Television/Film:
Despite reservations, we’ve started watching House of Dragons and are hooked, mostly because Matt Smith steals the show. We’re plodding through Season 9 of The Black List, though I’m happy to say it’s picked up towards the end of the season.
If you want to hear the swear word b**locks said in a Disney film, watch the live action Pinocchio. I actually paused it and said, “Did he (Luke Evans) just say…?” Bit of a letdown. Visually fine. I liked the clocks, especially the Jessica and Roger Rabbit kissing clock. Wish it was real.
Surprisingly, we’ve watched a couple of things on the BBC through iPlayer. Throughly recommend The Outlaws co-written by Steve Marchant. Anything with Christopher Walken is usually good, and it’s got a great cast and a wonderful storyline. Have also watched the first two episodes of Inside Man. Bit daft and unbelievable, but well done. And damn if Hubby didn’t work out what was up with the missing husband case within a minute or two. I thought of the same thing as a possibility, but he was not only convinced he roughly worked out how. Maybe I should pick his brains more often. It’s certainly different enough to be unexpected. Hope it doesn’t fizzle out.
Have started Moon Knight, which has to be my favourite just now, though I love most things in the Marvel universe.
READS:
Way down this month, though there’s a fourth book unlisted as I have yet to finish it.
The Secrets of Gaslight Lane, M.R.C.Kasasian
A still enjoyable series, but this story felt overly long, not helped by a few awkward sentences with questionable meanings. I’ve come across the odd sentence like that throughout the works, but always overlooked them because of enjoying the series so much, but this time the effort to make a clever mystery slowed down the book too much. Still, a good read, for all that, only not as much fun as the first three. Here there’s a surprising outcome. And despite my reservations, it’s a well thought out plot which I not only recommend reading but is an essential part of the series.
The Pallbearers Club, Paul Tremblay
I have to start by saying I like this author’s work and the fact that he comes up with something different each time, but this book was not for me. I hate reviewing books I dislike because of being a writer and because I know it’s all semantics: what doesn’t work for one person will work for another, but since I started reviewing books, I know I have to be honest. There was much here I wanted to like, but I felt I spent too long waiting for a story to begin. Also, the end left me wondering what on Earth I’d just read? It’s not horror, and I didn’t believe any of the supernatural elements, nor experience any suspense. Dark fiction… maybe, but of the angst-ridden and possibly mentally ill variety. There’s something about this that reeks of a coming of age story, but over time the characters are too old to be so categorised. I’m left feeling like I read an experimental book. The end, as written by Mercy, felt like her indulging a friend when there’s no other loving act left. In other words, not factual, but an addendum to what Art wants to believe.
Bet Me, Jennifer Crusie
This fast-paced, hysterical romance has to be one of Crusie’s best books. I’ve always loved her banter, but here almost every line is perfect and funny. A story about a commitment phobe, a woman who has viewed herself through her mother’s eyes for too many years, and a shabby cat that loves Elvis Presley’s music. This might be classed as a big beautiful woman book, though truly Min is a perfectly normal woman. After reading this, many women will want their own ‘donut pusher’. This doesn’t beat my favourite book of hers, but it’s close, winning on the laughs alone.
