Monday 1 December 2014

The Nerd List - November 2014

Yay for procrastination and reading in the month of November (a.k.a. “Doom-month”, “Will-I-ever-make-it month”, and “Is-this-real-life-or-am-I-hallucinating-from-lack-of-sleep month”)! I truly expected that out of this entire year, November would be the one month in which I would do the least reading and blogging, but it turns out that despite the fact that I had exams pretty much non-stop, I got a lot more done than when I actually had the time to read. Ironic? I think so. In any case, enjoy this month’s Nerd List, and I hope that your current procrastination goes smoothly.

Books


Books I’ve read:
The Children Act by Ian McEwan (Goodreads)
The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse (Goodreads | my review)
Rooms by Lauren Oliver (Goodreads | my review)
The Whores’ Asylum by Katy Darby (Goodreads)

Book of the month


This is a pretty difficult toss-up, but I have to decide on Ian McEwan’s The Children Act. The time has come to accept McEwan as one of the greatest writers of our time, and The Children Act is most certainly no exception to his brilliant writing. Following the trials of Fiona Maye, a leading High Court judge presiding over cases in family court. McEwan weaves a heartbreaking and enthralling story dealing with clashes between law and home life. I highly recommend this novel.

Character of the month


Cynical and hilarious Sandra from Lauren Oliver’s Rooms is absolutely one of my favourite ghosts ever. She’s quirky, chatty and downright annoying, but that’s what makes her so real (despite the fact that she’s… um… dead). Sandra’s running commentaries had me crying I was laughing so hard, but then she’d stun me with such sincerity that I was blinking away tears of sympathy.

Quote of the month


“Memory is as thick as mud. It rises up, it overwhelms. It sucks you down and freezes you where you stand. Thrash and kick and gnash your teeth. There's no escaping it.”

Moments


Fangirl moment of the month


Not truly a “fangirl” moment, but really one of the most exciting moments of the month was when reviewing The Jewel by Amy Ewing for Writers Write. You can find my review on Facebook, and I would really appreciate it if you’d “like” it (if you really do like it) there. Thank you to Writers Write for the opportunity to read and review the novel!

Facepalm moment of the month


Lack of sleep combined with many hours of studying and countless cups of tea made just about every single moment a “facepalm” moment. Whatever moments weren’t fuzzed up by exhaustion are probably moments I’m not so keen on remembering, like being too tired to accurately pour water into my mouth and managing to pour it down my front instead, or something to that extent.


Music


Album of the month


I gave in to curiosity and pure teenage-girl-ness this month and downloaded The Vamps’ debut album. I can’t even deny that I love it. Meet The Vamps is the perfect album to blast when you’re home alone and dance around to; it’s poppy, it’s got a good beat, and after a while it’s easy to overlook the shockingly annoying choice of name for a pretty good band.

Song of the month



The Hanging Tree from the Mockingjay: Part One soundtrack is incredible. James Newton Howard absolutely perfected the way that the song was supposed to sound (from the book, of course). It’s spooky and simple but beautifully lyrical and meaningful. I love it.

Lyric of the month


“We’re taking this easy ‘cause, darling, that’s what dreams are made of. This story is probably made up so why don’t you go back to sleep?”
- Mayday Parade, 12 Through 15

Other


Movie of the month



I saw Mockingjay: Part One and I’m pretty sure not much more needs to be said other than that I freaked out a lot and cried a little bit.

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