Book Beach Bunny

It’s been a very spotty year so far but I do have some favorites. Well I have some favorites of the year so far and then I have one show I just went down the rabbit hole with that has the potential to be a favorite of all time.

So we’ll save the books and movies for last and start with the big one… the mistake I made in March…

Me: I’m just going to watch one episode of Succession. I doubt it will catch me enough and no way will I ever catch up before the new season starts…

Me after episode 1: Okay these people are train wrecks I love them all.

Me after episode 6: I can’t stop watching.

Succession

I am not very good at binging anything even shows I’m enjoying. Heck I have a hard time keeping up on some week to week shows. But I ran through three seasons of Succession in two weeks just in time to catch up for this last Sundays mega episode. Which yeah I agree with the critics might be one of the best episodes of television period.

It’s also one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in ages.

Granted I can kind of understand why people might not like this show. If you need characters you can root for or even consistently likable characters you probably won’t like this bunch. They are awful and honestly I love them all.

This is the kind of character based show where you could write thesis papers on each of the main characters and most of the supporting cast and I am eating it up.

Movies

I really enjoyed Dungeons and Dragons. I loved the cast, the characters, the world-building, the magic. You don’t need to have played the game to understand it although even I got that there’s tons of easter eggs for those who have.

I also loved the wizard.

Like give me an evil magic user any day of the week.

Michelle Rodriguez is genuinely great in this as well and generally I avoid things with her as she always makes me think of Fast and Furious.

Anyway this is a weird one because I would say you don’t need to see this in theaters- but a sequel would be nice and also I loved it enough I’m going to purchase it when it streams. Hopefully soon!

I talked about Argentina, 1985 and The Menu still stand by how good they were but I also have to add…

Puss in Boots The Last Wish is just as good as everyone says. I love Puss anyway but the story, the characters, the animation. I mean Best Animated Film at the Oscars this year might have been stronger than Best Film. This movie actually was so good I’m not even annoyed they teased an upcoming Shrek sequel heck I’m looking forward to it!

I also checked out and loved Mirage on Netflix.

This is a really well done time travel mystery about two people connected by a severe lightening storm and a murder twenty-seven years apart.

I probably can’t explain this well enough to make sense as it very much does in the film so don’t let me dissuade you. It’s another one where I thought I’ll just watch the first few minutes and couldn’t stop watching. I truly couldn’t figure out how this one was going to play out.

Books

I already talked about Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow but the other three standouts of the first couple of months…

I just finished this pirate adventure and it was wild! We follow the main character, Amina on a journey to rescue to child of a fallen crew member who has gotten herself into more trouble than Amina can comprehend.

Loved the main character and her crew (and her husband) very much hoping for a series here! And considering I never finished the authors last series that’s a pretty good sign.

It seriously makes me want to go rewatch Black Sails.

There’s just not enough great pirate literature!

Also pirate filled come to think of it.

And Princess Bride inspired! You can’t go wrong!

In this one we follow Tress who sets off from her home island to rescue the love of her life who’s been captured by a witch. It has pretty much all of my favorite things.
(Tress is even a red head.) The spore seas are some of the most interesting things Sanderson has come up with in a while.

It’s a shame Hollywood sleeps on Sanderson because this would make such a fun film!

I read this one way back in January (seriously why does that feel so long ago?) but it’s stayed with me.

It’s the decades long story of two friends who create games together. It’s beautiful and moving. You love them, you hate them you cry with them. It’s dramatic at times and mundane at others. I love it when a piece of art can capture life in a bottle not one moment in time but all of them. Highly recommend.