Angela's Summer Favorites

I'm going to start doing something a little new and at the "end" of every season I'll be giving a little wrap up on some of my favorite things. The main reason it's a little different is because I'm not just going to be talking about books. De-stress yo chest, and don't worry I'll still talking about books and bookish items. I'll be listing off things like my top summer reads, movies, reviewer, and discussing some of the other things I got into this past season. These are my choices for the months of June, July, and August.

Top Five Summer Reads:
These are my favorite reading picks of the summer and the ones I gave the highest ratings on Goodreads and our blog. These will only include fresh reads for me and nothing that I happened to re-read. (in no order): 

1. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. A young Prince takes a new bride every night and then kills her the following morning. After Shazi's best friend meets the same fate she decides to seek revenge. For fans of Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.
2.  Dirty Rowdy Thing by Christina Lauren. Harlow and Finn hate each other. This probably explains why their Vegas marriage only lasted 12 hours. Even after separating these two constantly find themselves drawn back to one another. For fans of Colleen Hoover and Helena Hunting.
3.  Fractured Suns by Theresa Kay. With time running out Jax must find a way to save both the human race and the alien race she's come to know. For fans of Rick Yancy and Demitria Lunetta.
4.  The Devil's Intern by Donna Hosie. Mitchell Johnson has been living in Hell working as the Devil's intern since being hit by a Greyhouse bus. When he hears about a time traveling device he decides this might be his best chance of getting out of Hell. For fans of Cristin Terrill and Libba Bray.
5.  Every Last Breath by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Layla has a lot going on in her life. She has to chose between the sexy prince of the under world Roth and long time best friend gargoyle warden Zayne; all while fighting demons and trying to keep up with school work. For fans of Amy Bartol and Victoria Scott.

If you haven't had a chance to pick any of these up, after this post run straight to your local bookstore and buy them all!  

Top Summer Movies:
We all know I see a lot of movies, and I thought choosing just one or two favorites would be hard. Turns out it wasn't My top movie of the summer are:

1. Me and Earl and The Dying Girl. Me Earl and the Dying Girl is about an unlikely friendship and how it can make the difference in a time of darkness. This movie had everyone in the theater laughing till their sides hurt and then crying their eyes out. This film could easily be the best book adaptation I'll see this year.
2. Dope. Dope is about how stereotypes and racism still effect us even in 2015. This movie smacks you with a huge message, and will leave you with your jaw dropped. The closing scene of this film gave me head to toe goosebumps.  Lindsey and I saw this movie on a whim and were both surprised by how much we liked it and walked out the theater satisfied. 

Even though these films are polar opposites they both have two things in common. First they both gave us a cast of amazing, fresh, and talented new comers. Second I think both these films were way under-hyped. Neither of them getting the spotlight they deserve.

Top Summer TV Shows: 
Okay, so not all of these came out this summer, but these just happened to be the shows I got really into. (in no order)

1.  Arrow. This would probably be my top pick as far as shows went. I didn't think I was going to like it, but was completely wrong!!! I'm obsessed! Even from episode one I was hooked. I spent many a night curled up in a blanket marathoning this guilty pleasure. The story line is crazy insane and with a full rosters of hotties Arrow is a must watch.
2. Game of Thrones Season 5. This might not have been my favorite season so far, but still packed a mighty punch... Oh and way to leave us hanging on everything and everyone! 
3. Switched at Birth. Yup, I got sucked into this show. It's so bad good. I constantly found myself wondering why I was watching it, yet couldn't turn away. 
4. How to Get Away with Murder. Even though I just finished watching season one (perfectly in time for the premiere of season two) I started watching it at the beginning of the summer. All I'm going to say about this amazing show is that Viola Davis is a total Badass.

Top Summer Book Reviewer:
This summer I stumbled upon a Youtube channel that has quickly become one of my favorites. This booktuber is quirky, funny, interesting, and it doesn't hurt that her choices in both clothes and makeup are so on point. *Drum roll please*... Ms Riley Marie.

This little firecracker of a booktuber does everything: hauls, reviews, book tags and more. All her videos leave me in stitches and it always brightens my mornings when I see she's posted a new video. Love seeing this girl share her awkward social book situations and completely relate to her "no book buying bans" that turn into massive book buying hauls. Girl I get it, book buying situations escalate quickly and who can say no to Bookoutlet's crazy amazing sales???!!! No one I want to know! Another reason she's become one of my favorites is because she's also not scared to talk New Adult and even sometimes smutty reads. Riley's love for books can be clearly seen in all her videos and reviews. 

