Lovely Movies: Love is Strange

Had I not seen the trailer, but had someone just told me there was an arthouse movie about an older couple played by Alfred Molina and John Lithgow, that tiny bit of info alone would have sold me on this. I mean, what's not to love?

Was it as great as it sounds? Yes, in fact, I was already moved to tears about 10 minutes into the film. The story did eventually go down a slightly different road than I was expecting, not in a disappointing way though, just different.

I have to say that there was absolutely phenomenal acting in this film. I don't think I've ever seen a more believable bond in any on-screen relationship than the one between these two long-time partners. It was absolutely amazing!

Mixed Shelf #26

After my first venture into epic fantasy, I'm now reading something a bit more familiar to me again: a children's book about fairies. And one in which the fairy- and the human world collide, which is something I tend to love.

Wanting: Dreamwood by Heather Mackey

I need to read this book! Not only is it one of those stories that immediately speaks to me (Girl having to travel through a magical forest in order to save her father, who is an expert on the supernatural.), but the illustrations are done by Teagan White, so that can only mean we're in for a real treat here! The cover itself is gorgeous already.

goodreads // available here

Reading: The Various by Steve Augarde

The Various is the first in a trilogy, which is very interesting time-wise as the second book is set 70 years before the first, and the third actually combines both periods of time. So far, I really like it. Some parts are slow because the author sometimes goes into a lot of detail explaining things, but I still love the story and the writing style.

goodreads // available here

Waiting: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

This is one of those books I was really looking forward to, but apparently not quite enough to read it right away. I've also heard mixed things about it, but I'm still quite excited to read it myself and see what I think. It is apparently very dark, in fact, it's actually labelled as YA horror. I was expecting something lighter, so we'll see how I like it...

goodreads // available here

Do you have any stories to recommend that have a nice mix of the real world and a magical fantasy?
Or are you reading something good of an entirely different genre at the moment?

Mixed Shelf #25

I am on an epic fantasy kick at the moment. Though I've read a lot of children's and YA fantasy, I'm only just starting to pick up "the real deal". And oddly enough, it seems that trilogies are really catching my eye at the moment.

Wanting: Owlfight by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon

This is pretty self-explanatory, I think. A fantasy trilogy with owls in every title and on every cover? Sign me up! I'm not sure if there are a whole lot of actual owls in the book or not, but I am super intrigued and I think I might be ordering the first one very, very soon… Also, the author is a pretty big name in fantasy, so I should try her out!

goodreads // available here

Reading: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

This was very cool! It gets a lot of hype, and justly so… however, because of that I was a little underwhelmed, but just a teeny tiny bit. I'm taking part in the Year of Cosmere, so I'll be reading the second part in the trilogy next month. I figured I'd find out down the road if I wanted to tag along for the read-along the entire year, but I already think I will!

goodreads // available here or here as a boxed set of the trilogy

Waiting: Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman

I'll admit that this was a total cover-buy. It's, yet again, the first in a trilogy and all covers are just stunning! Apparently it is an incredibly dark story though and I'm not sure if that's my cup of tea or not, but I sure hope I'll enjoy it, because I would love to own the whole trilogy. If I hate it I'll still part with this stunning book though.

goodreads // available here

Are you a fan of epic fantasy? Do you have any recommendations of stories with cool magic systems or characters? I'm especially interested in books that are women-friendly, and also quite low on the overall abuse and gore-scale...