It’s Monday & I hope this posts before midnight

I am writing this at 10:55 p.m. WILL I MAKE THE DEADLINE? I hope so. (The answer, btw, is yes. Hitting post on this at 11:15.)

I won’t be participating in Month of Faves this week because I never post my fave books before December 31 as I may read one of my favorite books of the year between now and then. So, here’s a recap of all my Month of Faves posts from the past week instead:

• #AMonthofFaves Favorite Book Covers of 2020
• #AMonthofFaves Happy Moments from This Year
• #AMonthofFaves Holiday Book and Ornament Traditions

I also read some books and watched some movies:

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was solid, probably because I related to Prudence on a soul level (minus the hyper-organized business focused bits).

I liked the general premise of this, but I would honestly have liked to see the karma bit pushed a bit more. The focus on instant karma was cool, but there was also a long game here with the characters that I thought could use just a touch more reflection from Prudence. I mean, it’s open for the readers to do that, but I feel like the character was almost there.

Also! This is probably one of the funniest things I’ve read in a long time:

“Yeah, well, you’re being kind of intense. They are just animals, you know.”

If I had been the character Prudence addressed this to, I would have laughed directly in her face, especially since she spends the first part of the book flipping out because she got a C. IT’S JUST A C, PRUDENCE.

Anyway. Cute cover.


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Giant Days, Vol. 10 by John Allison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is solid. My favorite thing about this series is just that it’s so nice to be hanging out with these characters and seeing what they’re up to. I love slice of life stories, and I love vignettes, so this series always hits the mark with that. I also, in general, liked the turns taken with all the characters (especially Daisy, my fave). There is a shift in the artwork at one point, and that I did not like.

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Giant Days, Vol. 11 by John Allison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love Ed’s bodacious Australian girl and that she is bigger than him and more solid and that that facts intimidates the girls and makes her disappointed in Ed for only dating short girls.

As always, it’s just fun to hang out in this world.

The bonus Christmas story felt like a spinoff…

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Happiest Season (Hulu)

This movie was billed as a romcom and it’s not a romcom. It’s a family drama, which is fine because I love a good family drama–just not when it’s billed as a romcom. And so it goes.

Good performances all around, but I did not come out of it feeling good or happy or even particularly liking the characters, which, again, is fine if that’s what I expected going in.

The title is ironic, just in case that wasn’t clear. My review most certainly is not.

Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (Netflix)

Debbie Allen is amazing. This documentary is amazing. I may or may not have gotten the eye sweats at the end.

I cannot wait to watch Hot Chocolate Nutcracker live and in person when the world reopens, and I am 99% sure it’s the first live performance of The Nutcracker that I won’t fall asleep on.