Blogkeeping -- Winter 2016/Spring/Summer/(Some Fall) 2017

Starting just over a year ago!  100 movies from December 2016 to July 2017.  Lots of so-so and also terrible library selections (two false starts!  Unheard of!), the end of Grimm and the beginning of Psych:

Captain America: Civil War [r] *** • Psych (Season 2) *** 1/2 • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh [r] **** • Silver Linings Playbook *** • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 *** • Psych (Season 1) *** 1/2 • Doctor Strange [r] *** • The Amazing Race (Season 17) [r] **** • Anastasia [r] ***** • Gotham (Season 3) *** • The Secrets of Crickley Hall **** • My Cousin Rachel *** • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End [r] *** • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest [r] *** 1/2 • The Amazing Race (Season 29) ** 1/2 • Prison Break (Season 5) ** • Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [r] *** • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales **** • Split **** • Survivor: Game Changers (Season 34) *** • Lion **** • Cars [r] *** 1/2 • Documentary Now (Season 2) *** 1/2 • Bambi II [r] *** • Bambi [r] ***** • The Light Between Oceans *** 1/2 • Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens [r] *** 1/2 • Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi [r] **** • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back [r] **** • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope [r] **** • Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith [r] *** • Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones [r] ** 1/2 • Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace [r] ** 1/2 • The Scarlet Pimpernel [r] **** • Assassin's Creed (false start) --- • Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them ** • La La Land *** 1/2 • Bates Motel (Season 5) **** • Sense and Sensibility (1995) [r] ***** • Sense & Sensibility (2008) [r] **** • Jupiter Ascending * 1/2 • A Series of Unfortunate Events (Season 1) ** • Just Let Go *** 1/2 • Star Wars: Rogue One [r] ** 1/2 • Daria (Season 3) **** • Passengers *** 1/2 • Legion (Season 1) *** • Grimm (Season 6) ** • Napoleon Dynamite [r] **** • Arrival **** • The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials ** 1/2 • The Maze Runner ** 1/2 • Victoria (Season 1) **** • Beauty and the Beast (1991) [r] ***** • Beauty and the Beast (2017) *** • Moana [r] x2 **** • Tangled [r] ***** • Tangled Before Ever After *** • Warcraft (false start) --- • Into the Woods Live In Central Park **** • Grantchester (Season 1) ** 1/2 • Enchanted [r] **** • Deepwater Horizon **** • The Magnificent Seven (2016) ** • Jack Reacher: Never Go Back ** 1/2 • Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children ** 1/2 • Moana [r] **** 1/2 • Daria (Season 2) [r] **** 1/2 • Florence Foster Jenkins *** 1/2 • Newsies LIVE ***** • Ever After [r] ***** • Cinderella (2015) [r] *** • Sully *** 1/2 • Cinderella (1950) [r] **** • Pete's Dragon (1977) [r] *** • Daria (Season 1) [r] **** • A History of Violence ** 1/2 • Into the Storm ** 1/2 • The Help (mostly) [r] ***** • Star Wars: Rogue One ** 1/2 • Prisoners **** • Pete's Dragon (2016) *** 1/2 • The Bourne Identity [r] **** • The BFG *** • Jason Bourne ** 1/2 • Lucy *** 1/2 • Gone Girl *** 1/2 • War & Peace (2016) [r] **** • Anne of Green Gables [r] ***** • Sherlock (Season 4) *** • Doctor Thorne **** • The Hunchback of Notre Dame [r] ***** • Project Runway (Season 15) ** 1/2 • Office Space [r] **** • The Wrong Boyfriend (Wuthering High School) * 1/2 • Inside Out (mostly) [r] ***** • Kubo and the Two Strings **** 1/2 • Hail, Caesar! *** • Mickey's Christmas Carol [r] ***** • While You Were Sleeping [r] *****

100 books from January to October 2017.  More of the usual: lots of children's books (including probably the worst one ever written), and almost none of the other variety, ha ha:

Madeline (Ludwig Bemelmans) ***** • Get Dressed! (Seymour Chwast) *** • The Loud Book (Deborah Underwood) *** • The Quiet Book (Deborah Underwood) **** • Thank You and Good Night (Patrick McDonnell) ***** • Chloe (Peter McCarty) **** • My Bike (Byron Barton) ** 1/2 • Books Always Everyhere (Jane Blatt) **** • Boo, Bunny! (Kathryn O. Galbraith *** • The Heart and the Bottle (Oliver Jeffers) **** • Orion and the Dark (Emma Yarlett) ***** • The Not So Quiet Library (Zachariah Ohora) *** • Little Tree (Loren Long) **** • A Visitor For Bear (Bonny Becker) *** • A Few Bites (Cybèle Young) **** • Vanilla Ice Cream (Bob Graham) *** • The Red Hat (David Teague) ***** • Dog Loves Book (Louise Yates) **** • BabyLit: Emma (Jennifer Adams) *** • BabyLit: Treasure Island (Jennifer Adams) *** • BabyLit: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (Jennifer Adams) *** • Hooray For Today! (Brian Won) **** • The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (Eric Carle) **** • Chicken and Cat (Sara Varon) *** • Ragtime (E.L. Doctorow) *** 1/2 • Tell Me the Day Backwards (Albert Lamb) ***** • Your Hand In My Heart (Mark Sperring) ***** • Sam and the Firefly (P.D. Eastman) **** • The Lamb and the Butterfly (Arnold Sundgaard) *** • Otis and the Scarecrow (Loren Long) *** • Otis and the Puppy (Loren Long) **** • The Unholy Trinity: Blocking the Left's Assault On Life, Marriage, and Gender (Matt Walsh) ***** • The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspirations from Disney's Great Animators (Andreas Deja) *** 1/2 • All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr) **** • It's Only Stanley (Jon Agee) ***** • Polar Bear Night (Lauren Thompson) *** • To Market, To Market (Anna Miranda) *** • I Love You the Purplest (Barbara Joosse) *** • Twenty Big Trucks In the Middle of the Street (Mark Lee) **** • My Car (Byron Barton) ** • Feminist Baby (Loryn Brantz) * • The Bossier Baby (Marla Frazee) **** • Miss Rumphius (Barbara Cooney) **** • Go Away, Big Green Monster! (Ed Emberley) *** 1/2 • This book is out of control! (Richard Byrne) *** • The Airport Book (Lisa Brown) ** • The Five Chinese Brothers (Claire Huchet Bishop) **** • My Little Sister and Me (Maple Lam) **** • It Is Not Time For Sleeping (Lisa Graff) **** • Good Night Like This (Mary Murphy) **** • The Light Between Oceans (M.L. Stedman) ***** • Ben's Dream (Chris Van Allsburg) **** • Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion (Mo Willems) *** 1/2 • The Hueys In The New Sweater (Oliver Jeffers) ** 1/2 • Just a Dream (Chris Van Allsburg) ** • Cars Go (Steve Light) *** 1/2 • La Luna (Enrico Casarosa) **** • Goodnight Everyone (Chris Haughton) *** • There Are Cast In This Book (Viviane Schwarz) **** • Cheetah Can't Lose (Bob Shea) *** • Officer Buckle & Gloria (Peggy Rathmann) **** • This Moose Belongs To Me (Oliver Jeffers) **** • Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing (Judi Barrett) **** • The Crayon: A Colorful Tale About Friendship (Simon Rickerty) *** • Jumanji (Chris Van Allsburg) **** • Round Trip (Ann Jonas) **** • This Is Paris (Miroslav Sasek) ***** • I Spy With My Little Eye (Edward Gibbs) **** • The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (Dan Santat) **** • The Twenty-One Balloons (William Pene du Bois) *** 1/2 • Rescue Squad No. 9 (Mike Austin) ***** • Doggies (Sandra Boynton) **** • Harry and the Lady Next Door (Gene Zion) *** • Country Road ABC (Arthur Geisert) *** • The Napping House (Don and Audrey Wood) **** • We're Going On a Bear Hunt (Michael Rosen) **** • A Baby Sister For Frances (Russell Hoban) *** • Press Here (Herve Tullet) ***** • Little White Rabbit (Kevin Henkes) **** • Little Lola (Julie Saab) **** • Plant a Kiss (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) **** • Trick Or Treat, Pout-Pout Fish (Deborah Diesen) ** • A Greyhound, a Groundhog (Emily Jenkins) *** • The BFG (Roald Dahl) *** • The Art of Moana (Jessica Julius) ***** • C&L: This Is Actually My Party (Lauren Child) **** • Blueberries for Sal (Robert McCloskey) *** • Good Night Owl (Greg Pizzoli) **** • Goodnight Truck (Sally Odgers) **** • Giggle, Giggle, Quack (Doreen Cronin) *** • The Monster At the End of This Book (Jon Stone) ***** • Lambert the Sheepish Lion ("Walt Disney") **** • The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (Patrick Lencioni) **** • ABC: A Child's First Alphabet Book (Alison Jay) **** • Professor Whiskerton Presents Steampunk ABC (Lisa Falkerstern) *** • I Spy On the Farm (Edward Gibbs) ***** • Five Trucks (Brian Floca) **** • Raindrops Fall All Around (Charles Gigna) *** 1/2 • Anything For You (John Wallace) **** • One Perfect Day (Steve Purcell, ill. by Matt Nolte) ****

Blogkeeping -- Summer/Fall 2016

Blogkeeping again!  This one isn't as way past due as other previous editions.

100 movies from March 2016 (bottom) to December 2016 (top) - some lame remakes and lots of shows?

Pollyanna (2003) ** 1/2 • Anne of Green Gables (2016) ** • Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen-X (Season 33) **** 1/2 • Galaxy Quest [r] ***** • Poldark (Season 2) ** 1/2 • Bartok the Magnificent [r] *** 1/2 • Anastasia [r] ***** • Doctor Strange **** • Finding Dory ** 1/2 • Moana ***** • Mortal Kombat [r?] *** • Independence Day: Resurgence ** 1/2 • Star Trek Beyond *** • The Shallows **** • Ghostbusters: Answer the Call *** • Insidious: Chapter 3 ** 1/2 • Serenity [r] ***** • Mascots *** 1/2 • Haters Back Off (Season 1) *** • Insidious: Chapter 2 *** 1/2 • Alice Through the Looking Glass ** • Jurassic World [r] **** 1/2 • Billy Elliot The Musical Live *** • X-Men: Apocalypse ** 1/2 • Now You See Me 2 ** 1/2 • Me Before You ** • Love & Friendship ** 1/2 • The Legend of Tarzan **** • Goosebumps [r] **** • The Darkness ** • My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 ** 1/2 • Jem and the Holograms * 1/2 • Dracula Untold ** 1/2 • Les Miserables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary (2010) **** • The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business (Season 18) [r] **** • Les Miserables (2012) [r] ** 1/2 • The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall [r] *** 1/2 • The Phantom of the Opera (2004) [r] *** • The Huntsman: Winter's War * 1/2 • Wolf Hall (mostly) *** • The Amazing Race: All Stars (Season 24) [r] **** • The Jungle Book (2016) ** • Alien *** • Stranger Things (Season 1) **** • The 5th Wave ** • 101 Dalmatians [r] ***** • Suffragette **** • War and Peace (2016) **** 1/2 • Endeavour (Season 3) *** 1/2 • A Very Brady Sequel [r] **** • 10 Cloverfield Lane **** • The Intern *** 1/2 • Star Wars: The Force Awakens [r] *** • The Peanuts Movie [r] ***** • Scre4m ** • Pride and Prejudice (2005) [r] *** 1/2 • Pride & Prejudice & Zombies ** • The Amazing Race (Season 23) [r] **** 1/2 • Zootopia *** • The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 2) ** 1/2 • Gotham (Season 2) *** 1/2 • Grimm (Season 4) ** 1/2 • The Big Year [r] **** 1/2 • Survivor: Khao Rong - Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty (Season 32) *** 1/2 • Bates Motel (Season 4) *** 1/2 • The Brady Bunch Movie [r] **** • Creed ** 1/2 • The Amazing Race (Season 28) *** • The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Season 1) *** • Captain America: Civil War *** • Concussion **** • The Amazing Spider-Man 2 [r] *** 1/2 • Project Runway All Stars (Season 5) *** 1/2 • Carrie (2013) *** 1/2 • Documentary Now! (Season 1) *** 1/2 • The Spoils Before Dying *** 1/2 • The Black Cauldron [r] *** 1/2 • Daredevil (Season 2) ** 1/2 • Victor Frankenstein ** • In the Heart of the Sea *** • Everest *** 1/2 • Up [r] *** • Brave [r] *** 1/2 • Inside Out [r] **** 1/2 • The Good Dinosaur ** 1/2 • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 [r] **** • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 [r] *** 1/2 • The Hunger Games: Catching Fire [r] ***** • The Hunger Games [r] **** • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh [r] ***** • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ** • Secret In Their Eyes **** • Seventh Son * • Amazing Grace [r] *** 1/2 • The Martian *** 1/2 • Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell [r] **** • Spectre ** • Leap Year [r] *** 1/2 • Agent Carter (Season 2) **** • The Muppets (Season 1) *** 1/2

100 books from July 2016 (bottom) to January 2017 (top) - again with the sooooo many children's books (lots of Charlie and Lola and the discovery of Molly Idle) and a HP misstep.

