The Worlds of Ashley Stangl

This has been an interesting reading year. I read over 90 books (most of them short, as I struggled to keep up with my Goodreads Challenge), but I was in a bit of a reading slump for a good portion of the year, and had trouble finding books that really kept my interest. I'm linking up with the Broke and the Bookish for this week's topic of "Top Ten Books Read in 2016" . I was a bit afraid that 2016's lack of reading enthusiasm meant I wouldn't find ten books that rose above the others. Instead, I had the opposite problem, and couldn't narrow it down to only ten. So instead, you get my Top 12 books of 2016. Listed roughly in the order I read them: Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery One of L.M Montgomery's lesser-known works, and in my opinion, one of her best. After Jane's parents separated, she went to live on the Canadian mainland with her mother in her grandmother's dreary house. When Jane is invited to spend the summe...

Now that July is behind us, I thought I'd do a bit of a wrap-up of the media I've consumed this month. There's something about July that makes fiction especially enjoyable for me. A book or show that would be enjoyable at any other time of year becomes an obsession if I discover it in July. There's just something about this time of year that makes me more likely to delve deeply into fictional worlds and characters, and I have a few new obsessions to share. White Collar   This USA show has been on my radar for a long time. I figured I would like it, because I love stories about art thieves.  But when I watched the pilot on Netflix, it was more than just enjoyable. It was EVERYTHING I LOVE and it SPOKE TO MY SOUL. Neil is a delight--the charming, clever and snappily-dressed criminal who breezes through life on one scheme after another. His dynamic with Peter, the cop who worked for years to catch him and now has to solve mysteries with him, is fantastic. Plus, the...

A couple weeks ago, Hamlette at Hamlette's Soliloquy nominated me for a Liebster Award, with the following rules. 1. Answer the 11 questions given by the person who nominated you. 2. Nominate other bloggers (up to 11) and give them 11 questions to answer.  The questions look fun, and after a busy couple of weeks, I finally have the time to answer them, so here goes! 1.  Are there any movies you like better than the books they were based on? I first watched the 1995 Sense and Sensibility not long after I'd read the novel, and I was obnoxious in hating on all the ways it differed from the book, but a couple of years ago, I watched the movie again and adored it. Sense and Sensibility is my least favorite Jane Austen novel, and the movie improves upon the book in so many ways. The romance between Elinor and Edward feels real, important and emotional.  Colonel Brandon gets to perform a big romantic gesture for Marianne that outdoes Willoughby's, and their ma...