One book I added to my library recently was The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith. This is the book on which the movie Philomena is based; it’s the story of a middle aged Irish woman who is looking for her son having been forced to give him up for adoption as a teenager. The film stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan and is excellent. Indeed, Dench has been nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Screen Actor’s Guild award for her role as the titular Philomena. For me though, the real surprise was Coogan – who not only starred in the movie as but co-wrote the screenplay. In Philomena, Coogan plays Sixsmith, the journalist who helps Philomena trace what happened to her son. In general, I’m not a fan of Coogan in comic mode, but he played excellently against Judi Dench and their growing friendship was one of the real highlights of the movie. Although I’ve not read the book, the first few chapters I have read were very interesting and well written. That is hardly surprising as Sixsmith is a former BBC journalist. As I’m starting three weeks of nightshifts next week I have been…
I received a copy of Philip Pullman’s Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm free to review from Netgalley. Growing up in Scotland, my parents often read to me or I read the original, non Disneyfied versions of traditional fairytales. I can still remember being particularly horrified that, in the traditional version Snow White’s wicked stepmother was forced to wear burning hot iron shoes and to dance until she died and that Cinderella’s stepsisters had their eyes pecked out. At my university, one of the courses you could choose to study was Traditional Fairy Tales, which demonstrates just how deeply embedded in the European psyche these stories are. In this collection, Pullman chooses from among the many variants of the traditional stories, occasionally adding his own spin and after each story gives a little background into each tale along with an explanation of what changes he made. it’s a fascinating read and well worth picking up. I gave Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm four stars out of five The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter Series: Goddess Series #1 Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Fantasy Format: eBook Pages: 298 pages Buy from Amazon • Kobo • iTunes • Audible • Having read and loved Aimee…
I received a copy of Philip Pullman’s Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm free to review from Netgalley. Growing up in Scotland, my parents often read to me or I read the original, non Disneyfied versions of traditional fairytales. I can still remember being particularly horrified that, in the traditional version Snow White’s wicked stepmother was forced to wear burning hot iron shoes and to dance until she died and that Cinderella’s stepsisters had their eyes pecked out. At my university, one of the courses you could choose to study was Traditional Fairy Tales, which demonstrates just how deeply embedded in the European psyche these stories are. In this collection, Pullman chooses from among the many variants of the traditional stories, occasionally adding his own spin and after each story gives a little background into each tale along with an explanation of what changes he made. it’s a fascinating read and well worth picking up. I gave Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm four stars out of five The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter Series: Goddess Series #1 Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary Fantasy Format: eBook Pages: 298 pages Buy from Amazon • Kobo • iTunes • Audible • Having read and loved Aimee…
What with Doctor Who and the arrival of my new Kindle HDX, this has actually been a very quiet reading week. I have been rereading Crewel so that I can follow on with the newly released Altered. Added to my library this week All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, which I picked up in Kindle format. This seems an intriguing story about time travel and consequences. It’s been getting good reviews on GoodReads and Amazon so thought it would be worth checking out. Upcoming releases Dangerous Women by George R.R. Martin. This is a collection of short stories collected and edited by George R.R. Martin, by various contemporary fantasy writers with a theme of strong, independent women. It sounds an interesting read. Lending a Paw – A Bookmobile Cat Mystery by Laurie Cass. This is new series of cat based mysteries, which I love. I’ve not read this author before, but I do like the genre. That’s all I have for you this week folks.
What with Doctor Who and the arrival of my new Kindle HDX, this has actually been a very quiet reading week. I have been rereading Crewel so that I can follow on with the newly released Altered. Added to my library this week All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill, which I picked up in Kindle format. This seems an intriguing story about time travel and consequences. It’s been getting good reviews on GoodReads and Amazon so thought it would be worth checking out. Upcoming releases Dangerous Women by George R.R. Martin. This is a collection of short stories collected and edited by George R.R. Martin, by various contemporary fantasy writers with a theme of strong, independent women. It sounds an interesting read. Lending a Paw – A Bookmobile Cat Mystery by Laurie Cass. This is new series of cat based mysteries, which I love. I’ve not read this author before, but I do like the genre. That’s all I have for you this week folks.
