Monthly Recommendations | Family Focus

It's that time of the month again, my Monthly Recommendations are here! This month the topic is Family Focus and I don't know how well my recommendations fit into this topic but I'm going to give them anyway.

First book I want to recommend is the Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It's a story about a mysterious black and white circus that doesn't advertise its movements but just appears at some place and leaves without a warning. The performers of the circus form a tight family that takes care of each other and the whole story is quite heartwarming. Circus as a setting is also very interesting and I wonder why there are not more books or tv series set in a circus. Maybe it will be the next trend after this assassin trend passes.

Second book I'm going to recommend is actually a whole series and that is Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. The main family reminds me a bit of the Weasleys in that they have seven sons and they accept outsiders amongst them easily. There are also other adults who sort of have the role of a parent and they are all great characters. Also the world is awesome but that's another story.

At the other end of the spectrum is Slam by Nick Hornby, a story of a 15-year-old skaterboy who accidentally gets his girlfriend pregnant. His mother also had him when she was 15 years old and she offers him great advice and support throughout the book. Following the teenagers trying to cope with becoming parents was written very realistically and though this was not exciting like fantasy, I enjoyed the story a lot.

Survivor Millenials vs Gen X | Mid-Season Thoughts

Now that it seems like there will be a merge this week I felt it was a good moment to recap this first half of the season and share my thoughts and feelings. The theme isn't the most exciting, not like Brain vs Brawn vs Beauty for example, but so far it has worked out pretty well, certainly better than old people vs young people in Nicaragua. Still, for some reason the Millennials have had the upper hand this season.

There has been a nice amount of twists and big moves and even blindsides already, some of which were good and some of which were not so good. I'm not too active on pre-season, I listen to a couple of Rob Has A Podcast -podcasts where they go through the cast bios, just to get to know the players a little bit. Prior to the season starting I didn't have particular favorites or winner picks but I have quickly formed them as I've been watching.

I do not like Figgy or Taylor and I was hoping Figgy was the first to go from the Millennials tribe. I thought Mari had the vote locked down but apparently Jay and Michelle were very convincing and turned things around. Jay's ruthless blindside last week got me totally unprepared, Michaela was my absolute favorite and I hated to see her go. I hope she will come back on some all stars season.

I find Hannah to be a bit similar to Aubrey last season but whereas Aubrey grew into a confident player, Hannah is still in that little overwhelmed phase. Adam on the other hand I like, I hope Zeke takes his to his new alliance. Will I feel is a bit over his head, he is riding Jay's coattails at the moment and not doing anything significant himself.

I don't care much for the Gen-Xrs, only Ken gets some sympathy from me. David is playing too nervous game to my taste and Jessica is interesting only because of the Legacy advantage. Ken should vote her out and get the advantage to himself. Sunday, Bret, Chris, they seem like cool guys but so far they haven't done much.

It's going to be an interesting episode this week, merging from three tribes to one has never been done before. I have many second-rate favorites (because nobody is as amazing as Michaela) who I hope do well after the merge but they are all in different tribes and alliances right now, so somebody will get booted and I will be disappointed yet again how my favorites never win. I don't dare to guess who will win but if it's not a Millennial, then I'm going to be very surprised.

October Wrap Up

All the school assignments took their toll in October and I only managed to read two books, TWO BOOKS, that's so much less than what I wanted to read. Anyway, let's wrap up the miserable October and move on.

The first book I finished was Thinks... by David Lodge. I blame this book for my bad reading month because this was for school and 2/3 of this was sooo boring. Then the last third of the book suddenly picked up the pace and a lot happened. I need to write a 2500-word essay about this also so I'm not getting rid of this damn book for a long while.

The second book I read was the Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas, the second book in Throne of Glass series. I'm working my way through this series and so far I'm not too impressed. My main problem is that I don't like Celaena at all and I'm not a big fan of Chaol either, so it makes reading the series a bit challenging. We'll see how the rest of the books turn out, I'm not a quitter. Before Christmas I will get through them and post a full series review.

Buying Books

I subscribe to a lot of BookTube channels and one very common video type is the monthly book haul where the youtuber presents the viewers with all the books they have bought during the previous month. Somehow all these tubers manage to buy sometimes dozens of books in one month, which just blows my mind and also irritates me a little bit. It makes the BookTube feel a bit shallow when a tuber buys three versions of the same book. How can they even afford all those books? Books are not cheap!