Trashy Town (Andrea Zimmerman) ** 1/2 • C&L: Slightly Invisible (Lauren Child) ***** • A Small Thing... but Big (Tony Johnston) **** • The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings (Carolyn Sherwin Bailey) **** • Little Blue Truck (Alice Schertle) **** • Who Is Driving? (Leo Timmers) *** • The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs (Jon Scieszka) *** • Tumble Bumble (Felicia Bond) ***** • Little Green Peas: A Big Book of Colors (Keith Baker) **** • Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity (Mo Willems) **** • Edgar and the Tattle-Tale Heart (Jennifer Adams) **** • Lion Lessons (Jon Agee) *** • Owl Moon (Jane Yolen) ***** • Waiting (Kevin Henkes) **** • Honey... Honey... Lion! (Jan Brett) **** • The Mitten (Jan Brett) ***** • Outside Over There (Maurice Sendak) *** • Your Personal Penguin (Sandra Boynton) ***** • Spot, the Cat (Henry Cole) **** • C&L: My Best, Best Friend (Lauren Child) **** • C&L: I Am Going To Save a Panda! (Lauren Child) ** • C&L: My Wobbly Tooth Must Not Ever Never Fall Out (Lauren Child) **** • The Z Was Zapped (Chris Van Allsburg) **** • Toot & Puddle (Holly Hobbie) **** • The Very Quiet Cricket (Eric Carle) ***** • One (Kathryn Otoshi) *** • Tell Me a Picture (Quentin Blake) ***** • Truck: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble! (Patricia Hubbell) **** 1/2 • Up and Down (Oliver Jeffers) ***** • Stuck (Oliver Jeffers) ***** • Flora and the Flamingo (Molly Idle) ***** • Flora and the Penguin (Molly Idle) **** • C&L: I Want To Be Much More Bigger Like You (Lauren Child) **** • C&L: I Slightly Want To Go Home (Lauren Child) **** • The Maze Runner (James Dashner) *** • Now You See Me, Now You Don't (Silvia Borando) ***** • Go, Dog. Go! (P.D. Eastman) ***** • Apples and Robins (Lucie Felix) **** • Busy Builders, Busy Week! (Jean Reidy) *** 1/2 • Chu's Day (Neil Gaiman) *** • Green Lizards vs. Red Rectangles (Steve Antony) *** • Goodnight, My Duckling (Nancy Tufari) **** • Come Along, Daisy! (Jane Simmons) **** • The Saddest Toilet In the World (Sam Apple) ** • Bruno Munari's ABC (Bruno Munari) *** • A to Z (Sandra Boynton) **** • C&L: You Can Be My Friend (Lauren Child) **** • The Cat In the Hat (Dr. Seuss) **** • A Child of Books (Oliver Jeffers) ***** • Some Pets (Angela Diterlizzi) **** • The Very Busy Spider (Eric Carle) **** • Is Mommy? (Victoria Chang/Marla Frazee) *** • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle) *** • Lost and Found (Oliver Jeffers) **** • How To Catch a Star (Oliver Jeffers) ***** • Camp Rex (Molly Idle) *** 1/2 • Tea Rex (Molly Idle) ***** • My Truck Is Stuck! (Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk) *** • The Very Lonely Firefly (Eric Carle) ***** • This Plus That: Life's Little Equations (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) *** • I Scream! Ice Cream! A Book of Wordles (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) *** • Is It Big or Is It Little? (Claudia Rueda) *** • Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak) *** • Are You My Mother? (PD. Eastman) **** • Peep and Ducky (David Martin) **** • Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Waking Up? (Bill Martin Jr.) **** • Meet Me At the Moon (Gianna Marino) *** • The Cow Loves Cookies (Karma Wilson) **** • Bedtime For Chickies (Janee Trasler) **** • Can You See Little Bear? (James Mayhew) **** • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I and II (John Tiffany and Jack Thorne) ** • How To Eat an Airplane (Peter Pearson) *** • Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (Mo Willems) *** 1/2 • Flora and the Peacocks (Molly Idle) ***** • Farm Animals (Rod Campbell) *** • Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book (Rod Campbell) ***** • Miss Suzy (Miriam Young) ***** • The Island of the Skog (Steven Kellogg) *** • The 5th Wave (Rick Yancey) *** • Horns To Toes and In Between (Sandra Boynton) ***** • Hello, Airplane! (Bill Cotter) **** • C&L: I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go To Bed (Lauren Child) **** • How To Be a Cat (Nikki McClure) **** • Lady In the Water: A Bedtime Story (M. Night Shyamalan) ** • C&L: I Really Absolutely Must Have Glasses (Lauren Child) **** • The Black Book of Colors (Menena Cottin) *** • Zero (Kathryn Otoshi) **** • C&L: Whoops! But It Wasn't Me (Lauren Child) ***** • Bedtime for Mommy (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) ***** • If You Give a Moose a Muffin (Laura Joffe Numeroff) **** • While You Were Sleeping (John Butler) ***** • Shake It Up, Baby! (Karen Katz) *** • I See Kitty (Yasmine Surovec) **** • How To Lose a Lemur (Frann Preston-Gannon) *** • How To Wash A Woolly Mammoth (Michelle Robinson) *** 1/2 • Construction (Sally Sutton) **** • Demolition (Sally Sutton) **** • Duck! Rabbit! (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) *** • Owlet's First Flight (Mitra Modarressi) **** • Posy (Linda Newbery) ***

Blogkeeping -- Fall/Winter 2015

Well, this is certainly long past due.  Without further fanfare, here's blogkeeping.

100 MOVIES from July 2015 (bottom) to February 2016 (top) -- featuring an HP marathon, Star Wars, Christmas 2015, Agatha Christie and the elusive first three seasons of Survivor:

Thor: The Dark World [r] *** • The X-Files (Season 10) **** • Annie (1999) [r] *** • Annie: A Royal Adventure! * 1/2 • Annie (1982) [r] **** • Self/less *** • The Town ** • Lady and the Tramp [r] **** • Love & Mercy **** • Me and Earl and the Dying Girl *** • Annie (2014) *** • Daniel Deronda *** 1/2 • Tak3n * 1/2 • Grease Live! *** 1/2 • And Then There Were None (2015) **** • Galavant (Season 2) *** • The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ** 1/2 • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ** • Tangled [r] **** 1/2 • Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer ** • Fantastic 4 [r] ** 1/2 • The Borrowers ** 1/2 • Emma (1996) *** • The Walk **** 1/2 • Fant4stic * 1/2 • About Time **** 1/2 • Star Wars: The Force Awakens [r] *** 1/2 • Sense and Sensibility [r] ***** • The Secret World of Arrietty ** • San Andreas ** • Bottle Shock *** 1/2 • Aladdin [r] ***** • The Last Five Years [r] **** 1/2 • Captain America: The Winter Soldier [r] *** 1/2 • Far From the Madding Crowd **** 1/2 • Ant-Man *** • Pan *** • Sherlock: The Abominable Bride *** 1/2 • Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation *** • The Wiz Live *** 1/2 • Inside Out [r] **** 1/2 • Josh Groban: Stages *** • Luther 2015 *** 1/2 • Mickey's Christmas Carol [r] **** 1/2 • Creature Comforts: Merry Christmas Everybody! [r] ***** • The Nightmare Before Christmas [r] ***** • Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi [r] *** 1/2 • Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back [r] **** • Star Wars: The Force Awakens *** 1/2 • Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope [r] **** • Survivor: Cambodia -- Second Chance (Season 31) **** • Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith [r] *** • Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones [r] ** 1/2 • Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace [r] ** 1/2 • The Amazing Race (Season 31) *** 1/2 • Mr. Holmes *** • The Man From U.N.C.L.E. *** • Still Alice *** • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 **** • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (1 & 2) ***** • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [r] **** • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [r] ***** • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [r] ***** • The Peanuts Movie ***** • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [r] **** • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets [r] **** 1/2 • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone [r] **** 1/2 • Woman In Gold *** 1/2 • Project Runway (Season 14) *** • Jurassic World [r] ***** • The Conjuring *** • Jeeves & Wooster (Season 3) **** 1/2 • The Prestige [r] **** 1/2 • Pitch Perfect 2 ** 1/2 • My Girl 2 [r] *** 1/2 • Goosebumps **** • Furious 7 *** • My Girl [r] **** 1/2 • Poirot: Murder On the Orient Express *** 1/2 • The DUFF * 1/2 • Bridge To Terabithia [r] *** 1/2 • American Experience: Walt Disney *** • The Avengers: Age of Ultron ** 1/2 • Miss Marple: The Body In the Library *** • Cinderella (2015) ** 1/2 • The Last Exorcism *** • Suvivor: Africa (Season 2) *** 1/2 • The Age of Adaline **** • Murder On the Orient Express *** 1/2 • Survivor: The Outback (Season 2) **** 1/2 • A Good Day To Die Hard ** • The Sapphires *** 1/2 • Flight ** 1/2 • Survivor: Borneo (Season 1) *** • Exodus: Gods and Kings ** • The Imitation Game *** • And Then There Were None (1945) *** • Poldark (Season 1) *** 1/2 • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell **** • Phenomenon ***

Usually I just do the last 50 books, but since I've been reading a loooot of children's books I'll do twice the amount compared to movies instead of half...

