Stacking the Shelves: March Book Haul

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Each week bloggers post the books they purchased or received. This month I got two e-books and four hardcovers and three paperbacks.

The two e-books I got this month are:

1. Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged (Sofia Khan, #1) by Ayisha Malik

I already read this one and really enjoyed it!

2. The Alchemists of Loom (Loom Saga #1) by Elise Kova

I also got four gorgeous hardcovers this month!

3. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

4. The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis

5. Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King #1) by Tricia Levenseller

I really enjoyed this book! I love pirates and I'm actually shocked there aren't more pirate stories out there! This YA novel was so entertainting, so much sass! I loved it!

6. Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor

Really excited about this one! I got this in the March Fairyloot box!

Lastly, I also got three paperbacks:

7. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I really wanted to read this book before the TV show comes out! Also, since I read The Blind Assassin, I've wanted to read more of Atwood's work. I actually managed to read The Handmaid's Tale this month and it was incredible! 

8. The Unseen World by Liz Moore

I've heard great things about this one! Can't wait to read it!

9. The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni #1) by Helene Wecker

I've been wanting to read this for quite some time now. I eventually bought this after reading The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury and truly enjoying the jinni elements. So I just couldn't resist adding The Golem and the Jinni to my library!


Which books did you get this month? Have you read any of the books mentioned above? Leave your thoughts in the comment section down below!

Movie Review: Bridget Jones's Baby

In Bridget Jones's Baby, our beloved Bridget has split up with Mark Darcy for some years now. She has a career she's proud of but once again she's single. The movie starts with a nod to Bridget Jones's Diary, as the opening scene is a shot of Bridget celebrating her birthday alone whilst playing the song "All By Myself". A classic which I immediately associate with Bridget Jones, even after all this time. If I for some reason need to remind you which scene it is, or if you just want to see it again because, let's face it, it's a great scene, you can watch it here.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason was released in 2004, so now, twelve years later we get the new instalment in the series. I have to admit, I'm a huge Bridget Jones fan. The first film remains my favourite because blue soup, the "it's raining men" fight and the line "I like you very much, just as you are" in combination with the social commentary are what made that movie perfect to me. And of course the fact that it's a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice doesn't hurt. Bridget is not your typical romantic heroine, she actually feels real and relatable. It is one of my favourite movies of all time and it forever will remain so. As a teenager I used to watch Bridget Jones's Diary obsessively over and over again (I did that with all my favourite films, by the way, I'm crazy like that :p ). It's thus fair to say that I'm emotionally attached to the characters and get nostalgia feeling to the movies and books by even just listening to "It's Raining Men", "All By Myself", "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", "I'm Every Woman" and so many more!

Therefore this movie had big shoes to fill. One of the biggest differences in relation to the previous movies is the absence of Hugh Grant's Daniel Cleaver. I didn't particularly mind that because I never liked that character much anyway but it did change the dynamics of the movie though. Patrick Dempsey and Colin Firth fight for Bridget's heart and baby in this one, but Dempsey's Jack is never as awful to Bridget as Daniel used to be. The only thing I missed about Daniel were his epic fights with Mark! :p

A fantastic addition is Emma Thompson, amazing (as always) as Dr. Rawlings, Bridget's doctor. Every time Thompson is on screen, she steals the scene. Dr. Rawlings is absolutely hilarious! Ed Sheeran makes an appearance as himself which was entertaining as Bridget didn't recognize him at all. She still has clueless moments, though not as frequently as in the previous films.

Bridget gets pregnant after spending a night with Jack and a week later a night with Mark Darcy. She does not know who the father is and the entire plot of the movie is about how those three characters deal with that. At first, I didn't think this cliché plot would work. They could have chosen something much more original for Bridget to deal with. The social commentary of the first movie is absent here. However I still really enjoyed Bridget Jones's Baby. 

In its own right it's one of the best romantic comedies of recent years. It's funny, romantic, charming and a pleasure to return to some of my favourite characters. I immensely enjoyed myself despite the cliché plot. This movie actually made me cry with laughter, not once, but multiple times, which is a rare occurrence for me.

Is it as good as the first one? No. But sequels rarely are, in my opinion. As I said before, Bridget Jones's Baby is still better than so many other rom-coms out there and I highly recommend you go see it if you haven't already! You will surely be entertained!

Note: I do recommend to watch the previous films as you will be more familiar with the characters and their history but you don't need to. It is possible to watch this film without prior knowledge of the previous ones, although you will be missing out on those!

Are you a Bridget Jones fan? Are you planning to go see this film or have you already done so? Leave your thoughts down below!

Movie Review: Me Before You

I'm sure we all know by know that this movie is based on a book written by Jojo Moyes. I read the book a few years ago and fell in love. It is one of those books that stays with you for a long time, or at least that was the case with me. I did not reread the book before going to see the movie and I believe that was the right move. The movie stayed true to the book for most of the major plot points. I didn't remember all of the details so the slight changes didn't bother me. The novel counts almost 500 pages, so it's not surprising that they left things out, but once again those didn't bother me.

