i've rewatched these movies out of impulse. its also the first time i've watched them "back to back" so to speak. and i have some thoughts.

firstly my rankings of these movies go 2,4,1,3. and like scream, there are no bad movies in this series. 3 being last doesn't say anything about it more than the other ones were just good.

the first movie does an amazing job at introducing us to this world and to katniss as a protagonist. i think throughout the series katniss stays herself, her personality and the decisions she makes are consistent throughout each movie. same with the other characters. not a fan of the shaky cam tho lol. the second is the best, easily. non stop action. its one thing after the other and theres no time to breathe. i barely recognize that its an almost 3 hour movie, and i hate long movies lol. plutarchs conversation with katniss during the dance in the capitol is so good. just enough to make you question him but not enough to raise flags. it makes good use of its budget. also can't talk about this movie without talking about the aspect ratio shift...cinema.

in terms of the 3rd movie, as someone interested in propoganda and how it works, the filming of propos and the media aspect of a revolution interested me but it is relatively boring compared to the first two which are essentially action movies. it does do a good job of setting up the final act. which is part 2. donald sutherland eats in this one. he is equal parts menacing and just calm and persuasive enough to make you see why he's been in charge for so long. prideful until the end. this is something coin is not, as plutarch points out, she's not a good public speaker. going as far as writing her speeches for her. anyone who sees her unfiltered knows her true motivations. even katniss, whos a little dense at times lol. that is the biggest difference between her and snow and why she was caught out so fast, she's not good with people. so clever. great acting choices by sutherland and julianne moore.

jennifer lawrence kills it in all the movies but thats a given. josh hutcherson is the perfect peeta. and to think jena malone almost quit acting after sucker punch and wouldn't have given us the icon that is johanna mason. recently saw her in the bouroughs where she plays a mother and i thought..wow, is she even old enough for that? then i thought wow, im old lol.

its been a while since i've read the books. so i cant comment on the differences. but from my memory i'd say it stayed true to the source material.

a murder. two murders! found family. women. a sentient house. this book had everything. another banger by kate quinn. something i've gotten familiar with is the format of her books. multiple povs and a jumping timeline. i think it worked the best in this book. i didn't find myself disliking any of the povs. i did sniff out something was up with grace on the second chapter, she was up in everyone business. all the women were fleshed out and unique in their own right. the way everyone, including the side characters come together for thanksgiving was seamless. the interstitial made me continuously guess who died and who was murdered, and i'm a little disappointed that the person(s) who died were a side character and one we met only two chapters before. so i couldn't have guessed it even if i wanted to. but this isn't a murder mystery so it doesn't have to play by those rules - something i had to remind myself after the fact. if i remember correctly, briar club is about 100 pages less than the other two books of hers that i read. i appreciated that because i had said both of those dragged in the middle but this doesn't, i think it benefits being shorter.

the book really was about women coming together despite their differences and creating a family, a group of friends, whom they're willing to cover up a murder for. grace is a great interweaving thread between the girls. i aspire to have her confidence. this book also contextualized how i feel about america too. i find myself questioning if i love this country, am i proud to be american? and really, i am and this book helped me confirm that. for all its complications and dark history, america has a lot to be proud of. and that you can love it even if its not perfect because i believe in everything that it was founded on.

i read the murderbot diaries throughout the past couple weeks. i've grown emotionally attached to murderbot and something i quite liked is that even though they dont quite know what they want, they do not want to be seen as a person. its so interesting to me. in most sci fi, bots are trying to be seen as people, but here, murderbot just wants to be see as its own autonomous bot. it was forced to protect humans and when it finally has the choice, it still chooses to protect others. it cares despite trying really hard not to. i think the fact that it speaks about its "human/ organic parts" is a reminder that there is some human in the murderbot, hence its ability to feel. murderbot is a complex being and i can wait to read the rest of the series. the idea of mega-corporations controlling planets is inevitable and while i have a hard time imagining some things this world feels fully realized and the political climate is what seals it for me. its realistic and futuristic at the same time.

