MobileRead Book Challenges discussion

This was inspired by the Hobby Chat discussion started by Homey.

Since some of us are tv / movie watchers and music listeners and musicians, I thought I'd start a topic for us to share that stuff in.

TV: I recently finished watching all 6 seasons of Grimm, and just starting watching Penny Dreadful.

Movies: The other day I watched a movie on Netflix, Close. I liked it. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5316540/

Music: Nothing new of note, here lately I usually just fire up a Spotify playlist that I made when I was playing No Man's Sky last fall. The playlist reflects the fact that I was seeking a planet to turn into my tropical / jungle paradise home, so it has a lot of classic Exotica. :D

Here's a link for the Spotify users: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Hk...

Movies: Bird Box on Netflix, it was ok. Not great, not bad. Kinda felt the same about the book.
Glad you enjoyed Close as I have it on my list to watch :D

TV: just started watching Blacklist, just watched the first 2 episodes, but liking it so far!

Music: nothing new, i pretty much have a playlist and rarely add stuff... Mostly rock of different varieties :)

TV: Son of Zorn. The best show ever made. Series of Unfortunate Events which my son loves. It is quite well done and I actually kind of like Doogie Howser as Count Olaf.

Movies: whatever the kids want to watch

Music: just what I play and want to play, Smashing Pumpkins 1979 always going through my head. Need to learn the lyrics better and how to play and sing at the same time. So, so very uncoordinated when it comes to that.

Daughter and I are going to finish up the newest season of Dr. Who. Other than that, what free time I have goes to reading.

I have to be in the mood to delve back into listening to music, and I haven't really been into movies much, except for the occasional Marvel relaease. Even that have lost their luster of late, though.

I'm currently on episode six of the first season of Colony, which I'm enjoying, I'm considering continuing straight on to season two.

For music I'm listening a lot to Amanda Marshall at the moment, I keep hoping for a new album. I recently found a 2017 concert she gave on YouTube .

For podcasts I'm currently listening to the latest season of Someone Knows Something in the mornings before work. At night I'm either trying to catch up on Casefile or I listen to the latest episode of No Such Thing As A Fish.

Movie:
I've watched the trailer for Close today, and I really want to see it. I really like the Swedish actress; Noomi Rapace, in it. She has also played in the Alien prequel-ish Prometheus, and she also played Lisbeth Salander in the Girl with the Dragon tattoo movie(s).

TV:
I'm just starting watching the first episode of Grim!
With hubby, I'm watching all of X-files. We're at the end of season 4 already. :D
I'm season 2 of Blacklist and it's really good.
I've also watched the pilot of a series called Blindspot. It's sort of similar to Blacklist, so if you like that you can check out Blindspot.
Since I've been watching the X-Files, I've tried out Gillian Anderson's crime series The Fall. She plays a femal homicide detective in Belfast hunting a serial killer.

We seem to be interested in the same type of shows! :)

Grimm was a lot of fun - ridiculous at times, but fun.

I'm not sure how far I got into Black List. I want to say somewhere in season 3. I took a break, and just never returned to it, but I'm not sure why especially since I watched the first season twice.

I liked the first three seasons of Blind Spot but chose not to watch the 4th season because I didn't like how the 3rd season ended.

I think I watched 2 of the three seasons of The Fall. I'm not sure.

As you can see, I tend to drift away from shows after a while, even when I like them. Although, I did watch Grimm all the way through.

Grimm took a few episodes to get going, but once it did... Yes, ridiculous at times but definitely fun. And, without spoilers, I will just say that the entirety of Juliette's storyline had me shaking my head but enjoying it nonetheless. :D

I'm not sure why I haven't gotten into Blacklist yet. I've always been a huge James Spader fan, but I just never seem to get around to it.

I'm also very good at starting series and never watching all of it even when i really like them :(

I like the same type of series most of you do, and I have the same problem of not finishing/continuing with a series. Mostly because there are so many series and films out there.

I should continue with my rewatching of The X-Files and Midsomer Murders.

I like Midsomer Murders. I think I’ve seen all but the last season.

Oh, I'm like that too, not finishing. :/ I don't know why either. Maybe it's like too much of a good thing when I bingewatch? I think I just need to be satisfied with the episodes I've actually watched, and not bother about those I haven't gotten to yet. ;)

I've moved into Season 2 of Penny Dreadful and it's kind of losing me a bit. The over-arching storylines seem a big draggy in places.