Happy Doctor Who anniversary week everyone! I apologise in advance for any non Doctor Who fans among my readers – I’m still on a major Doctor Who mania at the moment! It will pass, honest. Day of the Doctor written by Stephen Moffat Genres: Sci-Fi Format: iTunes Season Pass, Blu-Ray DVD Starring: Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt Length: 75 minutes Buy from Amazon • iTunes (anticipated) As I mentioned last week, I picked up the iTunes season pass for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebration. Although neither An Adventure in Space and Time nor The Day of the Doctor have been released yet, I have been enjoying the other items on the pass such as the reboot Doctors revisited. It would have been nice to have had The Night of the Doctor on the Pass as well, but never mind. I thought I’d write down my thoughts and predictions for the 50th and Christmas specials so that you can have a good laugh at me once it’s aired. I’ve not seen any spoilers (except for how Matt Smith regenerates) – they’ve done a good job keeping it under wraps – so I’m just basing it on previous episodes, the Night of the Doctor, the trailer and some comments…
Happy Doctor Who anniversary week everyone! I apologise in advance for any non Doctor Who fans among my readers – I’m still on a major Doctor Who mania at the moment! It will pass, honest. Day of the Doctor written by Stephen Moffat Genres: Sci-Fi Format: iTunes Season Pass, Blu-Ray DVD Starring: Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt Length: 75 minutes Buy from Amazon • iTunes (anticipated) As I mentioned last week, I picked up the iTunes season pass for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebration. Although neither An Adventure in Space and Time nor The Day of the Doctor have been released yet, I have been enjoying the other items on the pass such as the reboot Doctors revisited. It would have been nice to have had The Night of the Doctor on the Pass as well, but never mind. I thought I’d write down my thoughts and predictions for the 50th and Christmas specials so that you can have a good laugh at me once it’s aired. I’ve not seen any spoilers (except for how Matt Smith regenerates) – they’ve done a good job keeping it under wraps – so I’m just basing it on previous episodes, the Night of the Doctor, the trailer and some comments…
One of the books I read this week was one I was given free to review by the author, State vs. Lassiter by Paul Levine. This is a legal mystery/thriller in which trial lawyer Jake Lassiter sees court from the other side as he is framed for murder. This is the tenth in the Jake Lassiter series, but only the first one I have read. Not having read the others didn’t impact my enjoyment of the book; State vs. Lassiter is quite capable of working as a stand-alone. Legal thrillers is not a genre I read a lot of although I do enjoy it. In this one I particularly appreciated the way Levine, a former trial lawyer himself, was able to express complex legal aspects clearly and succinctly to be easily understood by a layman like myself. The narrative style was fresh and engaging and each chapter ended on a cliffhanger to keep me reading more. One aspect I didn’t appreciate so much was the way women were depicted in the novel. For me a little too much focus was placed on their sexual allure rather than their mental acumen. Despite that, I enjoyed the book and gave it…
One of the books I read this week was one I was given free to review by the author, State vs. Lassiter by Paul Levine. This is a legal mystery/thriller in which trial lawyer Jake Lassiter sees court from the other side as he is framed for murder. This is the tenth in the Jake Lassiter series, but only the first one I have read. Not having read the others didn’t impact my enjoyment of the book; State vs. Lassiter is quite capable of working as a stand-alone. Legal thrillers is not a genre I read a lot of although I do enjoy it. In this one I particularly appreciated the way Levine, a former trial lawyer himself, was able to express complex legal aspects clearly and succinctly to be easily understood by a layman like myself. The narrative style was fresh and engaging and each chapter ended on a cliffhanger to keep me reading more. One aspect I didn’t appreciate so much was the way women were depicted in the novel. For me a little too much focus was placed on their sexual allure rather than their mental acumen. Despite that, I enjoyed the book and gave it…
Although it’s not a book, this week I have been enjoying Peter Jackson’s extended edition Blu Ray of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition directed by Peter JacksonGenres: Epic FantasyFormat: Blu Ray DVD Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellanLength: 3 hours 2 minutes Buy from Amazon • Now, The Lord of the Rings is the first book that I can remember being truly gripped by back when I was a teenager. I just couldn’t put that book down. I took it with me on a family holiday and couldn’t keep my nose out of it. When Peter Jackson made The Lord of the Rings trilogy a decade ago I was initially anxious until I saw the initial trailer. I knew then that my beloved tale was in good hands with Peter Jackson and crew. For the trilogy, Jackson tended to release an extended edition several months after the theatrical version release on DVD/Blu Ray. This extended edition contained additional/extended scenes as well as commentary and hours and hours of background material and he has done the same for The Hobbit. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the creative storylining decisions made on The…