I myself buy books quite rarely because I'm a student and don't have too much extra money to throw away. Luckily, I'm fortunate to live in Finland where the library system is magnificent and they get even the newest books pretty quickly, including international books that have not been translated or even sold in Finland. I've grown up with library and I love it, it saves me big bucks both in terms of text books and fictional books.

Books that I buy are a sure thing, meaning that I know that I will read them more than once. I wouldn't buy a book without knowing that I like it. Usually I've already read the books I buy and I buy them as a collector, hardback always. Currently I'm trying to track down the version of the Hobbit with Tove Jansson's illustrations (the Finnish translation) and also the Finnish translation of the Night Circus. Both I have read and both I will read again. Only Harry Potter related books are an auto-buy for me, I have just recently acquired all the seven books in English, after owning them all in Finnish for years.

Monthly Recommendation | Monster Mash

Monthly Recommendations is a Goodreads group that gives a montly topic to which people can recommend books. This month's topic is Monster Mash and I don't have a lot to recommend here, since I rarely read books that are scary or have a focus on supernatural creatures. I should read some Stephen King already but there are so many interesting books to read and so little time. Of course I've read fantasy books that have all sorts of monsters in them but I don't feel like I can recommend them for this topic. However, I do have a couple of things to recommend.

My first recommendation is The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The book is not very scary but almost philosophical, reflecting on the good and bad sides of human nature. It is a very short book and a fast read, if you want to read a classic this is a good one.

My second and last recommendation is The Walking Dead comics by Robert Kirkman. I bet many people have watched the series but never read the comics, I didn't even know there was a comic until about a year ago. The series follows the comic book storyline but adds stuffs and mixes things every once in a while. The comic book is nothing like those superhero comics, it has lot of dialogue and at points very graphic pictures of zombies and dying people etc. If you want horror, with this you can find it.

Once Upon a Time season 6 episode 3 - The Other Shoe review

So much Hooker loveeeee! Seems like this season is all about CaptainSwan happiness until it's ripped away when the hooded creature appears. Hook was admittedly completely useless again, like he's been for a couple of seasons now, but he's so damn adorable that my heart just can't resist him. And on top of that, even Henry got to do stuff, granted it wasn't that special.

I also kind of started to ship Hyde with Regina/the Evil Queen. If he can turn to the good side at some point and Regina and the Evil Queen fuse themselves together again, they might be an interesting couple. Though I bet that Hyde and Jekyll will be forgotten by the end of the season when this story arc is completed.

Even Snow was good in this episode! "I might be a princess but I can still track", oh she definitely had her moments. Planning the future, I wish it would work out that way but when is it ever going to be peaceful in Storybrooke? And are they not returning to the Enchanted Forest? Apparently not, we all know what a bitch meatloaf is back there.

The episode did not add anything big to the overall plot of the season but I liked seeing Cinderella and getting more of her backstory. Although I'm a bit skeptical about the portal to the Land of Untold Stories, you just open any door with that key and it takes you there? Felt a little like a plot device and we probably won't see the key again since the stepmother took it with her.

Still nothing about Aladdin or Jasmine or Jafar and seems like next weeks is going to be about Jekyll and Hyde but the week after that will give us the story of Aladdin. Until that, we probably won't get any information about other saviors or Emma's condition. Well, as long as Hook remains devilishly adorable, I'll be fine.

My History with Harry Potter

In honor of the new play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, I thought I'd share my history with the series. I read the play already when it came out in August but the Finnish translation will be published next month so I'll be reading it again in another language. I was quite young even when the Deathly Hallows was published so I read the whole series first in Finnish and just lately I've had it under way to read them all in English.

My parents bought the Philosopher's Stone as a Christmas present for me when I was 8 years old and my cousin got the Goblet of Fire that same Christmas. I don't remember if I read them both then but I at least read the Philosopher's Stone right away. I have a nameday, something we acknowledge in Finland, in February and I received the Chamber of Secrets as a present then. I'm not sure when I got the Prisoner of Azkaban but I guess it was a birthday present that spring. Somewhere along the way I also got my own copy of the Goblet of Fire and read those over and over again. My favorite was the Prisoner of Azkaban until the Order of the Phoenix came out.

