Books Read & DVDs Watched in March

A little late, I know. But with being away from the computer I missed posting my February end of the month results and March ones as well. It is still close enough to say rather late than never with the March ones so here's my list. You can see my complete list of books read for the year so far here and my complete list of movies/DVDs watched for the year so far here.

Books Read in March: 22
Books marked with xx are not counted towards my total
48. The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore (4****)
49. The Vagrants by Yiyun Li (4****)
50. Serenity: Better Days by Joss Whedon (3***)
51. The Amazing Spider-Man: Happy Birthday by J. Michael Straczynski (4****)
XX. The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman (2**)
52. Dandelion Fire by N.D. Wilson (4.5****)
XX. A Dog Came, Too by Ainslie Manson (4.5****)
XX. The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman (3***)
53. The Amazing Spider-Man: The Book of Ezekiel by J. Michael Straczynski (4.5****)
54. Storybook Love by Bill Willingham (4.5****)
55. The Fighting Ground by Avi (4****)
56. Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale E. Basye (3***)
57. She Always Knew: Mae West, A Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler (4****)
58. The Golden Phoenix: Eight French Canadian Fairy Tales by Marius Barbeau (5*****)
XX. Saint Patrick by Ann Tompert (5*****)
59. The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern (3***)
60. The Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Past by J. Michael Straczynski (5*****)
61.Wake by Lisa McMann (5*****)
62. Fade by Lisa McMann (4.5****)
63. Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore (4****)
xx. All About Spelling: Level One (NR)
64. Unpolished Gem: My Mother, My Grandmother, and Me by Alice Pung (4****)
65. Who Was Thomas Jefferson? by Dennis Brindell Fradin (3***)
66. Drood by Dan Simmons (5*****) (FAVOURITE of the month)
67. Believing in Jesus: A Popular Overview of the Catholic Faith by Leonard Foley (NR)
xx. Meeting Jesus in Holy Communion: A Child's First Eucharist by Roger Marchand (NR)
68. The Werefox by Elizabeth Coatsworth (2.5**)
69. Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue (4.5****)

Movies/DVDs watched in March: 7

15. Stargate SG-1 Season 8 (2004/2005) (own) - Love, love, love Stargate! I've seen a large portion of these episodes on TV but not all of them and it was enlightening to follow the story in order. Not much more to say. One of the best shows ever and a great season with some really cool episodes. Loved the ending when the nerdy alternate Sam & Daniel travel back in time and also love the first episode that introduces Vala. Last season with Jack O'Neill as a regular though. I'm gonna miss him, but as long as Daniel Jackson is around I'm happy!

16. Hancock (2008) (library) - I basically had no idea what this movie was about when I took it out. I knew it was something superhero-ish and that it had Will Smith in it was enough for me. At first I wasn't quite sure whether I was going to enjoy it or not but once one sees where the plot is going (or at least thinks one knows) I started enjoying it. In fact, I really enjoyed it. As a fan of superhero movies this was very unique and I actually loved the story behind his powers. Not the best movie in the world, or even Smith's best but I have to say it was a winner for me. My dh, on the other hand, has no more comment than "It was ok" but then he only watches superhero movies for my benefit.

17. (#) The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Volume 1, The Early Years (1992) (library) - The 8yo and I really enjoyed this series. I just barely remember watching some episodes when they first came out on TV. Seven movie length episodes show Indy's adventures as a ten year old and the last two episodes have him grown to about 18. 8yo loved these, found them very interesting and love seeing Indiana when he was the same age as him. He liked the last two episodes the best though, with the older Jones as they were more like Indy from the movies, ie. swashbuckling action. The series also includes a ton of documentaries on all the real life people and events Indiana Jones meets in the time period from 1908-1918. We both enjoyed this series very much. There are two more volumes but we will be holding off on them for a few years as the next one covers WWI and is too mature for my 8yo. This volume though is lots of fun and informative.

18. The Number 23 (2007) (owned) - As I looked for the amazon link for this movie I noticed the average review was not good for this movie. I didn't bother to read why because we actually enjoyed the movie. It started out great, got very weird in the middle, and slowly started to disprove my feelings that the route the plot was taking was full of inconsistencies. I didn't figure out what was happening and once I knew, I didn't believe it, but my reservations were proven to be wrong and the plot was consistent and very well done. I love a movie that has me stumped; as I figure out how they will end quite easily most times. Jim Carey is at his best, imho, when playing serious roles and I loved him in this. I also enjoyed the actor who played his son. Let's see imdb says his name is Logan Lermon. While probably not for everyone, if you like weird you may just enjoy it as much as I did.

19. (#) Madagascar 2 (2009) (free live viewing at the library) - not bad, has some funny bits but not that many. Sure kids will like, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves in the theatre. But nowhere near as good as the first, which I loved. I suggest you rent, not buy this one.

20. Stargate SG 1: Season 9 (2005/2006) (own) - What can I say, with all the cast changes this season I thought it wouldn't be as good. But man, was I wrong! This is the best season ever; it's almost like a brand new show starting it so fresh and new. All the story arcs from the previous seasons have ended and new bad guys, worse than the Guaols (sp?), come along. Ben Browder, Claudia Black and Beau Bridges are awesome additions to the cast and while I loved RDA as Jack O'Neill so much, I didn't even miss him. Bridges is as good a leader as Hammond was and the relationship between Daniel (my fav. character) and Vala is so funny and electric. I hope it goes somewhere with them next season. Mitchell is just as eccentric a character as O'Neill was but in no way tries to replace him. Mitchell's character is very different but terribly humorous in his own way. Bravo season 9! I can't believe there is only one more season to go. But I console myself that I also have two movies to watch after that.

21. Stargate SG 1: Season 10 (2006/2007) (own) - Oh wow! I just loved the final season. It was truly brilliant and so fresh. There was so much more they could have done with the storylines it's sad to see them end here with season 10. I'm sure they could have easily gone to season 14 without losing any integrity of the story, The new characters had so much more to offer. I was surprised at the number of times that Richard Dean Anderson showed up as a guest star and also surprised that they didn't make it known that he and Sam were together now. It was indicated that they were on his last full time episode when she was asked if she was single now she said she said she wasn't but when they were on the screen together not a single look, touch or electricity whatever. But who cares, there was plenty of that between Vala and Daniel and the last episode was truly wonderful. The relationship between them was everything I had hoped it would be, just too bad they had to go back in time to before it started. {sigh} I hope the movies finish off the relationships for us. But I absolutely loved the Ori as the new bad guys, the lingering Ba'al causing trouble and the new Arthurian legend as opposed to the Egyptian ones which were indeed getting old. Love this show and will indeed sit down someday in the future and watch them all over again. But I still have two movies ahead to watch first!