So… September. What can I say about September? I was in a bit of a weird life funk this month. I had a tonne of work to do for uni, I was planning a readathon, trying to find a job, in a pseudo-reading slump and all while being my super anxious self… it was an experience, I’ll tell you that for free.
What’s new with me?
You’ve all probably seen the announcement by now, as well as my life update post, but just in case you haven’t I’ll talk about it again here!
In October, a few friends and I will be hosting our second round of the GraphicsAthon; a readathon dedicated to reading manga, graphic novels and comics. It runs from the 11th to the 19th so come join us! You can find the announcement post here, and find us on Twitter over here.
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Guess who forgot to keep up with their tbr this month!
Stats:
- Jan 2020: 4,479 pages
- Feb 2020: 7,109 pages
- March 2020: 4,156 pages
- April 2020: 9,116 pages
- May 2020: 5,866 pages
- June 2020: 2,466 pages
- July 2020: 1,942 pages
- August 2020: 4,062 pages
- September 2020: 1,432 pages
a - # Read this month: 4
🌻 – Buddy read
🎧 – Audiobook
📚 – Library book
💻 – Ebook/Kindle
🔁 – Re-read
✨ – Review copy
🌈 – LGBTQIA+ rep
I had a lot of big plans for reading this month but I was mostly taken over by school work and assessment so I’ve got my fingers crossed that October will be better once my final essays have been handed in!
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- The Merchant of Venice [01/09] – 3 ⭐ – Not a big fan of this one but I can see why others like it!
- The House in the Cerulean Sea [03 – 04/09] 🌈🎧 – 4.5 ⭐ – I’ve never seen myself as a fan of low-fantasy but apparently I love it now! This was fantastic!
- American Royals [26-27/09] 🎧 – 3.75 ⭐ – I genuinely had an amazing time reading this! It feels a lot like a reality tv show in that their are a lot of characters and relationships to keep up eith and SO MUCH DRAMA, to the point where I was so relieved when I liearned this was a duology not a trilogy! I really had so much reading this but I don’t think I’ll be picking up the sequel since it goes in a very different direction!
- Batman Vol 1 [27 – 28/09] 💻📚 – 4 ⭐ – I can’t belive I’m saying this, but this might be one of the best comics I’ve ever read, it not the best I’ve ever read. I picked this up on a whim because I saw it on Kindle Unlimited and I’m planning to hopefully continue the series for GraphicsAthon in October! Really good writing and characterisation, and fantastic artwork that really matches the tone and changes with the story!
*Click on the images to go to my Letterboxd reviews!
September was a poor reading month in terms of quantity (not not entertainment!) but, I definitely spent a lot of time playing movies and shows in the background!
- Gilmore Girls Season 2 [31/08 – 02/09] – 4 ⭐ – Honestly, apart from the fact that I dislike Dean with a raging passion, this season was pretty close to perfect. I can’t believe it took me this long to rewatch the show!
- The Coolangatta Gold [03/09] – 3.5 ⭐ – Low-rate Nigel Thornberry lookalike who wears short shorts and yells a lot, tries to force the unrealised dreams of his youth onto his kids and is surprised when it doesn’t go his way.
- Gilmore Girls Season 3 [02 – 05/09] – 4 ⭐ – Jess Mariano and Dave Rygalski together in the same season? Amy Sherman-Palladino really was trying to kill me this season but I loved every second of it.
- Mad Max [07/09] – 2 ⭐ – Overrated and confusing.
- Mad Max 2 [07/09] – 2.5 ⭐ – This one at least had a plot, but it still wasn’t good.
- Jasper Jones [07/09] – 3.5 ⭐ – Fantastic and would 100% watch again.
- Jaws [07/09] – 3.5 ⭐ – I’ve seen this a few times now and it still makes me jump.
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- Gilmore Girls Season 4 [05 – 08/09] – 3 ⭐ – Honestly, you can tell that the writers got a bit lost once Rory left Chilton but I’m crossing my fingers that season 5 will be better.