TV: Catching up on NCIS. In between, watching Acorn TV - currently Season 2 of The Tunnel. Also, Game of Thrones.

Movies: I don't think I've watched a single movie since the beginning of the year. Very sad. I will have to make an effort. I do spend an awful lot of time listening to audiobooks, so it's not like I'm not doing anything. I can no longer knit and watch TV at the same time either. Poo.

Music: Trying to sort out my downloaded collection by eliminating anything that I don't like before assembling play lists one the new computer (should be finished this month I hope). Also setting up an Ipod with all my Mom's favorite classical music. I have her set up with a temporary collection. Mom and I have different tastes in classical music, so I have to have separate libraries.

TV: Tonight I'm watching the two final episodes of Instinct, a fun crime procedural with Alan Cummings. I'm not sure what I want to watch next.

Movies: I've treated myself to a 5-movie pass at one of the big cinemas in my town, so I'm hoping to go more. The last film I saw in cinema was Alita: Battle Angle, which was fun. I've also been catching up on movies at home. Some weren't that good (the new Robin Hood) and some I really liked (BlackkKlansman).

Music: I've been listening to Aerosmith a lot lately, my favourite band when I was in my teens. Also some Guns 'n Roses.

Podcasts: I've finished the first season of Tanis, from the same people as The Black Tapes, which is a spooky fictionalized series. I'm now listening to the second season of Uncover, called Bomb on Board, which is really good and I should finish it on Saturday. After that I think I'll go back for the second season of Tanis.

I've just finished watching When They See Us on Netflix, a story that breaks my heart.

I've just starting Chernobyl, another heavy series. I watched the first episode, will continue tomorrow.

On Thursday I'm going to see the new John Wick movie, which reminds me that it's been a long time since I've watched The Matrix trilogy and it's time for a rewatch.

I just finished watching both seasons of The Exorcist. It's a shame it didn't go further, I wanted to see what happened next.

I watched the second season of The OA. It felt like I'd waited for it forever (including like a year when no one knew if there would even be a second season).

I finally finished the last two episodes of the new Sabrina and will probably start in on the Charmed reboot next. Maybe. So much stuff I want to watch. LOL

OH! I also watched The Perfection on Netflix. That was a trip. :D

I binged the Good Omens series on Amazon last weekend. Lots of fun.

Watched John Wick 3 a few days ago and really liked it! :D
Other than that I'm mostly watching Twitch/Youtube these days...

I have The Perfection on my huge Netflix watchlist. Good Omens I also want to see, but I want to read the book first, which I've moved higher up on my TBR list. I think I'll save Good Omens for when I'm going house sitting.

Usually in the evening I read and watch TV, but for the past week I've been sketching instead of reading. I've gotten over the fear of starting in an empty sketchbook and I've started at the basics; experimenting with different softness/hardness of graphite pencils (in school we were told to use the different pencils, but never why or how). I have a book about drawing and it starts at the basics; gradation and shading, later different shapes. I'm really enjoying myself and it relaxes me to do this in the evening. The sketchbook does intimate me a bit; it's a very thick one, both a lot of pages and nice thick pages that should also be able to deal with inks and watercolours if it isn't applied too wet.

As always, I'm listening to multiple things. Just finished Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. So, now I can watch the series on Amazon.

August is Western Month for me, so I'm reading mostly Jonas Ward's Buchanan series which is being reissued on Kindle. I'm listening to Louis L'amour - primarily Sackett Family series (I'm on book 2). I am also listening to The Reality Dysfunction by Peter Hamilton for a book club reading. It's 800 some pages, so will take all month. Finally, in honor of Jim Butcher's announcement that he has completed writing Peace Talks, I started Storm Front on a Nano to listen to while running errands. Of course, this means I have to relisten to the whole series, but it's been awhile (2013).

I watched the first 8 seasons of The Walking Dead (yeah, I know, took me long enough) then the first 4 seasons of Fear the Walking Dead, then the first 5 seasons of The 100, and now I'm watching the final season of Orange is the New Black.

The past three weeks I've been house sitting and I always plan to watch a bunch of things. And usually that doesn't happen. I might binge on a series or season, but when I've finished it I hardly watch TV.

This year I just didn't feel like watching at all. But either today or tomorrow I go home again, so I'm now thinking about what I want to watch. Last night I watched about half an episode of Typewriter on Netflix, which seems interesting. So I'll probably continue with that first.

I haven't watched much other than twitch/YT lately.

I have been listening to music more though, really hooked on Five Finger Death Punch at the moment :D

I've been playing D&D (F2F and online) and re-reading books I've already read.