The Order of the Phoenix was published in 2004 in Finnish. I was still about 10 or 11 at the time so I was a bit clueless and didn't go to any midnight  release parties. The book had been out a couple of months when I remember my mother pulling it out of a closet at home one day and said that I had to do some chores to get it. I finished those chores in record time and started reading what became my absolute favorite book for a long time. I carried the book with me if I went away for even a couple of days and read it probably ten times within the first year alone. The book is obviously the biggest in the series and it suffered so much that my mother put sticky-backed plastic over it to keep it together.

At this point the first three movies had come out and I liked the first two very much but I was a bit disappointed in the third because it added stuff that wasn't in the book and changed things too much to my taste. The fourth one was a big disappointment and the fifth even bigger and I lost my faith in the movie series. The last three were okay but they lacked the magical atmosphere the first two have, so I can't be totally satisfied with them.

I acquired the Half-Blood Prince closer to its release date and was quite shocked of the events in the book. I liked it very much but it didn't take over my life like the Order of the Phoenix. I remember debating in my mind which one is better and never coming to any conclusion. I still don't have a conclusion, I need to reread them all closely to one another and try to decide.

The Deathly Hallows is the one I remember most clearly, perhaps because it was the last. I went to buy it the day after it was released and read it in two days. I was very excited and didn't quite understand that it was the end then. The book was fabulous and I read it again after a few weeks and the I reread the whole series. I checked and noticed that I haven't read it since and decided that it's about time, so I try to continue my reread round in English and refresh my reading memories.

I'd like nothing more than to be able to see the new play on stage but that won't probably happen, I'm too busy with work and studying and too poor to travel to London and buy the tickets. Another dream I have is to visit the Leavesden studios near London where the movies were shot and the Harry Potter amusement park in the U.S. but those dreams also have to wait. Someday.

Once Upon a Time season 6 episode 2 - A Bitter Draught Review

I don't have a lot to say about this episode, to be honest. It wasn't bad but it wasn't anything amazing either. The biggest thing was probably the rise and fall of the Count of Monte Cristo, so to speak. At first I thought he would become one of the season regulars but then he was killed so I don't expect to see him again. I have not read his original story nor have I seen any movies he might be in so I was pretty indifferent to him the whole time.

I liked that Emma started to share her visions, she should be more open by now. I also liked how Hook apologized to Belle, it was about time he took some real responsibility (though I like him whatever he does). The Jolly Rodger was a nice idea but I don't think it hold Rumple off too long. Speaking about Rumple, the flirt between him and the Evil Queen was almost too much for a family show!

This episode focused mainly on out core cast, we didn't get to see Aladdin or Jafar or even Hyde. Regina & co found out that her evil side is still causing mayhem so now they probably start to figure out how to get rid of her for good. People on the Internet have predicted that eventually she will unite with her evil side and I agree, that's most likely what will happen.

September Wrap Up

I started university at the beginning of September and that has severely affected the amount of free time I have. I don't have time to read as much as I'd like to and not even the books I'd like to, since I have to read a boring novel for a literature course (more about that in the October wrap up). I only managed to finish three books in September, but hey, that's something.

The first book I read was the fourth and the last book in the Lunar Chronicles, Winter by Marissa Meyer. I wrote a full series review after finishing that. In addition to the main series I read Stars Above, a collection of short stories about the Lunar Chronicles characters before and after the events of the series. I needed that to ease me off the Lunar world, my heart ached when I turned to the last page. I must reread the series soon, I think.

And the last book I read in September was the Throne of Glass, the first book in the series of the same name by Sarah J. Maas. I have heard so much about this series so I thought I would finally get into it, especially now that the fifth book was just published. I'm waiting to get my hands on that from the library (now on the tenth place), in the meantime I have to read the rest. The first book didn't fascinate me quite as much as I was anticipating, mainly because I don't like Celaena's character. The plot was interesting enough for me to continue on with the series.

Once Upon a Time season 6 episode 1 - The Savior Review

My favorite show is back on air! It was a pretty good premiere for the new season, we got to see a lot of bits that will hopefully play out nicely during the season. Still, knowing Adam and Eddy, I have my doubts.