- Gilmore Girls Season 5 [08 – 11/09] – 3 ⭐ – Not my favourite season. Honestly, the show is starting to go downhill now and Lane’s storyline is GOD AWFUL.
- After We Collided [13/09] – 2.5 ⭐ – Better than the first movie but still problematic and awful, also full of so many plot holes and inconsistencies???
- Set It Up [13/09] – 3.5 ⭐ – This is always such a fun movie! It’s light hearted and cute and I love it a lot!
- Ibiza [13/09] – 3 ⭐ – I had zero expectations and Richard Madden met all of them. A fun movie about friendship, not working yourself to death and smashing Richard Madden.
- Goddess [14/09] – 4⭐ – I had no idea what to expect from this, honestly I thought it would be pretty bad but it turns out this is pretty funny and has a killer soundtrack!
- Bran Nue Dae [14/09] – 3 ⭐ – Not a great movie by any stretch but the singing was great!
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- Forrest Gump [14/09] – 4 ⭐ – I was expecting to dislike this one because so often famous classic movies suck but this was fantastic!
- That Awkward Moment [14/09] – 2.5 ⭐ – A movie so completely forgettable that I literally don’t even remember watching it.
- Much Ado About Nothing [15/09] – 4 ⭐ – This is definitely my favourite adaptation of the play!
- The Devil All The Time [17/09] – 3 ⭐ – Interesting cast, weird story, super depressing and dark but, certainly held my attention and I had to see how it would end!
- 10 Things I Hate About You [17/09] – 4⭐ – I haven’t watched this since high school but oh boy, this didn’t disappoint! It was so much fun and the soundtrack? *chefs kiss*
- Cinderella [18/09] – 4 ⭐ – I needed a movie to chuck on in the background and this was perfect!
- Splash [18/09] – 3.5 ⭐ – Tom Hanks is the ultimate Soft Boi and I appreciate him for that.
- Big [18/09] – 3 ⭐ – A woman stuck in an emotionless life fallls in love with child-man Tom Hanks even tho he sleeps in a bunk bed and has a trampoline in his apartment…
- Turner & Hootch [18/09] – 4 ⭐ – Soft Boi Hanks strikes again, and this time he has a dog and solves crimes!
- The Proposition [19/09] – 2.5 ⭐ – I am so sick of racism and violence just for the sake of racism and violence. I don’t understand what the point of this movie was.
- Turner & Hootch [19/09] – 4.5 ⭐ – I really think I’ve found a new favourite comfort movie!
- The Proposal [24/09] – 4 ⭐ – Fantastic as always! We all need a grandma who would fake a heart attack for love!
- Hamilton [26/09] – 4 ⭐ – I definitely enjoyed this more this time because I was focusing more on the set design and the music. Honestly, my mother’s excitement to watch the show was pretty infectious.
- Avatar Season 3 [11/07 – 27/09] – 2.5 ⭐ – Such a let down! Honestly, I know everyone loves this show, but it’s not as good as you think it is and definitely peaked at season 1.
- Lost in Translation [28/09] – _ ⭐ – No thanks. Racist and slow. Honestly, this isn’t the kind of movie I would ever pick up on my own. It’s a really slow and invasive look at how people react to loneliness and also a semi-autobiographical story on the director’s side, to the point where it’s massively uncomfortable to watch. So yeah, interestingly shot and slightly jarring to learn abou thte behind the scenes of, but definitely not something I’ll ever think about after this.
- The Truman Show [29/09] – 3.5 ⭐ – This is such an interesting idea, it’s actually one of my favourite tropes, but I just wish we’d gotten to see more of Truman’s “life” before he started to figure it all out. Other than that, this was a fantastic movie with some standout performances from the main cast, and I’ll definitely watch it again in the future!
Gilmore Girls Season 6 [11/09 – ???] – Aaaaand this is officially where I start falling out of love with the show. Seasons 6 & 7 really went downhill and Rory became slightly insufferable, also I just want Luke and Lorelai to be happy but noooo.
WHAT DID YOU READ THIS MONTH?
DID WE READ/WATCH ANY OF THE SAME THINGS?
