Yeah, so last week got away from me…

Which is why, after saying I was back to my regular blogging schedule I…didn’t post anything last week. And this post is a day late. Oops? NO EXCUSE, amirite? Especially since my students had their second blog posts due then. Oh well. I’m here now and that’s all that matters. (Also, to be fair, I did post twice that other week.)

So, a lot has happened since my last post:

1. I actually finished two books!

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, the darkest timeline is SUPER dark, which I wasn’t really prepared for.

The best part of this book is the development of the relationships of the characters we know in the movie, especially connecting Cassiem (the first thief Jafar takes to the Cave of Wonders) to Aladdin (even if it does completely blow the canon from the third movie. And yes that is an actual thought I had. I know the straight-to-video sequels suck, but are they not Disney canon? Ahem. I digress.)

All in all, a fairly fast read. I would recommend it to any fan of the movie just because it’s a Disney sanctioned AU fanfic, and it’s an interesting take on the story.

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All’s Fair in Love, War, and High School by Janette Rallison

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Janette Rallison’s books remain delightful as always. My favorite thing about this one is that Samantha is kind of a jerk, but she’s completely oblivious to it and still manages to be likable/someone to root for. It’s nice to see her change because it feels believable. In fact, she kind of reminded me of Cher from Clueless (HIGH PRAISE, THAT).

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2. I am reading some other books now.

Most notably, I am on page 277 of Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter (so close to the end!). It is delightful. Here’s one of my favorite passages for obvious reasons (hint: I’m a nerd 🤓):

And this is why cast albums (all of ’em, not just mine) are so useful. Maybe one in a thousand people will catch that Angelica’s responding with a Lady Macbeth quote, thus referencing Hamilton’s Macbeth quote at the top of the song.

I am one in a thousand, y’all.

I also started another book this morning, but I can’t remember the title, and I’m too lazy to get it out of my bag. Oh, and I’m listening to a middle grade, but, again, see previous sentence.

3. I went to a party. Okay, it was a movie screening. And how L.A. am I that I went to a movie screening? It’s so obnoxious. (It was awesome.) The movie was Ten, which is based on the Gretchen McNeil novel of the same name. Also, some of your favorite YA authors and mine were there, so that was fun. PLUS ALSO, so many of the people there are actual friends with some of my friends but I am only Twitter adjacent to them, so I thought it would be weird to be all, “Yeah, I know you because you’re friends with my friends on Twitter, but I am not cool enough to be your friend.” (This is not true. Of course I am cool enough to be their friend. But I am not Twitter cool enough, which is a different story.)

4. I also got to meet a super famous author who is AMAZING and you all know her, but I cannot name drop her because it wasn’t at an event or out in public but at a private thing, and I want to tell all of you who she is, but I just can’t. Let me just say that you know her. And she’s a woman, obviously.

I hate myself, too, for this list item. I could just delete it, but what’s the fun in that? Man, I’m awful.

Also, how L.A. am I that I could totally namedrop for two bullet points but only name dropped once? I feel very Rogelio or Tahani right now except they would have totally told you who was at the party. And who the author is.

5. Also, how excited am I that The Good Place‘s second season starts tomorrow even if I can’t watch the episode until probably Friday? SO EXCITED.

Okay, I should go grade now, especially since I have to return these papers by Thursday.

Have a great week, everyone!

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