. Considering her episode with Adam, she doesn't want to fall too quickly into love, which is refreshing, especially considering that she is a main character in this type of genre. She also stands up for herself well too and tells off characters when need be. Sometimes I get frustrated with lead characters when someone says something unpleasant to them but the character remains silent because they either have no words to respond, do have the words but hold back, or they do spurt out something but immediately regret it after. "Say something back!!" I end up silently screaming at the book. Summer, thankfully, often manages to speak up for herself and rarely regrets it. It makes her a decent character. She's also a pretty funny person in general with her responses.

The "Video Blog" chapters are still irritating. I can't stand how they halt the action. They give us insight into Summer's deeper thoughts and provide details as to what has been going on between the lines of the story so that Applegate doesn't have to dedicate a core of the story to them, but like I have said before, we already know her feelings, and these minor details aren't that important. Sometimes I feel like skipping over these chapters, but then I feel like my reading of the book won't be complete. What do I care what she tells Jennifer, who is a character that we haven't even met or care about?

Diana is still the most interesting character. Her story is what drives me to keep reading, but yet it gives me the most anxiety too. She has gotten happier lately because she has come to a realization about her current situation and is concocting a plan to achieve justice. Applegate does a pretty good job keeping us guessing with Diana. Right now my mindset with her is "What exactly is she planning?"

On Monday night I MAY have managed to find and purchase NEXT year's all-summer book excursion by month (reminiscent of Beach Blondes) at Barnes and Noble. :P

It is called Summer Brides, a collection of novellas written by Marybeth Whalen, Beth Wiseman, and Debra Clopton respectively. I believe it was the only one of its kind on a "Bargain Priced" table, so therefore I felt that it was meant for me. It appears to follow this trend I have observed of wedding books on the rise nicely.

Summer Brides is a part of the A Year of Weddings Novella Collection, so therefore there are books in this series called Winter Brides, Spring Brides, and Autumn Brides as well. There are also individual novellas that are separate books that make up these books. For example, A June Bride (Whalen), A July Bride (Wiseman), and An August Bride (Clopton), make up the eventual Summer Brides collection, which was my motivation for buying it. It mirrors the Beach Blondes setup in this way, but is an anthology with multiple authors as opposed to Applegate's continuous narrative. There is also a book full of the complete collection called A Year of Weddings: Twelve Love Stories, which would have been a better purchase down the road had I known this. Now I feel like I need to collect the rest of the series to have it be complete! I'm somewhat feeling the same way about the SUMMER novel series too so I can continue reading that story.

Reading is something that makes me feel good and is leisurely for me, so I don't want to turn it into a collector's item perfectionist thing. It's okay if I only read and own a few (or even one) books out of a series. No harm done. I mean, I was okay with reading the The Last Little Blue Envelope out of order last year.

Some of the books in the A Year of Weddings Novella Collection series, such as the full collection, are only available on Kindle/Nook or audiobook anyway. Right now I prefer solid books, so I may have made the correct choice for now. I'm hoping to obtain the other books somehow so that I can somehow read them throughout a/the year by month nonstop.

They have gotten mixed reviews on Goodreads. We'll see how these go with me if I do resolve to take them on and keep the book. See, lately I'm buying certain books in stores thinking that I am not going to be able to find them otherwise and/or for a good price online, so I have some decisions to make. I do think that they would make an interesting year long reading challenge for me to compare and contrast writing styles and stories.

For now though, I sadly returned Kaling's book to the library on Monday *sniff* but in place of it I checked out Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10. I'm excited about this one. I've been visiting Barnes and Noble more frequently and keep seeing it for sale. I'm tempted to buy it, but because Sprague Library has it, I'm borrowing it first to test the waters. I also have to work on Amy Schumer's book The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo as well.

You know, I am loving writing these book blog posts! I'm starting to consider dedicating a blog, maybe this one, to just them! lol

By the way, we now have 239 books in our library! I'm still organizing my personal collection of what I want to contribute, keep, and donate.