200 BOOKS from August 2015 (bottom) to July 2016 (top):

Lines That Wiggle (Candace Whitman) **** • Carrie (Stephen King) **** • Home (Carson Ellis) **** • Hondo & Fabian (Peter McCarty) *** • The Firefighters (Sue Whiting) **** • Wave (Suzy Lee) **** • Click, Clack, Peep! (Doreen Cronin) *** 1/2 • Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (Doreen Cronin) **** • The Rain Train (Elena de Roo) **** • Little Tug (Stephen Savage) **** • Book (David W. Miles) *** • The Midnight Library (Kazuno Kohara) **** • Boats: Speeding! Sailing! Cruising! (Patricia Hubbell) *** • Airplanes: Soaring! Diving! Turning! (Patricia Hubbell) **** • C&L: I'm Really Ever So Not Well (Lauren Child) ***** • C&L: I Would Like To Actually Keep It (David Ingham) **** • Catch Me If You Can (Frank W. Abagnale) **** • The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (Mordicai Gerstein) **** • How Green Was My Valley (Richard Llewellyn) **** • Red Truck (Kersten Hamilton) *** • Off We Go! (Jane Yolen) **** • Snuggle Puppy! (Sandra Boynton) ***** • Ten Little Dinosaurs (Pattie Schnetzler) **** • Can You Cuddle Like a Koala (John Butler) ***** • Bear About Town (Stella Blackstone) *** • My Friend Rabbit (Eric Rohmann) *** • Wemberly's Ice-Cream Star (Kevin Henkes) *** 1/2 • Whose Truck? (Toni Buzzeo) **** • Trains: Steaming! Pulling! Huffing! (Patricia Hubbell) **** • I'll Be There (Ann Stott) *** 1/2 • Always (Ann Stott) *** • Shh! Bears Sleeping (David Martin) **** • Mummy Cat (Marcus Ewert) **** • Fuddles (Frans Vischer) *** • C&L: Charlie Is Broken! (Lauren Child) ***** • C&L: I Am Really, Really Concentrating (Lauren Child) **** • Steam Train, Dream Train (Sherri Duskey Rinker) **** • Corduroy (Don Freeman) **** • Have You Seen My Dragon? (Steve Light) **** • Blown Away (Rob Biddulph) **** • The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle) **** • Frozen: A Sister More Like Me (Barbara Jean Hicks) *** • Ralph S. Mouse (Beverly Cleary) *** 1/2 • Runaway Ralph (Beverly Cleary) **** • The Mouse and the Motorcycle (Beverly Cleary) ***** • How Do Dinosaurs Say I'm Mad? (Jane Yolen) **** • Cars: Rushing! Honking! Zooming! (Patricia Hubbell) *** 1/2 • Look! (Jeff Mack) **** 1/2 • Two Little Trains (Margaret Wise Brown) **** • Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss) ***** • Tuesday (David Wiesner) *** • Edgar Gets Ready For Bed (Jennifer Adams) **** • The Wonderful Things You'll Be (Emily Winfield Martin) *** • Wait (Antoinette Portis) ***** • Cars Galore (Peter Stein) **** • If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Laura Joffe Numeroff) ***** • The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain (Lloyd Alexander) [r] **** • Sea of Dreams (Dennis Nolan) ***** • I Love My Daddy (Sebastien Braun) ***** • Bears On Chairs (Shirley Parenteau) ***** • In This Book (Fani Marceau) *** 1/2 • The Chronicles of Prydain: The High King (Lloyd Alexander) [r] ***** • LMNO Peas (Keith Baker) ***** • Shhh! This Book Is Sleeping (Cédric Ramadier) **** • Whose Hat Is This? (Sharon Katz Cooper) *** • No, No, Gnome! (Ashlyn Anstee) **** • I Am Extremely Absolutely Boiling (Lauren Child) **** • The Chronicles of Prydain: Taran Wanderer (Lloyd Alexander) [r] **** • I Can't Stop Hiccuping! (Lauren Child) ***** • Jamberry (Bruce Degen) **** • Froodle (Antoinette Portis) **** • The Chronicles of Prydain: The Castle of Llyr (Lloyd Alexander) [r] ***** • The Chronicles of Prydain: The Black Cauldron (Lloyd Alexander) [r] **** 1/2 • Peggy (Anna Walker) **** • First the Egg (Laura Vaccaro Seeger) ***** • The OK Book (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) ***** • The Chronicles of Prydain: The Book of Three (Lloyd Alexander) [r] **** • Hail To Spring! (Charles Ghigna) **** • Red Car, Red Bus (Susan Steggall) *** 1/2 • Little Bear (Else Holmelund Minarik) ***** • Fire Truck (Peter Sis) *** • Open This Little Book (Jesse Klausmeier) ***** • Strider (Beverly Cleary) **** • Dear Mr. Henshaw (Beverly Cleary) **** • Bears In a Band (Shirley Parenteau) **** • Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear (Lindsay Mattick) **** • The Martian (Andy Weir) **** • Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book! (Dr. Seuss) **** • The Queen's Hat (Steve Anthony) ***** • Bently & Egg (William Joyce) **** • Bread and Jam for Francis (Russell Hoban) ***** • Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories (R.J. Palacio) ***** • Potty (Leslie Patricelli) ***** • Fire Engine No. 9 (Mike Austin) ***** • Dinosaur Colors (Paul Stickland) *** • Rokko (Paola Opal) *** • Danny and the Dinosaur (Syd Hoff) **** • Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School (Jeff Kinney) ** • The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince (Serena Valentino) *** • The Curse of Maleficent: The Tale of a Sleeping Beauty (Elizabeth Rudnick) ** • Little Oink (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) ***** • Little Hoot (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) ***** • Locomotive (Brian Floca) *** • Harry the Dirty Dog (Gene Zion) **** • A Kitten Tale (Eric Rohmann) ***** • Shh! We Have a Plan (Chris Haughton) **** • Exclamation Mark (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) ***** • Chopsticks (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) **** 1/2 • The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories (Susanna Clarke) **** • Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke) ***** • We Honestly Can Look After Your Dog (Lauren Child) **** • Benjy's Boat Trip (Margaret Bloy Graham) **** • Help! I Really Mean It! (Lauren Child) **** • Little Bear's Visit (Else Holmelund Minarik) **** • Corgiville Fair (Tasha Tudor) *** • Planes Go (Steve Light) ***** • I Love My New Toy (Mo Willems) **** • Train (Elisha Cooper) *** • I Am Too Absolutely Small For School (Lauren Child) **** • Boo! Made You Jump! (Lauren Child) **** • Looking For a Moose (Phyllis Root) **** • Do You Know Colors? (Katherine Howard) ***** • Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken (Kate DiCamillo) **** • Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs (Sandra Boynton) ***** • Pajama Time! (Sandra Boynton) ***** • Snoozers: 7 Short Bedtime Stories for Lively Little Kids (Sandra Boynton) ***** • The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) **** • Go! Go! Go! Stop! (Charise Mericle Harper) *** 1/2 • Peek-a-Who? (Nina Laden) **** • Animal Babies (Little Bee Books) **** • London: A Book of Opposites (Ashley Evanson) ***** • A Whole New World - A Twisted Tale (Liz Braswell) *** • The Way Back Home (Oliver Jeffers) ***** • The Incredible Book Eating Boy (Oliver Jeffers) **** • Octopus Alone (Divya Srinivasan) **** • Little Owl's Night (Divya Srinivasan) **** 1/2 • Snowmen At Christmas (Caralyn Buehner) ***** • An Otis Christmas (Loren Long) **** • How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Dr. Seuss) ***** • The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg) ***** • Merry Christmas, Curious George (Margaret Rey) **** • A Christmas Carol and Other Stories (Charles Dickens) ***** • God Bless Us, Every One!: The Story Behind A Christmas Carol (John Rhys-Davies) *** • Milly and the Macy's Parade (Shana Corey) *** • The Marvels (Brian Selznick) ** • Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy (Karen Foxlee) **** • The League of Unexceptional Children (Gitty Daneshvari) **** • The Kissing Hand (Audrey Penn) **** • The Scarecrow's Dance (Jane Yolen) **** • Helping Daddy (Atsuko Morozumi) **** • Hollow City (Ransom Riggs) *** • Monkey and Me (Emily Gravett) *** 1/2 • Again! (Emily Gravett) *** • Blue Chameleon (Emily Gravett) **** • Jasper & Joop (Olivier Dunrea) ** • Winter Concert (Yuko Takao) **** • Hooray For Amanda & Her Alligator! (Mo Willems) *** 1/2 • Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs (Mo Willems) *** 1/2 • Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct (Mo Willems) ** 1/2 • A You're Adorable (Martha Alexander) **** • Good Night Missouri *** 1/2 • Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story (Mary Downing Hahn) **** • Oh No, George! (Chris Haughton) ***** • Illusionarium (Heather Dixon) ***** • The Pigeon Needs a Bath! (Mo Willems) **** • The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! (Mo Willems) ***** • The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! (Mo Willems) **** • The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! (Mo Willems) **** • Little Quack (Lauren Thompson) **** • Little Pea (Amy Krouse Rosenthal) ***** • Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights? (Lemony Snicket) **** • Matilda's Cat (Emily Gravett) **** • Spells (Emily Gravett) *** • Wolves (Emily Gravett) ** • The Crucible (Arthur Miller) **** • The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne) *** 1/2 • Time for Bed (Mem Fox) **** • Train! (Judi Abbot) ***** • I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (Lauren Child) ***** • Bridge To Terabithia (Katherine Paterson) *** 1/2 • The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread (Don Robertson) **** • Dusk (Uri Shulevitz) *** • The Little Engine That Could (Watty Piper) **** • N or M? (Agatha Christie) **** 1/2 • The Body In the Library (Agatha Christie) *** • Hey, Al (Arthur Yorinks) *** • On Your Potty! (Virginia Miller) *** • Deep In the Forest (Brinton Turkle) ***** • Big Fish (Daniel Wallace) *** 1/2 • Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! (Mo Willems) ***** • Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Mo Willems) ***** • Curious George (H.A. Rey) ***** • Murder On the Orient Express (Agatha Christie) **** • Owl Babies (Martin Waddell) ***** • Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears (Emily Gravett) ** • The Odd Egg (Emily Gravett) **** • Can't You Sleep, Little Bear? (Martin Waddell) ***** • Ten Apples Up On Top! (Theo LeSieg) **** • June 29, 1999 (David Wiesner) **** • And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie) ****

Now to clean out the sidebar and blog about something more important.

Oh, I guess this is also a good moment to take The Jungle Book, Zootopia, Brooklyn, Creed, Alice Through the Looking Glass and Alien off my to-watch list (even though none of them are in this group) and Catch Me If You Can, Carrie, The Maze Runner, How Green Was My Valley off my to-read list (most of which ARE in this group).

Blogkeeping -- Spring 2015

No big deal, I've only been putting this off for like six months...

Movies watched from December 2014 (bottom) to July 2015 (top).  Verdict:  Catching up with DreamWorks animation like I do for some reason, and LOTS of Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock!

Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast *** 1/2 • Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return *** • Oz the Great and Powerful [r] *** 1/2 • My Best Friend's Wedding [r] *** 1/2 • My Big Fat Greek Wedding [r] *** 1/2 • The Muppets' Wizard of Oz *** • Return To Oz [r] **** • Dorothy In the Land of Oz [r] ** 1/2 • The Wiz [r] *** 1/2 • Journey Back to Oz [r?] *** • The Wizard of Oz [r] ***** • A Deadly Adoption * 1/2 • Far From the Madding Crowd (2015) ***** • The Prestige [r] ***** • Inside Out ***** • Jurassic World ***** • 30 Rock (Season 7) *** • Sherlock (Season 3) ***** • 30 Rock (Season 6) *** 1/2 • Live Free Or Die Hard ** 1/2 • 30 Rock (Season 5) *** 1/2 • The Professional ** 1/2 • Daredevil (Season1) *** 1/2 • Unbroken *** 1/2 • Big Eyes **** • Tomorrowland *** 1/2 • Survivor: Worlds Apart (Season 30) *** 1/2 • Grimm (Season 4) *** • The Amazing Race (Season 26) **** • The Big Year **** • Gotham (Season 1) *** • Bates Motel (Season 3) *** 1/2 • 30 Rock (Season 4) *** 1/2 • Veronica Mars [r] **** • Argo *** 1/2 • Song of the Sea **** • 30 Rock (Season 3) *** 1/2 • Middlemarch ** 1/2 • Zero Dark Thirty *** 1/2 • Broadchurch (Series 2) ** 1/2 • Romy and Michele's High School Reunion *** • 30 Rock (Season 2) *** 1/2 • Into the Woods (Regent's Park) **** • Never Let Me Go *** 1/2 • 30 Rock (Season 1) *** • Into the Woods [r] **** 1/2 • Parks and Recreation (Season 7) ***** • Parks and Recreation (Season 6) **** 1/2 • Parks and Recreation (Season 5) **** • Parks and Recreation (Season 4) **** • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 [r] **** • Parks and Recreation (Season 3) **** 1/2 • Parks and Recreation (Season 2) **** • Parks and Recreation (Season 1) *** 1/2 • The Book of Life ** 1/1 • The BoxTrolls *** 1/2 • X-Men: Days of Future Past [r] **** • Big Hero 6 [r] **** • Mr. Peabody and Sherman *** 1/2 • Turbo ** 1/2 • The Croods *** • Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted ** 1/2 • Puss In Boots *** • Shrek: The Musical *** 1/2 • Agent Carter (Season 1) *** • Tangled [r] **** 1/2 • Looper *** • Project Runway: All Stars (Season 4) *** • Luther (Season 3) **** • The Last Five Years (x2) **** 1/2 • Luther (Season 2) **** • Luther (Season 1) **** • The Amazing Race (Season 16) ** • Magic In the Moonlight ** 1/2 • No Good Deed *** 1/2 • Galavant (Season 1) *** • Resurrection (Season 2) *** 1/2 • Shakespeare Retold **** 1/2 • The Hobbit (Funny Puzzle edit) **** • The Amazing Race (Season 15) *** • Romeo & Juliet (2013) ** 1/2 • Little Dorrit [r] **** • The Amazing Race (Season 14) **** • Oliver! [r] *** 1/2 • Oliver Twist (2007) *** • What's Eating Gilbert Grape? [r] *** • Oliver Twist (1998) **** • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ** • The Guardians of the Galaxy [r] *** • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [r] ***** • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers [r] ***** • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [r] ***** • Prometheus ** 1/2 • Click [r] **** • It Could Happen To You [r] *** 1/2 • If I Stay ** 1/2 • Frozen [r] *** 1/2 • Into the Woods (1990) **** 1/2 • The Cabin In the Woods ** 1/2 • Into the Woods **** 1/2

And these 50 books were read from February to July 2015.  Welcome to the list, Stroud.

