LOTR Read-Along: The Two Towers: The Uruk-Hai

 

We pick up with Merry and Pippin who have been taken hostage by a grouping of Orcs, goblins and the Uruk-Hai. Told primarily from Pippin's POV, both Hobbits face unimaginable abuse at the hands of Sarumon's monsters. However, in typical practical Hobbit fashion, both of them are calm and collected, scared yes, but oddly enough, not panicking. With Merry fading in and out of consciousness, Pippin must rely on his wits to get both of them out. Something he does remarkably well.

LOTR Read-Along: The Two Towers: The Riders of Rohan

Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli now dubbed 'the three hunters,' are racing the clock to find Merry and Pippin. Running, running and running. Across miles and miles and wildlands and rivers. Very little rest, food or sleep. As they continue to gain up on the orc pack, the three hunters cross path with Rider's of Rohan. Led by Eomer, Third Marshall of the Riddermark, these are highly skilled and lethal soldiers who secure the borders of the kingdom of Rohan. 

Carrying a Legacy: Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson

This had been the original (and only) post that I was going to do for Thunderbird Queen's MCU Blogathon. And then I had the crazy idea of reviewing the final six MCU films I hadn't seen. That's six reviews in one month! However I did and I'm rather proud too! The blogathon was suppose to go till the 31st, but I guess they decided to end it early (hence why I don't have the blogathon button on any of my posts). However, I keep to my promises. I said I was going to write about Sam and Bucky and seeing as I love both of them and I can't wait till The Falcon and Winter Soldier, this is a post idea I can't let pass by.

Captain Marvel

 

If there was ever a movie to cause so much controversy, it was Marvel's first female centered film. Due to Brie Larson's rather negative, feminist and sexist comments prior to the film's release, a great deal of strife ensued from many rabid Marvel fans. While I myself found Brie Larson's statements to be extremely annoying, I began to notice that the fans started to take on a "Crucify Brie Larson," campaign for no other reason than they just didn't like her or the film. Fans were determined to find fault and problems with both Brie Larson and Captain Marvel. Even clear into Endgame, people were sill hating on Brie and her character.

Ant-Man and The Wasp

So, Ant-Man and The Wasp is very scientific, techy and rather confusing. First I had totally forgotten where we were in the Marvel timeline and then when I finally figured that out, everything was nothing short of quantum this and quantum that (Scott got tired of this too). The movie itself was good, but it was just a little too much into the outer rim ideology for me to understand. That being said, the characters were excellent as always (LUIS!!!) and they more than made up for this very complex storyline. 

Ant-Man

Ant-Man may seem out of place when around the cool, well known, Avengers such as Iron Man, Captain America and Thor. A former thief, convict, ex-husband and loving father whose life is going nowhere is vastly different from the usual heroic stories. Yet, it's the differences in Scott and his alter-ego that make him a very likeable character and an even better hero for all the underdogs that deserve a second chance at life and even love. 

LOTR Read-Along: The Two Towers: The Departure of Boromir

So, moviewise, The Two Towers is my favorite. I loved meeting the new characters, seeing the kingdom of Rohan, the Ents and of course, the epic Battle of Helm's Deep! Am I spoiling anything? It's interesting that the first book in this saga is called The Fellowship of the Ring, however, we only get a few chapters with the Fellowship as a whole. At the same time the Fellowship stays connected even when their separated. No one is ever really alone. And maybe no one is ever meant to be alone. 

My History with Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift and I have a long history with each other. We have a rather a love/hate relationship. While I listen to her music (at least her old stuff), I could never like her as a person. For years, I never understood why people consider her so admirable and refuse (or are just too stupid) to recognize her glamorized vitriol and money making manipulative nature she has always possessed. I grew up in Taylor Swift mania and so my history of her road to fame is much more accurate than what most of her fans know about today. 

Goodreads Reviews: The Librarian of Auschwitz

 

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio G. Iturbe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Truth is the first casualty of war." When truth is destroyed then madness may reign free. From the time she was 9 years old, Edita "Dita" Adler has seen the truth disappear the moment the Nazi's occupied her home in Prague in 1939. From there Dita was taken from her home, placed in the ghettos and then finally shipped to Auschwitz where she spends every moment trying to survive. Not live, just survive.

