Film Friday #5

Welcome to my new feature, Film Friday. Here I will recap the films I have watched this week, and ones that I have either discovered or talked about.

Watched:

Erin Brokovich

Made in 2000, this film stars Julia Roberts as an unemployed single mother of three. After hiring herself as a legal assistant, she creates a case against an American power company for polluting a city’s water supply.

I think one of the great things about this movie is that you know it is based on a true story. So every action has more meaning, because its not just some storyline concocted for the movies. When it was over, it left me thinking how similar things happen in society; companies covering things up. One example my friend came up with was the BP oil spill. But share with me if you know of any other films based on a true story (the only other I could think of is Pursuit of Happyness). I think it adds a certain edge to the film.

7/10 stars

The Internship

I have seen the trailer for this a gazillion times so I knew I had to see it. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson star as two middle aged men who lose their jobs and decide to apply for internships at Google. Once there, they are bundled in a team with other misfits, and have to try and succeed in order to secure a job at Google. 

Now, the plotline is pretty simple and predictable. One of those against-all-the-odds movies, they aren’t really any twists to make it interesting. Basically the reason to see this film is if you like Vince and Owen’s comedy (which seems to be pretty much the same no matter what film) or if you are intrigued what working at Google is really like. 

There are funny parts, bits that made me smile and laugh, but it isn’t really a lifechanger. The main bit that interested me was the challenges that they had to complete as part of the internship, and just the general environment. It made me wonder whether I’d really like to work somewhere like that, with free lunches and nap pods…. And it probably shows why Google is consistently rated the best place to work. An article here discusses life as an intern with Google employee Mark Hariz, and another one here discusses how accurate the film is. Certainly interesting, but not one I’d ever watch again. 

6/10 stars

Heard/Talked about:

Geography Club

A trailer has been released for this film, based on the bestseller by Brent Hartinger. Its on my summer to read pile and I hope to get to it soon. According to IMDB, the release date is set as April 2013 but I don’t know if it has been released or has a UK release date. If anyone knows more I’d be grateful to know! 

Check out the trailer here

That’s my film wrap up for this week. What are your opinions/thoughts? What other Julia Roberts films do I need to watch? Have any recommendations for me this week? 

Top Ten: Books on my Summer 2013 TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. 

Today I’ve decided to highlight the top ten books on my physical TBR shelf that I will be reading over the summer. And I know it isn’t Tuesday, but I saw other people’s posts and thought it would be a good list to do! 

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger: I wanted to read this for the LGBT Readathon but didn’t get chance. I definitely want to read it before the film is released, and its only small so I’m hoping to slip this one in. 

Icons by Margaret Stohl: This is the first in a series which looks really exciting. It’s also a review copy from Harper Collins, so I want to get this one read soon.

Geekhood: Mission Improbable by Andy Robb: I ADORED Andy’s first book (review here), and I am really excited to read the sequel. Here’s hoping for lots more books by Andy, as he is a great writer.

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Colette Caddle: I plucked this from my library pile as a good summer read for the beach. I love a good, funny romance, and I hope this lives up to my expectations.

Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne:  Everyone has been raving about this and Tanya’s next book, and I feel like I missed the train slightly! So I am trying to catch up by reading this.

From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas: I wanted to take this book on holiday but it just missed the cut! Described as The Hangover for teens, this looks like a lot of fun.

The Look by Sophia Bennett: I recently read Sophia’s latest book (You Don’t Know Me) and really loved it. Luckily I had scooped up this one in The Works (I know, right?!) a couple of weeks ago, AND it has pink edges! ❤

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt: I’ve heard lots of good things about this book, and I love ‘issue’ fiction, which I’ve heard it described as, so it sounds like a perfect UKYA read for me! 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan: Another book leftover from the LGBT Readathon, I STILL have only read one John Green book, and this needs to change! I’m also hoping to go to a David Levithan event in October so would like to read more of his books too.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen: This just sums up ‘summer read’ completely. I’ve never read a book by Sarah Dessen but I am eager to delve into her contemporaries as they all sound amazing! 

So there you have it folks! Which of these would you recommend (or not?!) ? What books are on your TBR pile this summer? Is there anything I’ve forgotten that I shouldn’t miss out on? Let me know! 

LGBT Readathon!

This weekend I am taking part in the LGBT readathon, hosted by Faye of A Daydreamer’s Thoughts.