I like that Aladdin was introduced and that he is (or was?) a savior. I'm very interested to learn his backstory. I don't mind that they changed the actor for Jafar but I do mind if they retcon something from Wonderland, I'm still mad how they handled Will on the main show. By the way, my first thought about that red bird was that it's a phoenix but more logically it's Iago. Hopefully Abu makes an appearance, too.

My favorite moment of the episode was Hook and Emma getting steamy on the couch, more happy couple moments, please! I'm tired of Emma always raising her walls, Hook is her true love, she should be fine sharing everything with him! Hook is still bae and devilishly handsome and all that.

Despite my love for Hook and identifying with Emma, Regina is the queen of the show. Bobby may be tired of playing Rumple but Lana Parilla is holding the whole show on her shoulders, bless that woman. Snow and Regina having a moment, man that was good. More friendship awesomeness, please!

I can't wait to see all the characters from the Land of Untold Stories, I wish there were some interesting ones. We could go back to the "fairytale of the week" style they did in the first season but I'm afraid the writers have lost that ability. Though I hear rumors that they are going back to the roots of the series and maybe doing a whole season arc instead of these half and half we've got since season 3. I'd like that very much, for some reason they haven't been able to keep those shorter arcs together and usually they feel rushed and not thought through.

Am I the only one who got hit by the fact how big Henry already is? He should get much more scenes, and good scenes, not those childish scenes they make him do. He has a girlfriend now, let's see some Henry & Violet! He's a big boy, make him do some big boy stuff! Maybe what's wrong with the show is that after season 1 Henry's role has been extremely insignificant except when he's the Author.

Oh, almost forgot! I liked Morpheus! Though I don't know if we'll see him again as Rumbelle's son, but the actor at least was nice and damn that burn on Rumple, own son telling his mom to avoid daddy dearie. If the writers can keep everything together, this should make an interesting season.

Fall TV

I generally hate fall because it has always been the end of everything nice: summer, sunshine, vacation etc. The only good thing about fall is that the summer hiatus ends and all the tv series come back on again. Here are the series I'm most excited about:

Once Upon a Time: my favorite, even though the writers are trying to ruin it with lazy plots. I have never had a bigger crush on anyone than I have on Hook. I will stay with the series til the bitter end.

Survivor: it actually already started, but man, I love it. It just keeps surprising and they always find people I can root for and wish to see again. Those all-stars seasons are just thrilling! It's a travesty that Survivor wasn't even nominated at the Emmy's.

The Flash: I enjoyed the second season a lot and have high hopes for the third. The characters are more likable than those on Arrow and the plot is at least at times lighter.

Arrow: I wanted the fifth season to be the last, so that Oliver's island arc would be nicely wrapped and they would have a satisfying ending but no. Anyway Felicity is still one of my favorite tv characters and her awesomeness deserves more recognition.

The Walking Dead: I somehow feel that I like Fear the Walking Dead more than the original and it's probably because they focus more on characters. My favorite TWD characters are Carol and Carl and they tend to get pushed aside from time to time. Still, that cliffhanger.

In addition I watch a lot of Finnish TV but I'm not going to bore you by listing those. One thing is for sure: I'm going to spend too much time watching TV and too little time studying, as always.

Book Series I Won't Finish

A couple of weeks ago I made a post about book series I have finished or caught up on. Now I thought I'd list the series I have read one or two books of but have no interest in finishing for one reason or another.

• Fablehaven: it started out okay but then I lost interest. I don't know if it's because I'm too old for the series or because I have hard time identifying with the characters.
• Maze Runner: I read the first book in Finnish and the translation was one of the worst I have ever read and the plot and characters didn't appeal to me either. I have not heard anything good about the sequels so I will just try to forget I bothered to read the first book.
• The Mortal Instruments: I know a lot of people love this series but I'm not feeling it. In my opinion Clary and Jace are some of the most irritating and stupid characters ever and reading about their hardships offers nothing to me.
• The Kane Chronicles: though I love Percy Jackson, somehow the Kane Chronicles never had the same magic and I lost interest.
• The Carrie Diaries: Sex and the City is nothing special to me but I tried this series and it wasn't for me.
• Skullduggery Pleasant: not sure if I spelled that right but this just wasn't my style
• The Earthsea Cycle: this is probably the only one I feel guilty of because it has such a high status and people consider it one of the classics but I just found it boring.

