2021 Reading: Not My Father's Son

 #4 A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign

I love Alan Cumming as an actor but I had no idea the trauma that he went through growing up. He seems like such a happy individual (and he is) that hearing the things from his past just breaks my heart and makes me grateful for my own childhood. I'm also glad that he was able to overcome it and go on to live his life and do what he wanted to do. Like I said, I'm a big fan and I hope he plans to do more in the coming years.

2021 Reading: Different Seasons

 #23 A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021

I know at some point I attempted to read 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption' but I don't think I ever read any of the other stories, so I figured this would be a good time to dive into this book as a whole. And since there will be no traveling at all this year, why not indulge in a fun fantasy that I will visit Maine one day and pretend that I am in a Stephen King novel.

It amazes me how the film writers turned Shawshank Redemption from this short story into a movie. I guess I can say that about most of the stories. I'm always amazed at things like that. I've never seen the movie for 'Apt Pupil' but I'm sure that it is just as good as the others.

2021 Reading: Of Human Bondage

 #41 The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list

Surprisingly, I have owned this book as well as the movie adaptation starring Bette Davis for THE LONGEST time, but have never once picked either up until this year. Now that I am done with the book, I plan to watch the movie as well and then I can scratch both off of the list.

There was a particular passage in this book near the beginning that really struck me and I knew that I needed to get it down so that I remembered it.

"[...]It is an illusion that youth is happy, an illusion of those who have lost

it; but the youth know they are wretched, for they are full of the truthless

ideals which have been instilled into them, and each time they come in

contact with the real they are bruised and wounded. It looks as if they

were victims of a conspiracy; for the books they read, ideal by the ne-

cessity of selection, and the conversation of their elders, who look back

upon the past through a rosy haze of forgetfulness, prepare them for an

unreal life. They must discover for themselves that all they have read

and all they have been told are lies, lies, lies; and each discovery is another

nail driven into the body on the cross of life." (pg. 106)

I also kept thinking about the Persian carpet that Cronshaw gave to Philip in Paris and said that it held the answer to the meaning of life but it he had to figure it out for himself otherwise the answer would be meaningless. I wracked my brain about that for so long until I suddenly, and out loud, said "IT REALLY TIED THE ROOM TOGETHER" and then immediately face-palmed with my fist. *sigh*

Despite my wanting to smack the main character in the face for his constant indecision and lack of self preservation in the face of toxic women, I really enjoyed this book.

2021 Reading: Pet Semetary

 #46 A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn’t

This has actually been on my TBR list for a very long time. I watched the movie as a part of my "Shitty 80's Horror Movie" review series that I used to do for this blog (which I should totally get back into, BTW) and I knew that I wanted to read it so that I could compare them. Now I guess I have to watch the new one that came out a few years ago.

 I love King's writing so much. There's just something about it (his older stuff anyway. I've heard some things about his later stuff that make me think I wouldn't like it as much) that draws you in and makes it so you don't think you can put it down.

2021 Reading: Mother Knows Best

 #27 A book about a social justice issue

Alright, let's see if we can BS our way into making this book about social justice... Hmmm. Well, there's the part about the mother enslaving the dead to do her bidding like slavery? No? Or keeping her young daughters captive in the forest away from the rest of the world like a weird cult away from the rest of society? Still no? How about the oppressive nature of being not only a woman, but a witch in the times surrounding these types of stories where females were thought to be weak-minded and frail, unable to fend for themselves?

Yeah, I give up. Let's just say I stretched it a bit just so I could fit this book in because I wanted to read it, and I didn't really want to read a serious book about social justice issues that might bum me out because I've had enough serious shit to deal with lately as it is and I just wanted something fun.

Yeah. Let's go with that.

2021 Reading: Mistress of All Evil

 #36 A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads

I can't believe this book doesn't have more reviews. This is a fantastic book and I was hooked the moment I picked it up. Of all the villains, I think this one is the one that interests me the most and I know that the movies are out there, but I just like this storyline so much better. The way the stories are interwoven with all the rest of the Disney characters and how they all feed off of one another is fascinating. I can't wait to move on the next one and find out more.

2021 Reading: A Storm of Swords

#49 A DNF book from your TBR list

This one was originally on my 2019 list as "#34 A book that includes a wedding"

Hahahaha! See what I did there? "Includes a wedding"?

I'm hilarious.

This one took me such a long time to get through and I think it was just a bunch of medical stuff on top of another semester of school starting and I was just NOT in the mood to read at all until nearly the end of February. It was a pretty blah time. And then it was April and the show came back and I didn't want to read, so that delayed it even more I ended up reading one or two chapters while I sped through other books just to make progress on the list since I was so far behind.

Fast forward and I completely just ended up not reading anything in 2019 because of school and work and a thousand other things that kept me occupied.

But I'm finally done now... Two years later. And I am so damned confused.