End of the Year Post (2015)

Well, I'm finally back. 2015 is finally over and I’m ready to put that year firmly behind me; however, I guess I need to talk about it somewhat. First, I hope everyone had a great holiday. I enjoyed my mini hiatus from the internet. I did read, but not as much as I thought I would since I was preoccupied with other things, and now I’m ready to get back to blogging.

So, what did I really think of 2015?

Well, 2015 started out on a good note for blogging. I made some changes to how I wrote posts and how many reviews I did per week, which worked out better. I didn’t really set any goals besides trying to read at least one book per week, maybe more if I felt like it. Mostly I kept to the first hundred pages for books—if it didn’t grab me then it just didn’t, factors tend to vary—which helped me get to more novels that I ended up enjoying, rather than spending time on something that just wasn’t for me.

As for the books, well I got a lot of reading done, which I’m pretty happy about. I found a lot of new favorites, read a couple of trilogies, and started some new series that I do want to finish—plus, I’m waiting for several sequels to come out. So in terms of reading, 2015 was an extremely good year, and I hope that trend continues. There were some books I didn’t enjoy, but they were so few and far between that it didn’t throw me off too badly—I did take a couple of breaks when I needed them.

For now, I'm pretty happy with the blog art, but who knows, I might get the urge to update it (but there's no telling if or when that might happen).

So that’s about it. Happy reading!

Up next: 2016 New Year’s Blogging Resolutions

Merry Christmas!

Quick Announcement...

Because Christmas is just days away, I've decided to take the rest of the year off. There won't be anymore reviews until 2016, but I do have some posts already scheduled to go up, so those ones will be live on the blog. But overall, activity is just going to slow to a crawl. I look forward to just reading and getting back into the swing of things next year. I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Happy Halloween

Movie Review: Inside Out (2015)

Picture Retrieved 6/23/2015 from
Inside Out Official Website

Picture Retrieved 6/23/2015 from
Inside Out Official Website

Title:  Inside Out (2015)

Directors: Pete Doctor & Renaldo Del Carmen
Writers: Pete Doctor & Renaldo Del Carmen
Screenwriters: Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley & Pete Doctor

Release Date: June 19, 2015

Rated: PG 

Click on the link to find out more about Inside Out

Inside Out was a cute, funny and sometimes sad movie that will take you on an emotional roller coaster ride like never before; that is considering that this is a movie about emotions.  As Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) tries to make sense of her family's move and adjust to her new home, her emotions go awry. The journey inside Riley’s mind provides an insider’s view of what happens when an individual struggles with change. As such, Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling) came into play. Things got slightly tumultuous as Joy was on a happy, happy, happy crusade and sadness seemed like extra weight to carry around. Fear brought some humor to the screen and Anger—well; there were just times when he was out of control. And Disgust—well just take a look at this trailer….

Yeah, she was a opinionated and added a touch of sass to the mix. Needless to say, Riley’s behavior was questionable at times. Much of the focus remained on the interworking of Riley’s mind, mainly Joy and Sadness. And although Joy initially had her head in the clouds (everything was happy) and seemed to think that the world revolved around her, I liked the important realization she made upon falling into a dark pit. As for the negative aspects of the film, there were some drawn-out scenes and watching it in 3D didn’t enhance the visual effects. Yet,  Inside Out remains an entertaining, family friendly movie.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from Our Thoughts Precisely! I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Musing Mondays (17)

     Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading, that asks you to muse about something book related each week.

My Musings for the week...

Random weekly question: Has any author ever had a huge influence on your reading? Who, and why?

I don't think any one author had a huge influence on my reading. However, recently I have to say that Brandon Sanderson got me interested in fantasy again. His writing style has a way of drawing me into the story.

On another note...
 

So, I started to think about all of the books I’m waiting for this year, and I realized there weren't that many. I thought there were more at first…but I guess not. There are a few older books I want to read, but for the most part my list of new releases is relatively small—like REALLY small.

• Cold Burn of Magic by Jennifer Estep
• Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott
• Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

That’s it, I’m not kidding. There might be some other fictional books that catch my interest later this year, but for now those are the only ones I’m really waiting for. Of course I'll be searching for more nonfiction books to read.

Question: What books are you waiting for in 2015? Are there any books that you recommend? I'd love to hear your suggestions.

2015: Blogger Resolutions

     Well, hello 2015! Its hard to believe 2014 is already over, but it is. Anyway, I'm going to get to the main point of this post--my 2015 blogger resolutions. I have a few for this year and thought that I would share them here on the blog.

1. Continue to have fun with the blog (I think this is the most important one)
2. Read more classics
3. Find more reasons to use the 2015 banner (pictured above). I have no clue what I'm going to do yet, but I will find a way...somehow.
4. Read more nonfiction--I really enjoyed the art books I read last year, which ultimately made me want to read more nonfiction.  

     I really don't have many resolutions besides those four, but I hope to have another great year of blogging!

     

     

Happy New Year!

Its 2015, Happy New Year from Our Thoughts Precisely!