my favorite book is between the 1st or the 4th one. unsurprising because outside of murderbot, dr. mensah is my favorite character. the books are short, novellas as theyre classified as. which means the action happens quick and it doesn't let up until the end. the plot is constantly moving and yet theres time to really understand murderbots thought process and add characterization to it. all four books are very well paced.

this is the first book i bought from a local bookstore. this is an anthology so its hard to comment on the book as a whole. i thought there were no bad stories. some better than others. they picked the perfect stories to start and end the book with

my favorites were: melelani's mana, the gaijin, apana's last case

this book was very middle of the road for me. i initially gave it 3 stars but moved it down to two cause of the ending. i felt like i had a lot of unanswered questions at the end and a the questions that were answered were a bit anticlimactic. the fictional story is rooted in truth, and i love learning about new things when reading stories. i learned about a country i had no idea existed and its political history all in one. the dual timelines didn't bother me although i liked the flashbacks better than the letters. the way the book started in second person threw me off a bit, but once i understood what was going on i got used to it.

something that bothered me was how our main character killed daniel. she was given a syringe to kill thomas with earlier but she went and used a gun to kill daniel. why didn't she use the syringe? especially once she saw nicole in bed with him. that way nicole wouldn't have woken up and alerted the everyone. also i dont think we learned why she decided to kill daniel. i mean i know she didn't wanna kill thomas but she also had the option to run without killing anyone? idk unless im forgetting details it felt like a plot hole to me.

i also thought her immediately falling in love with thomas was off-putting. she was hyped up as a no-nonsense, hard to crack, worker, then she sees that man for 2 seconds and falls in love. i never truly bought they were attracted to each other.

wow, i loved this book. i was engrossed in it from the start. i was just as paranoid as shanice was. and essie, we weren't in her head as much, but i enjoyed her chapters as well. she was strong willed and just as engaging. i loved the story. i was always trying to figure out what happens next. i flagged noah as her stalker from early on but i did not catch that he was working for hanson. that was the only thing i caught onto though, every other reveal was a surprise to me. historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, i wouldn't call this historical fiction but i did learn some about the harlem renaissance. (i've grown to enjoy reading the authors notes) and i've always been fascinated by art, pantings, and their value in history. not quite the art heist i was looking for, but the fight over the painting tickled that part of my brain enough to satisfy it. this book is also listed as gothic, i dont know if i'd call it that, more of a mystery, thriller? maybe cause of the supernatural elements? either way it was great. i loved it. there was alot going on and the storyline about her dad cheating on her mom and her mom going crazy felt a little like filler but i guess you can justify it being there for shanice's anxiety. i like that she called it the beast. also, the little bit of incest at the end really completed the weird family cult thing i just knew that was gonna happen.

2nd non-fiction book i've read. very informative. the writing flowed well. i've been reading many historical fiction books about wwii and to read something about actual history and recognize places and moments were exciting. this mentioned rafs which i read about in the huntress, bletchley park in the rose code. i've never heard of sefton delmer until reading this even though he played a crucial part in the war and thereafter. the biggest thing i took away from this was that propaganda takes on many forms and facism uses propaganda to prey on the lonely. it gives people the opportunity to feel like they belong and to spit on the people who make them feel lonely. it speaks on the desires they can't say out loud. i loved to be able to learn how it works, given the current state of my country. it felt even nicer to know that there are ways to undermine this type of propaganda. which is not by facts but by validating these feelings and then giving them an opportunity to think for themselves instead of believing what they think they have to believe. this also reminds me how important free and unbiased information is. journalism free from government influence is crucial in subverting this kind of propaganda. i've always found this type of war more interesting than the actual military war. information is crucial. education is important. knowing how to subvert propaganda is a unique skill.

