September 2016 Wrap-Up & Favorites

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Hi! It’s October! The year almost ends. Surprisingly, I didn’t read much in September. Considering that I’m done with school, I thought that I would read a lot. But I was so distracted by Marvel movies and TV series. Even some books I read in September are Marvel’s comics and I enjoyed them. Anyhoo, here’s the books I read in September.

Books read in September

	Beautiful Ruins – Jess Walter (★★★.5)
	Beautiful Ruins is a historical romance set in Italy and Hollywood. It actually has two timelines which are the 1960s and the present time. It’s a beautiful story that has many layers. I’ve written a full review of this book already. I will post the review sometime in October, probably.
	Grim – Christine Johnson (★★★)
	Grim is a short story collection which consists of classic fairy tale retellings. Some has dark and creepy twist; some are sad and just fun to read. I’ve written a long review of this book, in which I talk about each of the short story. The review will be up sometime in October.
	Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #1-#5 – Frank Miller
	Lately, I’ve been into comic/ graphic novel. After being blown away by Batman: The Killing Joke, I think maybe it’s time to read more superheroes comics. The problem is I don’t know where to start. Until I listen to Marvel News podcast. I still don’t know the timeline or where to start, but at least I know which one to read without me having to know an entire timeline.
	Civil War – Mark Millar (★★★.5)
	Civil War is the source material of (you can guess) Captain America: Civil War movie. Reading this comic is a bit risky because I don’t know the current climate of Marvel’s universe. But I’ve watched Captain America: Civil War and other MCU movies. At least I know a bit about Marvel’s universe like some of the characters and how things work there. Civil War movie brings out interesting issue. That’s why I decided to read the comic anyway. To be honest, I’m disappointed by the movie. Knowing the sub title, Civil War, I expected a big all-out war. It doesn’t live up to that expectation so maybe by reading the comic, I would get that. It does live up to my expectation on that part. The comic includes many superheroes from Marvel, like Daredevil, Luke Cage, even fantastic four. It’s more massive than the movie so I get the war part. What I like from this comic is when I watch the movie the issue that’s being talked about is similar to the one that’s in X-men movies. The issue is about how to control these enhanced people/ super powered people so they can (at least) minimize the collateral damage; the collateral damage being ‘normal’ people, which is kind of ironic. Because these enhanced people are actually trying to protect people with no super powers, but in doing so, they often hurt normal people. I already know that x-men movies are not part of MCU so I like seeing the mutants with the avengers together in one comic. Although in the comic the mutants are on the neutral side and I could understand why. They’ve been through the same thing which resulting in them being monitored by Sentinels. I like this part because it’s brought up in x-men movies, but never really wrapped up. Now I know how the mutants registration conflict concluded. On the Avengers side, the team is split into two factions, Tony Stark aka Iron Man’s and Steve Rogers aka Captain America’s. Tony is on the pro superhuman regulation act while Steve is against it. Personally, I couldn’t connect with Steve Rogers at all. I couldn’t understand why he’s so against the regulation. Even when I watched the movie, I couldn’t understand his reason. He’s against the act because he felt that the act would take away super human’s freedom. I think his reason speaks more about his personality. I mean, that’s what Captain America is built upon, for freedom. That’s who Steve Rogers is, so I couldn’t relate to that. But Peter Parker has a reasonable reason for it. As a superhero that’s been very secretive about his identity, it’s a good move to give him quite a big part in this comic. He’s against the act because he thinks that giving his identity could harm people around him. That I could understand. All in all, Civil War is enjoyable to read. Reading the comic, I could understand more where both sides come from. The ending is a bit meh for me. It’s not satisfying, but I know that there are many tie-ins to this story arc. I still haven’t decided whether to read them or not. If you like Marvel movies, especially Captain America: Civil War, I’d recommend reading this comic.

Review Posts in September
The Grownup - Gillian Flynn
Bossypants - Tina Fey
Kissed - Cameron Dokey
The First Phone Call from Heaven - Mitch Albom
I'll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson

Non-Review Posts in September
Top 10 Podcasts You Should be Listening to
Top 10 Books on My Fall TBR List

September Favorites

Books

Daredevil: the Man without Fear

TV shows

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

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I’m on a Marvel kick lately as you can see from the books I read in September and my podcast post. I have been re-watching Marvel’s movies also. This time around I want to watch them while following the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) timeline. This show is a part of that timeline. So I feel that I have to watch the show. I know that it’s not necessary to watch the show to understand MCU’s films continuity. I enjoyed it. It’s nice to finally be able filling in the blanks. It’s just a fun show to watch especially if you like espionage/ superheroes show.

Youtube

Buzzfeed videos

I’ve been binge-watching videos uploaded on Buzzfeed’s channel. They’re short, funny, and basically just enjoyable to watch. I like watching the try guys videos and food related videos. The try guys are funny, especially Eugene. He’s delightful to watch. He often makes funny remarks with a deadpan face. Try watching their videos. It only takes about five minutes anyway.

So there you have it, my September wrap up. Nothing interesting has been going. What about you? Did you have a good reading month?