Life's Too Short for Downton Disappointment

Recently I made myself rewatch Season 1 of Scandal. See, I have about 10 episodes from the current season saved on my DVR, and I just can't make myself watch. I can't remember why I liked the show so much, with all the "Hi, hi, hi" Fitz/Olivia conversations and the B 6-13 drama.

So I rewatched Season 1.

Y'all, Olivia Pope is the best. She dominates every situation, she gets sh*t handled. But what I really miss is the one-off storylines. I miss all the different clients and their drama! I've moved onto the first couple episodes of Season 2, but I don't think I'm going to watch all the way through. I've been reminded of why I love the show, but I haven't been convinced I need to keep watching.

Speaking of shows I've abandoned, I rewatched the first two season of Downton Abbey recently. Season one and two were amazing. All the Mary/Matthew drama, Sybill being her little feminist self, Mr. Carson doing his best Sam the Eagle impersonation - SO GOOD.

And then season 3 begins. And all the deaths come. I made it through the first couple of episodes of season 4 before I gave up. When they did the Anna rape scene, I was done. And I really don't think I want to watch any of the last season. I just want to pretend the show ended with Mary and Matthew getting engaged in the snow. It was perfect. I don't need to know more.

Another show I abandoned years ago  caught my attention last week. Grey's Anatomy killed off a major character. If you still watch and haven't been spoiled yet I won't go into details, but even I was shocked the character was killed!

I shouldn't have been though. Grey's never hesitated to kill off anyone. I gave up on the show the season of the George/Izzi drama. I watched the season opener after that season to find out who lived, and then I never watched again.

It sounds like I give up on shows a lot. I guess I do give up on quite a few! Life is short and if I'm not enjoying something I don't see the point of spending hours watching just to finish it. I do tend to stick with comedies more than dramas, probably because I still get enjoyment from the comedy even when the show starts to suck.

So know I want to know: do you still watch the shows I've mentioned? What has you hanging on? And what shows have you given up on?

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

Quick Lit: April 2015

Well, I did much better this month! I read 8 books and listened to 3. Much more respectable than March, right? It was a nice mix of light reading (The Last Anniversary), difficult reading (Bone Clocks), and in between (Station Eleven).

Since there's so many, let's just dive right in!

Oh so mixed feelings about Station Eleven. It opens with the death of a famous actor and the rumors of a global pandemic, then jumps ahead fifteen years to a post-pandemic world where a theater/orchestra troupe travels from village to village entertaining those that survived the flu. The book continues to jump around the timeline, to the early days of that famous actors life to the post-pandemic world. Everyone is somehow tied to the actor, but not always in obvious ways. It was an interesting book and inspired many crazy post-apocalyptic dreams, but it wasn't a favorite of mine. Then again, reading it on an airplane may not have been the best idea. It was worth the $5.99 I paid for it, but I don't know if I would pay full price. It's still on sale, so pick it up and decide for yourself! ($5.99 for Kindle.)

Hollow City was a super quick read. I started and finished it on our plane ride home from New York. It was easy to slip back into the world of Miss Peregrine, but I was super disappointed by the ending. Essentially they just set up the third book, which is a graphic novel that I have no interest in reading. Unless you are a big fan of these books, just read the first one and call it a day. ($6.96 for Kindle)

Where the Moon Isn't was an interesting novel. Told from the perspective of a schizophrenic, we learn about the death of the narrator's brother in bits and pieces over the course of the story. The most fascinating part to me was learning about mental illness from the eyes of someone dealing with it. It wasn't the easiest book to get through, but it was worth the time. I will say, I'm still confused about the title. It seems this book was published under the name The Shock of the Fall in the UK. I've linked to the cheapest version of the book, which is $9.99 for Kindle.

I love me some Liane Moriarty, and The Last Anniversary was no exception. I never even guessed the final twist at the end! It isn't her best (What Alice Forgot or Big Little Lies are my top two) but it might be the top 3. If you love Moriarty, don't skip this one. ($8.25 for Kindle)

Rework was recommended by Kathleen Shannon in the Being Boss Facebook group I help moderate, and it was available to borrow as an e-book through my library. It was a short read packed with all kinds of awesomeness. It isn't just for the small business owner, I think everyone should take a few hours and cozy up with Rework. Good stuff, y'all. ($9.99 for Kindle)

I picked up the Bone Clocks at our local library a few weeks back. I had no idea what it was about, but it was in the new releases section of the library and sounded intriguing. First, I should point out that the author previously wrote Cloud Atlas, which I did not read but heard was super confusing. Based on that knowledge alone, I should've been prepared for the strangeness of this book! It was one that I definitely considered giving up on a few chapters in.

It begins with the story of Holly Sykes running away from home in the early to mid 1980s, and after you're finally invested in her story it jumps to the story of Hugo Lamb in the 1990s. Hugo's story intertwines with Holly's, and then they jump to a whole new character in the 2000s. And after that character we move onto another one, until we finally end up back with Holly around the year 2043. All the characters affect each other's lives, and the author does a great job of mingling the stories. But it did get a little confusing, not to mention flat out depressing by the end. I haven't even mentioned the premise, which is that there are essentially two types of immortal people. Ones that kill children and decant (read: drink) their blood to stay young, and others whose bodies die but their souls move on to new bodies!