this book was the most science heavy i've read. but i enjoyed it. i liked learning how a civilization on the moon could be made possible. the economics included into the science made complete sense to me. corporations are going to be the first to commodify the moon. its already kinda happening now with spacex and commercial space flights. the story was fast paced and i appreciated that. the plot was fun. a crime on the moon. something that i disliked was the dialogue. and the writing at times. jazz, the main character, talks like a teenager. for the first few chapters i was trying to figure out how old she was and when i found out she was 26 i was shocked. also when she called herself "sexy" i cringed a little lol. despite jazz's teenager vibe, she is a capable, flawed, fleshed out, main character. which i greatly appreciate. the writing felt very avengers-ey. if that makes any sense. lots of quick, snappy, sarcastic dialogue in serious situations. it was a little jarring in certain moments. i felt like it made light of everything and i didnt feel the emotional weight of situations i felt like i should be having. especially in those life threatening moments. i never worried for jazz's life. even when she burst her hamster ball. her dramatic speech didnt feel dramatic. after reading the excerpt in the back, i get a sense that just this authors vibe. more about the science than the characters. i compare this to the other space books i've read (atmosphere, some desperate glory) and those were much more emotional, but maybe thats not the vibe he was going for. its a completely different kind of story. i will say, the snappy dialogue did helped me understand the science better. and it did make those parts less dense to read. i would've skimmed over it otherwise. which could be why he chooses this style. overall it was a decent crime story in a cool setting.

Total Books read: 28

Total Days Spent Reading: 146 (tracked from august)

Books i rated 5 stars: carrie soto is back*, sunrise on the reaping, some desperate glory, the phantom of the opera, 11/22/63*, atmosphere*, and then there were none, the rose code, the savage noble death of babs dionne

*= top three

most read genre: historical fiction

fun fact: read my first non-fiction book (the bookshop book) thanks to tiny bookshop!

finally read this book after putting it off for months. i truly enjoyed it. i'd describe the book as reflective. i felt like i was watching a play or a movie about sam and sadie's rise to success and they're highlighting significant moments in their lives. i can relate to sadie being a girl and then a woman who experiences sexism and constantly being looked over for people who are more charismatic but not necessarily more skilled. and i can relate to sam in that he's so secretive and reluctant to be vulnerable around others. my favorite thing about this book is it's importance of friendship and that friendship can be just as deeply moving as a romantic relationship. the story jumps through time between chapters and paragraphs but i did not mind it. i thought it flowed smoothly.

sam and sadie repeatedly tell each other that they love each other and they wont love anyone else more. which makes the last third of the book a little... dare i say, a little disappointing. i did not like that marx and sadie ended up together (sorry). i feel like that undercuts the whole theme of friendship. i also feel like the way they fall in love was kind of... meh. also i did not care for marx. sorry. and then sam briefly gets upset because sadie dated marx and not sam? so sam was actually in love with sadie? or was he upset that he was not the most important person in sadies life anymore? idk. i feel like sadie and sam could have "broken up" for a different reason without killing marx, and making sadie pregnant. ie, without sadie and marx getting together. but maybe im just being petty.

despite my dislike for marx, i thought that the section of marx's thoughts while he's in coma were beautiful. i remember making a thousand paper cranes myself when i was younger. i sped through the "pioneer" section, not sure why. the more i think about it the more i feel like sam and sadies fought more than they were friends lol. but the way they make up feels very human and i appreciated that. time goes by and it hurts less and you realize that they're more than the mistake they made back then.

this book gave me a whole new appreciation of video games, as someone who enjoys games already. i recently played stray and tiny bookshop before reading this and i think I’ve grown to like smaller games that tell engaging stories rather than those big open work fps games. bigger doesn’t always mean better.

i read this a while back and it took me some time to finally write this. i did enjoy the book. i like how the author presents the concept of time travel and the bureaucracy of it. which is 100% what would happen if it actually came to exist. with that being said, the majority of this book was spent mostly in the home of the nameless main character (who i assume is the author after minor research) and our new sailor friend.

its mostly a love story for 80% of the book tbh. and what are the odds that 2/4 expats you pick up are gay? 3 i guess if you count gore presumably sleeping with a man on his ships. not that theres anything wrong with it. just, doesn't mesh with the time periods. unless them being gay is why you chose them? the plot doesnt move until the end of the book. we spend most of the time with gore trying to teach him how to assimilate to the present. i wasn't bored but was also waiting for other things to happen? if that makes sense. i think its cause i picked this book mostly for the time travel and spy description. because of that, moments involving quinten had my attention the most.

i read both "the murder of roger ackroyd" and "and then there were none" back to back and decided to talk about them in the same post.