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - Second Update

I finally returned to Sprague Library yesterday to check out Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? and Amy Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo! :) They are now due back August 2 and I am determined to finally finish at least Kaling's by that date.

Sprague Library has another book in its Pop Picks section of which I took notice. I also see it often on sale at Barnes and Noble as a new release popular bestseller. I was considering taking this one out yesterday too. However, another Sprague Library rule is that any patron who is not a student or faculty member is not allowed to check out more than three books at a time, so because I took out my two books as well as a book for my father, I had reached my limit.

The book is a horror mystery novel called The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. It is about this travel magazine journalist (one reason why I want to read it) named Lo Blacklock who aboards a luxury cruise. She eventually sees a woman being thrown overboard, but because all passengers are accounted for, the cruise goes on as if nothing is amiss. So now it is up to Lo to crack the case. It looks like an engrossing, quick read.

I was actually considering eliminating Schumer's book in lieu of this one, but then remembered that I often do this with books. I start reading them, but then get excited about another book and then never finish the original. Because I had already begin reading Schumer's book and in my last blog post stated that I am looking forward to reading more of it, plus it is a part of my Summer 2017 reading challenge that I don't want to quit, I had to make my choice. I don't want to give up on Schumer just yet. Plus, I also am already working on a fiction novel with Beach Blondes, so I want to focus on that and not get lose track of that one either.

I plan on adding The Woman in Cabin 10 to my Summer 2017 reading list. I may not finish (or even start it) by the time summer ends, but let it be known that I am interested! We'll see what happens with it. I could still read it beyond summer and it would be fine.

By the way, I neglected to tell you in my last blog post how we are doing with Operation Basement Bookshelf. Right now we have 188 books categorized, classified, and filed. :)

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges! - First Update

June was a busy reading month for me! It is now July 1! Let's see how I did. :)

Here are my page numbers as of now:

Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate - 296 out of 721

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer - 45 out of 323

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling - 123 out of 228

Beware of possible spoilers! 

As you can see, I surpassed by Beach Blondes June goal (on June 22), of which I am very proud! :D

Let me explain something about this book that I have discovered during my journey with it. It is actually three books in one, which explains the thickness of it. It consists of the novels June Dreams, July's Promise, and August Magic. From my understanding, these were all individually released in 1995 and then rereleased as a full book in 2008, and boy does it ever date itself. I mean, the kids don't use cell phones! They use PAY PHONES and listen to their CD COLLECTIONS! On Goodreads there are adults on their commenting about remembering reading this when they were kids and wanting to read it again, making me feel so late to the party! I mean, 1995 was one thing. I was a five-year-old back then. But I feel odd reading this now as an adult given the teenage subject matter and think that if I jumped in when it came out in 2008 it would be more relevant for me because I WAS A TEENAGER THEN.

However, reading it for the first time as an adult helps me appreciate it better for what it is. It also makes me feel wiser than these kids. :P

You know, this book is surprising me. It is way better than I expected and clearly deserves a better cover photo. There is definitely more to this book than meets the eye given some of its serious subject matter and the cutesy photo of a bunch of blonde girls taking a selfie on the beach does not do it justice by any means. It's false advertising. So far there has been only one scene that I recall of the girls hanging out on the beach, and it's only two of them laying on the sand. In fact, throughout the whole book, there is only one blonde and very few female characters to begin with. Another is brunette, another is Latina (whom isn't described as being blonde), and this other girl, a minor character, is a redhead.

However, even though I do enjoy its engaging tale, I do find some flaws with it regardless. Okay so the plot surrounds an awkward teenage girl named Summer Smith from Bloomington, Minnesota (who constantly reminds the reader and the other characters of her origins, much to her own embarrassment) who is invited by her Aunt Mallory to stay at her home in Crab Claw Key in Florida for the summer. Mallory, a romance novelist now that she has divorced her husband, embarks on a book tour for the week and leaves poor sweet Summer with her reclusive cousin Diana, who doesn't make it a secret that she doesn't want Summer there.