If you love watching booktube videos as much as I do I would high recommend subscribing to her page. 

Top Summer Music: 

This was an easy easy pick... Halsey's Badlands album. I have been playing this on repeat all summer!  Gasoline, Hold Me Down, Colors, and Coming Down are my  jams. There's no doubt you've seen this artist popping up everywhere lately. Recently named on of Elle magazine's 2015 Women of music. This entire album is perfect for early morning runs or as light background music while reading.

Added bonus this cd is like ten dollars at target.
 

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Movie Review

Recently Leah and I had the pleasure of sitting in on the Papertowns panel with John Green, and while we were there he said something that just stuck with me about books that become movies. He said that a great book to film adaptation, though the book and film will without a doubt be compare, however can stand on it's own. That you should leave the theater loving it as a movie and try not too completely compare the two. As avid readers and girls who constantly see books that become films there are two things I can say about that statement: that it is completely correct, but that it is really hard to do. When it comes to Me and Earl and the Dying Girl this statement took new life for me. This film holds it's own.

Leah and I just left the theater and I knew right away I needed to come home and talk about the film we just saw. If you read either of our reviews on the book than you know that both of us just thought the novel was alright. It was comical, light, but the ending I think is what kind of let both of us down. It's comparison to TFIOS was off, the high remarks on goodreads had us both a little confused, and there was just something we both felt was missing. I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that we now know what was missing. Me and Earl, and the Dying Girl movie gave us everything we wanted and more. The film had so much more emotion and depth than the novel. I know that everyone who sees the trailer is thinking "wow didn't we just dehydrate ourselves and spike Kleenex sales enough last year with TFIOS", please don't think that. The only thing that they have in relation is a sick girl. That's it.

This film blew me away. It's a film following quirky, interesting, and relatable characters. Best part is that it's a film about making films... Which would have most thinking this would lead to an awkward play-out, but it actually gives this film something so unique. The characters though quirky are ones you will be cheering for and falling in love with. Greg (Thomas Mann) is cruising through life, trying to keep a low profile, and just make it out of high school. His only real friend, though he wont admit it, is Earl (RJ Cyler). The bad boy loner from the poorer side of town. The two have been friends forever and making parodies of movies since they met. Making films like "A Sockwork Orange" and "Rosemary's Baby Carrots". The relationship they

have though odd has always worked out for the two of them. That is until one day Greg's mom forces him to hang out with his classmate Rachel (Olivia Cooke) who has been diagnosed with cancer. As you can probably guess Earl and Greg are asked to make a movie for Rachel. This starts the blossoming friendship of three loners. Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, and Olivia Cooke nailed the characters. They took characters that in the book I felt no real connection too and made them into characters that brought me to tears by the end of the film. That is not the only thing that changed from the book. There are several scene changes that also made the movie a heck of a lot better than the book. It's as if J. Andrews listened to the readers reviews took them in and made the changes needed while keeping the things we loved. So happy that the accidentally drug scene was left in as well as the pillow masturbation talk. Another very present change is the over all connection and friendship between Greg and Rachel. In the book Greg and Rachel really don't have much of a friendship in my opinion. In the film however their relationship and friendship is something so beautiful. So having the characters take a different direction made it easier for audience to connect with them. My favorite change however was the complete change of the ending.

As I said above, when reading the book when it came to the ending I was highly letdown... When it came to the movie it was my favorite part. The unique composition, the beautiful cinematography, and the way it was taken to a new emotional depth that we didn't get out of the book. When I say a new depth I mean oceans

deeper than what the book gave. This went from a mediocre book to an absolutely stunning film. And saying stunning is truly an understatement. A strong indie movie with a casting of new comers really gave this film everything it needs to be a knock out. The filmmakers truly deserve a round of applause for taking a trope filled genre that has recently been increasing and becoming a bit tired and giving it new life. This film deserves way more hype than it is getting. Every movie mark was hit: perfectly placed dry humor, great casting, unique elements, and a film that could have easily been dark was made light and loving. It's been a long time since we've seen a movie that made us laugh till we cried and then just flat out cried.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a film more about the journey than the destination and it is well worth the climb. This is a summer must see. This review only gives a light shade of how I felt towards the film. Simply put: This movie was how book to film should be done.

10/10 Stars 
-Angela