Sunday News #27

Sunday Post and Sunday Salon are blog news memes hosted at Caffeinated Reviewer and Reader Buzz, respectively. It’s a chance to share news, recap the past week on your blog, and showcase books and other things.
Feeling

I’m feeling a little bit depressed right now. I almost didn’t write this post, and I decided to act opposite of my depression urge and still participate.

Blogging

This week on the blog:

Reading

I haven’t read much this week. I’ve been recuperating from the move and unpacking a little here and there. I did start reading SEAN GRISWOLD’S HEAD by Lindsey Leavitt, but I haven’t made much progress. I’m hoping to read more this week.

Listening

I’ve been listening to my 80s playlist while I’m in the car. I’ve rediscovered some great songs, and I’ve also discovered some songs that I remember being awesome and aren’t. One of my favorite artists is Michael Jackson. I love his music and I love the way he could dance.

Watching

Corey and I finally saw THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER and it was amazing. Natalie Portman as Lady Thor was fantastic. Christian Bale was awesome too.

We also watched the last episode of MS. MARVEL. It was fantastic. That mid-credits scene!

We watched the season finale of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS this week too. It was so good; I can’t wait for season 2.

We also started watching STRANGER THINGS. We had already seen season 1 and part of season 2. We haven’t watched it, though, since those seasons first came out. We’ve rewatched season 1 already and we’re halfway through season 2. It’s so crazy!

Loving

I love my new manicure. I love the shade of purple I chose and I love the flowers. I only did one nail with flowers on my left hand so they’re asymmetrical. I may do this color and design the next time I get a manicure too.

Wanting

I want the 26th to come quickly because I’m getting LASIK on both my eyes. I’ve so excited!

Needing

I’m not sure what I need right now. It’s hard to know when I’m feeling depressed. Hopefully, the depression won’t last long.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

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Book vs. Movie: Love, Simon

Book vs. Movie is a feature here at JenniElyse. I do a side-by-side comparison of the book and movie (or tv show) and which I like better. There may be minor spoilers.

As I said in my review of SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA, I actually saw the movie before I read the book. I loved LOVE, SIMON so much that I decided to read SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA as my first foray into LGBTQ+ fiction. Subsequently, this is more of a Movie vs. Book post.

I watched LOVE, SIMON on Hulu and fell in love with Simon’s story. I connected strongly with him because of his fear of rejection and/or disappointing those he loved if he came out.

I thought that Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel were perfect in the role of Simon’s parents. I loved Nick Robinson as Simon and the actors who played the other high schoolers. I also thought Tony Hale was amazing as the high school principal. I also loved the dancing scene of Simon’s daydream about college. It made me smile and I laughed at his “maybe not that gay” comment.

When I read SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA, I was surprised to find out that Simon has two sisters and that he and Abby were in the musical together as the movie doesn’t address that at all. Cal and Martin, Leah’s crush, and the ending were all different between the movie and book. I like both endings. I think they both fit the medium well. I liked that both the movie and book explore bullying, acceptance, friendship, and family.

Verdict

I bet you know the verdict before I even say it. The movie’s different from the book, but the spirit of the story’s still the same. Most of the time books are way better than their movies, but in this instance, I think both the book and movie are equally as good.

Have you read SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA? Have you seen LOVE, SIMON? Do you like the book or the movie better?

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Narniathon: The Last Battle

There are spoilers for THE LAST BATTLE in this post.

Narniathon: The Last Battle

THE LAST BATTLE is the final book in the Narniad (in both published and chronological order). I finished reading it for the Narniathon21 a little over a week ago. (The Narniathon’s hosted by Chris at Calmgrove.)

When I first read THE LAST BATTLE back in 2007, I hated it. I gave it only one star. I’ve stated in previous discussion posts that the main reason I decided to participate in the Narniathon was because I wanted to see if my feelings for THE LAST BATTLE changed upon rereading it.

As I reread THE LAST BATTLE, I tried to keep an open mind. I’m glad I did because I enjoyed it much more this time around. I do still have a couple of problems with it, though. The first problem is with some of the allegory and the second is the same problematic language regarding the Calormenes that I noticed in THE HORSE AND HIS BOY.

