march
Books
The City in the Middle of the Night
A fantastic book about humankind settling on a tidally-locked planet, but instead of seeing how we cope, we learn the stories of their descendants, hundreds of years after our first tentative steps. The light is too bright and hot, and the night too cold and dark. We live on the edge in an eternal dusk/morning light. The two protagonists, Mouth, and Sophie, are on the edges of society, yearning for things they’ve lost or can’t have, and all that leads towards. This book was a beautiful meditation on love and community, as well as memory. If you’ve read the Steerswoman series, you might find some familiarity, but generally the genre of lost technology and future worlds is incredibly fascinating to me.
Vengeful
An interesting sequel to Vicious, the first of the Villains series. Most of the book serves as a prologue for the lighting-fast action at the end of the book, and I’m very excited to see what these characters do next, if she continues for a third installment. I really enjoyed the character June, because who doesn’t love a shapeshifting assassin?
Movies
Captain Marvel
Super fun! Brie Larson made for a very compelling super hero, and I love Goose with my whole heart. The 90s throwback setting was a delight, along with its soundtrack. I’m stoked to see what this sets up for future Marvel films, and hopeful that we see the Skrull again (please show up in Runaways).
Flavors of Youth
An alright film about the things we leave behind as we grow older, and the tastes and regrets we have. Most of this film is set in China, which is an interesting place to hear all the characters speak Japanese. There are three vignettes, and none really tugged my heartstrings, but it was still a well done movie.
Noteable TV
F1: Drive to Survive
I’ve followed F1 racing for years, and love the drama and speed. This series shows the myriad stories and personalities that make these ten teams and twenty drivers so cool. Even if you’ve never watched a single race, you might be drawn in by this series. I’d forgotten how wild the 2018 season is, and 2019 has only just begun. 19 more races this year to see if someone can finally edge out Ferrari or Mercedes
Pen15
This is an incredible show about middle school, embarrassment, and friendship. It covers so much ground and captures the 90s perfectly. The main actresses (in their 30s) seem to have a blast in every scene, and I bet filming with actual children was a trip. My favorite line was “I found that dress in a river”.