Overall Bone Clocks  was an interesting read, but one that took a fair amount of concentration and tolerance for all the jumping around. Not to mention the fantasy aspect of it! Definitely not a book I would buy, but worth using your library card. ($11.99 for Kindle)

I've had In the Woods at my house for weeks. I picked it up at the library, and renewed it a couple times but it just sat there. I tried reading it once, but didn't make it past the prologue. But I decided to bring it to Ada with me last weekend, and ended up reading half of it on the ride home, then finished the rest on Monday night because once I got into it, I couldn't put it down! It's a mystery set in Ireland, featuring two detectives investigating the murder of a 12 year old girl, but it really begins with the disappearance of two other 12 year olds many years before. Clearly I enjoyed it! It's the first in the Murder Squad series, and I've already checked out the next one. I definitely recommend this one. ($6.99 for Kindle)

Ok, everyone calm down at this title, ok? It seems like everyone around me is pregnant right now, and since some day in the future I would like to have kids, I decided to borrow this from the library and read through it. I definitely didn't read it cover to cover, but I read the important parts. There wasn't much in there that I didn't already know! Honestly, if you are considering having a baby or just want to learn more about the process (science-wise, people, get your head out of the gutter!) then I'd recommend Taking Charge of Your Fertility over this one. I know What to Expect When You're Expecting is the gold standard once you're already pregnant, but I think Taking Charge is much better at clearly explaining all the pre-pregnancy stuff. ($8.74 for Kindle)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was next up in my Harry Potter listen-a-thon. Looking back on the book after listening to the following two, this book stayed pretty close to the book. At least more so than any subsequent books. I won't say much else because really, it's Harry Potter. What more can I say? :) ($7.99 for Kindle)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was so incredibly different than the movie! I'd forgotten some of the subplots that come up (SPEW, for instance) and what a jerk Cedric's dad was. These final books are really reminding me how different they are from the movies! ($9.99 for Kindle)

 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix might be my least favorite book, all because of Professor Umbridge. I'd forgotten how much more evil she was in the book. Actually, I'd forgotten how incredibly different the book was from the movie. Obviously they can't cram all the content from the book into the movie, but so much is lost in translation. All the stuff with Harry's aunt, the incredibly long battle in the Ministry of Magic, the mirror Harry had forgotten...I might have cried at my desk while listening to the end of this one. And now I'm waiting in agony to listen to the next one. I'm #1 on the waitlist, so it should arrive in my inbox soon! ($9.99 for Kindle)

Whew, that's it! Have you read any of these? What did you think? And don't forget I'm linking up with Anne Bogel, so you can always head to her link up to read more Quick Lit posts!

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

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Quick Lit: March 2015

It's been a pretty slow month for me. I only read two books this month, and I didn't even finish one of them! I did listen to three audiobooks so that makes this post a little worthwhile, right?  At least it's really a quick read this time!  (Linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy, if you want to find out what other people have been reading just click here.)

What I Read:

I'm going to start with the book I refused to finish. Frog Music. I read Room, the author's debut novel, a few years ago and liked it. It was a rough read, the subject matter was grim. And this book was no different. I just never connected with the story. I can't even really tell you what it is about, other than the main character was a woman who worked in a brothel. She had a baby daddy who was clearly only with her because this book took place in California in the 1800's, because he so obviously had his own male lover on the side. I was actually surprised to see this called a historical crime drama. Maybe I quit too soon (almost halfway through the book), but it didn't read like a crime drama at all. Obviously I'm not a fan, but if you give it a shot, let me know what you think! ($9.99 for Kindle)

I read My So-Called Freelance Life several years ago before I started working as a freelance writer, and as I'm working on rebuilding my business now I thought it was time for a refresher. It isn't just for writers, it is for anyone interested in the freelance lifestyle. I highly recommend it. ($9.99 for Kindle)

What I Listened To:

If you read my post about Audible Alternatives, you know that I've been listening to Harry Potter audiobooks lately. The first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was pretty much as I remembered. Except the Dursleys are definitely worse in the book! If you haven't read the Harry Potter books yet, what are you waiting for? ($5.99 for Kindle)

The Chamber of Secrets was my least favorite of all the books (and movies) until I finished the series and understood how important it was in the grand scheme of things. I appreciated it much more this time around. There were definitely parts of this book that differed from the movie, so it was fun to be reminded of all that I miss when I watch the movie. Plus the narrator is pretty great at voices, except his Hermoine voice drives me nuts! ($7.99 for Kindle)

The Prisoner of Azkaban was the must different from the movie so far. I vaguely remember  thinking that when I saw the movies originally, but that's been quite awhile ago now. Listening to the book now and thinking about the movie has been fun, trying to decide why they decided to keep and eliminate certain scenes. I'm loving these audio books, obviously! ($7.99 for Kindle)  

So that's my pathetic little list. How did you do this month?

 Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...