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?

Sunday Post 56; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 56

 

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/

First, thank you for the kind words about Freya. Her ashes are now home with us, and I miss her greatly.

Okay. 

I worked 6 days last week as my roster is temporarily changing to Tuesdays to Saturdays. It means I'll have Mondays off and I am not upset about that. I don't mind working Saturdays - I hate working Sundays. 

Son of Mine turned 17 (somehow) this month and I feel VERY old. And tired. 

What else have I been doing? Working. Reading. Stitching. Getting colder as winter is coming. 

I've been watching Ripley on Netflix, which is very good and Feud Season 2 on Disney, about Truman Capote and his "Swans" which is also very good.

I finished The Hobbit, and The Warm Hands of Ghosts. AND The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie.

I've decided to pick up The Dark Tower again as well. I got part way through book 4 and stalled out due to the very extended flashback. I'm not a big fan of flashbacks in general and this one is something like 500 pages. But I do want to finish the series so I'm chipping away at 10 or so pages as often as I can. I've read about 100 pages that way so it is working.

I'm also re-reading The Lord of the Rings now that I've finished The Hobbit.

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

Sunday Post 55; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 55

 

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/

First of all, thank you all for your kind words. Unfortunately, Freya crashed and passed away under the anasthetic. The vet even did CPR, but it wasn't enough. He thought she had an underlying condition beyond just the bad teeth. And I agree - between the Thursday when I took her to the vet and the Monday she had the surgery, she was losing weight. And she was only 3.5kg to begin with when she was healthy. 

She was such a constant presence, small as she was, and we all miss her greatly.

Everything else has just been ticking over as normal.

Work has been busy and mostly I've just been super tired.

I'm re-reading The Hobbit, and I'm also reading The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, which is very good so far.

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

Maree's Movie Night - the director's short cut

 

You know when you come home on a Friday night and you just want something short, fun and stupid but you want to watch a movie?

Right here. This is the one. Actually any of the Bill & Ted movies would work but this is what Netflix suggested so I went with it.

Uh ... something something, music. Something something time travel.

Dave Grohl and Kid Cudi are in it for some reason?

Lower your expectations. Lower than that. Lower. Lower.  There you go. Bill & Ted Face the Music is nothing but a good time. :)

And now, for a complete shift in tone. The Happy Prince was, apparently, a passion project for Rupert Everett. He stars as Oscar Wilde in his last, fading days in Paris.

There are flashbacks to previous times and the narrative of Mr Wilde's incredibly sad fairy story is woven throughout the narrative. There are a couple of surprising cameos from the likes of Colin Firth and Tom Wilkinson, but it's really Everett's film.

Colin Morgan takes on the rather thankless role of Bosie, and manages to restrain himself from chewing the scenery. 

The heart of the movie - for me - was Edwin Thomas as Robbie Ross, a long-time friend of Oscar Wilde's who stuck by him through everything. Definitely worth watching.

I'm trying to show Son of Mine some fun/classic movies he may not have seen.

Today's pick was National Treasure.

Nicolas Cage. The Declaration of Independence. Sean Bean with a bad dye job.

Honestly, what's not to like???

Sunday Post 54; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 54

 

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/

Last week .... work set the same trap for me it always does, so I had to go to the office.

I also had to take Freya to the vet as she's been drooling a lot, and off her food. 

Vet: "Her heart is beating way faster than it should be. I want to test for hyperthyroidism.

Me, who is ALREADY paying out of pocket for Lily's hyperthyroidism (internally) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Luckily, Freya does not have it, she just has bad teeth which are making her feel unhappy. She already had teeth out about three years ago, but now her back molars have to go. I have tomorrow and Tuesday off work (pre-arranged, nothing to do with cats) so I'll be taking her in for surgery in the morning.

We came fourth at quiz on Wednesday, and I got drafted for a fundraiser quiz on Thursday. They're always for a good cause, but I hate fundraiser quizzes because they take so long and it's a gamble for how well they're organised. This one .... was not. I got dragged into it because a friend was one of the people organising it. I think we came third, but I left early as I had work the next day.

Friday night I completely powered down. I watched TV I think.

Saturday morning Son of Mine and I went to the library, and we re-watched some Good Place, and Golden Girls. Saturday night I went to my friend's as usual. We finished a show, so watched The Happy Prince, a Rupert Everett movie about the last days of Oscar Wilde.

Today Son of Mine and I watched National Treasure and I worked on a couple of blackwork projects I have on the go.

I had to DNF A Curse Dark as Gold - I was struggling with it more than I was enjoying it and life is too short. So now I'm reading Pet by Catherine Chidgey and I think I'm going to re-read an Agatha Christie, as I finished RuPaul's memoir.