The Housekeeper's Dog (Jerry Smath) **** • But No Elephants (Jerry Smath) **** • Under Construction (Paula Hannigan) **** • Otis Loves To Play (Loren Long) *** • Otis (Loren Long) **** • Bill Peet: An Autobiography (Bill Peet) ***** • Piggies (Don and Audrey Wood) ** 1/2 • But Not the Hippopotamus (Sandra Boynton) ***** • Dinosaur's Binkit (Sandra Boynton) **** • Son of a Witch (Gregory Maguire) ** • Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Gregory Maguire) *** • Ozma of Oz (L. Frank Baum) **** • The Marvelous Land of Oz (L. Frank Baum) *** 1/2 • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum) **** 1/2 • How Do Dinosaurs Go Up and Down? (Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) *** • Kittens (Laura Ellen Anderson) **** • Sector 7 (David Wiesner) *** 1/2 • Art & Max (David Wiesner) **** • The Ring of Solomon (Jonathan Stroud) *** 1/2 • Beatrice & Virgil (Yann Martel) *** 1/2 • Belly Button Book! (Sandra Boynton) **** • Happy Birthday, Little Pookie (Sandra Boynton) *** 1/2 • Little Pookie (Sandra Boynton) ***** • Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach To Punctuation (Lynne Truss) ***** • Hippopposites (Janik Coat) ** 1/2 • BooBoo (Olivier Dunrea) ** • Crocodaddy (Kim Norman) **** • You Are My Cupcake (Joyce Wan) **** • How Do Dinosaurs Count To Ten? (Jane Yolen & Mark Teague) **** • The Romance of the Forest (Ann Radcliffe) *** • The Royal Road to Romance (Richard Halliburton) **** • The Farmer and the Clown (Marla Frazee) ***** • The Book With No Pictures (B.J. Novak) *** 1/2 • Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (Kate DiCamillo) **** • It Looked Like Spilt Milk (Charles G. Shaw) *** 1/2 • The Borrowers (Mary Norton) *** • A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) ***** • The Devil In the White City (Erik Larson) **** • Guess How Much I Love You (Sam McBratney) ***** • The House In the Night (Susan Marie Swanson) *** • How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors? (Jane Yolen & Mark Teague) *** • The Great Greene Heist (Varian Johnson) *** 1/2 • Ptolemy's Gate (Jonathan Stroud) ***** • The Golem's Eye (Jonathan Stroud) **** • The Amulet of Samarkand (Jonathan Stroud) **** 1/2 • BabyLit: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jennifer Adams, ill. by Allison Oliver) *** • BabyLit: Frankenstein (Jennifer Adams, ill. by Allison Oliver) **** • Mr. Wuffles! (David Wiesner) **** 1/2 • Flotsam (David Wiesner) ***** • How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? (Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) ****

(Also, why haven't I been using the • all this time?  It reads so much clearer than all those /s floating around.)

EDIT 14 November 2016: I almost just lost this entire post.  It wouldn't have been in the worst thing in the world, but still... X|  Thank you, forward/back/cache functions.

Blogkeeping -- Fall 2014

Blogkeeping time!  These 100 were watched from August (bottom) to December 2014 (top).  Coming to a close on the Disney movie-thon, and so much Amazing Race!

The Amazing Race (Season 13) **** / Creature Comforts: Merry Christmas Everybody [r] ***** / Mickey's Christmas Carol [r] **** 1/2 / Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas **** / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) * 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 12) *** 1/2 / The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies ** 1/2 / Wreck-It Ralph [r] *** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 25) *** / The Amazing Race (Season 11) *** / Survivor: Blood vs. Water 2 - San Juan del Sur (Season 29) *** 1/2 / Winnie the Pooh [r] *** 1/2 / Belle *** 1/2 / The Hundred-Foot Journey **** / How To Train Your Dragon 2 ** 1/2 / Tangled [r] **** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 10) **** / Peter Pan Live ** / The Princess and the Frog [r] ***** / Maleficent [r] *** / Toy Story That Time Forgot *** 1/2 / The Spoils of Babylon [r] **** / The Giver **** / Kristin Chenoweth: Coming Home *** 1/2 / The Pirate Fairy *** / Interstellar ** 1/2 / Hercules (2014) * 1/2 / Heart & Souls [r] ***** / Big Hero 6 *** 1/2 / The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 *** 1/2 / The Hunger Games: Catching Fire [r] ***** / The Hunger Games [r] **** 1/2 / Yellow Submarine [r] ** 1/2 / Bolt [r] *** 1/2 / David Copperfield (1999) **** / Meet the Robinsons [r] *** 1/2 / Help! *** / Chicken Little [r] ** / Bleak House [r] ***** / A Hard Day's Night *** 1/2 / Transcendence ** 1/2 / Home On the Range *** 1/2 / Edge of Tomorrow *** 1/2 / Inglorious Basterds *** / Brother Bear 2 [r] *** / Brother Bear [r] *** 1/2 / Death Comes To Pemberley *** 1/2 / Treasure Planet [r] **** / Run Fatboy Run [r] **** / Hotel Transylvania ** 1/2 / Project Runway (Season 13) *** 1/2 / Leroy & Stitch ** 1/2 / Stitch! The Movie ** 1/2 / Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch *** / Lilo & Stitch [r] *** 1/2 / Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter * 1/2 / Atlantis: Milo's Return [r] ** 1/2 / Atlantis: The Lost Empire [r] **** / Kronk's New Groove *** / The Fault In Our Stars **** / The Emperor's New Groove [r] ***** / The Spoils of Babylon (Season 1) **** / Dinosaur [r] *** 1/2 / Fantasia/2000 [r] **** 1/2 / Tarzan II *** 1/2 / Tarzan & Jane [r] ** / Tarzan [r] ***** / The Monuments Men *** 1/2 / Coraline [r] **** / Mulan II [r] *** 1/2 / Mulan [r] ***** / Alice In Wonderland (1999) *** / Alice in Wonderland (1985) ** 1/2 / 47 Ronin ** 1/2 / I, Frankenstein * 1/2 / Hercules [r] **** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 9) *** / The Hunchback of Notre Dame II [r] ** 1/2 / The Hunchback of Notre Dame [r] **** 1/2 / The Amazing Race: Family Edition (Season 8) ** 1/2 / Divergent ** 1/2 / Pocahontas II: Journey To a New World [r] *** 1/2 / Pocahontas [r] ***** / The Amazing Race (Season 7) **** 1/2 / The Lion King 1 1/2 [r] **** / The Lion King [r] ***** / The Amazing Race (Season 6) *** 1/2 / Aladdin and the King of Thieves [r] **** / The Return of Jafar [r] *** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 5) **** / Aladdin [r] ***** / Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World ** / Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas [r] **** / Beauty and the Beast [r] ***** / The Amazing Race (Season 4) ** 1/2 / The Rescuers Down Under [r] **** / The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning [r] *** 1/2 / The Little Mermaid II: Return To the Sea [r] *** / Guardians of the Galaxy *** / The Little Mermaid [r] *****

Books!  50 of them from mid-October 2014 to mid-February 2015, finishing up my Disney Source Material Read-Through (see accompanying arts here) and plenty of board books:


How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Cats? (Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) *** / Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand) **** / Boy and Going Solo (Roald Dahl) **** / Sidekicked (John David Anderson) **** / Wonder (R.J. Palacio) **** / Little Lord Fauntleroy (Frances Hodgson Burnett) **** / Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (Jeff Kinney) ** / Birthday Monsters! (Sandra Boynton) **** / Let's Dance, Little Pookie (Sandra Boynton) **** / Tickle Time! (Sandra Boynton) ***** / Are You A Cow? (Sandra Boynton) **** / A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel (Sean Michael Wilson) *** / Santa Claus, the World's Number One Toy Expert (Marla Frazee) **** / Through the Animals' Eyes: A Story of the First Christmas (Christopher Wormell) ***** / Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method For Solving Complex Problems With Simple Pictures (Dan Roam) ***** / The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas With Pictures (Dan Roam) **** / Kate Greenaway's Original Drawings For the Snow Queen (Hans Christian Andersen) *** / The Snow Queen (transl. by Naomi Lewis, ill. by Angela Barrett) *** 1/2 / Rapunzel Untangled (Cindy C Bennett) *** / Calamity Jack (Shannon Hale) *** 1/2 / Rapunzel's Revenge (Shannon Hale) *** 1/2 / Rapunzel (Paul O. Zelinsky) ***** / The Frog Princess (E.D. Baker) **** / The Frog Prince, Continued (Jon Scieszka) ***** / The Frog Prince Or Iron Henry (transl. by Naomi Lewis, ill. by Binette Schroeder) **** / All the Wrong Questions: Shouldn't You Be In School? (Lemony Snicket) ***** / File Under 13: Suspicious Incidents (Lemony Snicket) *** / Kingdom Keepers: The Insider (Ridley Pearson) * / Kingdom Keepers: Unforeseen (Ridley Pearson) ** / Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck (Jeff Kinney) *** / A Day With Wilbur Robinson (William Joyce) **** / What's Wrong, Little Pookie? (Sandra Boynton) ***** / Hey! Wake Up! (Sandra Boynton) ***** / Happy Hippo, Angry Duck (Sandra Boynton) ***** / One, Two, Three! (Sandra Boynton) ***** / The Vanishing Act (Mette Jakobsen) ** / We Have Always Lived In the Castle (Shirley Jackson) ***** / Chicken Little (Rebecca Emberley, ill. by Ed Emberley) *** / The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little (Anonymous) **** / BabyLit: Dracula (Jennifer Adams, ill. by Allison Oliver) **** / Opposites (Sandra Boynton) **** / The Going-To-Bed Book (Sandra Boynton) ***** / Moo, Baa, La La La! (Sandra Boynton) ***** / Blue Hat, Green Hat (Sandra Boynton) ***** / Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson) **** 1/2 / Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire Essential Guide (David John) *** / The Day the Crayons Quit (Drew Daywalt) **** / Atlantis: Unsolved Mysteries (Ann Margaret Lewis) *** / The Emperor's New Clothes (Hans Christian Andersen, ill. by Dorothée Duntze) **** / The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Hans Christian Andersen, ill. by Fred Marcellino) ****

(1 June 2015)

Blogkeeping -- Summer 2014

It's already time for another blogkeeping post!  That's what happens when I let it get out of hand.  Anyway, these are the movies watched from April 2014 (bottom) to early August (top).  So much The Amazing Race (and more to come!), a HP-athon, and starting to get to the BEST Disney movies with The Boy.

The Amazing Race (Season 3) **** 1/2 / Oliver & Company [r] **** / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2) [r] ***** / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) [r] **** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [r] **** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [r] ***** / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [r] ***** / Son of God ** 1/2 / Noah *** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [r] **** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets [r] **** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone [r] ***** / RED 2 *** / The Amazing Race (Season 2) **** / Bewitched [r] *** / The Amazing Race (Season 1) ** 1/2 / Endeavour (Season 2) **** / Great Expectations (2012) *** 1/2 / The Lego Movie *** / 24: Live Another Day (Season 9) *** 1/2 / The Great Mouse Detective [r] **** 1/2 / Robocop (2014) *** 1/2 / The Fox and the Hound 2 [r?] *** 1/2 / The Black Cauldron [r] *** 1/2 / Winter's Bone ** 1/2 / The Fox and the Hound [r] **** 1/2 / Anna and the King [r] **** 1/2 / The Rescuers [r] *** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 22) **** 1/2 / Heroes of Cosplay (Season 1 - Part 2) *** / The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh [r] ***** / The Escape Artist *** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 21) *** / Oblivion [r] *** 1/2 / Robin Hood [r] **** / The Aristocats [r] **** / The Bletchley Circle (Season 2) *** 1/2 / The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ***** / Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit *** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 20) *** 1/2 /
The Jungle Book 2 [r] *** / The Jungle Book [r] *** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 19) *** / Better Off Dead [r] **** / The Sword In the Stone [r] **** / 102 Dalmatians *** / 101 Dalmatians (1996) [r] *** 1/2 / 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure [r] *** / 101 Dalmatians (1961) [r] ***** / The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business (Season 18) *** 1/2 / Godzilla (2014) *** 1/2 / Maleficent *** 1/2 / Sleeping Beauty [r] ***** / Finding Neverland [r] **** / Hook [r] *** 1/2 / The Amazing Race (Season 17) *** 1/2 / X-Men: Days of Future Past **** / Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure [r] *** / Lady and the Tramp [r] **** / Peter Pan (2003) [r] **** 1/2 / Return to Neverland [r] *** 1/2 / Peter Pan (1953) [r] ***** / Alice In Wonderland (2010) [r] *** / Survivor: Cagayan (Season 28) **** / Endeavour (Season 1) *** 1/2 / The Amazing Race: All-Stars (Season 24) **** / Alice In Wonderland (1951) [r] **** 1/2 / Grimm (Season 3) *** 1/2 / The Parent Trap (1961) [r] ***** / The Parent Trap (1998) [r] ***** / Ella Enchanted [r] *** / Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge (Season 1) **** / Cinderella III: A Twist In Time *** 1/2 / Cinderella II: Dreams Come True [r] ** 1/2 / Cinderella [r] **** / Bates Motel (Season 2) *** 1/2 / Resurrection (Season 1) *** 1/2 / Saving Mr. Banks [r] **** 1/2 / The Amazing Spider-Man 2 **** 1/2 / The Book Thief **** / The Bluebird [r] *** 1/2 / The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad [r] **** / A Mighty Wind [r] ***** / Melody Time [r] *** 1/2 / Fun & Fancy Free [r] *** / Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi *** 1/2 / The IT Crowd (The Final Episode) [r] **** / Ferris Bueller's Day Off [r] **** / A Good Woman *** 1/2 / A Cat in Paris ** 1/2 / Captain America: The Winter Soldier **** / The Trumpet of the Swan ** 1/2 / Savannah Smiles [r] *** 1/2 / Project Runway: Under the Gunn (Season 1) ** / Charlotte's Web (2003) [r] *** 1/2 / Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure ** / Charlotte's Web (1973) [r] **** / Make Mine Music [r] *** 1/2 / Endeavour **** / The Three Caballeros [r] ***

And here are the last fifty books, from the end of May 2014 (bottom) to mid-October (top).  I love a good Harry Potter read-through, after lo, these many years.