Diana Olan (the brunette) is clearly the most interesting character in this book by far. At first she comes across this typical bitchy teenage mean girl, making me dread her stereotypical behavior, but then as we learn more about her, we realize that something deeper is going on with her. This carries the story for me. She actually got an emotional reaction of out of me when I read it in the car on the way back from a family day trip to the Borgata in Atlantic City. I want to read more about her and how she is going to overcome her troubles. I admire Applegate for taking the strides she does with this character and her plot. It's what makes this book different from the other teenage beach novels I have read.

However, the main focus is on Summer, who all of a sudden is attracting practically every boy in town even though back in Minnesota she was invisible to the opposite sex. These encounters were foretold to her by a tarot card reader while on the plane there, by the way. 

She first meets Seth Warner, who randomly kisses her in the airport but turns out has a delusional ex-girlfriend (Lianne, the redhead) who believes that they are still in a relationship and that Seth is lying and then for some reason he gets mad at Summer for being upset about this; then Diver, this hippie guy who has sworn off girls and lives in the stilt house Diana throws Summer in, only wears one pair of swim trunks (his singular attire), and declares that the neighboring pelican's name is Frank; and finally Adam Merrick, the wealthy senator's son who uses the typical lines that only an arrogant player with money, looks, and power would utter and originally dated Diana in the summer prior and has now set his sights on Summer.

I mean, seriously, all of the boys in this book are a little strange. Summer has no true winner here.

One of my biggest problems with this book is how philosophical these kids are. It makes sense when Diver does this, because it's his character, but the rest of them do this too. They don't speak like normal teenagers but instead all have these existential moments where they talk deeply about life and claim that Summer is experiencing all of this romance because apparently Crab Claw Key is so mystic that people forget who they are while they're there. Summer attempts to transform into a different person and do things she normally wouldn't, making her confused about her actions afterward, and they all attribute this to the setting itself.

Another thing I can't stand are the video blog chapters. Scattered throughout the book are chapters called "Video Blog," for which Summer pretty much provides a stream of consciousness monologue for Jennifer, her best friend back home who is vacationing in California. These basically serve as Summer's reflections of what is happening in the story, and more insufferably, act as recaps of what we have already just read. These chapters aren't needed. I already know how Summer is feeling about her situation considering I am following her as the main character and listen to all of these existential discussions she has. These are reprieves from the action and I use them as a place to stop reading for the time being, but they just get in the way. The book would be shortened significantly if these chapters were removed.

I want to move onto the other books, but I don't want to leave out Marquez. Marquez is a Cuban-American girl who goes by her last name because Maria (her first) is too common and Esmeralda (her middle) is a bit too too, I guess. She befriends Summer, gets her a job at the Crab 'n' Conch, a restaurant that is apparently the world's worst place to work according to the kids, and remains her sole companion throughout the book. She is no-nonsense and serves as the comic relief, but yet has issues of her own that are slowly unraveling. Applegate also uses her as an opportunity to discuss immigration, which is still very relevant to our world today, so that's interesting. 

So now I'm waiting on seeing what is coming up for these kids, such as what Adam is going to do next to win Summer's heart back (let's just say that by page 296 he has REALLY pissed her off...an understatement at best). I am also really wondering what Diana is going to do as she plummets deeper and deeper into her sorrows. I've actually decided to take a small break from this book because I was reading it nonstop one week and needed a breather from its heavy premise, so I chose to devote this time to continue the other books on my list.

Then I have my comedienne ladies, Mindy Kaling and Amy Schumer! I haven't worked on my Roseanne Barr book yet because I was so engrossed by these books. Plus, they are library books, so I need to prioritize.

I had to return these books to Sprague Library on June 29. Because it is a college library, their policy is that only students and faculty can renew books. During the summer they are closed on Fridays and Sundays and are closed today this week as well, so I have to wait until Monday to go back to retrieve them so I can resume my reading once again. :P

This was the first time that returning books to the library gave me withdrawals!

So far I am liking Kaling's book more than Schumer's, which I guess is evidenced by my page progression above and is funny because I initially thought it was going to be the other way around.