I didn’t have a problem with all of the allegory in THE LAST BATTLE. In fact, I truly enjoyed the allusion to Moses and the staff with the serpent on it as the characters saw or didn’t see what was really past the door in the stable. I also loved the allusions to the second coming of Christ and what’s written in Revelations regarding the wars, false Christs, and the coming of the Beast. The way Lewis tied them all together as a coherent story was phenomenal.

The part of the allegory in THE LAST BATTLE I had a problem with is regarding Susan and Puzzle. I still don’t agree with how Lewis treated Susan nor do I think that she shouldn’t be “redeemed” when Puzzle, who imitated Aslan, was. I know Puzzle was tricked by Shift. However, before Puzzle agreed to go along with Shift, Puzzle actually said that he knew it was wrong to impersonate Aslan. To me, this means he went along willingly. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad Puzzle was “redeemed;” I just think if he was, then Susan should’ve been as well as she only liked nylons, lipstick, and invitations more than Narnia.

By mixing a little truth with it they made their lie far stronger.

I thought the problematic language of the Calormenes in THE LAST BATTLE was far worse than what I read in THE HORSE AND HIS BOY. Every time the dwarfs called a Calormene “Darkie,” I cringed. As I stated in my discussion post for THE HORSE AND HIS BOY, I try not to cast judgment on people in the past using today’s lenses. I also think it’s better to learn from our past mistakes than to condemn a man for participating in socially “acceptable,” albeit reprehensible, behavior at the time. Because of this language, though, I didn’t enjoy THE LAST BATTLE nearly as much as I could have.

I can’t believe we’ve reached the end of the Narniathon. I’m glad I decided to participate in it. I have a new found appreciation for the Narniad. Thanks, Chris, for hosting!

Have you read THE LAST BATTLE? Did you like it? Why? Why not?

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Top Ten Tuesday #26

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Summery Book Covers

This week’s prompt is “Book Covers that Feel Like Summer” and was submitted by Ellie from Curiosity Killed the Bookworm. This is pretty straight forward. Here are my top ten summery covers of books on my TBR:

You may have noticed a theme. Nothing means summer more to me than sailing with my husband. I love the water and I love the beach.

What about you? What are your favorite summery book covers? Do we have any in common?

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Narniathon: The Magician’s Nephew

There are spoilers for THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW in this post.

Narniathon: The Magician’s Nephew

THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW is the sixth book in the Narniad (in published order). I finished reading it for the Narniathon21 a little over a week ago. (The Narniathon’s hosted by Chris at Calmgrove.)

I didn’t remember much from my previous read 14 years ago, but I knew THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW followed the Professor as a young boy during the creation of Narnia. As I started rereading it, I realized that I’d forgotten or missed a lot of the story that first time through.

When I first read THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW back in 2007, I didn’t know there was a published order and a chronological order to the Narniad. I made the mistake of reading THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW first and I didn’t enjoy it very much. I thought it was slow and boring. I also didn’t really get much out of it other than the origin of Narnia, the White Witch, and the wardrobe.

As stated above, we’ve been reading the books in published order for the Narniathon. I wasn’t sure if that’d make a difference or not. However, I’m now a believer that everyone should read the Narniad in published order. I enjoyed THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW so much more with the background of all that had already happened in the previous books. I also got more out of the allegory this time around.

As I’ve mentioned in previous discussion posts, the allegory’s my favorite part of the Narniad. I love trying to find meaning and connections with Christianity while reading each book. The allegory in THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW aligns so much with my own beliefs that it made it a joy to read and it’s now one of my favorite books in the Narniad.

The obvious connection in THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW to Christianity is the creation, the Garden of Eden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I also thought it was interesting that Lewis alluded to the worlds without number that God has created in the Wood Between the Worlds.

I think this quote from THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW sums up my reading experience quite nicely:

What you see and what you hear depends on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.

Anyway, after reading THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW, I found myself looking forward to reading THE LAST BATTLE for the first time since I started the Narniathon.

Have you read THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW? Did you like it? Why? Why not?

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