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allonsythornraxx 
My favorite season of Avatar is season 2! I think season 3 is good, but I guess it’s kind of disappointing when everything starts getting all ~serious~. :p I like season 1, but I always think the beginnings of things are a bit boring on rewatching because it’s a lot of exposition.
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That’s a good point! I loved season 1 but yeah, if I rewatched it I’d probably prefer season 2!
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Looks like you had a good month, especially for watching!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Haha, yeah I did!
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Gilmore Girls season 3 is up there with the best TV of all time and you can’t change my mind, haha! But you’re absolutely right, it peaked there – you’re a hero for ploughing on with the later seasons! Great post 🙂
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Agreed! I so wish Lorelai and Rory had been written differently and that the April storyline had been written differently, also that revival season? Such poor writing!
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The April storyline was so bizarre and out of field! I also could never stand Logan so the fact that they’re so Logan heavy doesn’t win those seasons any points haha. The revival had so much potential, but what was with that musical storyline, and how did they manage to make Lorelai and Rory so unlikable?!
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I know! In my mind, Luke would never have done that but I could have forgiven that out of character story choice if they had’ve handled it better concerning Luke and Lorelai! I mean, even in the reunion they still couldn’t communicate. It made no sense!
I hated Logan the first time around. I didn’t mind him as much on my rewatch but yeah, he’s not my favourite – honestly, I think the boyfriends are all better (besides Logan) when they’re grown up and have grown out of their stupid mistakes. Jess was an angsty teen dork who didn’t wanna be a dork and I love him but he’s so much easier to watch in the revival!
I know! The fact that the writer/s didn;t learn from criticisms of the original series and update it in a way that made sense is astounding to me! They made all the same mistakes and that’s why (to me) the revival comes across as ingenuine and thoughtless! Also, oh my god the musical storyline! What was that??? I know! I always liked Lorelai, aside from Luke, she’s my favourite! But, the revival felt really off for Lorelai tbh. Rory was always a spoiled brat, but I also understand that since I think she was coddled! That being said, who walks into a prespective job expecting to just be handed said job?? Also, the continuous cheating storylines? I think in trying to make her seem more like Lorelai throughout the seasons, they just succeeded in showing how different the two are!
(Woah, clearly I had a lot to say – sorry!)
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Oh my God, that Luke/Lorelai lack of communication drove me MAD! A big part of how they were so cute was that Lorelai could pull him out of his shell, and Luke would call Lorelai out when she needed it – that they couldn’t have a straight conversation a decade on was ridiculous!
Maybe I should rewatch the later years and try to stomach Logan again… Watching him in the reunion certainly did nothing to make me like him! But then I am resolutely Team Jess haha – he was my favourite part of the revival for sure!
I totally agree with your thoughts on the revival. So much of it felt like them trying to push their original ending – it would’ve been a bombshell to do it at the end of the original series, but it just makes Rory so much more unlikable to do it now. There’s no mirroring between Rory and Lorelai – so why bother? I also hated that Rory became an author, and that whole thing where she was snobby about the job and expected to be handed it anyway – Rory was always sheltered and coddled, but she did also work really hard those first three seasons, and I feel like the latter ones and the revival did away with all of that! And to what, have her not working at all, and cheating with Logan? How did the reaction to Rory and Dean cheating not warn them off doing it with Rory and Logan? I think that’s my biggest gripe – nothing in the revival felt like ten+ years of growth for any character. Lorelai’s Wild moment was SO unlike her – she doesn’t even clean her own gutters, why would she go off like that? Emily becoming a museum speaker – what?! And poor Lane still stuck in the rut they left her in – awful, awful, awful. Loved being back there, but so much of it betrayed the original series.
(And don’t worry about saying a lot – it’s so nice to talk about it with someone who’s also very passionate about it, haha! :))
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Yes, I completely agree! It’s a wonder they stayed together for so long if they never learned from their mistakes and never learned to communicate? Which truly makes no sense to me when you go back and rewatch them in the early seasons like you said!