I'm halfway through it, about to start Part 3. This is thanks to her short, quick read chapters of simple stories and tips. It's both lightweight and lighthearted and takes us into Kaling's life, about which she is completely honest and is her intention with the book. She occasionally makes references to her first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), so I want to read that one now too. I also kinda like the cover design better. No offense to Schumer's nude backside, but Kaling's mint-colored cover relaxes me. 

She also happens to mention my current celebrity crush, the super hot (and hairy) Australian actor Jai Courtney, on Page 44! I'm on a Suicide Squad (2016) kick lately, in which he portrays Captain Boomerang. She says that her friend Ike (Barinholtz) knows him, and I was like, "Yeah, he does! They worked on Suicide Squad together!" I never knew who Courtney was beforehand, so I'm thrilled that I discovered him just in time to understand her reference. It's so ironic and I got so excited when I saw it! I was going to take a photo of the paragraph dedicated to him for this blog, but didn't plan on not having access to it by the time I published this (Grr!), so I'll try to supply it for my next reading update. I'm almost done reading her book anyway. It's my favorite book of the summer so far. :)

As for Schumer's book, for some reason I am getting more melancholy vibes from her and I don't really know why, given that hers and Kaling's books are basically the same concept. Don't get me wrong, it's still a funny book. 

Various aspects of her book have stayed with me. For example, in one chapter she describes her one and only one night stand. Normally I am against one night stands 100%, but her story made me see them in a new perspective. 

In the next chapter she talks about being an introvert, which seems highly unlikely for someone with her personality, but it made me realize that my own introverted side isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially for female writers like ourselves. She and Kaling talk about their work process, which is a huge reason why I am reading their books. I like reading about successful women writers and how they got to where they are today as they deal with their inner and outer struggles. It makes them more human and relatable and makes me feel less alone. 

Schumer I feel often gets a bad rep, but I have gained some more respect for her after reading what I did about her so far in her book. She comes across a good person, especially when she talks about her riches to rags to riches background and how she gives money just because she wants to. I'm looking forward to reading more of her story. :)

Throughout the month of June I took all three of these books on my daily walks to a local park or schoolyard, both of which are usually void of people or at least consist of very few, where I would sit at a vacant picnic table and just read in the sunlight or the occasional windy/rainy day. These are my most serene moments of the summer.

I highly recommend. :)

"Scream Queens" Cancellation: My Thoughts and a Brief Review of the Two-Season Series Overall

"Scream Queens" has literally been cancelled for a month now (announced May 15) and I'm just finding out now. lol Last night I tweeted another girl about the show when she tweeted about binge-watching it only to wake up this morning to her response tweet telling me that it has been cancelled. I looked it up and lo and behold found articles about it.

I've been looking it up on and off to see if it had been been renewed, so I'm surprised that I missed this news. This entire time since the Season 2 finale I had been indifferent to whether or not it would be renewed and had planned to be fine with either outcome. The following is why.

I figure that I'd blog about my feelings about this considering how I've dedicated blog posts to it before. This is the first time that a TV show I followed has been straight up cancelled as opposed to simply ending after a lengthy run, like creator Ryan Murphy's other creation, "Glee."

Okay so here are my thoughts.

Murphy says that they told their story, and I agree with him. It ended in a way that was complete, so I wasn't really foreseeing any continuation. There was nothing about the Season 2 finale that told me that any more needed to be said. It's also telling when the main cast starts to move onto other projects that the end is near. The lead female characters all have successful careers and Lea Michele's character, Hester Ulrich (I literally forgot her name. I had to look it up.), the main antagonist of the series, actually ends up scot-free in a relationship with Dr. Brock Holt (John Stamos).

The only thing that threw me was the cliffhanger ending when Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) encountered a Kappa Kappa Tau logo and the Season 1 Red Devil once again in her car, which opened up an opportunity for a third season. It ended much like the Season 1 finale, after all.

But, there isn't a true reason for one. Most of the main characters have died, including fan favorite Chad Radwell (Glen Powell). Some fans, including myself, speculated that maybe Grace Gardner (Skyler Samuels) would return for Season 3 for revenge, considering that she is also still alive and living in an insane asylum, but I guess that isn't coming to pass.