If you can argue for some of these, please do! I'd love to hear reasons why I should continue with some of these series.

Monthly Recommendations | Science Fiction!

Once again, it's time for Monthly recommendations! The topic for this month is science fiction and though I like to think that I read a lot of sci-fi it turns out I don't, at least the kind I'd like to recommend. Also science fiction is a hard genre for me to define because it includes stuff like space adventures, dystopians and everything in between. Despite that, I have a couple of books to recommend.

First I'd like to quickly mention the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer which I'm kind of obsessed now. I just finished the series and wrote a whole review about it (including some spoilers). That was something really original with cyborgs and the Moon being inhabited.

The second book I want to recommend is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. That, too was something totally different and I was thrilled almost the whole way through the book. The idea of a society where everyone is rather living in virtual reality than the actual world is very plausible. The quest for the grand prize is exciting and I can't understand what's taking so long to make a film out of it.

Lastly two books I read back to back: 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. 1984 tells the story how world has become a totalitarian society where everyone worships the Big Brother, the great ruler of the country. Censorship is strong and people are brainwashed to follow the ruler. At the other end of the scale is Brave New World, where everything surrounds around pleasure and easy living. People are lazy and used to only pleasant and beautiful things. I can see that happening in the future of our world as much as Ready Player One and that is a little scary.

The Lunar Chronicles | Series Review

I might have said this before but I love series and reading the whole series back to back. This summer my project has been the Lunar Chronicles and now I have finally finished it. I'm still reading Stars Above, the collection of short stories about the different characters featured in the Lunar Chronicles, but I don't consider it a necessity. It's a nice bonus after finishing the actual series when you don't wanna move on from that world just yet.

The first book in the series, Cinder, got me hook right from the start. Very original idea, though it is a fairytale retelling. That didn't play a big role but when there were allusions to the original fairytale it was fun to notice them and they had nice twists. I've read some dystopian novels but this was the first with cyborgs in it and it was interesting, and the whole future world felt realistic and well-planned. Some plot twists I guessed, like the fact that Cinder is Selene, but some were total surprises like Dr. Erland's role.

The second book, Scarlet, is probably the weakest of the four, mainly because I'm not a big fan of Scarlet. I don't know what it is about her, perhaps I've had enough of these strong, independent, outspoken female characters. Also the relationship between her and Wolf is a bit too weird for me. The chapters with Cinder and Thorne in them were way more interesting and fun. Still it's a four star read, maybe 4- if you have to compare with the other three books.

The third book, Cress, was again better than the previous. I liked that we had met Cress already, so we didn't get a totally new character out of the blue. Saving Cress kicked the story off with speed, only to slow down a little in the middle. Again I guessed some things like they all ending up in the same place eventually, but the journey there was interesting enough for it not bothering me. At times the Rampion crew reminded me of Firefly and the crew of Serenity, which I love. Probably the funniest part of the whole series was the kidnapping of Kai, in all its craziness and scrambling.

The last book, Winter, was quite different from the other three, mainly because it takes place on Luna and Levana's palace. The Lunar society felt very much like Panem from the Hunger Games with the sectors and dictatorship and the rich taking advantage of the poor. Again, a new main character was introduced in the previous book, which I liked. There were a lot more twists and turns than I expected, sometimes I had no idea how the characters were going to survive the dangerous situations they got themselves in. I expected at least one major death, other than the obvious Levana death, but it never came. The ending was maybe a little too happy, but I'm not complaining, it's good to have some positivity in literature for change.

My favorite characters are Cinder and Kai. They break a lot of stereotypes, Cinder being the handy mechanic and Kai the soft and sweet prince. I can identify with Cinder and I like that she's not the typical beautiful and quick-witted heroine. I thought I would not like the playboy Thorne, but his brother-sister relationship with Cinder was very amusing. Cress and Thorne were a cute couple, but I would have liked it more if Thorne actually wasn't that into her and she would have gotten a wake up call after dreaming all the fantasies. I could have done without Winter but I guess she had her role in the story and her struggling with the Lunar sickness was interesting and raised an important issue. Lastly, I have to mention Iko, she always managed to fill her role as comic relief.

All in all this is one of the best series I've ever read even with some of its faults. The characters and the world are well-built and the plot takes you to places you never could have guessed. I will definitely reread this someday.