Fifteen Animals! (Sandra Boynton) ***** / The Return of Tarzan (Edgar Rice Burroughs) *** / Tarzan of the Apes (Edgar Rice Burroughs) ***** / Wild Orchid: A Retelling of The Ballad of Mulan (Cameron Dokey) *** / Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior (Robert D. San Souci) *** 1/2 / The Ballad of Mulan (Song Nan Zhang) **** 1/2 / Hercules (retold by Geraldine McCaughrean) ***** / World Mythology: Hercules (Adele D. Richardson) *** 1/2 / The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (Victor Hugo) ***** / The Double Life of Pocahontas (Jean Fritz) *** 1/2 / Pocahontas (Nancy Polette) *** / Hamlet (William Shakespeare) **** / Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp (Philip Pullman, ill. by Sophy Williams) *** / Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp (Marianna Mayer, ill. by Gerard McDermott) **** / Beauty and the Beast (Max Eilenberg, ill. by Angela Barrett) *** / Beauty and the Beast (Marianna Mayer, ill. by Mercer Mayer) **** / The Little Match Girl (Hans Christian Andersen, ill. by Rachel Isadora) **** / The Little Mermaid (Hans Christian Andersen, ill. by Michael Hague) **** / Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens) ***** / How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs? (Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) **** / Quidditch Through the Ages (J.K. Rowling) **** / Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (J.K. Rowling) **** / The Tales of Beedle the Bard (J.K. Rowling) **** / Dumbledore's Army Reunites At Quidditch World Cup Final (J.K. Rowling) *** / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling) ***** / Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling) **** / Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling) ***** / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling) **** / Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling) ***** / Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling) **** / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling) ***** / Harry Potter: The Prequel (J.K. Rowling) *** / Orange Pear Apple Bear **** / Basil and the Lost Colony (Eve Titus) *** / Basil of Baker Street (Eve Titus) *** /
The Fox and the Hound (Daniel P. Mannix) *** / How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? (Jane Yolen & Mark Teague) *** / Miss Bianca (Margery Sharp) *** 1/2 / The Rescuers (Margery Sharp) **** / Boot & Shoe (Marla Frazee) ***** / The House At Pooh Corner (A.A. Milne) ***** / Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne) ***** / Robin Hood (Louis Rhead) **** / BabyLit: The Jungle Book (Jennifer Adams, ill. by Alison Oliver) ***** / The Second Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling) **** / The Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling) **** 1/2 / My Lucky Little Dragon (Joyce Wan) **** / The Sword In the Stone (T.H. White) **** / Sleeping Beauty (Jacob Grimm, ill. by Maja Dusíková) *** / Sleeping Beauty (Adèle Geras, ill. by Christian Birmingham) ****

Blogkeeping -- Spring 2014

Gosh, I started this on 8 August.  Time to finally post it already and clean out the sidebar list.  These are the 100 movies watched from October 2013 (bottom) to April 2014.

Saludos Amigos [r] ** 1/2 / Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild ** / Stuart Little 2 [r?] *** / Stuart Little [r] **** / Die Hard With a Vengeance *** / Blue Jasmine **** / Die Hard 2 ** 1/2 / Gravity **** 1/2 / Drive ** / Life of Pi [r] ***** / Iron Man 3 [r] **** 1/2 / Muppets Most Wanted ***** / The Muppets [r] ***** / The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ** / Frozen [r] **** 1/2 / The Hunger Games: Catching Fire [r] ***** / Sherlock (Series 3) [r] ***** / Veronica Mars **** 1/2 / A.I. [r] **** / In Time ** / Bambi II [r] *** / Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters ** / Bambi [r] **** 1/2 / Captain Phillips **** / Dumbo [r] **** 1/2 / Love Actually [r] (TV version) **** 1/2 / Pacific Rim [r] ** / Pinocchio (2002) [r] *** / Abduction * 1/2 / Paranoia ** / The Talented Mr. Ripley [r] *** / Snow White and the Huntsman [r] *** / Date Night *** 1/2 / Ender's Game [r] **** / Fantasia [r] **** 1/2 / Austenland ** 1/2 / Chuck (Season 5) **** / Chuck (Season 4) **** / Pinocchio [r] **** 1/2 / Sherlock (Series 3) ***** / Beetlejuice [r] *** / Chuck (Season 3) ***** / Chuck (Season 2) ***** / Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [r] **** / The Secret Garden [r] **** 1/2 / Monte Carlo *** 1/2 / Blackfish **** / The IT Crowd (The Final Episode) [r] **** / Nacho Libre [r] *** / Project Runway All Stars (Season 3) ** / Chuck (Season 1) **** / Mary Poppins [r] ***** / The Three Musketeers (2011) [r] *** / Home For the Holidays (Mormon Tabernacle Choir with Alfie Boe) **** / Fast and Furious 6 ** 1/2 / Saving Mr. Banks ***** / The Lone Ranger ** 1/2 / The Way Way Back **** / After Earth ** 1/2 / The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones ** 1/2 / The Wolverine *** / Newsies [r] **** / The Prince of Egypt (halfish) [r] ***** / Star Trek: Into Darkness [r] **** / The Muppet Christmas Carol [r] **** 1/2 / The Small One [r] **** / Mickey's Christmas Carol [r] **** / Tinker Bell: Secret of the Wings *** 1/2 / Pixie Hollow Games ** 1/2 / Man of Steel [r] *** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [r] **** 1/2 / The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian [r] **** 1/2 / Survivor: Blood vs. Water (Season 27) *** 1/2 / The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug *** / The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey [r] ** 1/2 / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [r] ***** / Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 1) (1/2) ** 1/2 / Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale ** 1/2 / Die Hard **** / The Amazing Race (Season 23) **** 1/2 / The IT Crowd (The Final Episode) **** / Belles On Their Toes *** 1/2 / The Sound of Music LIVE! ** / Cheaper By the Dozen [r?] *** 1/2 / The One * / Frozen **** / Jerry Maguire [r] *** 1/2 / Much Ado About Nothing (2012) *** / Girl Most Likely ** / Thor: The Dark World *** 1/2 / The Hunger Games: Catching Fire **** 1/2 / The Hunger Games [r] ***** / Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ** 1/2 / The Shining ** 1/2 / Miss Austen Regrets *** 1/2 / Charming Jane [r] *** / The Odd Life of Timothy Green **** / Ender's Game **** / Addams Family Reunion * / Addams Family Values [r] ***

These are the 50 books read from January 2014 (bottom) to the end of May 2014.  A lot of children's books this time around.

BabyLit: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Jennifer Adams, ill. by Alison Oliver) ***** /  Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie, ill. by Scott Gustafson) ***** / Peter and the Starcatchers *** 1/2 / A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever (Marla Frazee) **** / Walk On!: A Guide For Babies of All Ages (Marla Frazee) ***** / Wonderland Creek (Lynn Austin) ** 1/2 / Alice's Adventures In Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll) **** / How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? (Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) ***** / The Boss Baby (Marla Frazee) ***** / Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine) *** 1/2 / Cinderella: A Grimm's Fairy Tale (Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, illustrated by Ulrike Haseloff) **** / Cinderella, Or, the Little Glass Slipper (Perrault, illustrated by Marcia Brown) *** / The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving) *** 1/2 / The Wind In the Willows (Kenneth Grahame) **** / Little Owl Lost (Chris Haughton) ***** / My Dad Is the Best Playground (Luciana Navarro Powell) ***** / Jack and the Beanstalk (E. Nesbit) **** / How Do Dinosaurs Go To School? (Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) *** / How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies? (Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) *** / How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? (Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) *** / The Trumpet of the Swan (E.B. White) **** / Charlotte's Web (E.B. White) ***** / Stuart Little (E.B. White) *** / Dinosaur Roar! (Paul Stickland) ***** / Bambi's Children (Felix Salten) *** 1/2 / Dumbo (Harold Pearl) *** 1/2 / Extreme Opposites (Max Dalton) **** / Flip, Flap, Fly!: A Book for Babies Everywhere (Phyllis Root) ***** / Zia (Scott O'Dell) ** / Island of the Blue Dolphins (Scott O'Dell) **** 1/2 / Urban Babies Wear Black (Michelle Sinclair Colman) * / Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen (Serena Valentino) *** 1/2 / A Good Day (Kevin Henkes) **** / Snow (Uri Shulevitz) ***** / The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Sally Grindley) **** / Nutcracker (E.T.A. Hoffman) *** / Les Petits Fairytales: Sleeping Beauty (Trixie Belle) ** / Cozy Classics: Moby Dick (Jack Wang) **** / Romeo & Juliet: A BabyLit Counting Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** / Pinocchio (Carlo Collodi) **** / Fairest (Gail Carson Levine) *** 1/2 / Snow White (illustrated by Quentin Gréban) *** 1/2 / Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm (illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert) *** 1/2 / From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (E.K. Konigsburg) *** 1/2 / The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) ***** / How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? (Jane Yolen) ***** / Les Petits Fairytales: Snow White (Trixie Belle) ** / Les Petits Fairytales: Cinderella (Trixie Belle) ** / Cozy Classics: Les Miserables (Jack Wang) ***** / Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! (Don and Audrey Wood) *****

Fin.

Blogkeeping -- Fall 2013

Time to clean out the sidebar!  I really should just do this more often instead of waiting until I've posted the latest thing-I've-been-meaning-to-post.  Anyway, these 100 movies were all watched from the end of May 2013 (bottom) to October 2013.

The Addams Family [r] *** 1/2 / The Haunting (1999) [r] *** / The Haunting (1963) [r] *** 1/2 / Edward Scissorhands [r] ***** / Face/Off [r] *** / Hocus Pocus [r] *** 1/2 / Rosemary's Baby *** / Wait Until Dark [r] **** / Project Runway (Season 12) *** 1/2 / Dial M for Murder [r] *** 1/2 /
84 Charing Cross Road *** 1/2 / Paranormal Activity 2 *** 1/2 / Paranormal Activity *** / Shaun of the Dead [r] **** / The Tale of Despereaux [r] ** / Toy Story of Terror *** / Pacific Rim *** / We Own the Night ** 1/2 / Underworld *** 1/2 / Bridesmaids ** 1/2 / Public Enemies ** / Gormenghast (1/4...) * 1/2 / Persuasion (2007) [r] *** 1/2 / Epic *** / The Great Gatsby (2013) *** / Broadchurch (Series 1) *** / Bartok the Magnificent [r] *** 1/2 / Anastasia [r] **** 1/2 / Persuasion (1995) [r] **** 1/2 / World War Z **** / A Tree Grows In Brooklyn *** 1/2 / Heroes of Cosplay (Season 1) ** 1/2 / Reign of Fire *** 1/2 / Now You See Me ** 1/2 / The Incredible Burt Wonderstone ** 1/2 / Star Trek: Into Darkness [r] **** 1/2 / Northanger Abbey (1986) ** / Admission ** 1/2 / Rise of the Guardians *** 1/2 / *batteries not included [r] *** / This Is Spinal Tap ** 1/2 / Northanger Abbey (2004) *** 1/2 / Clueless [r] ***** / Monsters, Inc. [r] **** 1/2 / Monsters University *** 1/2 / Richard M. Sherman and Alan Menken: The Disney Songbook *** 1/2 / People Like Us ** 1/2 / The Lady Vanishes (2013) *** 1/2 / Holes [r] **** 1/2 / Taken 2 ** 1/2 / The Host ** / Beautiful Creatures ** 1/2 / Crash [r] ***** / The Outsiders *** / Emma (2009) [r] **** / Independence Day (sort of) [r] ** / V For Vendetta ** / Somewhere In Time [r] *** 1/2 / Emma (1996) [r] ***** / Jack the Giant Slayer * 1/2 / Warm Bodes *** 1/2 / The Queen of Versailles *** 1/2 / Black Swan ** 1/2 / Mansfield Park (2007) *** 1/2 / Blazing Saddles ** 1/2 / Pushing Daisies (Season 2) **** / The Slipper and the Rose [r] *** / Les Misérables (2012) [r] *** / Pitch Perfect *** 1/2 / Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure [r] ** / Pushing Daisies (Season 1) **** 1/2 / Mansfield Park (1999) [r] *** 1/2 / The 10th Kingdom [r] *** / One For the Money * 1/2 / Pollyanna [r] **** 1/2 / Alias (Season 5) ** 1/2 / Because of Winn-Dixie *** 1/2 / Man of Steel *** 1/2 / Alias (Season 4) *** 1/2 / Alias (Season 3) **** / Alias (Season 2) **** 1/2 / The Avengers [r] *** / Alias (Season 1) **** / The Great Gatsby (2000) *** / God's Army [r] **** / The Great Gatsby (1974) [r] ** 1/2 / Pride & Prejudice (1995) [r] ***** / Our Mutual Friend **** / The Green Mile [r] **** 1/2 / Fargo *** 1/2 / Fiddler On the Roof [r] **** 1/2 / Pride & Prejudice (2003) [r] **** / Smash (Season 2) *** 1/2 / Atonement **** / Pride & Prejudice (2005) [r] *** 1/2 / The Bletchley Circle (sort of) *** 1/2 / Hawaii Five-0 (Season 3) ** 1/2 / Bates Motel (Season1) **** 1/2 / Grimm (Season 2) *** 1/2 / Jack Reacher ***

And these are the 50 books I read from October 2013 to January 2014.