The fact that I had to look up most of these characters and actors' names and forgot that Denise Hemphill (Niecy Nash) survived the series tells me that maybe this show wasn't as memorable as I remembered.

The true stars were clearly the Chanels (which I'm now kinda realizing and understanding how it was a parody of "Heathers"! lol!), particularly Roberts, and Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd) and Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin).

You know, Season 2 wasn't nearly as interesting as Season 1, and unfortunately plenty of fans felt this way, which probably led to its demise. It lacked the ratings. This is probably because Season 1 was a fresh, new concept and the audience didn't know what to expect, whereas for Season 2, you kinda had an idea. I tuned in, but not as much. What really aggravated me about Season 2 was how early on they revealed the faces behind the Green Meanie, thus making the finale anticlimactic. Once they disclosed to the audience who the three Green Meanies were and all that was left was for the characters to find out, I lost interest. Even Chanel's relationship with Dr. Brock was cringeworthy. I mean, I know Chanel is supposed to be an adult, but it was still so weird for me. She's a girl in her twenties competing with a middle aged woman, Dean Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis - I remembered her full name at least!), for a middle aged man's affections (even though, now that I recall, Brock was either younger or older than he appeared, which made him a suspect, or not...See how much I've forgotten about this show??!). I know this was the comedy, and it was unique to say the least, but still...weird, even for "Scream Queens" standards I guess. I also wish they gave Chanel #5 a romantic happy ending. I was getting sick of her being a constant punching bag so I'm actually very pleased with her outcome of finding her purpose working at the hospital with Zayday Williams (Keke Palmer - remembered her too!) and finally away from the two bitches she called friends.

In fact, the only good thing to come out of Season 2 is Billie Lourd and Taylor Lautner's (who played Dr. Cassidy Cascade - I remembered!) real life relationship, which is still going strong!

So, a Season 3 would have been fun and a good number of seasons to flesh out the rest of the series, but definitely not necessary. You don't want to drag something out to a point where the entire series as a whole becomes despicable and you run out of ideas, somewhat like how "Glee" got stale towards the end. But yet that show was regarded very successful and had a very heartwarming series finale. "Scream Queens" has ended on a not high, not bad, but mediocre note.

It normally upsets viewers when a beloved TV show is cancelled after a season ends on a cliffhanger, but for "Scream Queens," it is actually pretty appropriate given the show's theme, and I'm satisfied with the run.

So long, "Screams Queens"! It has been a crazy ride! :)

Stef's "So Good You Can't Put It Down" Book Reviews Summer 2017 Reading Challenges!

I've decided to take on a number of my own personal reading and book challenges this summer and am announcing it now on here to be somewhat held accountable and report on the outcome. lol

The challenges so far are as follows. And of course, they all have female leads.

1) Basement Bookshelf Library

My father Steve and I, both writers and bibliphiles, have accumulated a lot of books into our collections over the years. We have donated some books, and I plan to donate some more, but the time has come to organize the tomes in our home library. Last month we attended the Lacordaire Academy Used Book Sale, which ran from May 18-21, and purchased some new additions, so now we have to figure out how to combine the old with the new (and used.)

2) Beach Blondes: A SUMMER Novel

I'm hoping that this novel isn't as young as it appears because I don't know if I am necessarily in the mood for teenage girl drama, but who cares, right?

I bought this book from Berkeley Heights Public Library (even though it gave off a teenage vibe I was still interested in the plot :P) and am impressed with how thick it is considering it is a member of the TEEN FICTION genre. I mean, it's 721 pages!

Something I like to try is reading books according to setting. For example, I had planned on starting the book November 9 by Colleen Hoover on, you guessed it, November 9, 2016. Unfortunately, this didn't come to pass. I think maybe I was in the middle of another book? I don't know. But I do own the novel, so I will try again this year. :)

As for Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate, I took notice of it again when I started sorting my book collection and noticed that it is categorized by month, meaning sections dedicated to June, July, and August. Given that June was coming up shortly, I decided that this was the perfect time to take on my setting reading challenge. It is June 2 now and I have to be on page 266 by July 1...

