friday5 for February 8, 2013
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So yesterday, we were hit by Snowmageddon. For reals. I was stuck in my car, trying to get to work, and then trying to get home from work, for much of the day. If that's not a good excuse for why I wasn't able to post this yesterday, I don't know what is. The important part is, it's here! The Friday5, appearing on a Saturday (....again).
In a previous post, I mentioned that I'm thinking of making some changes to the Friday5 and that's true. It's sort of evolved into a round-up of pop-culture links, which is okay, but I want to try and mix a little personal stuff into it moving forward. And so, the first step in that direction starts today....
1. Snowmageddon. We're often told that any winter storm headed our way is going to be Snowmageddon. I think the people delivering the news figure that if they always predict Snowmageddon, eventually they'll be right. I'd say that this time, they were. The snow is piled so high outside my house right now, that opening the front door involves shifting snow out of the way. So yeah, that's a lot of snow. Did the whatshisname groundhog predict an early spring? He's probably laughing in his little groundhog hole as we speak. Jerk.
2. Community has returned! It's been a long, long, long LONG wait, but Community is finally back on our television screens. It almost felt like a dream watching it on Thursday. The show is under new management, with the previous show-runner out the door and a couple of new guys in charge. Honestly, I don't know if the show felt slightly different because I knew that or if it genuinely felt slightly different. I still enjoyed it greatly, but it felt almost like... they were trying to pack too much in? I don't know. Like I said, I enjoyed it greatly and I'm very confident that any blip in quality (again, not really in quality, just in...meshing with previous stuff?) will be smoothed out the new guys get their footing. I'm really looking forward to the new season! Even if we are going to randomly get Halloween and Christmas episodes at odd times. I'd take a full season of poorly-timed holiday Community episodes over a normal season of any other comedy currently on network television.
3. Emma Roberts has been cast as Lena in the pilot for Lauren Oliver's Delirium. I don't know Emma Roberts that well. I think I've only ever seen her in a couple of indie flicks. But I recall she did a good job and if she's been cast as Lena, I'm sure she's up to snuff. It's interesting to see film actors showing up in TV more and more (or is it just me?). The husband and I have been watching The Following (not bad, though the Poe references are way too heavy-handed) and it's a bit odd to watch Kevin Bacon do his thing on the small screen. I will definitely be watching Delirium when and if it makes it onto my television--the fact that they've cast "a big name" for Lena is a good sign that they're going to put the effort in to do this series right.
4. Exciting news to share regarding Harlequin Teen author Julie Kagawa! Julie's new, untitled book series has been optioned by Universal! Hooray for Julie! Having dealt with Julie in my day job, I can honestly say that she is fantastic and I'm so happy to see her succeeding across the boards. If you haven't picked up any of Julie's books before, and you love richly detailed fantasy YA with strong characters, you are certainly missing out. She's extremely talented and her Iron Fey books have earned their special place on my YA bookshelf. Congratulations Julie!
5. YA book rec time! Another week of fab released, but we seriously need to discuss Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger. Carriger has been rockin it in the adult steam punk world for a while with her Parasol Protectorate books. Now she brings her fantastico writing style to YA with this, and I quote, "Finishing School Book the First".
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| This cover is way 2legit2quit, you guys. |
It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.This book will be amazing. My proof? Exhibit A: Boarding school books are the bee's knees. Exhibit B: Boarding school books featuring sassy tomboy heroines who get into wacky hijinks will steal your heart every time. And Exhibit C: Boarding school books + "CURTSY AND THROW A KNIFE AT THE SAME TIME". I rest my case. Carriger: 1 - Everybody Else Ever: 0
Sophronia Temminnick at 14 is a great trial more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners -- and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Her poor mother, desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady, enrolls the lively tomboy in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.
But young ladies learn to finish...everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage -- in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education. (Summary from Goodreads.com)