The Art of Frozen (Charles Solomon) **** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis) ***** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Newphew (C.S. Lewis) ***** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy (C.S. Lewis) **** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair (C.S. Lewis) ***** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis) **** 1/2 / The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (C.S. Lewis) **** / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis) ***** / Foodie Babies Wear Bibs (Michelle Sinclair Colman) ** / A Christmas Carol: A BabyLit Colors Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** /  How To Cheat In Photoshop CS4: The Art of Creating Realistic Photomontages (Steve Caplin) *** / Cry, the Beloved Country (Alan Paton) **** / Belles On Their Toes (Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey) **** / Cheaper By the Dozen (Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey) *** 1/2 / We Belong Together (Joyce Wan) ***** / The Dead Bird (Margaret Wise Brown) ** / Anna Karenina: A BabyLit Fashion Primer (Jennifer Adams) **** / The Magician's Elephant (Kate DiCamillo) **** 1/2 / The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate) *** / Not a Box (Antoinette Portis) ***** /  The Dollhouse Asylum (Mary Gray) * / Hamsters Holding Hands (Kass Reich) **** / All the Wrong Questions: When Did You See Her Last? (Lemony Snicket) **** / Jabberwocky: A BabyLit Nonsense Primer (Jennifer Adams) *** / Sherlock Holmes in the Hound of the Baskervilles: A BabyLit Sounds Primer (Jennifer Adams) **** / The Vanishing Game (Kate Kae Myers) **** / The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson) **** / Cozy Classics: War and Peace (Jack Wang) ***** / Cozy Classics: Pride and Prejudice (Jack Wang) ***** / On the Day I Died: Stories From the Grave (Candace Fleming) ***** /  Good Night, Gorilla (Peggy Rathmann) ***** / The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear (Don and Audrey Wood) ***** / The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story (Sid Fleischman) *** / The Conductor (Laëtitia Devernay) ** / Moby Dick: A BabyLit Ocen Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** / The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Kate DiCamillo) ***** / Doll Bones (Holly Black) ** / Wuthering Heights: A BabyLit Weather Primer (Jennifer Adams) *** / Jane Eyre: A BabyLit Counting Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** / Anya's Ghost (Vera Brosgol) **** /  The Worthy: A Ghost's Story (Will Clarke) ** / Les Petits Fairytales: Rapunzel (Trixie Belle) ** / Let Petits Fairytales: Beauty and the Beast (Trixie Belle) ** / Les Petits Fairytales: The Little Mermaid (Trixie Belle) ** / Midnight In Austenland (Shannon Hale) *** 1/2 / Austenland (Shannon Hale) *** / The Tale of Despereaux (Kate DiCamillo) ***** / The Ocean At the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman) **** / Little Miss Austen -- Sense & Sensibility: A BabyLit Opposites Primer (Jennifer Adams) ***** / Little Miss Austen -- Pride & Prejudice: A BabyLit Counting Primer (Jennifer Adams) *****

And that's all for now!  I'm pretty sure I'm ready for another one of these right away, so it won't be long before I do another one.  Whew.

Blogkeeping -- Summer 2013

Yes, I know it's not Summer 2013 anymore, but my list is really long, and these were all watched during the spring, so I should have posted this in the summer.  Then I can post the next one as Fall 2013.  ANYWAY, here they are, from December 2012 (bottom) to the end of May 2013.

Jude the Obscure ** 1/2 / Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ** / Serenity [r] **** 1/2 / Firefly [r] **** 1/2 / Star Trek: Into Darkness **** 1/2 / The Office (Season 9) *** / Sense & Sensibility (2008) [r] *** 1/2 / Once Upon a Time (Season 2) ** 1/2 / Survivor: Caramoan - Fans vs. Favorites *** / Wuthering Heights (2012) (sort of) ** / Chances Are [r] *** / Dirty Dancing ** 1/2 / Sense and Sensibility [r] ***** / The Artist [r] ***** / Iron Man 3 **** 1/2 / Oblivion *** / Project Runway: Teams (Season 11) *** / Rise of the Planet of the Apes [r] **** / Jude *** 1/2 / Hitchcock **** / The Perks of Being a Wallflower ** 1/2 / Yours, Mine and Ours [r] *** 1/2 / Close Encounters of the Third Kind [r] *** 1/2 / Jurassic Park (3D) ***** / Schoolhouse Rock: Money Rock *** / Skyfall [r] **** / The Help [r] **** 1/2 / G.I. Joe: Retaliation ** 1/2 / Schoolhouse Rock: America Rock **** / Ivanhoe *** 1/2 / The Fighter *** 1/2 / The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey [r] **** / Life of Pi **** 1/2 / Ghost *** 1/2 / Schoolhouse Rock: Multiplication Rock *** 1/2 / Leap Year [r] **** / Schoolhouse Rock: Science Rock **** / Oz, the Great and Powerful *** 1/2 / Grease [r] *** / Schoolhouse Rock: Grammar Rock **** 1/2 / Lady In the Water [r] **** / A Mighty Wind [r] ***** / The Young Victoria [r] **** / The School of Rock [r] **** / Girls Just Want To Have Fun [r] *** 1/2 / The Baby-Sitters Club ** / The Winslow Boy [r] **** / The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 * / The Bourne Legacy *** / So Undercover * 1/2 / October Baby *** / House At the End of the Street *** 1/2 / Now and Then ** 1/2 / Lincoln **** / Dumbo [r] **** 1/2 / Troop Beverly Hills [r] **** / Wreck-It Ralph *** / Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome ** 1/2 / Spanglish [r] **** / The Pirates of Penzance [r] **** 1/2 / The Moonstone *** 1/2 / The Impossible ***** / Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium *** / Rush Hour *** 1/2 / Enchanted April [r] **** / Robin Hood (2010) [r] *** / A Goofy Movie [r] **** / Wish Upon a Star *** / Zodiac *** / Gattaca [r] *** 1/2 / Battlestar Galactica: The Plan [r] ** 1/2 / Project Runway: All Stars (Season 2) *** / Battlestar Galactica (Season 4) [r] **** 1/2 / The Last Airbender * / Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 3) ** 1/2 / Baby Boom [r] *** / The Wolfman ** 1/2 / A League of Their Own [r] **** / Tess of the d'Urbervilles (2007) *** / Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1998) **** 1/2 / What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? **** / That Thing You Do! [r] ***** / Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 2) ** / Battlestar Galactica: Razor [r] ** 1/2 / Les Miserables *** 1/2 / The Muppet Christmas Carol [r] ***** / The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey [r] **** / One Magic Christmas [r] *** / Tess [r] **** / Battlestar Galactica (Season 3) [r] *** 1/2 / Home Alone [r] **** / The Golden Compass [r] ** 1/2 / Survivor: Philippines (Season 25) **** / The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey *** 1/2 / The Nutcracker Prince [r] ** 1/2 / Across the Universe [r] *** / While You Were Sleeping [r] **** 1/2 / Quiz Show [r] *** 1/2 / Battlestar Galactica (Season 2) [r] **** 1/2 / The Dark Knight Rises [r] *** 1/2

And here are all the books, from December 2012 to October 2013.


Alice In Wonderland: A BabyLit Colors Primer (Jennifer Adams) **** / My World (Margaret Wise Brown) *** / The Runaway Bunny (Margaret Wise Brown) **** / Big Red Barn (Margaret Wise Brown) **** / Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed (Mo Willems) *** / Stanley Yelnats' Survival Guide to Camp Green Lake (Louis Sachar) ** 1/2 / Persuasion (Jane Austen) **** / The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Elizabeth George Speare) **** / The Dark (Lemony Snicket) **** / Small Steps (Louis Sachar) *** / Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen) *** 1/2 / The Book of Jer3miah: Premonition (Luisa Perkins and Jared Adair) *** / Holes (Louis Sachar) ***** / The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) *** / Emma (Jane Austen) ***** / Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown) ***** / The Fault In Our Stars (John Green) ***** / Kingdom Keepers VI: Dark Passage (Ridley Pearson) * 1/2 / Mansfield Park (Jane Austen) *** 1/2 / Icefall (Matthew J. Kirby) *** 1/2 / Because of Winn-Dixie (Kate DiCamillo) **** / A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (Betty Smith) **** / Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) ***** / Psycho House (Robert Bloch) ** 1/2 / Psycho II (Robert Bloch) ** / Psycho (Robert Bloch) ***** / Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen) **** / That Hideous Strength (C.S. Lewis) **** / Perelandra (C.S. Lewis) *** / Out of the Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis) *** / A Disney Sketchbook (Ken Shue) ***** / Life of Pi (Yann Martel) ***** / The Tiger Rising (Kate DiCamillo) **** / Fantasia/2000: Visions of Hope (John Culhane) ***** / Mere Mormonism: A Defense of Mormon Theology (Ronald R. Zollinger) *** / Mere Christianty (C.S. Lewis) **** / Odd and the Frost Giants (Neil Gaiman) *** / American Gods (Neil Gaiman) ** 1/2 / Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel (Jeff Kinney) *** / The Casual Vacancy (J.K. Rowling) * / All the Wrong Questions: Who Could That Be At This Hour? (Lemony Snicket) **** / The Well-Beloved (Thomas Hardy) *** 1/2 / 13 Words (Lemony Snicket) *** / The Composer Is Dead (Lemony Snicket) **** / The Lump of Coal (Lemony Snicket) **** / Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid (Lemony Snicket) *** / Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy) **** / Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (Brett Helquist) *** / Jacob T. Marley (R. William Bennett) **** / Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol (Tom Mula) **

Blogkeeping -- Spring 2013

Yeah, it might not be quite spring yet, but it feels like it, and it's pretty close, so Spring 2013 it is.  The last blogkeeping post can be found here.

Time for more blogkeeping!  What can I say, I did a little bit of housecleaning today too, so it seemed like a good time to finally clear out the movie/book lists there on the right.  The following were seen from about July 2012 (bottom) to December 2012 (top).

The Woodlanders **** / Scents & Sensibility ** 1/2 / The Women * 1/2 / Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 1) ** 1/2 / Office Space [r] *** 1/2 / Liz & Dick * 1/2 / Notting Hill [r] **** / The River Wild [r] **** 1/2 / The Mayor of Casterbridge [r] **** 1/2 / Battlestar Galactica (Season 1) [r] **** / The Watcher In the Woods [r] *** / Skyfall **** / America's Next Top Model: College Edition (Cycle 19) * 1/2 / Brave [r] **** / The Amazing Spider-Man [r] **** / Battlestar Galactica: The Mini-Series [r] **** / What To Expect When You're Expecting *** / Rock of Ages * / Princess Mononoke [r] ** / Corpse Bride [r] **** 1/2 / The Nightmare Before Christmas [r] ***** / Knocked Up (sort of) *** / ParaNorman ** 1/2 / Coraline [r] **** / Lady In White [r] *** 1/2 / Frankenweenie *** / Project Runway (Season 10) **** / Dr. Seuss's The Lorax ** / The Vow ** / Moonrise Kingdom *** / Paris je t'aime *** 1/2 / The Decoy Bride *** / I.Q. [r] **** / Buffy the Vampire Slayer *** / London River *** / The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain [r] *** / The Neverending Story III * / The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter [r] ** / The NeverEnding Story [r] **** / The Adventure of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn [r] **** / GoldenEye *** / The Man Who Planted Trees **** / Batman: Mask of the Phantasm *** / Wuthering Heights (1992) *** / Joyful Noise *** 1/2 / New Year's Eve ** / X-Men: The Last Stand [r] *** 1/2 / X2 [r] **** 1/2 / X-Men [r] **** / X-Men Origins: Wolverine [r] ** / X-Men: First Class [r] *** 1/2 / The Pirates! Band of Misfits *** / Chronicle ** 1/2 / The Amazing Spider-Man [r] *** 1/2 / The Journey of Natty Gann [r] *** 1/2 / The Hunger Games [r] **** 1/2 / Paulie [r] **** / Sherlock (Season 2) [r] ***** / Bride Wars ** 1/2 / Star Trek [r] **** 1/2 / This Means War *** 1/2 / LOL * / Cleopatra ** / Far From the Madding Crowd (1998) **** / Inception [r] *** / The Hudsucker Proxy [r] ***** / The Mission [r] ** 1/2 / The Fifth Element [r] **** / Drop Dead Gorgeous [r] *** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Etc. Etc. Marathon [r] ***** / Andrew Lloyd Webber - Masterpiece (Live In Beijing) ** 1/2 / The Princess Bride [r] **** 1/2 / Death Becomes Her [r] *** 1/2 / The Help [r] **** 1/2 / The Dark Knight Rises *** 1/2 / The Dark Knight [r] *** / Batman Begins [r] *** 1/2 / Flight of the Conchords (Season 2) *** / Sherlock (Season 1) [r] **** 1/2 / Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [r] **** 1/2 / The Spirit [r] **** / Mystery Men [r] **** / The Prestige [r] **** 1/2 / Labyrinth [r] *** 1/2 / The Dark Crystal [r] *** 1/2 / Spider-Man 3 [r] ** / Spider-Man 2 [r] **** 1/2 / Spider-Man [r] **** / The Amazing Spider-Man [r] *** 1/2 / Flight of the Conchords (Season 1) [r] *** / Stardust [r] *** / Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows ** / Iron Man 2 [r] ** 1/2 / Iron Man [r] **** / Captain America: The First Avenger [r] **** 1/2 / The Amazing Spider-Man *** / The Brave Little Toaster [r] **** 1/2 / Shallow Hal [r] **** / The Return of the Native [r] ***** / Daria: Is It College Yet? [r] ****

And, since the time has come for this too, here are the last 50 books I've read, from mid-March 2012 (bottom) to mid-December 2012 (top).