Besides cooking and cleaning house, that's about it.

I've been watching Killjoys lately, along with other misc shows. I've got a thing for all the weekly medical dramas too these days. The Resident, New Amsterdam, The Good Doctor.

American Horror Story: 1984 is actually pretty bad, IMO, but it has interesting threads to the other stories so I'm watching it mostly out of curiosity.

Started listening to podcasts again. My nighttime routine lately is listening to a podcast on my phone while playing Gems of War on my tablet, followed by about an hour of reading before sleep.

What podcasts do you listen to?

My absolute favourite, and the first podcast I listened to, is No Such Thing As A Fish, which is fun facts. Then there are a whole bunch of true crime stuff I listen to (My Favourite Murder, Murder Squad, Serial, Someone Knows Something, etc). And then I love the fictional, paranormal stuff such as Tanis and the Black Tapes.

I like to listen to podcasts when Diamond Painting, I'm currently working my was through Haunting History (true crime and a bit of paranormal). When I'm up to date with that I'll start with Rabbits, from the same people behind the Black Tapes and Tannis.

Bianca wrote: "What podcasts do you listen to?"

I listen to mostly paranormal / weird. Mysterious Universe, Spaced Out Radio, Fade to Black, Our Strange Skies, Paranormal Concept, Weird Darkess and a few others.

Most of the ones I listen to are on Spreaker but I have Podcast Republic installed for a couple that I can't get through Spreaker.

I must check out some of your shows, especially the Weird Darkness seems right up my alley.

I listen on my iPod, I did get an iPod Touch especially for my podcasts (it's also nice I can store all my music on it and use TuneIn for radio). I had an iPod Nano and I was fed up with having to hook it up to my computer almost every day to download shows.

I used to use my Touch for that too, but I recently got a new phone that I really love and has great battery life (Moto G7 Power), so I switched everything to that.


I haven't listened to a lot of Weird Darkness yet, but so far I like how it seems to mix in urban legends with possibly-true-tales and that sort of thing.

Also - I love TuneIn! I've been using it for ages. Before I ever had a smartphone, I listened to it on the web site, and it was one of the first apps I installed on my first smartphone. Been on every device I've owned since.

I'm currently catching up on the new Nancy Drew series, just two more to go. I'm really enjoying it. Nancy Drew isn't the holier-than-thou goodie two shoes she tends to be in the books. There's tension between her father and her. And best of all, ghosts. Not really scary, but very entertaining.

After I get caught up with Nancy Drew I need to get caught up on the latest episodes of Prodigal Son. Also great (Lou Diamond Philips and Michael Sheen).

I agree AHS this season was a bit of a disappointment, need to watch the last episode, but I keep delaying that. I tried Watchmen, but decided that wasn't for me.

After I get caught up with my current series I'm going to watch another season of Midsomer Murders. I've started from season one again earlier this year, and I'm now about to start season seven.

I am LOVING Prodigal Son!

You should watch the last episode of AHS:1984. It at least provides some closure, and I kind of like the way it ended.

I love Prodigal Son. Michael Sheen is just so good. He was excellent in Good Omens with David Tennant. Good match up.

Spacechik wrote: "I love Prodigal Son. Michael Sheen is just so good. He was excellent in Good Omens with David Tennant. Good match up."

Yes! He is sooo good as Martin! After some of his scenes, I almost feel a little creeped out because of how well he plays the role of such a manipulator.

I really liked Good Omens, I still haven't read the book. Might plan that for my reading retreat in January. I'm now trying to convince my sister to watch it, have yet to succeed.

I tried to read the book but got bogged down. So far I have only read two chapters!! I hope it won't be a DNF book! Let us know what you think.

Sounds like I'll have to check out both "Prodigal Son" & "Good Omens". I admit I watched the very first episode of the latter, but have not checked out the first. I've loved Michael Sheen since his "Twilight" and "Masters of Sex" days. The only thing I've watched lately is cooking competition shows while I was staying at my daughters house during Thanksgiving. At home I've been pretty busy with life in general, and reading when I'm not.

Almost all my shows are on winter hiatus and I'm getting antsy. LOL I did get around to watching season 2 of Castle Rock on Hulu. That was a trip.

I leave in the morning for two weeks at my Mom's house in Florida. I'm only going to be on the plane for about two hours each way but I still managed to download several hours of things to watch or listen to just in case. :D I do this every time I fly, and then I usually end up just reading or napping instead.

