Random Thoughts: The What I’m Up To Edition

1. Books

I started The Book Thief, and I almost gave up on it after the first couple of chapters. I didn’t like the narrative style; it was much too jumpy. It evened out, so I’m glad I stuck in there. The book took me a long time to read. It’s just not a page-turner, although it turns out to be a lovely, if somewhat meandering story. And heartbreaking, as well. Some of the language is gorgeous, just certain turns of phrases struck my eye as very beautiful.

Flora has joined her “Battle of Books” team at the school, so she is reading a whole slew of young person fiction and non-fiction. I’m reading What Would Joey Do? by Jack Gantos along with her. I will be curious to see what she thinks of the book. It’s not very cheery. Joey is quite beset.

Author recommendation: Alex Marwood. Now she writes a page-turner! I burned through The Wicked Girls, and I’m currently embroiled in The Killer Next Door.

2. Television

On a whim, I started to watch Sons of Anarchy on Netflix. I found Season 1 very “meh”, but continued because Charlie Humnan is nice to look at, and Ron Perlman is an amazing actor who can do no wrong, as far as I’m concerned. However, Season 2 has been *amazing*. I’m not going to spoil anything, but it was like they needed a season just to get their legs under them.

I had my doubts as the first few episodes feature an overdose, a premature birth, burned prostitutes, child rape, and a castration (over the first two or three eps if I recall correctly). I didn’t know if I was going to be able to tough it out. But somewhere along the way, it turns into a fascinating character study. And I don’t just mean Jax and Tara and Clay and Opie and Tig. I mean: who is SAMCRO? Who is the town of Charming?

The other compelling things I am finding about SOA are the roles and weight given to the women characters. Katie Segal plays matriarch Gemma Teller, and boy-howdy—do not mess with mama. Tara, who is played by Maggie Siff, has a central part to play as well. The women aren’t bystanders; they move the action, a nice switch up from Breaking Bad, where the women characters came across as more passive — acted on rather than active.

3. Music

My obsession with the Afghan Whigs continues unabated. In order to offset Greg Dulli’s muscular, testosterone-fueled song writing, I put together a playlist on Spotify that I named The Muscular Estrogen Playlist. It’s all women, none of them wallflowers, musically or otherwise. Enjoy!

What are you up to these days?