May in Review

May was the worst month this year for number of books read. But we have to remember I was away on holiday for 3 weeks, so I do have an excuse. I did read some fabulous books though:
Green books were read-alouds to my 8yo.

May: 13
89. Hell's Horizon by D.B. Shan (5*****)
90. The Lewis & Clark Edpedition : Join the Corps of Discovery to Explore Uncharted Territory by Carol A. Johmann (2.5**)
91. Ben and Me: An Astonished Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos by Robert Lawson (3.5***)
92. The Third Eye by Mahtab Narsimhan (4****)
93.The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho (4****)
94. The Robe of Skulls by Vivian French (4****)
95. Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter by R.J. Anderson (4.5****)
96. The Dragon of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen (3.5***)
97. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (4.5****)
98. Clara's War: A Young Girl's True Story of Miraculous Survival Under the Nazis by Clara Kramer (5*****)
99. The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (4****)
100. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (4****) (FAVOURITE Book of the Month)
101. Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Lyndsay Faye (3***)

Now another reason I didn't read so many books this month is because I was visiting my dad and they are big movie/dvd watcher's so I spent a lot of time I would normally have spent reading watching TV instead. Here's how the movie watching went in May and interestingly enough it was my one of my best month this year number-wise!

May: 7

23. The Clearing (2004) (watched at my dad's - he owns) - I read the back and this sounded like a great thriller. Plus I know that if Willem Dafoe is in a movie he makes a wonderful bad guy. I didn't think I'd ever heard of it before though but about half way through the movie I started to remember the seeing commercials where they showed the scenes of them walking through the forest. I really enjoyed this. Not a "y'all gotta go see this" movie but I really did like it. I kept thinking it would end the way it did, but I also kept thinking "nah, they won't end it that way". So, I was surprised that my ending did happen after all. It's a slow movie with mounting tension. My dad found it a bit boring, mentioned it was a slow mover, but that's what I liked about it. I compared it to a Hitchcock movie, where the story just kept mounting and mounting to a point you just weren't quite sure of. If you're in the mood for a thriller without the action scenes and just the suspense, give this one a go. Redford, Mirren and Dafoe all give superb performances.

24. Saving Private Ryan (1998) (watched at my dad's - he owns) - Unbelievably, my first time to watch. Always wanted to but never got around to it. My dh does not like war movies so we seldom watch them together. What can I say, this was awesome. Loved every second of it. I had no idea what the true events were, nor had I learnt the plot so it was completely new to me. Lots of war violence, terribly so, but it is needed to really bring home the reality of full scale war. No words can really express how a movie like this makes you feel. It is truly a fine movie. I did enjoy Band of Brothers better though, but then that was a whole mini-series.

25. The Rainmaker (1956) (watched at my dad's on TV -TCM) - Kate Hepburn and Burt Lancaster star in this wonderful movie set in about 1920s rural mid-west America about a girl who is getting to the age where she is going to be an old maid if she doesn't marry soon and her two brothers and father are desperately trying to marry her off while she dreams of having a man fall in love with her. I'm a big fan of Hepburn's and hadn't seen this one before and really enjoyed it. It's a comedy and full of deliciously funny moments. The topic could offend feminists of today but it really is a beautiful love story of how a girl brought up in a house of men learns to be a woman and how a man hurt by a woman learns to love again. I really enjoyed it and am glad I was able to add it to my list of Hepburn movies I've seen.

26. Arthur (1981) (watched at my dad's - he owns)(re-watch) - I saw this originally when it came out at the movies; I would have been 13. I have never seen it again. I was in the mood for something fun and remembered laughing during this so hoped it would live up to my 13 year old's experience and boy, did it ever. A hilarious movie! This is Dudley Moore at the prime of his career. A really funny, "feel good" movie that you should see, if you've never watched it before. Liza Minnelli is at her most beautiful in this movie, too. I think this is probably when I became a fan of hers. Loved it!

27. The Brothers Grimm (2005) (watched at my dad's he owns) - ummm....... weird. Can't really say I liked it, but didn't necessarily hate it either. Let's just go with weird. Not likely to re-watch it ever, either.

28. The Story of Three Loves (1953) (watched at my dad's on TV - TCM) - never heard of this but when I saw the cast I had to watch, James Mason, Leslie Caron, Ricky Nelson, Kirk Douglas, Farley Granger, Agnes Moorehead and others. But those are the ones that caught my eye. Strange really as it really was just three short stories about love. Tragic, yearning and true love. I liked it. But would not have watched it unless by chance this way. Glad I did.

29. National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007) (watched at my dad's he owns) - not a lot to say about this one. I loved the first movie and I loved this one! It was just as good as the first. In fact it was pretty much the same as the first. On a treasure hunt to find something important to American History and then finding an underground "world". Anyone who loved the first will love this and the movie ends with a set-up that could be made into a third sequel. I'd watch it. Great bit of fun!