March 2021 Wrap-Up & Favorites

Source: personal collection

Hello fellow readers! How are you doing? March has passed by. It's film awards season so I spent my time mostly watching films and playing catch up with my to-watch list. On the reading front, I finished a trilogy that's been hanging over my head since I was in college. I'm a completist. I feel a bit itchy when there's a series that I haven't completed (unless the series is so bad I can't continue on). It was fun. I almost forget how fun it is to read a series. These days I mostly read standalone or even short books. So that was refreshing. Moving on, here's the books I read in March.

Books read in March

	Elixir - Hilary Duff with Elise Allen (★★★)
	Elixir is the first book in a young adult fantasy trilogy written by Hilary Duff and Elise Allen. I actually read this book back in high school (I think? Or first year of college) but I never get to finish the series. It's a reread. I was in the mood for some easy young adult romance-fantasy books so I picked this up. This time around, I intend to finish the series. This book is not the best young adult book that I've read but I can see why I was interested in it back then (I just realized I gave it four stars the first time around). It feels rushed in the end. There's a chapter that just explains the entire background of the characters instead of revealing it as the story progresses. There are also some parts where I feel like the main character, Clea, could have made better decision; maybe I think that way because I re-read it when I'm older than the target audience. I probably read the book for the first time around ten years ago so my judgement clearly has changed, the way I perceived the book has changed. The romance comes off cheesy and a bit cringy to me. Still, it's a fun read. I enjoyed reading Elixir because it's what I needed at the time. Like I said I will read the next book and finish the series.
	Devoted - Hilary Duff with Elise Allen (★★★)
	Devoted is the second book in the Elixir trilogy. Since this is the second book in the series, I won't go much into detail when talking about the plot. Unlike the first book, this is my first time reading the book. If in the first one the story is told from Clea's perspective, in this one we get two narrators, Clea and a girl who, in my opinion, kind of appeared out of nowhere (she did appear out of nowhere in the book). I like Clea better in this book, although towards the end she made a decision that made me face palm. But then I tried to justify her action because she's like what? 19? 20? I do like the action part in this book. This almost bumps up my rating for this book by one star because at the time I was looking for something easy, fun, and exciting to read. However, I do not like the other narrator. Since she just being introduced in this book, when in the actuality she already has an extensive background story and connection with the elixir, her narration always feel super dense to catch up with her. A lot of telling and not enough build up. At least that's what I feel about her character. Anyway, will I still be reading the next book which is also the last book in the trilogy? Absolutely.
	True - Hilary Duff with Elise Allen (★★)
	True is the last book in the trilogy. I finally finished it! Unfortunately, the last book is not as good as the previous one, especially the first one. I feel like the story is spiraling down. In this one, aside of Clea's, we also get another narrator, Rayna, who is Clea's best friend. I do not like her narration. To be honest, Rayna is never my favorite character in the first place. Reading her narration doesn't change my opinion about her, sorry. The last book disappoints me. The main characters, Clea and Ben, I like them. They're one of the reasons why I enjoy reading this series. However, in the last book, I feel like they become the young adult book character tropes. They're immature and petty. I rolled my eyes several times when I was reading this book. The series is not fun for me anymore. So there's that. If you're interested in this series, maybe just read the first book and maybe the second book if you want to know more since the ending of the first book is quite a cliffhanger. I wouldn't recommend the third book though.
	Typhoon - Joseph Conrad (★★)
	Typhoon is a part of Penguin Little Black Classics series. It chronicles Captain MacWhirr's journey sailing a ship into a typhoon. Honestly, I didn't really enjoy reading this book. It feels like I was in and out of the story all the time. When the story got thrilling and exciting, I was pretty into it. But then there are times when I got bored and just want to get it over with, which is why it took me quite a while to finish this book despite the length. I think I prefer to enjoy this kind of story in another type of media, such as a film. However, if you like an adventurous story you might enjoy this one.
	Lusifer! Lusifer! - Venerdi Handoyo (★★★★)
	Lusifer! Lusifer! is the second book by an Indonesian author that I read this year. I picked it up because some people I know have read it and love it. It follows Markus Yonatan, who's asked by his brother to participate in an exorcism of a girl named Mawarsaron. The girl is suspected to be possessed by devils including the Lucifer. The book starts with the introduction of the narrator, then to Mawarsaron. He explained how he came to know her and their relationship. As we progress through the story, we'll understand more what's actually going on with Mawarsaron. When I picked it up I didn't expect that I'd like it this much. This book only has 120-ish pages and it's so gripping I finished it in less than a day. Yet, for such a short book, it's so dense. Upon reading the premise, I thought this book would be one of those horror books about possession like the Exorcist. It's not. This book is themed around beliefs and the danger of extreme religiousness to the point that it almost turn to blind faith. It challenges human tendency to refuse one's shortcomings and blame it on the supernatural. In the case of this book, instead of self introspection and trying to solve the problem by talking to Mawarsaron, her parents chose to blame it on the devils and perform a dangerous ritual. It's unexpectedly thought-provoking and I enjoyed reading this book. Though I don't think this book has been translated to another language, if you can read in Indonesian language, I highly recommend to read this book.
	The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami (★★★★)
	The Elephant Vanishes is a book which collects 17 short stories by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is one of my favorite authors even though I haven't read all of his published books. This year, I'm planning on slowly read all his published books one by one including his short story collections. I already read two of the short stories in this book before but I just never get tired of Murakami's writing. Also, I enjoyed reading all 17 stories included in this collection. As with Murakami's other writings, the stories in this book are surreal and weird. I know that it sounds daunting. However, if you're used to this type of stories, or to be more specific Murakami's writing, you'll enjoy reading this collection. I've written a full review of this book which will be up on this blog if you want to know more of my thoughts on this book.

Review Posts in March

Two By Two - Nicholas Sparks

March Favorites

Book

Lusifer! Lusifer!

The Elephant Vanishes

TV shows

Modern Family

I know I'm late on this. The show ended last year with total of 11 seasons. I used to watch the show here and there whenever it's on TV but I didn't follow each episode. Then come a point where I've finished Veep and I need a comedy show to accompany my lunchtime. This show is available on Disney+ so I watched it. It's lighthearted and funny at times, perfect to watch during my break from work. By the time I wrote this post I'm on the second season. Since it has 11 seasons, it will be awhile before I go look for another show to watch during lunch.

Movies

Sound of Metal

I watched this film because it's nominated for Best Picture in the 93rd Academy Awards. What I like from these awards is, honestly if it wasn't for the nomination this film wouldn't be on my radar. This applies to a lot of films. I find a lot of my favorites through these awards. Anyway, with Sound of Metal, I didn't expect that I'd like it this much. The premise didn't intrigue me that much. Yet, I end up loving this film anyway. By the time I watched Sound of Metal, I've watched several others that are also nominated but this one leaves such an impression on me. It's touching and the ending got me to do some self reflection. This is one film that I recommend to watch.

There you have it! How was your March? Is there any particular film award that you follow? Did you watch any good film? Personally, I only follow the Academy Awards. I have this tradition to watch all of the best picture nominations of the year. This year is a bit tricky since some are not available to stream outside of US, some are only available to stream later on, and because of the pandemic, film theaters aren't open yet (at least where I live). So we'll see. Anyway, feel free to recommend any books or films on the comment section. I hope you have a good month ahead.