Monday, January 4, 2016

A Very Short Post Containing Mostly Titles

The sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers "I've read it already" to be a conclusive argument against reading a work.
~C.S. Lewis, An Experiment in Criticism
 

Okay, NOW I've returned to haunt you.  Welcome back! The blog changes are somewhat self-explanatory, so I give you leave to poke about and see what you shall see.

Back? All right, let's continue.  Today I am going to talk about Plans for the New Year, although I don't intend this to really be a list of resolutions-- just plans for this blog in 2016.

On my to-read list for this year, in no particular order... (rereads starred)

All the Light We Cannot See
Wives and Daughters*
When Books Went to War
Rilla of Ingleside*
Gone with the Wind*
1776
The Five Red Herrings
The Wilder Life
Pioneer Girl
I Am the Messenger
Ballet Shoes*
Unbroken
All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane
The Great Gatsby
Jane Eyre*
Lady Susan
The Grand Sophy 
 
Ideally I'll write/ at least a few lines of review/reaction for each of those books, but the best-laid plans of mice and men...
 
And on my to-watch-and-hopefully-review-on-the-blog list...
 
Cinderella 2015*
Copperhead
The Paradise (BBC series)
Wives and Daughters*
Lark Rise to Candleford*
Under the Greenwood Tree
 
I hope you've been able to keep your seat during this riveting narrative... the rest of posts for the year won't all be like this, I promise.  But it's fun to make lists in January, if for nothing else but to look back on them dismally in December and lament how little was accomplished. Heh.
 
What are you hoping to read and watch this year?

18 comments:

Hayden said...

I love the new blog design! It looks lovely. :) And I look forward to reading and reviews you put up ;)

Arielle Melody Bailey said...

I like the crisp new design, Amy!

I love that C.S. Lewis quote. :)

Pioneer Girl was interesting. I didn't like it as well as the the Little House books, but it was all right, IMO.

Lady Susan was very intriguing. If there is ever a miniseries made, I want Kate Winslet to play Lady Susan.

YOU'RE READING THE GRAND SOPHY.*cheering* I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU THINK OF IT.

Most of what I'm hoping to watch this year is Asian drama in some form or another, but I do want to try Lark Rise to Candleford, and also a few more Shakespeare adaptations.

Reading... I'm working on the Silmarillion right now and then I'm going to read The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.

Best wishes on the coming year and I'll be looking forward to you blogging more!

Hannah said...

I'm loving the new blog look! Let's see... 'Cinderella' was one of my favourite films from last year and quite a few of those books are on my TBR list: 'All the Light We Cannot See', 'Wives and Daughters', 'Unbroken', 'Five Red Herrings' and 'Rilla of Ingleside'. Speaking of RoI I hope to read all of the 'Anne of Green Gables' books for the first time (yes really!) this year. Then once I'm done with those books I'm going to check out the Megan Follows films and the 'Green Gables Fables' webseries.

Wishing you a wonderful 2016!

Miss March said...

Amy, I love your new look! It's beautiful! :)

Naomi Pitts said...

LOVE the new look, Amy! It's so clean and fresh and pretty - good job! (And the FAQ page is pure brilliance. Love love love it. (The "find the lie" bit made me snicker a Lot.))

Your list of to-read-books sound very nice. Rilla of Ingleside and GWTW are two of my ALL time favourite books. (The former might be my favourite book. period.) :-) The Great Gatsby is GORGEOUSLY written, although I don't care for the characters. But read it. It's a FEAST for zee eyes.

Lark Rise!!!! I saw all of it last year - IT REALLY IS THE BEST.

I loved this post, for one. :-)

~ Naomi

Katie Hanna said...

Lovely new header! Ohhhh, what a pretty seashore picture (I can never resist a good seashore photo. One of the main reasons why I love S&S 08 soooooooooooo much is that it's set at the beach ;-) )

I really want to try "All The Light We Cannot See" at some point--I've heard such amazing things about it. That one, and also "The Book Thief." Don't know if that'll happen this year, though :-)

Reading plans for this year? Well . . . hmmmmmmmmm. I'm currently in the process of re-reading "Shadows on the Rock," by Willa Cather, and I'd hopefully like to re-read "Death Comes For the Archbishop" as well. I'd really love to re-read some of my favorite G.K. Chesterton stuff (like, the Father Brown stories and "The Man Who Was Thursday"), so we'll see if I can squeeze that in there :-) In general, I do want to read more fiction this year, because my pleasure-reading habits have sadly deteriorated since I've been in college . . . but I don't know how it's going to turn out, haha.

Oh, I really do want to watch Cinderella 2015 this year--haven't seen that one yet. And "Captain America: Civil War." Oh, and OF COURSE, musn't forget "Rogue One" at the end of the year :-)

Eleanor said...

I'm hoping to make progress on The Vampire Chronicles and The Wheel of Time (I'm about 1/3 and 1/2 through those series, respectively) and start the Gabriel Allon series. I also hope to finish watching Supernatural, watch Dr. Who, and maybe start on Breaking Bad or The West Wing. Awesome TBR list!!

- Ellie
http://ontheothersideofrealitynew.blogspot.com

Evangeline said...

OOOOHHHH Miss D-er Amy
I simply LOVE what you've done (not that I didn't like the other of course)
This looks so chic and awesome!

I've got to read Wives and Daughters and Jane Eyre for uni/College (English Literature major) so I cannot wait to discuss these with you :D. Oooh The Grand Sophy, i got a really old copy for christmas but its so old I cannot read it, so I'm off to the bookstore today..