August Wrap Up

This August I managed to finish the total of four books (almost five) and three out of those four I enjoyed whole-heartedly. I'm quite satisfied with my reading progress this year, I have surpassed the amount of books I read last year a long time ago. Anyway, here are the books I read during August.

First I devoured Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in one night, because that's how I always read Potters. I'm trying to continue to reread all the Potters, I will probably read the Prisoner of Azkaban next month and after I finish the rest I plan on rereading the Cursed Child. I did a full review of the Cursed Child after finishing it, but I don't know how I feel about it after reading it a second time and getting some distance.

After the Cursed Child I finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. I was kind of disappointed to it because I had heard people describe it as a fairytale or children's story and I would never read this to a child. The main character was a child, yes, but the book really creeped me out and I disliked it.

Then I read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and oh, how I loved it. I had heard a lot of recommendations about the Night Circus and I was not disappointed. The story was nicely weaved to two different times and the mystery surrounding the circus and the game held up until the last pages. I liked almost all of the characters, only Marco felt a little too intense to my taste. Despite that, a five star read definitely.

Lastly I finished Cress, the third book in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. This is one of the best series I've read in a while, though a little fluffy at times, but well, it is a fairytale retelling and I'm not complaining. I just finished the last book in the series before writing this so I will be posting a full series review hopefully in a couple of days.

Book Series I'm Caught Up On/Finished

I have always liked to read series. You get to know the characters and the world and get attached to it way more than with standalone stories. During my life I have read a lot of series and I thought to share those I'm caught up on or finished entirely.

• Harry Potter (naturally)
• The Lord of the Rings (on top of the trilogy I've read Silmarillion and the Hobbit)
• The Inheritance Cycle (that did not deliver)
• The Princess Diaries (even my dyslexic sister has read it through)
• Pure Dead (was there a clear plot, I'm not sure)
• Artemis Fowl (I should reread this series)
• Molly Moon
• Shamer Chronicles (from Lene Kaaberbøl who is behind the W.I.T.C.H. comics)
• Chronicles of Narnia (another quite obvious)
• Ingo (because mermaids)
• Aaro Korpi (from Ilkka Remes, a Finnish detective novel author)
• Arthur-trilogy (that dragged)
• Oman keisarien aikakirjat (A finnish fantasy series, a direct translation could be the Emperors' of Oma Chronicles)
• Bromeliad-trilogy (by Terry Pratchett, my first touch to his works)
• The Magic Thief (a good basis but left me wanting a bit more)
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians (I should reread these and write a series review)
• The Heroes of Olympus (I love Percy and Annabeth)
• Twilight (I wanted to be able to critize them so I had to read them)
• The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence (when will the next book come out??)
• The Hunger Games (again, obviously)
• The Wolves of Mercy Falls (Maggie Stiefvater's writing is one of the most beautiful)
• Inkworld (I don't see the greatness of Dustfinger)
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (perhaps the first book would have been enough)
• Divergent (unpopular opinion but I liked the ending, that was brave)
• A Song of Ice and Fire (I fear the last two books will feel like nothing after the series ends)
• The Night Angel trilogy (oh so tragic and violent)
• The Raven Cycle (how come so many authors struggle to end their series properly?)

My Top10 TV Theme Songs!

As it is known I watch too much TV and have watched for years. Every once in a while I come across a show with a great opening theme song. In my opinion a great theme song is not necessary but it adds to the greatness of the show. A great theme song captures the essence of the show and is recognizable, preferably keeps playing in your head after you hear it. For some time it seems to me that shows have stopped using actual songs and almost any themes, they just flash the show name and that's it. It makes me a bit sad since a great theme song is an essential part of the experience. I decided to list my top10 favorite tv show theme songs of all times and precisely songs, not just ten-second-tunes.

10. Freaks and Geeks
This series is so bittersweet in whole. It's absolutely great series and it was cancelled way too soon. The theme song, Bad Reputation by Joan Jett is speedy and fun as the series itself and gets you into that Freaks and Geeks mood right away.

9. H2O
I used to watch H2O when I was around 15 years old so it gets its place on this list heavily because of nostalgia. And the song No Ordinary Girl sung by Ellie Henderson is quite good, gets you to sing along and excited about mermaids.

