Film Friday

 The intention with this - hopefully - is to post shorts on movies I've watched during the week.

Let's see how I go.

The King's Speech, starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush and directed by Tom Hooper, focuses on the coronation of King George VI after the abdication of Edward VIII.

Unfortunately the new king has a very bad stammer. And with the Royals more in the public eye than ever with the rise of radio, it's imperative that the King be seen and heard as a leader, and not just a figurehead. Enter a rather unconventional speech therapist.

I remember going to The King's Speech at the movies years ago, and enjoying it. It holds up very nicely on second viewing and both Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are - as expected - very good. Guy Pearce does a nice supporting turn as Edward VIII, while Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth (we would know her as the Queen Mother now) doesn't have a lot to do but be quietly supportive. Definitely worth watching.

Watching a Heath Ledger movie will never not make me feel a little bit sad, and even the sheer absurdity of A Knight's Tale hasn't changed that. 

I found a copy of this on DVD at an Op shop for, I think, $2 and honestly - the price was right. It's a fun movie with a great soundtrack as the medieval son of a thatcher tries to become a knight and win jousts. That's honestly it, that's the whole movie.

Review - In Memoriam by Alice Winn

 

This was a tough one. Ellwood and Gaunt, both 17, desperately in love with each other, but not wanting the other to find out, are on the cusp of World War 1.

At 17, they're both too young to enlist, but the War comes for both young men.

Their relationship comes to a head in the trenches, and in the brief, quiet spaces in between, but that doesn't mean there's going to be a happy ending.

There's something relentless about In Memoriam, in the way it pulls you in to the trenches with Gant and Ellwood, and all the young men they know and get to know over the course of the war.

The book is interspersed with lists of the injured and dead, printed in the newspapers, and - for me the most hauntingly - in Gaunt and Ellwood's boarding school paper.

This is one of those books - it's well-written, and it has stuck with me, but "enjoyment" is the wrong word for how I felt reading it.

The Sunday Post - a chance for bloggers to have a chat and catch-up - is hosted by Kimberly, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/

Another week has sped by somehow. Capitalism once again trapped me in its ancient jaws and I was forced to work for a living. I was feeling out of sorts on Thursday, so took a sick day, and let Son of Mine take a day as well. We both tucked up in the living room and watched The King's Speech, a movie I have not watched in many years. 

I went to my friend's place as usual last night, for cross-stitching and reality TV watching. We're currently watching Survivor: Australia vs the World, and the Celebrity Traitors UK. I love the Traitors, it's my favourite show.

I'm working on a Stormtrooper cross-stitch kit that's destined to be a Christmas present for Son of Mine, and also have a couple of older WIPs on the go.

We went to the library today, and I borrowed books but they're all the way across the room and I cannot remember any of the titles. I also rented the Jodie Foster season of True Detective as I've been wanting to watch that for a while.

Son of Mine and I watched A Knight's Tale this afternoon. I found a copy of it in one of the local Op shops - I go quite frequently and one of the things I do is scour the DVDs and books. Also the clothes - I've found some nice cardigans, a very nice work skirt - and a formal outfit that I wore to the aforementioned (in a previous post) work event.

Anyway.

I finished In Memoriam by Alice Winn last week. It's very good, but can be hard to get through as the bulk of the book is set in the trenches of World War 1. I'm still reading The Royal Wardrobe by Rosie Harte, and the Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King. I also started The Eye of Ra by Michael Asher, which I randomly found on a bookshelf when I was moving things around. I think I bought it at either an Op shop or the yearly Rotary sale, but I really don't remember.

Son, friend of mine and I went to a book sale at a small country school a few weeks ago, and I still have the books I bought from there in a bag as I have absolutely nowhere to put them. As Terry Pratchett apparently said, "If you have enough book space, I don't want to talk to you." He'd be loving my house at the moment!!

