March has felt a lot like spinning tea cups. It’s been a month of “hold on tight, this could get nauseating” mixed with a lot of fun. We went on a Spring Break vacation with the kids, stressed out over holes in the house, got my son his first pair of glasses and fought violently with our printer. The weather keeps switching between warm sun with a gentle breeze and brutally brisk winds and hail – sometimes both in the same day.

Here’s some of the stuff I’ve been into this month in between spinning around like a tea cup trying to balance work and home and after school activities, etc. I’m linking up with the lovely Leigh Kramer to share what I’m into right now.

BOOKS:

I’ve read four books this month. Two were really more like short stories but still – here’s what I’ve been reading and what I thought of each book.

1. Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky by Marissa Meyer – Finished March 4, 2015 – This is one of the free bridge books in the Lunar Chronicles. It was fun getting to read about Carswell ‘s back story from his POV. It actually made me like him a little more and was a nice return to the Lunar Chronicles while I wait for book 4 to come out. Very short short story so an easy, quick read.
2. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins – Finished March 10, 2015 – When my 8 year old son insisted that I read this series, I couldn’t say no. It’s no surprise that Suzanne Collins has written another series that creates rabid fans. This story is adorable and inspiring and often gives ‘all the feels’ – It’s also a nice quick read for advanced readers and probably a challenging read for intermediate readers looking for a push. I’ll definitely be reading book two. – full review –
3. Glitches by Marissa Meyer – Finished March 12, 2015 – This is a prequel short story to Cinder that gives the reader a look at Cinder’s back story and how she came to live with her step family. I enjoyed getting a peek at a younger Cinder and reading about her initial impressions of her family, her life as a cyborg and learning about her talents and abilities.
4. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter – Finished March 28, 2015 – I got sucked into this story pretty much immediately and found myself reading it whenever I could which resulted into staying up all night to finish the second half of the book even though I had to get up early for work the next day. So, basically, it was pretty darn good. I’m not an expert in Greek mythology; I noticed a lot of reviewers were pretty bent that it didn’t follow mythology correctly. I guess they didn’t notice that it was supposed to be a modern retelling that gives the original story a completely different spin. I thought it was extremely well written and found that the characters really tug at your heart strings and make you care. Well done!

Right now I’m reading An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. I’ve been holding off on reading anything new by John Green out of an irrational fear that nothing could hold a candle to The Fault in Our Stars but I needn’t have worried. I’m enjoying this story and definitely planning to read more of his books soon.

TV:

Now that we’re caught up on Parks and Recreation (sniff), we’ve been going through the back log on our DVR which was all kinds of grateful to see us again. We started watching iZombie which is written by the same folks who made Veronica Mars which will be made blatantly obvious after you’ve watched the first episode. Jury is still out on whether I like the similarities or not.

We’ve also been watching Fresh off the Boat which is adorable if a little over acted. My husband loathes the theme song but loves the show and I’m inclined to agree although the music in the show brings back a lot of middle school memories for me.

I’m watching Girl Meets World with the kids and when Ryder Strong appeared on one of the last episodes I watched, I may have squealed like a little girl and my kids may have stared at me like I was very, very strange. I have no shame.

MOVIES:

We took the kids to see the new Cinderella and it was fantastic. I thought they did a good job of honoring the original but still bringing something new and untold to it. Lily James was an outstanding Cinderella and I loved Holliday Grainger and Cate Blanchett and Helena Bonham Carter and basically everybody. It was fun picking scenes out from the original Disney cartoon version and seeing them come to life and the twists and turns were wonderful. Funny, heartfelt, all the things.

I rented Lucy and The Other Woman this month. Lucy has a fascinating premise and of course Scar Jo is always fabulous and really the obvious choice for a “perfect woman” – I was impressed with her portrayal of a creepy intelligent super person as well as the nervous wreck normal girl she was at the beginning. And everyone loves Morgan Freeman and yes obviously he was terrific. But something about the story was almost too lofty to permeate. Like it didn’t really leave me feeling anything so much as observing.

The Other Woman is an absurd chick lit romp with Cameron Diaz at her finest and Leslie Mann and Kate Upton are also fantastic. For any girl who has ever been the other woman or found out about the other woman or who can simply commiserate based on being a human being with feelings – this one is funny, touching, inspiring, silly, smart, ridiculous. I’m not saying it was AMAZING but it was VERY GOOD. I’m not sure if your male significant others will appreciate it – maybe save it for a girls night so you can enjoy it without them.

MUSIC:

I just made a new playlist on my phone because I turned on my favorite playlist the other day and clicked on All About That Bass by Meghan Trainer and was totally feeling the vibe and then three sad, mellow songs in a row came on afterwards and I was like “Um, read the room Samsung.” So now I’ve got an upbeat mix that has some favorites like Don’t Stop Loving Me by Pomplamoose, Shake it Off by Taylor Swift, Thrift Shop by Macklemore, Fancy by Iggy Azalea, etc.

BLOGGED:

Read my thoughts on the first three books in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

If you were the main character in the last book you read, what would you be doing right now?

My personal blog celebrated it’s 7th anniversary. Feel free to send me cake.

What have you been into lately?