#AmReading + #AmWatching - July 4th 2019 #Reviews (Includes Challenge Updates)

Reading is like magic--I think I've made my case. Without the gift of words, this world's a crazy place!
~Denise Walter McConduit

It's time to take a look at what I've been reading and watching during this past week.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I read and watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before reading or viewing, to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved.

OK...

Here's what I read this week:

Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a really good, and obviously well-researched, book. It's upsetting in places, especially given the fact it's based on true events, but well worth the read. I didn't enjoy it as much as "Lilac Girls" (which it's a prequel to) but did find it to be a great read.

The Human Experiment by Cory Zwick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The plot concept was interesting, and there were some great entertaining and action-packed scenes. But the author's writing style just isn't for me, and I really didn't enjoy most of it because of that.

As for what I've been watching:

I watched the first series of the "Goosebumps" TV series, which was three disks. I saw a lot of the episodes in the past, when I watched it on TV, but this is the first time I'm sitting down and watching them in the recommended viewing order, and I know I haven't seen all the Goosebumps episodes. Haven't read all the books yet either, though I've read many of them. Anyway, I always enjoyed the books more than the episodes of the TV show before, and that still seems to be the case. They were great, but the books were better. At least, I know I can so far say that for the ones where I've both read the book and seen the episode.

***~~~***

Since we're half way through the year - yes, already - I thought I'd take a moment to update you on how I'm doing with my reading and watching challenges for 2019 again. So, this is how things stand at the moment:

• I've so far read 53 books towards my goal of 104 books.
• I've completed 15 letters for the title version of the A-Z challenge, and 25 for the author version of the A-Z challenge.
• I've so far watched 27 DVDs towards my goal of 52 DVDs.

So, I'm either on track or ahead of schedule with all of them. In particular the author A-Z challenge, which I only need to read one more book for. I'm really pleased about that, especially after getting behind earlier in the year.