I haven’t been reading much lately, but I will try and change that! The books I have on my TBR eligible for this challenge are: 

        

 

 

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Keeping You A Secret by Julie Peters

Sprout by Dale Peck

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

When Love Comes to Town by Tom Lennon

I hope to start Boy Meets Boy first, as this comes recommended by Faye herself. It also highlights the lack of lesbian YA aside from Keeping You A Secret. If you could recommend any then please feel free! 

Faye is also hosting a twitter chat at 8pm GMT on Sunday. Look out for #LGBTRead to take part, or head over to her blog to find out more.

Letterbox Love #19

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey of Narratively Speaking whereby book lovers can exhibit the books they received this week.

Welcome to my 2-week haul post! 

Firstly, lots of goodies from the library this fortnight. Starting with Slated and Fractured by Teri Terry. I loved Slated, but read it so long ago I can’t remember what happens. So I will be having a double read to remind myself. Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher was the winner of the Waterstones’ Childrens Book Prize, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod is an adult book that sounds quite dystopian. I had taken out the hardback, but when I saw my library was getting a paperback I decided to put my name down for that instead. They are just so much easier to handle. The Baby Diaries by Sam Binnie is a book that my mum enjoyed, and I love a good girly book (especially about babies), so I ordered this one. A book that I very nearly bought a couple of weeks ago in Waterstones is Unremembered by Jessica Brody. It sounds a bit like the TV show ‘Lost’, which I adored, so I’m looking forward to checking this out. The last library book is ‘Boy Meets Boy‘ by David Levithan, ordered for the LGBT marathon hosted by Faye of A Daydreamer’s Thoughts. I don’t think I’ve every read any of his books, though a few are on my TBR list, such as Every Day.

Books that I received this week include New Girl by Paige Harbison and The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I won these from Becky at Becky’s Barmy Book Blog for her Spring Clean giveaway. I really loved The Immortal Rules, so I’m excited to see what Julie’s other series is liked. I’m really enjoying Mira Ink’s books at the moment, so fingers crossed for this and New Girl. Becky was kind enough to throw in some bookmarks and badges too which was really sweet. And did I mention the Julie Kagawa is hardback? And glittery! *drools* Thanks very much Becky 🙂

The second and third Metawars books by Jeff Norton, The Dead are Rising and Battle of the Immortal, were sent for review from Rebecca at Hachette. I really enjoyed the first book but wanted more from the characters, so I’m excited to hopefully see their development in the next two! Thanks very much Rebecca for these shiny beauties.

Last week I was luckily enough to meet Andy Robb, author of Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind and Geekhood: Mission Improbable. Shamefully, I have yet to read the first book, even though I got in in my birthday haul early this year. Luckily, Andy forgave me (I think!) and signed both books (I had with me the first, and bought the second there). He was really lovely, and perhaps one of the nicest, most natural authors I have ever met. We talked for ages, and yet it still felt like I could talk more. From publishers to cover design, blogging and holidays, you name it. He was very nice, which made me feel extra guilty for not having read his books!

While in Waterstones, I also picked up Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. I really want to read all of John Green’s books, so owning them is a good start. Oh, and my copy of Geography Club by Brent Hartinger finally came! This is also for Faye’s readathon. I was surprised at how small the book is, but I want to read it before the film is released, so it serves a double purpose 🙂

Ebooks:

Thanks to Netgalley and Open Road Media for Being Henry David by Cal Armistead and When Love Comes to Town by Tom Lennon.

 

 

 

I’m taking part in the blog tour for Animate Me by Ruth Clampett, so look out for my review in a few weeks! The cover is so adorable.

Love is a Thief by Claire Garber is a book I’ve had my eye on for a while. So thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for this!

And last, but certainly NOT least, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell!!! Although this book isn’t released till September, someone tweeted on Thursday evening that it was on Netgalley. Two minutes later, I had requested it, and thinking about the agony of waiting for the approval/denial. But then when the same person (I can’t remember who!) said they had been approved, it cued my frantic email refreshing. And I did get approved! And I finished it last night. WHAT A WHIRLWIND. St Martin’s Press, I owe you my heart for letting me read this, and approving so quickly.

What did you receive this week? Have you read any of my books and do you think it should be at the top or the bottom of my to read pile? Do you think its shameful to go to an author event without having read their book(s)? I’d love to hear from you!