dust motes: january 2018

Dust Motes is a monthly post featuring mini-reviews of new film releases, as well as new-to-me movies, that I've watched over the past month.

This month I watched a total of 22 new and new-to-me movies and TV series; keeping up that current pace, I would be on track to watch a total of 264 for the year. In 2017, the first year I started tracking what I watched, I saw a total of 234 new and new-to-me movies and TV series.

JANUARY 2018 VIEWING HABITS

I don't have any set goals about matching or exceeding last year's number. Instead, I'm most interested in breaking down my viewing habits by platform to see if there are any mediums I prefer over time. Keeping up with films and movies are hobbies that both have the potential to add up quickly; although I'm not worried about cutting back, necessarily, I'm curious to find out at the end of the year if I'm spending money on subscriptions I don't utilize as much as I should for the cost.

Last year was also the first time I wrote reviews for the films I watched, albeit only the advance screeners sent to me by my editor. Although I can accept and reject whichever titles get offered to me, I have no control over what actually winds up in my inbox. More experienced reviewers usually get the blockbuster releases, which means I often get a mixture of great indie finds and astonishingly bad movies. For that reason, I'd like to start sharing my thoughts on movies I picked for myself! This past January had its share of duds, but there were a few titles that stood out:

down the tbr hole #6

As my Goodreads to-read shelf creeps closer to 500 books, I've been eyeing it with a growing feeling of apprehension. It would take forever to get through so many...and that's not counting all of the new books I hear about along the way. Thankfully I discovered Lost In A Story's series (by way of Boston Book Reader) at the beginning of the year and it sounds like a great way to trim down my TBR.

The guidelines, per Lost In A Story, are simple:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf
• Order on ascending date added
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

I'll be going through 10 books every week, meaning it should take me almost the whole year to reach the end! If you'd like to do this yourself, be sure to visit Lost In A Story's original post and let her (and me!) know you'll be joining in the fun.

book review: the storm king

The Storm King by Brendan Duffy
Ballantine Books, 400 pp.
Published February 6, 2018

DISCLAIMER: I received a free digital ARC of this book from Ballantine Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Summary (via Goodreads): Nate McHale has assembled the kind of life most people would envy. After a tumultuous youth marked by his inexplicable survival of a devastating tragedy, Nate left his Adirondack hometown of Greystone Lake and never looked back. Fourteen years later, he's become a respected New York City surgeon, devoted husband, and loving father.

Then a body is discovered deep in the forests that surround Greystone Lake.

This disturbing news finally draws Nate home. While navigating a tense landscape of secrets and suspicion, resentments and guilt, Nate reconnects with estranged friends and old enemies, and encounters strangers who seem to know impossible things about him. Haunting every moment is the Lake's sinister history and the memory of wild, beautiful Lucy Bennett, with whom Nate is forever linked by shattering loss and youthful passion.

As a massive hurricane bears down on the Northeast, the air becomes electric, the clouds grow dark, and escalating acts of violence echo events from Nate's own past. Without a doubt, a reckoning is coming--one that will lay bare the lies that lifelong friends have told themselves and unleash a vengeance that may consume them all.

sunday post #4

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to recap posts from the past week and tease upcoming content, as well as share new books, reading challenge progress, and anything else you've come across in the last seven days.

Can a week be quietly eventful? While I might not have gone globe-trotting (or even bar-hopping) I did make some encouraging progress with both my TBR and TBW (to-be-watched...is that a thing?!). My usually non-existent luck with giveaways also made a surprise appearance: I won two on the same day! I'll go into a little more detail in my book haul below, but suffice to say I'm absolutely delighted to have some book mail to look forward to, and especially so when it's these particular titles that will be arriving on my front step.

This upcoming week I'm happy to announce a new monthly post: Dust Motes. Every month I'll collect a handful of mini-movie reviews for titles beyond the screeners I'm given. It will include a mix of current theatrical releases, as well as films that have been in my queue on streaming and DVD subscription services. This first entry only covers movies but I'm open to including TV series in the future, so let me know if you'd like to see those included too!

film review: braven

It’s hardly surprising that Jason Momoa—perhaps most recognizable for his turn as Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones—carved out a sizeable niche for himself in the action genre after appearing on the HBO juggernaut. With an imposing physique, tattooed arms, and rumbling voice, it doesn’t require mental gymnastics to picture him as a film’s resident tough guy. His latest outing in director Lin Oeding’s Braven may not challenge Momoa or the audience to any great extent, but it capitalizes on his strengths to carry off a competent B-movie thriller.

book review: a false report

A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong
Crown Publishing, 304 pp.
Published February 6, 2018

DISCLAIMER: I received a free digital ARC of this book from Crown Publishing via First to Read in exchange for my honest review.

Summary (via Goodreads): Two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists tell the riveting true story of Marie, a teenager who was charged with lying about having been raped, and the detectives who followed a winding path to arrive at the truth.

On August 11, 2008, eighteen-year-old Marie truthfully reported that a masked man broke into her apartment near Seattle, Washington, and raped her, but within days police and even those closest to Marie became suspicious of her story. The police swiftly pivoted and began investigating her. Confronted with inconsistencies in her story and the doubts of others, Marie broke down and said her story was a lie. Police charged her with false reporting. One of her best friends created a web page branding her a liar.

More than two years later, Colorado detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to investigate a case of sexual assault. Describing the crime to her husband that night--the attacker's calm and practiced demeanor, which led the victim to surmise "he's done this before"--Galbraith learned that the case bore an eerie resemblance to a rape that had taken place months earlier in a nearby town. She joined forces with the detective on that case, Edna Hendershot, and the two soon realized they were dealing with a serial rapist: a man who photographed his victims, threatening to release the images online, and whose calculated steps to erase all physical evidence suggested he might be a soldier or a cop. Through meticulous police work the detectives would eventually connect the rapist to other attacks in Colorado--and beyond.

Based on investigative files and extensive interviews with the principals, A False Report is a serpentine tale of doubt, lies, and a hunt for justice, unveiling the disturbing reality of how sexual assault is investigated today--and the long history of skepticism toward rape victims.