I still haven't seen Wives and Daughters in full.. *ducks tomatoes* but the Paradise I've seen bits of.


oOOH Hoping to read, well my uni books (on my blog) and watch:
- Downton Abbey Series 6
- Doctor Who (and fangirl-er get excited over Peter Capaldi <3)
- Our Zoo (a gorgeous period drama about the formation of a zoo in England.. the costumes are BEAUTIFUL)
- North and South
- Emma (2009 again!)
-The Sound of Music (the musical is coming to my hometown and it's got Cameron Daddo (Jack Garrison in Anne of Green Gables 3) in it as the Captain*swoon* so I'm watching the movie and then seeing the show with my Aunt *whispers* if she's remembered about tickets. Ok she has I just texted her and she replied YAY
- STARRRR WARS


I know it's not really a movie or tv per say but the Australian Chamber Orchestra with my grandparents who are members of their members thing? So we get to go to the function before which will be super exciting but nerve-wracking as I'm a Violist and my grandfather wants to introduce me round. (I'm not Thaaat good.. )

Sorry this comment is so long!

~Evie (Evelyn)

Unknown said...

Well done on the new look for you blog! That Lewis quotation fits right into my lifestyle as I am a CHRONIC re-reader. Last year's goal was to avoid all books that I had already read; however, that leaves this year open to re-explore all my old favourites. I loved Wives and Daughters and my only wish is that it was complete. Jane Eyre is on my list to re-read this year, too. By the way, I've been watching (and enjoying) Masked over the last few days. I

Emma Jane said...

The blog looks LOVELY. :-) *applauds*

COPPERHEAD! I hope you get to watch it -- it's simply stunning. (In a quiet, antiquated sort of way, that is; maybe you saw my review.)

I'm currently reading Rilla of Ingleside for the first time, and loving it!

~Emma

Heidi said...

Wonderful to have you back and I LOVE the new look! (I also greatly enjoyed your new "About" page. ;D)

And that quote of Lewis's always makes me laugh. Looking forward to your reviews!

We'll see what happens, but on the film end, so far I'm very much hoping to see Copperhead, Belle, the new Far From the Madding Crowd (if I can figure out any skippable parts), and In the Heart of the Sea. We shall see!

And btw, thank you heaps for the 'follow' on The Brandywine! Eeeee. You were one of the first blogs I started reading when I got back into blogging and having your picture pop up in my followers gadget the other day was such a wonderful and delightfully unexpected thrill. :) Thank you!!! ;)

Anonymous said...

I love the new blog design!

This year on my to-read list are several L. M. Montgomery titles, a few Roald Dahl, a couple Louisa May Alcott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, A. A. Milne, Noel Streatfeild, Marguerite de Angeli, and the list keeps going..... yeah, I probably won't get through them all in this year alone lol. I have several movie/TV adaptions of books I'd like to watch, but I always like to read the book(s) first.

Happy new year :)

Sarah A.

P. S. Have you heard about the restored edition of 'Rilla of Ingleside'? It's on my to-read list, and here's the information just in case you're interested!

http://lmmonline.org/rilla-of-ingleside/2010-viking-canada/

S. A.

Anonymous said...

You're BAAAAAACK!!!! Welcome back, Amy dear. : )

Looking forward to hearing your opinions on these books/movies/shows! I've read/seen most of them, and I'm definitely interested in your opinion. (I think I'll have to rewatch Lark Rise, though. For Reasons.)

-Ashley-

Anonymous said...

Oh and the new layout is GORGEOUS! Love it!

-Ashley- (again)

Rosie McCann said...

I love your new blog look! So fresh and pretty :)

Oh, Rilla of Ingleside! I love that book. Mmm . . . reading plans? I'd like to read more Agatha Christie and Wodehouse. What I'd REALLY like to do is WRITE. I have so many good ideas and I feel like I won't have enough time in my whole life, even, to get them down on paper. I think at light-speed and write oh so slowly, that's the problem. Add the fact that I'm a senior in high school and you see why I panic :P

I would like to watch Cinderella 2015. Like, now. Oh, and Belle. Definitely :)

Amaris said...

"I Am the Messenger", by Markus Zusak? Oh, he's very good. I haven't read that particular one, but I've read "The Book Thief" and it was SUPERB. Just a shout out too that I tried BBC Paradise and it didn't go well at all. It was about this masher guy and... it was pretty sickening in some parts. But perhaps if you went ahead and watched it right through that stuff it'll get better later on. I just turned it off after that so I don't know if it gets better or not. I'm just letting you know. :)
I love your new blog look! I just changed mine too... it's fun to switch things up for the season, no? :D Good luck with your lists!
-Phoebe

Olivia said...

I really like the new blog look! :D

Oh, please do share what you think of All the Light We Cannot See and I Am the Messenger when you read them! I'm trying to decide whether or not to read them, and I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

Heh. The Great Gatsby…well, I hope you like it. I've read it twice and I just Do Not Get what all the infernal fuss is about. (Well, I mean, I do in some ways, but I don't in others.)

"Riveting narrative"…haha ;) I love the way you write your posts; I'm pretty sure it's been a big influence on how I *try* to post...

Sara said...

I just watched "Wives and Daughters" again a month or so ago and so then I had to reread the book....and then rewatch the movie yet again. You know, I almost like the movie better. I definitely prefer the portrayal of Molly in the movie....and I absolutely love Roger!!!!