Currently

 Fall has come to Virginia in the most unusual way. It actually feels like falltime. Normally down here, September is the hottest month of the year, but the weather has cooled down considerably and I'm loving it! 

My job has been keeping busy and exhausted. With people still leaving I'm basically been employed full time for the rest of the year. So it's 6:00-1:30 everyday with only Sunday off. The paycheck is great, but I'm still struggling with getting up in the morning. I do enjoy working at the front desk and it's really helped me open up more and talk to people.

So here's a list of my currents:

Reading

Currently 

I'm still in my WWII kick and I even made a WWII section in my book reviews--albeit most of it is Easy Company, seeing as they are responsible for this rekindled interest in WWII. I had never heard of The Monuments Men until the film came out a couple of years ago. I'm still in the first couple of chapters and it's a big book, but there is so much about WWII that I have never learned about and being an art lover as well, I know I'm going to find it intriguing. 

I'm taking part in Heidi's read-along tomorrow and I'm excited to finally get this series read! I know the films cut out a great deal (obviously for story flow and time constraints; they had too) and I'm looking forward to read the original material and met characters that couldn't be in the movies.

Finished

I can't say enough at how excellent this book was! In my last Currently post I was halfway through and upon finishing, I had such sympathy for these women who are lost in history and deserve more that what they have gotten.

This book was incredible I reviewed it right after finishing it. It was definitely worth all the praise its received and I'm thankful for the people who suggested that I read it. Truly a remarkable and unforgettable life.

If you've ever seen The Ghost and the Darkness, this was the book the inspired it. The memoires of John Henry Patterson and his year spent in Africa are exciting; and while his hunt of the notorious man-eating, maneless lions of Tsavo only take up a few chapters, you can understand how they became the inspiration for such a great film. There's a lot in the story I didn't like, primarily the trophy hunting he did, however, he was not cruel and did have a respect for the nature and wildlife of Africa. 

This is a book that I've waited along time to read and let me tell you, it will take you on a whole new level of history. William Wilberforce bust onto the modern day stage with the commemorative film, Amazing Grace, however, prior to 2007, he had been rather forgotten by history (a fact that is pointed out in the beginning of the book). Wilberforce did more than abolish slavery, he brought true religious and social reform to England and that reform spread throughout the world. 

TBR

Panem has had to be put on hold, because history kept taking precedents; but after Monument's Men, I'll finally get to read it. I've seen reviews on other blogs for it and I've had  hard time resisting the urge to read them! I am very excited and as it's about Snow, anything could be up for interpretation. 

I was not going to be put on the waiting list at the library for the next Strike book and so I pre-ordered a month before and it arrived on release day. I've heard good reviews and it's dealing with a cold case, which are my favorite types! And of course, Strike and Robin and their continuing will they/won't they and where that's all going to lead to.

Watching

This all French musical from 2005 is based on the early reign of King Louis IVX, who was know as Le Roi Soleil or in English, The Sun King. The play was a success and ran for three year, however I only found out about it about a week ago. I watched the whole play on YouTube with English subtitles and just fell in love! It was excellent!

After reading the book, I had to watch the movie and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it followed the original story. I did have some problems at first with some of the casting decisions, but after watching the movie, I began to have my own theories as to the changes. I'll explain them more in my upcoming review, but all in all this movie was wonderful.

Listening

This is one of the songs from le Roi Soleil and it was hearing this song and falling in love with it that led me to seeing the whole musical. Every musical has their fan favorite song (Phantom of the Opera--Music of the Night, CATs--Memory, Les Miserables--I Dreamed a Dream) and it was this song that just became the essence of the whole story. 

Coming Up

Heidi's Lord of the Rings read-along starts tomorrow! 

The Everything Star Wars blog-party starts in mid-October Which means I should probably get my Anakin Skywalker defense post written soon. From the submissions that I've seen, there are going to be a lot of interesting topics covered in the whole Stars Wars fandom.

I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of Fall as much as I am!

Tea and hot chocolate, sweaters and open windows, and more books and movies than I can keep up with!