August, 2018
August 4th, 2018, 1:23 p.m. - Adding Darius to my list of favorites
So You Think You Can Dance – "Top 10 Men": I would have been happy with a lot of these guys getting picked, but I'm really pleased with four-fifths of the finalists. (Jury's still out on Slavik.) I might have put Dustin through just based on his personality. I hope he comes back next season. Rating: 4 torn pairs of pants
August 5th, 2018, 5:56 p.m. - What's the opposite of "putting the 'fun' in dysfunctional"?
30. Educated (Tara Westover)
Up next: The Last Time I Lied (Riley Sager)
August 11th, 2018, 1:57 p.m. - "Objection! Spoiler"
So You Think You Can Dance – "Meet the Top 10": Well, Chelsea got screwed. If she'd gotten to do the tap routine first, I think she would be okay, but doing it second probably sealed her fate. It didn't help that she got very little screentime before this week. She was great in her first routine; having to do tap means she probably doesn't stand a chance. Rating: 4 pieces of cute childhood footage
Trial and Error – "A Change in the Team";"New Case, Old Murder": Interesting twists! But can't they prosecute Lavinia for killing Amanda? She's already admitted she did it. Rating: 5 slapping gloves
August 12th, 2018, 11:57 a.m. - Once again: I see you, unnecessary romantic subplot. I see you
31. The Last Time I Lied (Riley Sager)
Up next: Watch the Girls (Jennifer Wolfe)
August 17th, 2018, 8:06 p.m. - A horror movie masquerading as a book
32. Watch the Girls (Jennifer Wolfe)
Up next: The Third Hotel (Laura van den Berg)
August 18th, 2018, 2:09 p.m. - A huge round of applause for whoever came up with Forge Clooney
So You Think You Can Dance – "Top 10 Perform": I figured Chelsea and Evan would be the first two cut. And it's a testament to Magda's personality and talents that, after having no opinion about her up until last week, this week I was angry to see her in the bottom four. Rating: 4 boom boxes
Trial and Error – "A Family Affair";"Bad Instincts": What's the point of Nina? She serves absolutely no purpose. Also, how is Jayma Mays so underrated? She's killing it this season. Rating: 4 family trees worth killing over
August 21st, 2018, 7:50 p.m. - Zombie Land
33. The Third Hotel (Laura van den Berg)
Up next: Asymmetry (Lisa Halliday)
August 24th, 2018, 4:31 p.m. - Well, this doesn't make Philip Roth look very good...
34. Asymmetry (Lisa Halliday)
Up next: Planet Funny (Ken Jennings)
August 25th, 2018, 1:58 p.m. - "Is it the best I've felt about a case? Absolutely not. But is it the worst? Yes. Yeah"
So You Think You Can Dance – "Top 8 Perform": Booooooo! America, you didn't appreciate Cole when you had him, so your punishment is no more Cole. You may think that's what you want, but you're wrong. You'll see. You'll all see. Rating: 5 umbrellas
Trial and Error – "A Big Break";"Barcelona": Hey, they finally found something for Nina to do! Aaaaaand the season's over. I really hope there's a third season; the setup for the next case sounds great. Rating: 4 eyes painted on Anne's eyelids
August 28th, 2018, 8:04 p.m. - What's so funny?
35. Planet Funny (Ken Jennings)
Up next: Okay Fine Whatever (Courtenay Hameister)
"Haunting" is a good word to describe this memoir. I can't imagine going from having no formal education – and basically no education past the fourth grade – to getting a Ph.D. from one of the world's most prestigious schools. I hope that Westover is able to build a good life for herself after all she's endured.
Slooooooow, but great twists at the end, and better than Final Girls. I enjoyed reading a summer-camp story in the summer.
This would have worked better as a movie, but Wolfe is a strong writer. Her twists were excellent and completely unexpected.
There's a lot jammed into just 209 pages. This would be a great book to study in a college course. So much to analyze and deconstruct.
I took a couple days off work and knew I would get a lot of reading done, and now I'm glad I knocked this out of the way because I can stop thinking about it. It's fine; it just...doesn't go anywhere.
My only negative feeling about this book is that now I'm overanalyzing everything. "Why did I laugh at that? Was it really funny? Did I just laugh because I thought I was supposed to?" Help me!