Currently reading:
The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman: Book 2 in the Invisible Library series.
Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H Watson by Lyndsay Faye: This book has me a little spooked.
Japan by Rail by Ramsey Zarifeh: Good tips, but I would have expected A LOT more rail maps from a rail-focused guide book than they provide here.
Posted:
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A book lover's guide to living abroad on Book Riot.
Movies:
Rose's dream is to leave her tiny Normandy village and be a "modern" secretary. Insurance agent M. Louis Échard knows she's a terrible at it, but he hires her anyway. First of all because she's pretty (yay, feminism!), and second of all because she's super fast on the typewriter, an invention that apparently didn't reach France until the 1950s. When Louis convinces Rose to enroll in typing competitions, she finds fame and fortune. But will she find love?
I'll be honest, this movie is pretty weird. How did Louis learn about typing competitions, and why is he so determined Rose compete and win them? I have no idea; the movie kind of skips over that part. But there's still a lot to love about this film: for one, it looks incredible. If someone wanted to convince me it was actually filmed in the 1950s, they could probably do it. For two, Déborah François is absolutely perfect. She has the whole Aubrey Hepburn innocent-yet-plucky charm vibe down pat. Lastly, despite the bizarre plot, I found myself actually getting pretty involved in the story. I laughed, I cried, I wanted to put on a record and do a goofy French dance... This movie is a little sketchy sometimes, but it won me over anyway.
Have you always wanted to read Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous by Gabriella Coleman, but didn't because tl;dr? Well, I don't blame you. But luckily someone made a documentary about it, and it's actually pretty good!
I learned a lot from this doc, such as:
- Did you know DDoS attacks are a federal offense? Members of Anon have actually gone to prison for it! (I think this is a good time to remind everyone to use your Tor browser and VPNs)
- The Bush Administration liked to take credit for the Arab Spring. LULZ. No. It actually started with Anon, who attacked government websites in countries that were practicing online censorship. They were the ones who had "boots on the ground" during uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, making sure people still had access to the internet after the governments shut it down and providing information on treating tear gas, etc.
- Anon isn't a group of hackers, although hackers participate on occasion. Most of them know as much about programming as I do. Really, at their heart they're just nerds who enjoy chaos.
Anyway, if you're at all interested in Anonymous, I recommend this.
A one night stand turns into a nightmare when Kevin discovers the girl he just hooked up with is suicidal and his boss's mistress.
I was wary about this movie because it only has two stars on Netflix. After watching it (felt like I had to because of the title, even though neither character is actually a night owl), I know why. It started out okay, but after a while it felt very high school drama club: a long series of conversations designed to let the actors EMOTE. I'm also still unclear as to why Maddie wanted to kill herself, not that the film takes suicide very seriously. Basically it left a bad taste in my mouth.
The week in heidenkindom:
We're coming down to the wire for our flight to Japan. By this time next week I will be wandering around Tokyo! Hopefully not completely lost! I've spent most of the week making lists (I find lists very soothing) and trying to get everything set before we leave, including driving all the way up to Denver for an interview for the US Customs Global Entry program. Protip: don't save that till the last minute.
Anyway, I was going to post a pic of my suitcase all packed, because I'm always interested in how other people pack for trips, but it's not packed yet! I planned on pre-packing today, but we went up to look at the fall colors instead. Maybe if I manage to get it done later tonight I'll post a pic on FB or save it for when I get back.
Bonus:
Tif Talks Books has a #ReadSherlock month going on right now with readalongs, watchalongs, an Instagram, and tons of guest posts (including one by moi). Check it out on her blog.
Have a great two weeks, everyone! I'll see y'all when I get back.
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