As far as adaptations go, Me Before You is one of the best of the recent years! I believe if you loved the book, you will enjoy the movie as well! However, the movie itself can definitely be viewed without reading the book first. I went to see the film with a friend who didn't read the book and she really enjoyed it and cried her heart out. Surprisingly, I didn't cry at the end of the movie, but I do remember crying a lot whilst reading the book. This is a unique story that deserves to be read and/or viewed!

When I first saw the trailer, I wasn't totally convinced that Emilia Clarke was the right choice for playing Louisa. For some reason, I didn't think she was genuine, it all felt a bit forced. When I actually saw her in the movie, I still couldn't entirely shake that feeling, but that might just be because I pictured Louise completely different. On the other hand, I believe that Sam Claflin perfectly portrayed Will! I was sold from scene one!

Matthew Lewis was amazing as Lou's annoying boyfriend Patrick and I actually want Jenna Coleman to be my sister in real life :)

All in all, I would really recommend Me Before You! It is one of the best (if not the best) romantic movies of recent years! The book is definitely worth checking out as well! Have you seen the movie yet? Or do you want to? Leave your thoughts down below!

Top 5 Comedy TV Shows

By this I mean the more recent TV shows no longer than 30 minutes (this excludes Friends because it's already been a while since season 10). How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory should be on here but as they are already way too famous I do not feel the need to elaborate further on them. They speak for themselves. I wanted to focus on some less well known TV shows. This is a top 5 not because I don't watch other comedy shows but because later on I can have another top 5 (part 2 if you please). Furthermore, these are in no particular order, so here we go!

The Mindy Project

Season one started out a bit slow and painfully embarrassing sometimes but everything came together nicely in season 2. I love that the show is about an independent young woman, who loves romantic comedies as much as I do. It is a nice concept of making a TV show with these romcom elements interlaced in it. When the new doctor Peter was introduced in the second season, I was doubtful at first. Now Peter is quickly becoming one of my favourite characters together with Mindy and Danny, of course. And now as season 3 has started with a bang, I can’t wait till the next episodes! I recommend this show because it is extremely romantic and funny. Very enjoyable!

 2 Broke Girls

I love Max’s lines, they crack you up every time. I often wish I could have an answer ready as fast as Max but I could never be so rude! Caroline is the exact opposite of Max but as the series progresses you can see how they both change. This is one funny show that is hard to miss! Link to trailer here.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a good and terribly funny show. Jake and Boyle never disappoint me. However I have trouble with the love story between Peralta and Santiago. That just does not work. There is zero chemistry between them and it just makes the show weird and sometimes painful to watch (as in bad). I was actually hoping that the second season would start and it turned out that his confession was just another prank. Sadly that was not the case. I usually like couples in TV shows but this just doesn't work. This is the only reason I can find to not like the show so I am still going to recommend it! 

Community

I am so glad this show was picked up again even though the last season was terrible. I love Abed and Troy! You won’t be able to get “Troy and Abed in the Morning” out of your head!

I also like that they study Spanish, as I have trouble with the language as well, I can enjoy their problems even more.

Miranda

This is a British comedy and it is absolutely amazing! If you haven’t seen it yet, you have to start watching this immediately (right after reading this blog)! The cast of this show is amazing, I absolutely love Miranda, Stevie, Gary and even on occasion Miranda’s mom Penny. The situations Miranda ends up in are ridiculous and incredibly funny. I can’t really describe this show and do it justice so therefore I’m just going to let you see it for yourself! Link to clip here.

Miranda Hart recently said that the Christmas specials of this show would also be the very last episodes which saddens me greatly. However, it is probably better to quit a show when it is still good, rather than letting it drag on untill it gets cancelled. And if you couldn't get enough of the first clip of Miranda, here is the link to some of the best moments of season 1, enjoy!

Jane the Virgin

This is a new TV show and I must say I really like it. It is based on a Venezuelan telenovela and I love that they sometimes argue in Spanish. The show follows a very religious and hardworking woman, who wants to get married before having sex. Then some unforeseen events happen, like being accidentally artificially inseminated. I will include a link to the trailer but beware, the extended trailer is quite long and it might make you feel that you know everything that is going the happen in the entire series (but it is basically a summary of the first episode). If you don't want that maybe you should just start with watching the first episode.

I did not think I would enjoy it this much, but Jane the Virgin is easy to watch and puts your mind off of other things. It also has on original plot and insane things just keep happening to Jane. Things you not always see coming. It is a fresh concept and it is like a new breeze which hopefully will last a while. And Gina Rodriguez is doing a fantastic job playing the lead character Jane, just one more reason to watch this show!

If I have to describe this show in one word it would be cute! And so far I definitely recommend it, track that show!

This trailer is not the extended version so this one does not contain a lot of spoilers. Enjoy!