How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

The Sunday Post 2; It's Monday! What are you reading? 2

Another week has gone by somehow. The Sunday Post - a chance for a catch-up - is hosted by Kimberly, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/ Let's see. My week was much the same as always, although we had a work event on Friday night which meant panic-buying shoes and putting makeup on. I did it, and the night was a lot of fun. Somehow though I forgot I'm 54, and definitely paid for all the dancing the next day. I work Saturdays, and it was a VERY long day. I didn't do much last night except watch some TV with Son of Mine and blink once in a while. I'm still reading the same books as last week, and I think I'm about halfway through all of them. I would hope to finish In Memoriam and The Royal Wardrobe this week, but we shall see. How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

The Sunday Post 1; It's Monday! What are you reading? 1

 

It’s been a minute (over a year) since I did a blog post, but I’ve decided I want to give my braincell some exercise, and writing is an excellent way for it to get its aerobics in.

 

Anyway.

The Sunday Post – a chance for a chat and a catch-up – is hosted by Kimberly, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It’s Monday! What are you reading? Is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/2025/06/09/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-473/

 

Let’s see … I’m a bit rusty after so long. Some highlights:

• Son of Mine turned 18 in May. Somehow there is a fully grown adult living in my house. We had a family potluck lunch on the Sunday after his birthday, which was greatly enjoyed by all.
• I got a new car last month, a white Kia Sportage as my previous car – that I did love dearly – had been off the road for many months. So she was sold to a new owner.
• I think that’s it as far as highlights go.

I’m currently reading a non-fiction book called The Royal Wardrobe by Rosie Harte, which is a non-fiction look at royal history – specifically British royal history – through the lens of fashion. Each chapter or so is about a different monarch, so it’s not a deep dive, but it is interesting.

 

One of my goals this year was to finish The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King, and I’m not sure if I’m going to get there, although I’m nearly halfway through Wolves of the Calla, which is book 5, so we shall see. I’m also reading In Memoriam by Alice Winn, about two young men who fall in love against the backdrop of World War I. I’m loving it so far, but given the setting I’m braced for sadness.

 

How about you? How was your week? What are you reading?

Review - The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

 

It is 1918. The Great War is dragging on in mud and filth and blood.

In Halifax, Canada, nurse Laura is struggling with tragedies of her own. She had been a nurse in Belgium but was sent home after her hospital was bombed. She then lost her mother when a ship in the harbour exploded.

Her brother Freddie - a solider - is lost somewhere overseas, presumed dead.

However, Freddie isn't dead. Trapped in a pillbox with a German soldier that Freddie only knows as Winter, they fight their way out and across No Man's Land against extraordinary odds.

However, they can't survive alone, and there's a very bad man with a violin who is looking for stories ...

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a lot of things - it's a family saga in a way, as Laura and Freddie fight to find each other. It's a war story in the most intimate and tragic sense of the word, and it's a love story, with as many layers to that description as you can think of.

It's also a ghost story, and blindingly beautiful and tragic.

Katherine Arden wrote The Winternight Trilogy, which I did greatly enjoy.

But The Warm Hands of Ghosts is on another level of elevation, and I loved it.

Sunday Post 57; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 57

 The Sunday Post - a chance for a catch-up - is hosted by Kimberly, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://thebookdate.wordpress.com/

So capitalism once again trapped me, and I also did not win Lotto. I mean, I didn't buy a ticket, but semantics.

We came second at quiz on Wednesday night, and my new shift has started so I worked Saturday and I have Sundays and Mondays off.

I went to my friend's place today for our usual reality TV show and stitching session and we may switch to Sunday afternoons for the time being.

Son of Mine had a friend over last night for a sleepover, and he's off at another friend's tonight for a party/sleepover combo.

I have big plans. I'm going to cook some dinner and watch the last two episodes of season two of Feud.

Maybe do some stitching.

I finished The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden and absolutely loved it.

I also finished The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie, which was a fun read.

I'm now re-reading The Fellowship of the Ring, and still picking my way through Wizards and Glass.

I also started The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell, a murder mystery which is proving to be very entertaining so far. 

How about you? How's your day? What are you reading?