A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) ***** / Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy) ***** / The Nightmare Before Christmas: 13 Days of Christmas (Steven Davison) **** / Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film, the Art, the Vision (Frank Thompson) **** / The Nightmare Before Christmas (Tim Burton) **** / The Cheesehead Night Before Christmas (Fred Lane) ** / The Woodlanders (Thomas Hardy) **** / The Silver Cup (Constance Leeds) * / T is for Terrible (Peter McCarty) **** / The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) *** / The Art of Brave (Jenny Lerew) **** / The Mayor of Casterbridge (Thomas Hardy) ***** / The Halloween Tree (Ray Bradbury) **** / The Werewolf of Paris (Guy Endore) *** 1/2 / Dracula (Bram Stoker) *** 1/2 / Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) *** 1/2 / Two On a Tower (Thomas Hardy) **** 1/2 / The Worry Week (Anne Lindbergh) *** / So Brave, Young, and Handsome (Leif Enger) *** 1/2 / The Neverending Story (Michael Ende) *** / Edenbrooke (Julianne Donaldson) ** 1/2 / A Laodicean: A Story of Today (Thomas Hardy) *** 1/2 / Brian's Hunt (Gary Paulsen) ** 1/2 / Brian's Return (Gary Paulsen) *** / Brian's Winter (Gary Paulsen) **** / Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs) *** / The Trumpet-Major (Thomas Hardy) *** 1/2 / The Help (Kathryn Stockett) **** / The River (Gary Paulsen) *** 1/2 / Hatchet (Gary Paulsen) **** / Oldsoul (Dan Haring) **** / The Return of the Native (Thomas Hardy) ***** / Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) **** / The Art of James Christensen: A Journey of the Imagination (Renwick St. James) **** / Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara (James Gurney) **** / The Hugo Movie Companion (Brian Selznick) **** / The Hand of Ethelberta (Thomas Hardy) *** / Kingdom Keepers V: Shell Game (Ridley Pearson) * 1/2 / Parables (Robert L. Millet and James Christensen) **** / Dinotopia: The World Beneath (James Gurney) *** / The Alliance (Gerald N. Lund) ** / Far from the Madding Crowd (Thomas Hardy) ***** / How to Cheat in Adobe Flash CS4: The Art of Design and Animation (Chris Georgenes) *** / Tangled: A Read-Aloud Storybook **** / Voyage of the Basset (James C. Christensen) *** 1/2 / Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time (James Gurney) **** / The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern) ** / A Pair of Blue Eyes (Thomas Hardy) *** 1/2 / The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain (Lloyd Alexander) **** / Wonderstruck (Brian Selznick) ***

So many good books and movies!  And some pretty poor ones (The Women, Liz & Dick, Rock of Ages, The Neverending Story III, LOL in movies,  The Silver Cup, The Alliance, The Night Circus and the latest Kingdom Keepers in books).  Highlights in the movies were Sherlock, Harry Potter, and The Return of the Native, while top books were a lot of Thomas Hardy (almost all!) and a little Dickens.

(I also want to note that these lists have turned out to be pretty helpful now and then, on one notable instance a few days ago when I couldn't for the life of me remember the title of an obscure foreign film I watched several years ago, though I could remember vague details about it.  I checked the Blogkeeping post from 2008, et voila!  There it was.  You just never know!)

EDIT 29 January 2013: Added PR (10), moved Daria (IICT?) from previous post, and moved BSG (2) and TDKR back into the queue.

Blogkeeping -- Summer 2012

It's time for another little blogkeeping post to clean out the lists on the right!  (Last post here.)  These go from the end of February until late June.

Veronica Mars (Season 3) *** 1/2 / Daria (Season 5) [r] **** 1/2 / Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ** 1/2 / The Artist [r] ***** / Frank and Ollie *** 1/2 / Wives and Daughters [r] **** / Veronica Mars (Season 2) *** 1/2 / Brave **** / The Wedding Singer [r] **** / John Carter ** / Lorna Doone (1990) ** 1/2 / Veronica Mars (Season 1) **** 1/2 / Strictly Ballroom [r] ***** / Love Never Dies ** / Neverwhere * 1/2 / Snow White and the Huntsman **** / Mirror Mirror ** / We Bought a Zoo *** 1/2 / Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue ** 1/2 / Gone *** / The Artist [r] ***** / Daria: Is It Fall Yet? [r] **** / Far from the Madding Crowd [r] **** 1/2 / America's Next Top Model (Cycle 18: British Invasion) ** / TRON: Legacy [r-sort of] **** / Sherlock (Series 2) ***** / Daria (Season 4) [r] **** / Grimm (Season 1) *** 1/2 / Invictus ***  / Smash (Season 1) ***  / Hawaii Five-0 (Season 2) ***  / Once Upon a Time (Season 1) ** 1/2  / Survivor: One World (Season 24) *** 1/2  / Life or Something Like It [r] *** 1/2  / Dark Shadows ****  / The Office (Season 8) ***  / The Avengers *** 1/2  / The Old Curiosity Shop *** 1/2  / Gift of the Night Fury/Book of Dragons ***  / Voyage of the Unicorn *  / Dinotopia * 1/2  / The Three Musketeers (1966) ** 1/2  / Wuthering Heights (1998) [r] ***  / Wuthering Heights (1967) [2/3] * 1/2  / The Mystery of Edwin Drood ****  / War Horse ****  / The Iron Lady ****  / The Royal Tenenbaums [r] ****  / Creature Comforts (Season 2) *** 1/2 / We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story [r] ***  / Great Expectations (2012 BBC) ****  / The Aviator [r] *** 1/2  / Wrath of the Titans *** 1/2  / The Hunger Games [r] *****  / Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief **  / Creature Comforts (Season 1) *** 1/2  / Emma [r] *****  / Real Steel *** 1/2  / Like Crazy ***  / Gone With the Wind [r] **** 1/2  / Rat Race [r] *** 1/2  / It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World *** 1/2  / Rio ***  / Rango *** 1/2  / The Wizard of Oz [r] ****  / Pride & Prejudice (1995) [r] *****  / TRON: Legacy [r] *** 1/2  / Deceived [r] *** 1/2  / Overboard [r] ****  / Sense and Sensibility [r] *****  / The Hunger Games *****  / Project Runway: All Stars (Season 1) *** 1/2 / The Secret of Roan Inish [r] ***  / The Muppets (X2) [r] *****  / I Have Found It ***  / Muppets From Space [r] *** 1/2  / Jack and Jill ***  / Hugo *** 1/2  / The Artist ***** / Muppet Treasure Island [r] *****   / The Muppet Christmas Carol [r] **** 1/2  / The Muppets Take Manhattan [r] ****  / The Illusionist ***  / The Great Muppet Caper [r] ****  / The Muppet Movie [r] **** 1/2  / Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules ** 1/2  / Bride & Prejudice [r] ****  / Penelope [r] **** 1/2  / Bend It Like Beckham [r] *** 1/2  / Sunset Boulevard [r] *** 1/2  / The Sound of Music [r] *****  / Under the Greenwood Tree [r] ****  / Dick Tracy [r] ***  / Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! [r] ****  / Creature Comforts America (Season 1) ****  / The Interpreter [r] *** 1/2  / Dead Poets Society [r] *** 1/2  / North [r] **** 1/2  / Singin' in the Rain [r] **** 1/2  / The Wild **

Highlights were The Hunger Games and The Artist (three times!), lowlights were Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, John Carter, and Neverwhere (YIKES, Neverwhere...).  Until next time!

EDIT 29 April 2013:  Added PR: AS (1), moved Daria (IICT?) to the next list).  Also, "Summer", not "sumer."  Dur.

Blogkeeping -- Spring 2012

(!!!  Apparently blogger has updated me to the new template for writing blogposts.  This will take some getting used to it.)

I seriously feel like I just barely did this, but apparently it's been a few months, and the list there on the right is definitely due for a little spring cleaning.  In truth, it was almost ready to go after my last blogkeeping post.  This list goes from late November, just before Thanksgiving (bottom) to 27 Feburary (top).  We apparently watched a lot of movies during the winter months.

Planet 51 ** 1/2 / / Dumb and Dumber [r] *** 1/2 / Regency House Party *** 1/2 / The Help *** 1/2 / Moneyball *** 1/2 / The Tree of Life *** / Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey **** / Robots *** / Julie and Julia [r] **** / Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken [r] *** 1/2 / Swing Kids [r] **** / Man On a Ledge *** 1/2 / The Island [r] *** 1/2 / Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [r] *** 1/2 / Valiant ** 1/2 / Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs *** / Anonymous *** / The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 * / The Kid [r] **** 1/2 / The Woman in Black **** / Willow [r] *** 1/2 / Matilda [r] *** / The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story *** 1/2 / Waking Sleeping Beauty **** / Heart and Souls [r] **** 1/2 / Pride & Prejudice (2003) [r] **** / Wit [r] **** 1/2 / High School Musical 3: Senior Year *** / Camelot [r] **** 1/2 / Dreamer *** 1/2 / The Man In the Moon [r] *** / Great Expectations (BBC 1999) **** / Daria (Season 3) [r] **** 1/2 / The Incredible Mr. Limpet [r] ** 1/2 / What's Up, Doc? [r] **** / Rebecca (1997) *** / You Again *** / Some Like It Hot [r] *** 1/2 / Green Lantern ** / The Spitfire Grill [r] **** / Rebecca (1940) [r] **** / All About Steve ** / The Rocketeer [r] **** / America's Sweethearts [r] *** / Alex & Emma [r] ** 1/2 / Red Eye [r] **** / Girl With a Pearl Earring [r] *** / Midnight In Paris *** 1/2 / Prom *** / Beauty and the Beast (3D) **** 1/2 / The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn *** 1/2 / Bring It On [r] *** 1/2 / The Pixar Story *** 1/2 / Exit Through the Gift Shop ** 1/2 / Gnomeo and Juliet *** / Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles *** / Newsies [r] **** / Daria (Season 2) [r] ***** / The Man In the Iron Mask *** 1/2 / Battle: Los Angeles *** 1/2 / Something Borrowed ** / Uncorked [r] **** / Jersey Girl ** 1/2 / Bertie and Elizabeth *** / Sherlock Holmes [r] *** / The Hudsucker Proxy [r] ***** / My Boy Jack [r] *** / The Spanish Prisoner [r] *** 1/2 / The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters *** 1/2 / Water For Elephants ** 1/2 / I Don't Know How She Does It ** 1/2 / Warrior ** 1/2 / Tangled [r] ***** / Crazy, Stupid, Love. ** 1/2 / The Princess and the Frog [r] ***** / I Am Legend [r] *** / The Story of Us [r] **** 1/2 / Leap Year [r] *** 1/2 / There Will Be Blood *** / Obsessed [r] **** / No Country For Old Men *** 1/2 / Star Wars: The Clone Wars ** 1/2 / A Christmas Story [r] *** / Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol *** 1/2 / LOST (Season 6) [r] *****! / The Nativity Story [r] *** 1/2 / Edward Scissorhands [r] ***** / Survivor: South Pacific **** / Love Actually [r] ***** / Undercover Blues [r] **** 1/2 / While You Were Sleeping [r] **** 1/2 / America's Next Top Model: All-Stars (Cycle 17) *** / Gargoyles (Season 2) [r] **** / Away We Go *** 1/2 / The X-Files: I Want To Believe *** / The Muppets ***** / Muppets From Space [r] *** / Muppet Treasure Island [r] **** 1/2 / LOST (Season 5) [r] **** 1/2 / Waitress *** 1/2

The highlight was  The Muppets and the last season of LOST.  The lowest of lows was Breaking Dawn Part 1.  Both of those were probably to be expected.