8. Firefly
This is a more recent discovery but sadly also a show cancelled too soon. So much injustice in the world... Anyway the theme song The Ballad of Serenity by Sonny Rhodes gives me all the space cowboy feels I need. The perfect song for walking slowly on a prairie with your stetson.

7. Los Serrano
Nostalgia is a thing on this list and Fran Perea's Uno Mas Uno Son Siete falls into that category. I used to watch this too when I was around 15, they would air it every summer for many years. I love this crazy show and it brings so many good memories and moments with it.

6. ER
The suspense in this show is real and so is the theme song. The name of the song is just Theme from ER and the composer is James Newton Howard. The song is purely instrumental but that doesn't take anything away from it. I was so disappointed when they changed it to that dull tune for the last season, never change a theme song that has been playing over a decade!

5. The Big Bang Theory
Some of my enchantment towards TBBT has faded over time but the theme song, The History of Everything by Barenaked Ladies never fails to suck me in. Impossible to sing along but BANG it's just so much fun to try and fail every time. Never gets old.

4. Suits
Suits is a cool badass show and so is their theme song, The Greenback Boogie by Ima Robot. Harvey is kind of cowboy rock-star lawyer who couldn't care less about anyone and the theme perfectly depicts that. Living the high life just the way you want without anything in your way.

3. Game of Thrones
If the show is epic, so is the theme song. Powerful and dramatic, raises you from your seat and even with no lyrics you can't help but hum along. I especially love the ending when it drops to the last few quiet sounds. Close to perfect if not that, there's nothing else I can say.

2. The O.C.
This show might get the most nostalgia points ever because this was the first show I actively followed and was a fan of. I still have the theme song California by Phantom Planet in my iPod and every time I hear it it's just as good as the first time. I recently rewatched the whole show and it made me realise how much I miss it and how awesome it was at the time.

1. Friends
High nostalgia score for Friends too. I had a hard time deciding between Friends and the O.C. but eventually I had to place Friends and I'll Be There For You by The Rembrants as #1 because it still works. And yes, I clap.

Parks and Recreation | Complete Series Review

Because the weather here was rainy and I had a little flu I spend last week watching Parks and Rec seasons 4-7. I had watched seasons 1-3 earlier in the spring and now I was in the mood to watch the rest. And I loved every second of it. (Should go without saying but this post contains spoilers from the outset and throughout.)

Parks and Rec was originally planned as the Office spin-off and the style is similar but in my opinion that's where the similarities end. I liked Parks and Rec a thousand times more than I liked the Office. My main problem with the Office was that I could not stand Michael Scott and when he left, I liked the last season a lot more than the previous 8 seasons. With Parks and Rec I loved every main character and the whole team working at Parks Department.

Almost every single character works with any of the other characters. Leslie and Ron have good relationship, Leslie and Ann are the best best friends though they are so different, April and Ron have excellent dynamics, Andy and April are a fittingly weird couple, Leslie and Ben are cute, Tom and Donna treat themselves properly... I could go on for hours.

It was heartwarming to see some of the characters grow so much during the seasons. April becomes an adult with actual professionalism, Tom learns how to be a real entrepreneur, even Ron softens a little. The bigger plot lines never felt boring or unnecessary but were interesting and all the little humor here and there just made me love everything so much more. The running jokes never got old but always made me laugh. Maybe not the Jerry being laughed at because that's really not cool.

My only complain has to do with Ann and the Lot 48. I felt like something was missing after Ann and Chris left. Leslie works fine on her own or with any of the other characters but her relationship with Ann was special. Also the thing that brought Ann and Leslie together was the Lot 48 and the biggest plotline of all was building a park on it. On season 7 we learn that yes, the park has been built and it's awesome but we didn't get to see that. I'm a bit annoyed by that but what can you do. I wasn't the biggest fan of the three-year timeskip either but watching the last season now was amusing since it's almost the same year.

The last episode got me emotional with all the happy endings. I waited Ann and Chris to return the whole season and when the team had their last gathering at the old office and they weren't there I started to get disappointed but then they appeared and I got something in my eye and I was so happy for Leslie and the whole gang. It was the perfect ending and I loved it from the bottom of my heart.