Christa wrote: "I leave in the morning for two weeks at my Mom's house in Florida. I'm only going to be on the plane for about two hours each way but I still managed to download several hours of things to watch or listen to just in case. :D I do this every time I fly, and then I usually end up just reading or napping instead."

Sounds similar to what I do when I've booked a cottage vacation; I save a bunch of tv series/episodes, films and podcasts for when I go. And I end up watching a couple of films, maybe a couple of episodes of tv series and none of the episodes of the podcasts I saved.

And then I won't mention the things I bring with me in case I'm in the mood for doing something (gaming, crafting, photography) and almost never end up using.

I've already starting doing this for my Reading Retreat in January.

All of this sounds like me every time I leave my house. My husband complains that I ALWAYS bring to much stuff with me, but hey you never know what might happen. The car could break down, or I'm stuck waiting somewhere, or there could be an apocalypse or something. A body has to be prepared, right? LOL

I've finished with V Wars, with was fun. Although the ending did make me giggle, since it was such a cliché.

I've started watching High Seas on Netflix. But it's in Spanish and when I'm tired, as I often am this time of year, I just can't concentrate on anything but English language series and film.

When I'm too tired for High Seas I'm watching The Brokenwood Mysteries. I watched the first season a long while ago and liked it. I kinda forgot about it until recently and now I have several seasons to catch up with. It's basically the New Zealand version of Midsomer Murders. Fun, not too difficult to follow when you're tired.

I'm looking forward to The Witcher on Netflix.

Nothing. :(

I've been in a funk and mostly doing social media (read: scrolling through Instagram).

I've been re-watching X-Files :D And I still looove it :D

Bianca wrote: "I've finished with V Wars, with was fun. Although the ending did make me giggle, since it was such a cliché.

I've started watching High Seas on Netflix. But it's in Spanish and when I'm tired, as ..."

I watched V Wars too! It was entertaining! :)

I wanted to watch High Seas too but I watch shows while playing games and stuff, so I get antsy if I have to rely on subtitles. Fortunately, Netflix does have a lot of shows from all over the world with pretty good quality dubbing, so I don't have to miss out on too many.

I watched the first couple of episoddes a couple of days ago, seems interesting!

Also kinda excited about the Witcher coming on netflix tomorrow! I hope its not coming later here...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday week.

Recently I've been watching a couple of things on Netflix:

The Witcher - I really liked it (never played the game), but with that ending it did feel to me like only half a season.

High Seas season one - I watched it because my sister kept recommending it. It was okay, but I don't think I'll continue with the second season.

The Gift - I really liked this one, too. Finished it in two nights. A Turkish paranormal thriller.

Black Lake - A Scandinavian thriller/horror series. I've watched one episode and I liked it. Hopefully it'll get spookier.

This month Netflix is releasing several things that I find interesting, so I'm binging. I've read that the wifi on my vacation address isn't streaming speed, so I'll download a bunch of Netflix things to keep my entertained.

Happy New Year, Everyone! :)

I'm curious about The Witcher but haven't decided on if/when I want to watch it.

I had been watching the CSI franchise over the last few months, but Amazon just removed CSI: Miami from its Prime selections, so I've dropped all three shows. (I wasn't going to watch CSI: Cyber, regardless).

I'm now re-watching Law & Order: SVU.

I'm not sure when I initially stopped watching the show, but I used to view the whole franchise years ago when they were still on-air, and when they became a staple on TBS.

SVU is the last show standing and is now in its 21st season.
I can't believe that I remembered most of the episodes from the second season. I just recently started season 3.

Yes!! I went years without watching SVU and then got back into in a few weeks ago. I started with the most recent season, then it went on hiatus so I backed up a couple of seasons. I really should just start over from the beginning. Or at least go back to the "Stabler is truly self-destructing" era.

Edited to add: despite everyone lauding it, I'm not in any hurry to watch The Witcher. I didn't care for the games and I'm not a huge fantasy fan anyway. I'll probably watch it eventually, but I was feeling alone in my "meh" state, so I'm glad I'm not the only one who hasn't jumped all into it yet. LOL

We can be holdouts together...LOL

I have to start (or re-start) series from the beginning, most times, to my detriment!
I'm glad I did with SVU, though. I especially like looking up bits of trivia about each episode on its Wikia page.

It's comical how many actors and actresses performed multiple characters thought the series and franchise as a whole. They could be the perp or victim in one season and a lawyer or judge during another season; some go one to have recurring roles as well.