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

Sunday Post 53; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 53

 

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 me see... work happened to me again somehow as I was not the lucky winner of the $30 million Lotto powerball at the weekend. I worked yesterday as well, filling in for a workmate who was on holiday. Six day weeks are no fun but the overtime will certainly disappear into bills and Son of Mine's birthday as soon as I blink. He'll be 17 next month, somehow. 

We came third at quiz on Wednesday night, so we're not having the greatest run but at least we placed.

My work bestie who moved away in February was down this week to visit her family and gather more of her stuff so we had a dinner date on Thursday night. It was absolutely the best to see her, but now I miss her even more.

Friday night I watched Bill and Ted Face the Music, which was exactly the 90 minutes of stupid fun I needed.

Today I was feeling a bit ... ehn. I think because of working six days, and Son of Mine had a friend over last night for a sleepover. I just needed to get out on my own for a bit. So I went and bought myself some new pillows and went to the library. It was exactly what I needed. 

I didn't do much this afternoon, some stitching while trying not to fall asleep.

I'm still reading RuPaul's memoir, and A Curse Dark as Gold. My endeavour this week is to make time for more reading and stitching, and less for Instagram reels which are my Achilles heel.

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

Two reviews

There's a war brewing, between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch, over a patch of land that has risen out of the ocean. 

Sam Vimes just wants to do his job, and go home at the end of his shift.

But - somehow - he gets dragged into the war.

Mr Sir Terry Pratchett had a wonderful knack of highlighting the absolute absurdity of aspects of the human condition. In this case, he turned his laser gaze on the absurdity and tragedy of war.

Jingo is hilarious, while also making some very, very savage points.

The trouble with reading a new-new book, that's the first book in a series, and is very, very good, and was published in January ... there's no book 2 out yet.

The Principle of Moments is a sci-fi/fantasy/historical hybrid of a novel. There's time travel, which I'm not usually a fan of, but it also has one of my absolute favourite tropes, which is found family.

A boy in 1812 in love with a prince, time travels to try and find a cure for the displacement he suffers each time he travels. A girl enslaved on a planet in the distant future finds out she has a destiny she knew nothing about. And an alien discovers the same thing about himself.

This was SO good, and such a satisfying read - I shook the book when I'd finished it to see if the second one would magically fall out.

It did not.

 

Maree's Movie Night - The Marvels

 

I have to admit, I have not kept up with the Marvel multi-verse. 

There's just too much. I haven't watched Ms Marvel, and I'm sure there are others that feed into this, but it didn't really matter.

I went into The Marvels with VERY low expectations, but I ended up enjoying it very much of a lot.

I mean, to me, the plot is something, something, something aliens, but what the movie hinges on is the forming bond between Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel and Captain Monica Rambeau.

They all find out accidentally that they can swap places with each other, and everything just descends into chaos from there. 

Also there are alien kittens. 

Super fun, full of heart and honestly a great watch.

Sunday Post 52; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 52

 

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/

It was a short working week due to the Easter break, which was nice. The days off I mean. The other parts ... well let's just say I didn't win Lotto. 

We came fourth at quiz on Wednesday night, which isn't ideal, but it keeps us humble. I GUESS.

Friday night Son of Mine stayed at a friend's place so I merged with my couch and watched The Marvels. Which I enjoyed, I thought it was a fun movie.

Saturday morning, friend and I went to the library, and I went to her place as usual on Saturday night.

Today I was feeling productive somehow, so Son of Mine and I did some baking. We made some chocolate chip cookies, and a lemon loaf. 

I've done some stitching today as well, and that's about it, I think.

I finished Jingo by Terry Pratchett, and The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson.

Now I'm reading The House of Hidden Meanings - RuPaul's memoir, and a book called A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce, which has been on my bookcase for YEARS. 

Every so often I delude myself and try to alternate reading a library book with one I own. It usually goes ... badly, but it doesn't stop me from trying. 

I've also started culling my shelves. I've done one so far. I took a bag into work, and anything that's left from that will be donated.

Anyway. 

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

Maree's Movie Night

 

I have a weakness for heist stories. And found family stories.

Often, these two things seem to go together, and that's the case with Lift.

Kevin Hart leads a crew of thieves who specialise in "lifting" works of art to liberate them from private collectors.

After they've "lifted" a Van Gogh, the crew gets tangled up with Interpol, who are trying to bring down an international terrorist who profits off natural disasters.

He's expecting a delivery of $500 million in gold bars, which is where the crew comes in. Because Interpol hires them to steal the gold.

Is the premise ridiculous? Yes. Was I entertained? Also yes. It was fun.

Nicolas Cage as Dracula, and Nicholas Hoult as the hapless Renfield, set in modern-day New York. This movie is not going to win any awards for greatness, but it's the kind of stupid fun that's entertaining for 90 minutes.