Amid the filth, bloodshed, starvation, sickness and hatefulness, there is a small glimmer of happiness. Block Thirty-One has been made into a school for the children too young to work. It is of course a sham for the Nazi Party to give the appearance that Auschwitz is a perfectly ordinary displaced persons camp, however to the teachers and their pupils, Block Thirty-One is a sanctuary.

Even though it's termed 'a school,' books are forbidden. Yet, Fredy Hirsch, the director of Block Thirty-One manages to stash eight different books that will be secretly shared around. He gives the position of Block Thirty-One librarian to fourteen year old Dita, believing that she is capable to handle it. From the moment the books are put into Dita's hands, she vows she will protect them with her life. And every moment of her life could possibly be her last.

A gritty, heartbreaking, true life account of a young girl who witnessed and survived the darkest and most evil institutions in history. She is constantly on her guard whether protecting the books, evading Dr. Josef Mengele the notorious "Angel of Death," keeping her family together or even fighting her feelings for a man she admires.

The Nazi's tried to destroy the truth of culture and humanity. They tried to kill it within the gas chambers and the tunneled graves. However, by hiding the eight books of Block Thirty-One, Dita preserved the truth and brought it to light, with her story of survival, resilience and courage.

Inklings Link-Up~January 2021

Inklings for a new year! Here's my list of Inklings posts from last year!

1. At any time during the month, on your own blog post a scene from a book or film that matches the prompt.

2. Link-back to Heidi's blog in the comments section with a link to you Inklings prompt.

January Prompt

A new beginning in book or film

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

The Guardians are back! And still getting into trouble. What else would you except from a group of aliens? I was pleasantly surprised with this sequel, because it had an emotional depth to the story that you really wouldn't expect from a franchise like this one. Dealing with the fragile concepts of kidnapping, abandonment, abuse, nature v nurture and what constitutes 'family,' are dealt with quite brilliantly in the Guardians ongoing journey.

Guardians of the Galaxy

 If Star Trek had a baby with the Marvel franchise then this quirky film would be their child. Guardians of the Galaxy was another Marvel product that I had no concept of until it premiered in 2014. To be honest I didn't particularly care for it, but upon re-watching it for reviewing purposes, it does have a whimsy and charm to it that other Marvel franchises tend to lack. It's gritty, but not serious. It's geared toward teenagers, but adults can find the humor just as easily. It's certainly not my favorite of the Marvel productions, but it does have a place for your super geeky, space loving fans.

LOTR Read-Along: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Breaking of the Fellowship

As the story relays, the Fellowship's quest is coming to an end. Our band of diverse heroes have come to a crossroads of what to do with themselves. Do they continue on to Mordor or follow Boromir into Gondor, do they all go their own way? A difficult question after all that they've been through together. The decision is laid before Frodo. Only the Ring bearer can decide the fate of all of them now.

Lovely Blog Party

Cordy from Any Merry Little Thought is hosting her month long Lovely Blog Party!

I participated in 2019 writing about Arthur & Gwen from BBC Merlin and a movie review of First Knight.

This year I'll be writing about Lynda Day and Spike Thomson from Press Gang. They were definitely a cute and unique couple, but they weren't without their problems either. 

LOTR Read-Along: The Fellowship of the Ring: The Great River

Upon leaving the safety of Lothlorien, the Fellowship now embark on a winding and twisting ride on the Great River, Anduin. And as you would expect from Tolkien, most of the chapter is nothing but descriptions of rocks, rivers, trees, banks and the occasional black swan. Oh, and the crazy little creature that keeps popping up in the corner of Frodo's eye. Of course, it's Gollum and he knows it. Frodo has figured that Gollum has been following them for some time. 

Spider-Man: Far From Home

The first post-Endgame movie arrives in the continuation of Peter Parker's transition from adolescence into adulthood. Not an easy feat when for the last five years you've been erased from the planet and return as the same 16 year old you were before. With great heroes such as Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff now gone, people wonder what will happen to the Avengers? Who will take over and lead them? However, Tony Stark was always the man with a plan, who always appeared to be two steps ahead of everyone else. 

I am a Logistician/ISTJ/Sentinel...

 So I took a personality test from 16Personalities, having no idea what I was going to come out as. So when I read the results, I was shocked at the full on accuracy that was laid out before me.