Apparently I'm also due to clean out my reading list, so here's that (this runs from early July 2011 to mid-March 2012):

The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick) **** / Chocolat (Joanne Harris) *** / Under the Greenwood Tree (Thomas Hardy) [r] **** / Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever (Jeff Kinney) *** / The Woman in Black (Susan Hill) **** / Pickles to Pittsburgh (Judi Barrett) ** 1/2 / Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Judi Barrett) *** / Desparate Remedies (Thomas Hardy) **** / The Lottery (Shirley Jackson) **** / Matilda (Roald Dahl) [r] **** / Children of the Mind (Orson Scott Card) *** 1/2 / Xenocide (Orson Scott Card) *** / Speaker for the Dead (Orson Scott Card) *** / Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card) [r] **** / Tarzan Chronicles (Howard E. Green) ***** / The Dragons of Blueland (Ruth Stiles Gannett) **** / Elmer and the Dragon (Ruth Stiles Gannett) **** / My Father's Dragon (Ruth Stiles Gannett) [r] ***** / The Fledgling (Jane Langton) [r] *** / Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman) **** 1/2 / The Turn of the Screw (Henry James) **** / Tarzan - Special Collector's Edition (Russell Schroeder) **** / Loves Music, Loves To Dance (Mary Higgins Clark) *** 1/2 / The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster) *** / Mulan - Special Collector's Edition (Russell Schroeder) **** / Peace Like a River (Leif Enger) [r] ***** / The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (Roald Dahl) **** / Mary Poppins In the Park (P.L. Travers) *** / Mary Poppins Opens the Door (P.L. Travers) ** / The Art of Hercules: The Chaos of Creation (Stephen Rebello and Jane Healey) **** / Mary Poppins Comes Back (P.L. Travers) ** 1/2 / Mary Poppins (P.L. Travers) *** / The Beatrice Letters (Lemony Snicket) [r] *** / Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The End (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Penultimate Peril (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Grim Grotto (Lemony Snicket) [r] *** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Slippery Slope (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Carnivorous Carnival (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital (Lemony Snicket) [r] *** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Vile Village (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy (Lemony Snicket) [r] ***** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill (Lemony Snicket) [r] *** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window (Lemony Snicket) [r] ***** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning (Lemony Snicket) [r] **** / The Art of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Stephen Rebello) **** / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling) [r] **** / Pinky Pye (Eleanor Estes) ****

So there you have it.  I'm glad all of the Series of Unfortunate Books ended up in the same blogkeeping post, rather than having to break them up forevermore.  Now that list on the right is so much shorter!  It's like the cleanness of a nice spring morning.   Enjoy, archives!

Blogkeeping -- Winter 2012

Time for just a little blogkeeping!  I was really surprised to discover that I had already gone well over 100 (like 30+ over) before clearing out the list on the right.  Yikes.  It does fill in faster when I include all the rewatches and not just the new watches.  So this list goes from late June to late November.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [r] ***** / The Muppet Christmas Carol [r] **** 1/2 / The Muppets Take Manhattan [r] *** 1/2 / The Great Muppet Caper [r] **** 1/2 / The Muppet Movie [r] **** / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 [r] ***** / DisneyNature: The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos ** 1/2 / West Side Story [r] ***** / The Turn of the Screw *** 1/2 / Watchmen ** 1/2 / District 9 **** 1/2 / Sleepy Hollow [r] *** 1/2 / Captain America [r] **** / The Three Musketeers (2011) *** / Fast Five ** / The Three Musketeers (1993) [r] *** 1/2 / Project Runway (Season 9) *** 1/2 / Fast and Furious ** 1/2 / The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift ** / Moby Dick (2011) *** 1/2 / Signs [r] ***** / LOST (Season 4) [r] **** 1/2 / 2 Fast 2 Furious ** 1/2 / The Fast and the Furious ** / Thoroughly Modern Millie [r] **** 1/2 / The Nightmare Before Christmas [r] ***** / Lars and the Real Girl [r] **** / LOST (Season 3) [r] ***** / Dream House ** 1/2 / Cellular [r] **** / Gladiator [r] **** / The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary **** 1/2 / Three O'Clock High *** 1/2 / Red Riding Hood ** / Thor [r] *** / Limitless *** / The Conspirator **** / The Lion King (3D) **** 1/2 / About a Boy **** / The Cove *** / Contagion **** / Ponyo *** / Winnie the Pooh ** 1/2 / The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh [r] **** / Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story *** / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ** 1/2 / Apollo 18 *** / 12 Rounds ** / LOST (Season 2) [r] ***** / Monarch of the Glen (Series 1) ***1/2 / Unknown *** 1/2 / Beastly * 1/2 / Cowboys & Aliens *** 1/2 / 300 ** 1/2 / A Town Called Panic *** / Gargoyles (Season 1) [r] **** 1/2 / To Kill a Mockingbird [r] **** / Planet of the Apes (1968) ** 1/2 / Rise of the Planet of the Apes [r] **** / Ondine *** / Disneynature: Oceans *** / Dirty Rotten Scoundrels [r] *** / War of the Worlds (2005) [r] *** / Rise of the Planet of the Apes **** 1/2 / She's the Man [r] **** / The Eagle ** 1/2 / Daria (Season 1) [r] ***** / Australia [r] *** / Moulin Rouge [r] ***** / Romeo + Juliet [r] *** 1/2 / Stricly Ballroom [r] ***** / LOST (Season 1) [r] ***** / December Boys ** / Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events [r] **** 1/2 / Captain America: The First Avenger **** / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 [r] ***** / Disneynature: Earth *** / So I Married an Axe Murderer [r] *** 1/2 / A Midsummer Night's Dream [r] *** / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 [r] ***** / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [1/2r] ***** / Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [r] **** / Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [r] ***** / Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire [r] ***** / Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [r] **** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets [r] **** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone [r] **** 1/2 / The Bourne Ultimatum ** 1/2 / The Bourne Supremacy *** / The Bourne Identity *** 1/2 / Sherlock (Series 1) **** / A Tale of Two Cities *** 1/2 / Post Grad * 1/2 / Cars 2 ** 1/2 / The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [r] ***** / The Burbs [r] *** 1/2 / Catfish ***** / Burlesque * / Kung Fu Panda 2 *** 1/2 / Megamind *** 1/2

There we go.  Sorry to put a hold on the news, but it's always nice to clear out the list.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled blogreading.

Blogkeeping -- Fall 2011

Time to do a little house cleaning.  About every 100 movies or so I like to clean out the ol' movie roll along the right side there.  (Not much news on this post, sorry to say.  It's mostly for my own records or whatever.  Skip if it bores you!)  As I said the last time I did this, I have started including movies I've seen before in this roll (indicated with [r]).  This list, in reverse chronological order, actually ends more than three months ago (21 June 2011)--I'm a little behind. :/

Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter ** 1/2 / The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers [r] ***** / Country Strong *** / How to Train Your Dragon [r] **** 1/2 / Monsters vs. Aliens ** 1/2 / Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa *** 1/2 / Kung Fu Panda [r] **** / Bee Movie ** 1/2 / The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [r] ***** / 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure [r] *** / 101 Dalmatians [r] **** / I Am Number Four ** 1/2 / Super 8 *** 1/2 / Source Code *** 1/2 / A Mighty Wind [r] ***** / Shrek the Third ** 1/2 / The Office (Season 5) [r] **** 1/2 / Madagascar *** / Over the Hedge [r] *** / Skyline *** / Morning Glory *** / X-Men: First Class **** / Shark Tale * 1/2 / Shrek 2 [r] ** 1/2 / The King's Speech *** 1/2 / Upstairs Downstairs *** / The Roommate ** 1/2 / The Tourist *** 1/2 / Shrek [r] *** / Antz [r] ** 1/2 / Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ** / The Office (Season 7) *** 1/2 / America's Next Top Model (Cycle 16) *** / Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End [r] *** / Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest [r] *** / Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [r] *** 1/2 / Gremlins ** 1/2 / Return to Neverland [r] *** / Peter Pan [r] **** / Survivor: Redemption Island **** / Thor **** / Sucker Punch *** 1/2 / Flushed Away [r] **** 1/2 / Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit [r] **** / Chicken Run [r] **** / Jane Eyre (2011) *** / The Exorcism of Emily Rose **** / Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas *** 1/2 / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I [r] **** 1/2 / Henry V *** / Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron [r] *** 1/2 / The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [r] **** 1/2 / As You Like It **** / The Road to El Dorado [r] *** 1/2 / Joseph: King of Dreams [r] *** / The Prince of Egypt [r] ***** / Howl's Moving Castle *** / Tangled [r] **** / The Black Cauldron **** / Cold Comfort Farm **** / Hairspray [r] **** / TRON: Legacy [r] (3D) *** / The Next Three Days *** / Tangled [r] (3D) **** 1/2 / Despicable Me ** 1/2 / V (Season 2) ** / The Swan Princess [r] *** 1/2 / The Last Unicorn [r] **** / The Brave Little Toaster [r] **** 1/2 / Knight and Day *** 1/2 / Monster House *** / Wanted *** / Some Kind of Wonderful *** 1/2 / The Adjustment Bureau **** / Better Off Ted (Season 2) ** 1/2 / The Secret of Kells **** / For Your Consideration *** / Twelfth Night [r] **** / Superstar [r] **** / Easy A * 1/2 / Salt *** 1/2 / Galaxy Quest [r] **** 1/2 / Spellbound [r] **** 1/2 / Ping Pong *** 1/2 / Othello **** / Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead *** / The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [r] ***** / The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers [r] ***** / The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [r] ***** / Eagle Eye *** / Daria: Is It College Yet? [r] ***** / Daria (Season 5) [r] ***** / Hamlet [r] **** / The Office (Season 3) [r] **** / Unstoppable *** 1/2 / Daria: Is It Fall Yet? [r] **** 1/2 / Daria (Season 4) [r] ***** / Downton Abbey (Season 1) ** 1/2 / Daria (Season 3) [r] ***** / Shaolin Soccer [r] **** /

Ugh, what a terrible movie to end (start) that list with.  Anyway, it won't be long before I'm ready to post another 100, actually.  And now, as I do with blogkeeping, here are the last 50 books I've read (these also date some time ago, about 1 July 2011):

Ginger Pye (Eleanor Estes) *** / A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens) **** 1/2 / The Art of Pocahontas (Stephen Rebello) **** 1/2 / The Art of The Lion King (Christopher Finch) **** 1/2 / Disney's Aladdin: The Making of an Animated Film (John Culhane) *** / Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play (Ridley Pearson) * 1/2 / Kingdom Keepers III: Disney In Shadow (Ridley Pearson) * 1/2 / Kingdom Keepers II: Disney At Dawn (Ridley Pearson) ** / Kingdom Keepers I: Disney After Dark (Ridley Pearson) ** / Entwined (Heather Dixon) **** / Tale As Old As Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast (Charles Solomon) ***** / The Starlight Barking (Dodie Smith) ** / The Hundred and One Dalmatians (Dodie Smith) **** / Bambi: A Life In the Woods (Felix Salten) *** / Walt Disney's Bambi: The Sketchbook Series (Ollie Johnston) ***** / The War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells) **** / The Disney That Never Was (Charles Solomon) *** / The Clockwork Three (Matthew J. Kirby) *** 1/2 / The Island of Dr. Moreau (H.G. Wells) **** / Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules (Bob Thomas) **** / Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast (Bob Thomas) **** / The Chronicles of Prydain: The High King (Lloyd Alexander) ***** / The Chronicles of Prydain: Taran Wanderer (Lloyd Alexander) **** / The Chronicles of Prydain: The Castle of Llyr (Lloyd Alexander) ***** / The Chronicles of Prydain: The Black Cauldron (Lloyd Alexander) **** 1/2 / The Chronicles of Prydain: The Book of Three (Lloyd Alexander) **** / Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles: The Wyrm King (Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black) * / Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles: A Giant Problem (Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black) * / Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles: The Nixie's Song (Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black) ** / The Last Unicorn (Peter S. Beagle) **** 1/2 / The Brave Little Toaster (Thomas M. Disch) *** 1/2 / Millions (Frank Cottrell Boyce) **** / The Art of The Princess and the Frog (Jeff Kurtti) **** / Peter Pan in Scarlet (Geraldine McCaughrean) *** / Peter Pan and Wendy (J. M. Barrie) **** / The Westing Game (Ellen Raskin) **** / The Art of Tangled (Jeff Kurtti) ***** / Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth (Jeff Kinney) ** 1/2 / Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (T.S. Eliot) **** / The Lord of the Ring: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien) ***** / The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien) **** / The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien) **** / The Hobbit (J.R.R.Tolkien) **** / Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins) **** / Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins) *** / The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) *** / The Silmarillion (J.R.R. Tolkien) *** 1/2 / The Prestige (Christopher Priest) ***** / The Princess Bride (William Goldman) *** 1/2 / A Study in Scarlet (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) ** 1/2

And now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.  We're having a great time on vacation, I'll post a little report when after get home this weekend.