Silicon Valley Season 3 | Review

I have not talked about HBO's Silicon Valley before on my blog so first of all let's just say that I love it. It's like The Big Bang Theory but not so "invasive", there's no audience laughing and humor is bit more subtle. Character types sometimes remind me of TBBT also, there's the awkward Asian, the weird buddy of the Asian guy, the tall guy who is not quite normal and the center character who has the closest relationship with the only female. Obviously all the guys are extreme nerds but the angle is a bit different since they are IT-engineers, not scientists.

Enough comparing. I love all the characters of Silicon Valley and I love the plot though I understand very little about the actual IT-stuff they talk about. The dynamic in the group is great though I sometimes wish Erlich would shut his mouth. I have shipped Richard and Monica since the first episode but it seems the writers are not gonna pair them up. Shame, really, they would make such a great couple, they already have a great relationship.

Now I'm going to talk about some specific things in season 3, so if you do not want to get spoiled, stop reading now!

I thought they would finally succeed with Pied Piper when the beta was great but I had the same thought as Monica, that all the people who loved it where IT-nerds who understand it, not ordinary people without excessive knowledge about coding. I didn't like that they cheated with the users but they got through that and now it's nothing anymore. I'm not sure what they are going to do with Pied Piper now that they will focus on the videochat, is the file compressing thing forgotten? I loved that Big Head and Erlich bought them and not Gavin Belson, can't wait to see what they will do next season. Hopefully Monica joins Pied Piper, I'm not sure whether she was actually fired from Raviga or not.

Erlich wasting Big Head's money got on my nerves quite heavily, I can't stand sloppy personal or corporal finance. It's not even that complicated, you just have to have more income than what you spend. Actually making it happen is the challenge but throwing a million dollar party is definitely not the way to do it. At the other end of the spectrum, Gavin bringing in all the animals was hilarious and the board putting him on the roof was funny as hell. It's been a while since I watched the first two seasons so I probably missed some of the running jokes but even now this show is one of the best comedies. Please air the fourth season as soon as possible!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child review

There has been (of course) a lot of talk about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, some good and some bad. I'm one of those who was quite happy with the original seven books at the time, the story ended well and everything was fine, though naturally I was sad I had to say goodbye to my favorite fictional world and all the characters. So I had some mixed feelings upon hearing that they were going to publish a new story and in a play format. Still I bought the book and read it in one sitting and I must say despite everything it was like returning home because that's what Harry Potter is to me and will probably always be.

Now I'm going to get into spoilers so if you have not read the book, go read it! You have been warned, THE SPOILERS START NOW!

The first scenes of the play were a bit confusing since we go through three years very fast and I must admit, I was bothered when the lines weren't exactly like they were in the last chapter of the Deathly Hallows. The story got a lot better and clearer once it stopped skipping years. I didn't mind the play format, it made it very fast-paced, and since the world is familiar to us all we don't need long descriptions but sometimes I would have wanted to hear what the characters were thinking instead of just what they said out loud.

About the characters: Scorpius and Albus are the best thing in the book. Their friendship is so heartfelt that the book proved itself with that only. I'm not sure how I feel reading about Harry & co as adults but they weren't bad either. The alternative universe Ron & Hermione were my favorite thing after Scorpius and Albus, this just proves that they are meant to be, no matter how J.K. regrets pairing them. Also I have never really liked Snape, not even after all his heroism, but here the two second we saw him I actually enjoyed his character.

Now I enjoyed reading this greatly but I can't overlook some extremely fan fiction like things. Don't get me wrong, I love fan fiction but I expected them to come up with something little more true to the original series. Voldemort having children has been a subject in fan fiction as long as I have been reading them so I yelled out loud when I read that. That is so out of character for Voldemort! He planned on living forever by making the horcruxes, he did not want to have children! Bellatrix would have probably done it in a second but Voldemort, never. In addition, I'm not sure I like all the time-traveling either, it worked out okay but still not my favorite thing.

Besides the characters I loved the humor in the story. Scorpius having a huge crush on Rose was sweet and Rose saying that Scorpius doesn't look like Voldemort because he has a nose... I laughed. My favorite fan fics are those that pair up Rose and Scorpius and this gave me more than I could have hoped for.

If it weren't for all the fan fiction traits this book would be a 5-star-read, no question about it. Since there are those very out of character things I can't account this into canon with the original seven. Instead I consider this as expanded universe, very much worth reading.