TYPE:	Turbulent Logistician	?
CODE:	ISTJ-T	?
ROLE:	Sentinel	?
STRATEGY:	Constant Improvement

MCU Blogathon: Tag of Ten

1. What is Your Favorite Movie?

- Either Captain America: The First Avenger or Captain America: The Winter Soldier

They're both so good! The First Avenger had such a classic, vintage look and feel to it and it was a strong origin story. Winter Soldier was just solid all the way through. It conveyed some of the strongest character performances in the whole franchise. From Steve's understanding of the modern day world, Natasha's inner fear, Bucky's abuse, all of it was on the table. 

2. What is Your Favorite Stan Lee Cameo?

- Spiderman: Homecoming

3. Who is Your Favorite Character from the Original Six?

- Steve Rogers/Captain America. I'm a sucker for the good guys!

4. Who is Your Favorite Sidekick (characters not from the Original Six who don't have their own movie)?

- That's tough! Either Rhodey or Sam. I love them both!

5. What is the Funniest Moment?

- When the Avengers are trying to wield Mjolnir in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It was just the six of them (plus several others) having fun and relaxing.

6. Who is Your Favorite Villain?

- Red Skull! He's terrifying! 

7. What is Your Favorite Power or Technology?

- Everything that Wanda has. She's just an all around cool character. 

8. What is Your Favorite Sequel (no trilogies!)?

- There only non-trilogy sequels have been Ant-Man 2, which I haven't seen and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which I've only seen once...so I don't really have an opinion

9. What are Your Favorite End Credits? Or End Credit's Scene?

- The end of Captain America: Civil War, where Bucky is finally safe in Wakanda. There was so much peace in that scene which lead into the discovery of Wakanda. It was a brilliantly done scene.

10. Who is Your Favorite Ship?

- T'Challa and Nakia!  

My Year with Easy Company and WWII

My reading year of 2020 was a very different year. In 2018 and 2019 I took part in the Goodreads Reading Challenge. In 2018 I read 50 books; in 2019 my goal was set for 55, however I reset it to 30 and managed to read 37. By the middle of 2019, I was getting worn out with trying to keep up with my books which is why I reset my goal. So in 2020, I chose not to do the reading challenge, but I didn't know what to read. That's when I came across Band of Brothers.

As I've written before, I love WWII, but I never really studied the war or the battles. I was curious about the Band of Brothers mini-series, but before I watched it, I wanted to read the book first. I got the book from the library and was immediately immersed in the lives of the men from Easy Company. Afterwards, I saw the mini-series and from there till the end of the year, most of my 2020 reading was centered on the paratroopers of Easy Company.

Altogether, I read 10 books about Easy Company, therefore creating my own library. Although there are numerous biographies that are still being written about Easy Company, my own series consists of the the original book and the books that were primarily focused on the men that were featured in the mini-series and their biographies that were published from 2001 (when the mini-series premiered) to 2011. This also includes Parachute Infantry by David Kenyon Webster that was posthumously published in 1994. 

Reading Band of Brothers, watching the series and subsequently reading more about these men in 2020, was an unexpected miracle for me. With all the madness that was going on in the world, I would go and read about young men who left their homes, families, everything they knew and love to travel to the other side of the world and fight some of the greatest threats to mankind. They dealt with terrible leadership, harsh weather conditions, unspeakable horrors of battle and bloodshed, loss of comrades, PTSD, alcoholism, and trying to put their lives back together.

When reading about these men, reliving the war with them, gaining knowledge and understanding from their hardships, victories and defeats, all of a sudden what was going on in 2020 seemed so little and insignificant. I'm not saying that 2020 wasn't difficult, however, it's nothing compared to the real suffering of those who lived and fought in WWII. Even when I was having a difficult time returning to work, I would read about Dick Winters and what he endured under Captain Sobel and how he rose above and beyond all that Sobel threw at him. Remembering what I read helped me get through a lot of personal problems. 

• Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

• Band of Brothers Pt. I - Pt. II

• Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, the Man who Led the Band of Brothers by Larry Alexander

• Beyond of Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Major Dick Winters

• Parachute Infantry by David Kenyon Webster

• Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends by William Guarnere, Robyn Post and Edward Heffron 

• Easy Company Solider by SGT. Don Malarkey

• We Who Are Alive and Remain: The Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers by Marcus Brotherton

• A Company of Heroes by Marcus Brotherton

• Call of Duty by Lynn "Buck" Compton

• Shifty's War by Darryl "Shifty" Powers and Marcus Brotherton

These are other excellent books I read about WWII as well.

• The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsell

• Unbroken by Laura Hilenbrand

• The Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw

• The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff