Each quarter I do a quick roundup of the book and film reviews that I do on Goodreads and Letterboxd. These reviews are too short and too off-the-cuff to be included with the more in depth reviews I do on this site. Below are the highlights of the quarter.
Books
Two themes are pretty apparent: learning about the Syrian crisis and books about Buddhism and meditation, partially in preparation for my trip to Japan (somewhat rounded up in my post on Shinran). I would also highlight What’s Yours Is Mine: Against the Sharing Economy, which we read for my book club last month and sparked a very lively discussion.
★★★☆☆ Guided Mindfulness Meditation
★★★☆☆ The Amulet of Samarkand
★★★☆☆ The Great Courses: Great World Religions: Buddhism
★★★☆☆ This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate
★★★★☆ Mindfulness for Beginners
★★★★☆ What’s Yours Is Mine: Against the Sharing Economy
★★★★★ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
★★★☆☆ Buddha
★★★★☆ The Sparrow
★★★★☆ Syria’s Uprising and the Fracturing of the Levant
★★☆☆☆ The Second Arab Awakening
Film
I watched 11 films in March alone, and went on kind of an Oscar jag in late February (I particularly enjoyed Spotlight and last year’s winner Birdman). With my family in Japan, I was home alone and had lots of time to catch up on films, and even got in some TV like The Man in the High Castle series which I enjoyed. Of course, the highlight at the beginning of the year was The Force Awakens, which I saw twice in theatres, the second time with my 6 year old daughter who loved her first experience at a movie theatre and her first 3D experience.
★★★★☆ Captain America: The First Avenger
★★★★★ Citizenfour
★★☆☆☆ Spectre
★★☆☆☆ The Assassin
★★★☆☆ Uyghurs: Prisoners of the Absurd
★★★★☆ Bridge of Spies
★★★½☆ Sicario
★★★☆☆ Deadpool
★★★★☆ The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
