Now, we look at all the movies I've seen this year! I see 146 total movies this year, down a bit from last year's 163. Of those, 37 were new movies seen in the theater, 22 were movies seen in a theater, but not new; the rest - 87 - were on DVD or TV. That's a movie (of any kind) every 2.5 days, and a movie in the theater once a week. That sounds about right. Sometimes we don't see a movie for a couple weeks, and then sometimes we'll go 2 or 3 times a week.
I've already written about quite a few of these this year, so here's just a list of some of my faves:
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Interstellar
- Lucy
- Frank
- Birdman
- Nightcrawler
- Gone Girl
- Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
- The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
- The Interview
I love to read, and I love making lists, so naturally I make lists throughout the year of how many books I've read, movies I've watched, etc. This year, I read 32 books, which comes out to 2/3 of a book a week. This is more than double the books I read in 2013, technically, but not really, because I read the Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire series that year, which really kind of dominated my reading.
One thing that really helped me read a lot more was my Scribd subscription. It was useful to me in a couple ways: it gave me access to books I'd otherwise have to pay a lot for, as well as access to books I might not have otherwise found or considered. Amazon now has their own book subscription service, which I have not yet tried out.
I also like to try, though I don't always succeed, to read right before I go to bed. I love reading on my Kindle, but apparently electronics emit a blue light that interferes with your ability to fall asleep (and I already have trouble falling asleep), so I have to make an effort to read paper books instead. I still have a ton of paperbacks that I haven't read yet, so it works out.
For some reason, I went on a bit of a The Hills kick this year, not only watching all of Laguna Beach and The Hills, but also reading the books the cast members had written. Kelly Cutrone wrote a couple auto-bios/self helps; Whitney Port wrote one about herself/fashion; Lauren Bosworth wrote a really random relationship book aimed at teenagers; and of course, Lauren Conrad wrote 2 trilogies of books based on her own life (ish), which I actually really enjoyed. If you're ever looking for quick, fluffy, fun read, definitely check them out - LA Candy, and the sequel The Fame Game.
Some other books I enjoyed this year:
DisneyWar - A very 'inside baseball' look at the Walt Disney Company while Michael Eisner was Chairman and CEO. It was very enjoyable even though it could be considered a bit dry. It was interesting to see how petty and bitchy these high-level men could be; I just kept thinking, if these were women, people would be saying, this is why women shouldn't run companies. Just goes to show men can be as emotionally unstable as anyone!
Gone Girl - Yes, I'm late to the game on this one, but I wanted to read it before the movie came out. I'd heard it was good, but sometimes I feel a bit suspicious of books like that, for some unknown reason. It did end up being really good! I loved all the unexpected twists, and the unreliable narrator aspect. I enjoyed the movie almost as much as the book!
The Fault In Our Stars - Another book I wanted to read before the movie came out. It reminded me of a series of books I enjoyed when I was a kid called One Last Wish, all about a group of teenagers who are dying from various kinds of cancer. Superfun, right? The book was pretty good, as was the movie.
Revenge Wears Prada - Did you know there's a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada?! Well there is, go out right now and read it! It's pretty good, actually kind of dark? Just a little bit to get you interested - It's ten years later, and Andy and Emily now have their own successful magazine, and Miranda shows up to throw their lives into chaos.
I thought about making a goal for a certain number of books next year, but I don't want to put that much pressure on myself. Reading should just be enjoyable! I try to read everyday, but it doesn't always happen, and that's okay. Sometimes I don't feel like reading, and sometimes that all I feel like doing. Here's to a well-read 2015!