Honestly, I feel like Logan really did grow up in the later original seasons, especially considering what he was like when we first met him. But, I think the revival did away with a lot of that and threw his maturity out the window. Oh yes 100%, I loved Jess in the revival and if I was to watch it again he would probably be the best thing about it. I also think he’s probably the only character without drama or a stupid plotline which is refreshing for him.
I agree! Especially when the original ending doesn’t make any sense for the characters! And considering that was meant to be the OG ending is a bit weird considering Rory’s age! I agree, Rory and Lorelai are *very* different people and I’m ngl Rory isn’t mature enough to handle that life, even teenage Lorelai was more mature than Adult Rory if that makes sense?
Oh man! The job! I just don’t understand how she could’ve done that??? I’m so glad the employer put him in her place bc that was so unprofessional and again… immature! Working at the Gazette and becoming an author just seemed strange because I don’t think she ever expressed wanting to be an author before so it honestly came out of nowhere. Wasn’t Jess the writer?
Yes! Rory was way too sheltered. Absolutely she worked hard but then she got to uni and just became a different person bc grandma and grandpa will pay for everything so i can do whatever i want, which they totally enabled!
Going through uni now, I understand Rory’s uni experience more, but not completely because honestly, she made some seriously arrogant and irresponsible choices that only someone with her level of privilege (whether she’d want to admit to it, or not) could make. Yeah, the cheating storylines though? NO excuses and the fact that she never learns from that???
Yes! Lorelai hates the outdoors unless it’s snowing) so why would she go on a hike just because she read a book/watched a movie???
Oh yes, some of Emily’s storyline was interesting, especially regarding Richard but oh damn, it was strange!
Oh my God, don’t even get me started with Lane! It’s like they wouldn’t be bothered to go through the trouble of introducing a new character so just dumped her with Zack, the most immature and rude character I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching! I am not a fan, though I know some people are! I can’t believe how dirty the show did her and by default, the actress. You can’t claim diversity points and then also treat your character like that! I completely agree, the revival really felt like a betrayal or an F U to the original series.
Do you think they’ll make a second season for A Year in The Life? I think they’re open to it but it would be super difficult to get the entire cast back again.
(Haha I’ve been loving chatting with you too!)
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Truly it doesn’t! I feel like they misjudged what an audience might want there? The will-they-won’t-they of Lorelai and Luke (or when-will-they, at least) was great in the original series, but… Twenty years of it is not something I find feasible.
Ha, that Jess comment (refreshing that he had no revival drama) was funny because it’s true! Maybe I should push the revival to the back of my brain and try to give Logan a second chance…
YES, teenage Lorelai was so much more mature than teenage Rory. Her whole pregnancy storyline is so wildly out of character and would’ve been an awful ending to the show – we’ve been watching with the idea that she’d go off and be the big brainy careerwoman, it would’ve been so unsatisfying to see her just repeating Lorelai’s life without Lorelai’s capabilities. She’s far too sheltered for that – I am perfectly okay with the real world having chewed her up, because frankly I don’t see how she could cope in it, but the whole author thing was not the way she was supposed to pull herself up. She’s just falling back on stories that aren’t really even hers – how is that hard work for her?
Ooh, the whole grandma and grandpa paying thing INFURIATED me. It made sense that she’d dip down that path for a little while, and that she and Lorelai would eventually fall out, but I haaaated it anyway – and Rory never shook it off afterwards and pulled herself back up the way Lorelai did. It did nothing to make Rory more likable when that was an issue at that point for me anyway!
Telllll me about it. Rory’s privilege is never really addressed – she has her whole dorm decorated by Emily, and she’s so ungrateful about it? Of course it was an intrusion and she didn’t ask for it, but I don’t remember her at least acknowledging that it would’ve been another way her grandparents were trying to make her life more comfortable, as if it wasn’t anyway! Having just finished uni, I think it’d annoy me on another level to watch Rory’s privilege through it!
Emily’s revival storyline was so bizarre. I appreciate that it can’t have been anything but though, without Richard with her – a crying shame to not be able to see him, and them together!
