![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
October has been up and down. Still lots of free time but I didn't get much done due to bad health and stress. Because my body obviously thinks any time off is the perfect time to freak out...
City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte - possibly the strangest book I've read this year... the term "madcap" has never been more accurate. Museums, music, dead people, drugs, intrigue, random sex... I'm still not sure I actually enjoyed the book but it was impossible to stop reading it. It read kind of like a teen novel on crack.
City of Lost Dreams by Magnus Flyte - and then came the second one. I definitely liked the first one better.
The Roman Triumph by Mary Beard - an in-depth look at the questions behind the triumph. Lots of interesting tidbits but I wish she'd gone into more detail about some aspects. I still love Mary Beard as an author.
The Last Days of the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport - a surprisingly quick read, with lots of intriguing details. The formatting was a little annoying though: each chapter represented a new day, but also included insight on a new character. I would have preferred more of a background approach at the beginning, then a streamlined timeline...
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor - I was hoping for something as mind-blowing as "Who Fears Death", which I loved. This turned out to be more an alien invasion story, with the interesting twist of aliens landing in Africa rather than the standard European/North American setting. The language could be difficult to follow in places (though there is a handy index at the back) and the characters were engaging, but the story felt a bit hollow to me.
The Gates of Thread & Stone by Lori M. Lee - I picked this up on a whim. It's pretty standard fare for a teen novel, though it was well-paced and interesting. It could have used more depth, more development of characters and story.
Movies & stuff
Make Your Move (2013) - because I'm a sucker for dance movies. It was nice to see some tap getting movie time but the general movie itself was rather dull and EXTREMELY predictable.
The Lady in Number 6 (2014) - a documentary about the role music played in the life of a Holocaust survivor. It was an interesting story but I was expecting more on the history and less on the music. It felt like they could have pushed a little farther into it, rather than just turning it into a feel-good piece about how music is all you ever need.
Outings
Fabulous Fabergé exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. I didn't know much about the subject going into it, so it was fascinating to learn about the history of the eggs and the role of Fabergé in the lives of the tsars (which led me to read that book). I would have liked to know more about the eggs themselves (the movie at the beginning was the best part) and would have enjoyed seeing more than the few they had on display. Beautiful craftsmanship and fascinating themes, however.
Gardens of Light lantern festival at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I try to go to this every year and I'm never disappointed. The ships on the pond were particularly beautiful in the Chinese gardens, but my absolute favorite was the installation of lit-up paper cranes in the Japanese pavilion. Gorgeous.
City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte - possibly the strangest book I've read this year... the term "madcap" has never been more accurate. Museums, music, dead people, drugs, intrigue, random sex... I'm still not sure I actually enjoyed the book but it was impossible to stop reading it. It read kind of like a teen novel on crack.
City of Lost Dreams by Magnus Flyte - and then came the second one. I definitely liked the first one better.
The Roman Triumph by Mary Beard - an in-depth look at the questions behind the triumph. Lots of interesting tidbits but I wish she'd gone into more detail about some aspects. I still love Mary Beard as an author.
The Last Days of the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport - a surprisingly quick read, with lots of intriguing details. The formatting was a little annoying though: each chapter represented a new day, but also included insight on a new character. I would have preferred more of a background approach at the beginning, then a streamlined timeline...
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor - I was hoping for something as mind-blowing as "Who Fears Death", which I loved. This turned out to be more an alien invasion story, with the interesting twist of aliens landing in Africa rather than the standard European/North American setting. The language could be difficult to follow in places (though there is a handy index at the back) and the characters were engaging, but the story felt a bit hollow to me.
The Gates of Thread & Stone by Lori M. Lee - I picked this up on a whim. It's pretty standard fare for a teen novel, though it was well-paced and interesting. It could have used more depth, more development of characters and story.
Movies & stuff
Make Your Move (2013) - because I'm a sucker for dance movies. It was nice to see some tap getting movie time but the general movie itself was rather dull and EXTREMELY predictable.
The Lady in Number 6 (2014) - a documentary about the role music played in the life of a Holocaust survivor. It was an interesting story but I was expecting more on the history and less on the music. It felt like they could have pushed a little farther into it, rather than just turning it into a feel-good piece about how music is all you ever need.
Outings
Fabulous Fabergé exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. I didn't know much about the subject going into it, so it was fascinating to learn about the history of the eggs and the role of Fabergé in the lives of the tsars (which led me to read that book). I would have liked to know more about the eggs themselves (the movie at the beginning was the best part) and would have enjoyed seeing more than the few they had on display. Beautiful craftsmanship and fascinating themes, however.
Gardens of Light lantern festival at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. I try to go to this every year and I'm never disappointed. The ships on the pond were particularly beautiful in the Chinese gardens, but my absolute favorite was the installation of lit-up paper cranes in the Japanese pavilion. Gorgeous.