Wish me luck!

3) Comedienne Memoirs

As I have said in my last book post, I have been getting into memoirs, particularly those written by female authors. My dad and I went to Sprague Library at Montclair State University just last night and I, like usual, visited the "Pop Picks" section to see what I could find. As opposed to the rest of the library, these shelves consist of more contemporary titles. They tend to rotate this section every so often too.

There seemed to be an influx of celebrity memoirs/biographies/autobiographies all of a sudden in this section.

The first one that caught my eye was Amy Schumer's The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. I'm not a huge fan of Schumer's comedy, but I don't totally dislike it either. There are times she makes me laugh with her girl-next-door attitude and I appreciate her as a person. I think I saw an interview with her once when she said that she wanted to stay true to herself and that's all she can do or something like that. Whatever she said, she gained my respect from it. lol

I was a little iffy about this book though because so far she seems to make a lot of vagina jokes, which don't bother me, but I hope it isn't an indication that she provides an overkill of such jokes throughout. Like, a "Look at how progressive and edgy I am! I keep referencing my pussy in my book! Haha!" type thing. One of the first chapters discusses her experience seeing some hot guy at an airport. Her humor in this section drew me in so I decided to check it out.

Before I made this decision, however, I came across Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? Again, not a huge fan of Kaling, pretty much as indifferent as I am with Schumer. I have come to like her more recently from her voice acting work as Disgust in Inside Out (2015). But when I cracked open Kaling's book, I found myself chuckling at her simple humor. I appreciate how light the book feels in my hands and how short it looks. Both her book and Schumer's have short, quick read chapters, so I think for at least Kaling's I can take it on and manage to finish it. Then I realized that I could apply her story to myself because with this book she intends to convey her tales of finding confidence to be herself. I can always learn that type of lesson. Considering all of these good feelings I have so far toward this book, and even somewhat preferring it to Schumer's, I decided to check this one out as well.

What I noticed so far about both books is that they seem to have the same concept, comedy, and sarcastic tone. I then realized that their writing styles (provided it is their writing styles and not just a ghostwriter trying to emulate their voices lol Kaling says that she is comedy writer, which made me more interested to read her work) are reminiscent of the approach of one such comedienne, Roseanne Barr.

Back in January and February I got sick with a fever and started watching "Roseanne" on Laff. I never really watched the show when it first came out in the nineties, but I had some memories of it and now watching it as an adult I appreciated it even more. I found Barr's book Roseanne: My Life as a Woman, which she claims to have written herself within its pages, at the Lacordaire Used Book Sale and decided to purchase it. I read the same amount of pages in this book I read from the others when I first bought it and sense the same humor.

My plan this summer is to read all three books and compare and contrast the written work and experiences of a white comedienne, a comedienne of color, and a white comedienne from the nineties, who are all fairly successful in their own right, and perhaps apply their advice to my own creative success as a woman. All chapters seem to be short, sweet, entertaining, and interesting.

My Schumer and Kaling books are due back at the library on June 29.

4) Still working on THIS book...

Ugh. I have gotten further with this book since my last book blog post, but I'm lacking interest in it now. I've invested so much in it now that I feel like I've come so far and I don't want to give it up! I want to see what happens now!

It started off good, but now the two main characters Marie-Laure and Joseph keep gushing about how much they love each other and engaging in these cheesy, over the top sex scenes that you just know something bad is going to come across these two. Joseph is betrothed to another woman in an arranged marriage, of course, so that's a typical star-crossed lovers storyline for you. I keep predicting that Marie-Laure is going to get pregnant by him (even though they have been using "sheaths") and because he is an aristocrat and she is a scullery maid, it's going to bring about a scandal and secrets. So cliche. I'm not here for it right now.

I actually ran into Janis at the used book sale and told her about my qualms with this book. She shook her head and understood my woes. lol

So, there you have it. My Summer 2017 Reading Challenges so far! Wish me luck! I'll hopefully be back with updates as my reading progresses! :)