YES! I am entirely in agreement with you on Zack! They had zero chemistry either – she was just dumped with him for the sake of ease. You’re entirely right, character and actress were done so dirty – even worse in the revival. Worse yet when you consider the lack of diversity in the cast anyway, and the way they did Lane.
I don’t know! I’d definitely watch it, even though I feel like I’ve just constantly moaned about the revival, haha. I think it’d be really tough to get all the cast, especially in a way fans would want – though I guess realistically it makes little sense that none of the characters had met anyone new over the decade anyway, haha. What would you most like to see if they did one?
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Sorry, I haven’t replied in so long, I completely forgot that answering comments was a thing! 😅😂💕
I think if they made a revival I would absolutely watch it because I love the *feel* of Stars Hollow but I also don’t think you could have that feel without the entire cast being present. I think Scott Patterson, Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham would all come back and probably a chunk of the background cast too, but all of them at the same time??? Again??? I doubt it. I really don’t know if it would be worth the effort especially if the writer/s are still in the early-2000 bubble with the characters. It’s not possible to write a GOOD show by updating the clothing and slang but neglecting to update the characters. It makes no sense and doesn’t make for a good viewing experience. It also says a lot about the team behind the camera (and in front of, since I’m sure Bledel or Graham could’ve stepped in with a complaint) that they were unable to develop and update the series properly.
I love Gilmore Girls from the homey feel of the early seasons but I think it loses itself through season 5 and then never regained it’s homey, little town vibe, if that makes sense? For nostalgia’s sake, the revival was great, but for the respect of fan, unless they’re willing to put *a lot* of work into it, I think they should leave the characters and Stars Hollow alone.
On another point entirely, I think it would be great if they released a Gilmore Girls soundtrack for one of the anniversaries since one of the things I love most about the show is the background music!
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😂😂 it’s fine! Call it a brain fart of a parting gift from 2020 😂
Yessss. I rewatched a few episodes over Christmas (specifically the ones with snow, because I knew I wasn’t going to get any), and I’d forgot just how much of the show’s power is in the setting. There’s something so comforting and completely inimitable about Stars Hollow – but I don’t think I could watch anything there that didn’t have the Gilmores in. Would feel wrong, somehow!
You’re absolutely right about not updating the characters from their 00s bubble, though. I wonder if the entire team was just so willing to be back in that happy place that they were trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice with it – or force a way to get to the original ending the writers wanted, before the writer shuffle about of the final season. But it does the characters and the show (and, of course, fans) a disservice to not update their lives.
For me, it lost that homey feel when Lorelai and Rory fell out, and Rory spent so much time living with Emily and Richard. So much of the heart of the show was their relationship; it’s unreal to expect them to never fall out, but it’s not fun to watch, either. Bursts that bubble of it being a comfort place, and I don’t think it recovered. (Having said that, it never felt like the same show when Rory left for college, either, though I don’t see how either of those things were avoidable!) That’s always the issue with a revival, I guess – how do you pay homage, create something new, and not spoil the nostalgia around the original? (Certainly not by including a bizarre musical and trying to make it plot. 😂)
Yes to the soundtrack! I could listen just to the la-la-las in the background for hours. Package a mix of those with a thick knit blanket, a hot chocolate mix, and a lavender candle, and you’ve got the cure for anything leftover from 2020 in a neat bundle. 😂
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I agree with EVERYTHING you just said!
I think the writers were aiming for the nostalgia feel but completely missed like we’d all been frozen in a time-bubble??? Well, consider this bubble popped!
I completely agree with what you said about Rory going to uni and the show changing – it lost that homey feel completely and the girls went their separate ways so their storylines got less and less intertwined. (and became outertwined???). I honestly can’t think of a way they could’ve changed it so the show kept the same vibe tbh, but I’m still mad about it! 😂
BEST SOUNDTRACK EVER
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Ha! “consider this bubble popped” is a very succinct way of putting it 😂
Yesssss. So much of the vibe was that it was homey and so much of the heart was Rory and Lorelai not being separated. Maybe there’s something to having less of a good thing? (I’m trying to think of something we’d have missed, not getting the latter seasons, and all I can think is Kurt and Lulu, haha.)
Absolutely!
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