August 2022 Wrap-Up & Favorites

Source: personal collection

Hello fellow readers! I know it's December already and I should have posted this wrap-up months ago. Better late than never (lol). Rather than reading, I watched quite a lot of films in August. Still on my mission to watch all Academy Awards Best Picture nominees. I found three which unexpectedly become my favorite. Anyway, let's get right to the list of books I read in August.

Books read in August

	Waiting - Ha Jin (★★★)
	Reading the summary alone, most people would be put off by this book because of the infidelity. Somehow I still picked it up and read it. It is a book about infidelity; but it also paints a picture on comunism in China which I find interesting. While it's not an easy read, I don't regret reading this book. The ending gives me a perspective on waiting. What you want is not always what you need. The characters of this book learn that the hard way. I don't really recommend to read this book though, since it puts the issue of infidelity at the center and the pacing is incredibly slow.
	2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke (★★★)
	I feel like this book is a staple read for those who love sci-fi. I don't have vast knowledge on sci-fi. I feel like I haven't read that many sci-fi books even though I want to. The reason I picked this book is because I thought if I want to start reading more sci-fi books, it would be best to start with the classics. Though there are a lot of unanswered questions left after finishing this book, I can see why this book is considered as a classic. It's definitely way ahead of its time.

Review Posts in August
First Comes Love - Emily Giffin
Caraval - Stephanie Garber
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

August Favorites

TV shows

She Hulk: Attorney at Law

There are two things that got me excited for this series: Tatiana Maslany and Matt Murdock. I'm happy that they cast Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters because I love her in Orphan Black. When I received the news that Charlie Cox would also join the show as Daredevil, you have no idea how ecstatic I was. This show is funny, relatable, and different from other Marvel shows I watched. Though this show receives mixed reviews, I still enjoy it nonetheless.

Movies

Life of Pi

This film is kind of a dark horse to me. Of all the list of Academy Award best picture nominees, this is the film that I thought would bore me out. Turns out I love it. The visual is so stunning although I know it's CGI. The film is so philosophical and no, I haven't read the book. After watching the film, I'm intrigued to read it. If you haven't watched this film, I recommend to watch it.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Fun fact, The Grand Budapest Hotel is actually the film which motivates me to do a personal project to watch all of the Academy Award Best Picture nominees starting from the 2000s. I remember back in 2015, I was at home watching TV randomly and I stumbled upon this film on HBO. Apparently it was award season and some of the films which were nominated were on HBO. Since I had nothing to do I decided to just watch those films even though I knew nothing of them. I love those films especially this one. If it wasn't for award season program, I wouldn't watch those films. So I searched what other films which have been nominated in the past and I haven't watched most of them. I haven't even heard most of them. Oh how much I missed all these years! Thus begin my personal project. True, so far not all come to my liking; but some stay and become my favorite of all time. Anyway, if you haven't watched The Grand Budapest Hotel, please watch it. It's Wes Anderson kind quirky and whimsical.

The Blind Side

I thought The Blind Side would be one of those cliché sports drama films. I don't usually watch sports drama because I'm not really interested in it. Apparently, it's based on a book about the life of Michael Oher, an American NFL player. It's such an inspiring and touching story. If you're looking for that kind of film, The Blind Side could be your option.

There you have it! I know it's several months late already but whatever (lol). I still want to share what I read and watched during the month of August. Especially because I watched several good films. Since we're reaching the end of 2022 and the latest wrap-up is August's, I make it my mission to write and post wrap-up of the rest of the months continuously every week in December. So, September wrap-up & favorites is coming!