Not ideal if you have a weak stomach though, as it is also VERY gory.

Fun, but gory.

Sunday Post 51; It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 51

 
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/

Once again, capitalism struck when I was most expecting it, and work happened. 

I didn't go to quiz on Wednesday night, as Son of Mine's school had the audacity to schedule parent/teacher interviews then. The way it works here, is you get an interim report, and on it the teachers indicate if they want an interview or not. Three of his teachers did, so I had to like ... parent.

It was fine. I always get "Son of Yours is a great kid but needs to focus." Which. I didn't need to miss quiz to find out, I already knew.

It was a short week, and I had Friday off. I watched TV, did some reading, did some stitching, played some Dragon Age. Full on power down mode in other words.

I worked yesterday because overtime is nice sometimes. I didn't go to my friend's last night as I worked, but just came home and powered down again. 

Today I haven't done much of anything, and I don't have work until Wednesday, so I have very few plans.

I'm still reading Jingo by Terry Pratchett, and The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson.

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

Maree's Movie Night - Road House reboot

 

My question here is - why. Why Road House. The original is fine as it is, and honestly - go watch that instead.

I sat through the whole movie (the new one) and honestly I was mostly just ... bored. And confused.

It's set in modern-day Florida for some reason? Like, that doesn't make sense to me? And Dalton has a backstory, which I don't like. Mysterious drifter? Yes. Former MMA fighter with a Dark Past? Meh. 

And - I don't know - the antagonist was mostly just annoying rather than deeply, deeply evil. He was an awful person but I did not care what happened to him.

One of the things that drove the original - for me - was the soundtrack. This time around a different band plays every night and I just couldn't connect to it.

Stick with Patrick Swayze.

Sunday Post 50; It's Monday! What are you reading? 50

 

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. Work happened to me again without my permission, but I've survived somehow.

We came second at quiz on Wednesday night, which is fine but honestly I prefer to win.

Son of Mine went to a friend's for a sleepover on Friday night so I settled in with some stitching and watched the Road House reboot. It was .... meh. Review coming later this week.

On Saturday morning I watched another episode of The Fall of the House of Usher before Mum's Taxi was called and I picked spawn up from his friend's. We went to the library, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon playing Dragon Age and watching You Tube before I went to my friend's as usual.

Today I haven't done very much at all, and it's been nice. 

I finished The Labours of Hercules, and I'm re-reading Jingo by Terry Pratchett - I read it many years ago but Discworld is always a good place to visit. I'm still also reading The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson.

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

Two reviews

 

Sir David Suchet's portrayal of Agatha Christies Hercule Poirot is possibly one of the most recoginsable TV characters of the past 30 years or so.

One of the reasons, I believe, is the thought and effort David Suchet put into bringing Poirot to life.

It's easy to play Poirot as a caricature or entirely for humour or indeed to miss the point of him entirely (looking at you, Kenneth Branagh) but David Suchet dove into the character himself - before he even brought him to life on screen.

Poirot and Me dives into that transformation, and the consideration and thoughtfulness brought to bringing him to life solidifies the little Belgian detective as a truly great fictional character.

David Suchet has written a truly fascinating memoir centered around the TV show, the character, and how Poirot impacted his life in some very unexpected ways.

Summer and Leo are con artists, living in Summer's van and travelling around California, looking for the next grift.

Summer's speciality is pick-pocketing, credit card fraud, and identity theft, while Leo seduces wealthy men.

When Leo meets billionaire tech guru Michael Forrester and gets invited to his private island, both girls think they've struck gold.

Then Leo goes missing. Summer travels to the island, relying on her wits to get her through, to try and find out what's happened to Leo.

Most of You Can Trust Me is great - the tension is palpable as Summer tries to find out what's happened to Leo, and Leo's chapters give that reveal slowly over time.

Then everything gets a bit ... Hollywood thriller racing towards the conclusion. I would have been happy with something a bit longer that built the story up more.

ALSO  - and I don't know if this is just me - but there's a massive plot hole. I still can't get my head around it.

Maree's Movie Night - Road House

 

Ah, 1980s Patrick Swayze. So handsome. Riding the success of Ghost and Dirty Dancing. 

And then. Road House. Look, I know Road House isn't a good movie. You know Road House isn't a good movie. But here's the thing. As terrible as it is objectively, it's also great. It just is, and no correspondence will be entered into.

Swayze is a bouncer, or a "cooler" who's hired to clean house at the Double Deuce - the type of Road House the band plays behind chicken wire (which, side note, always reminds me of the Blues Brothers.)

So Dalton (Swayze) rides into town ready to kick ass and take names and set the world to rights. Which, of course, he does.

There are some unintentionally funny moments - and some intentional ones as well - but overall it's just pure entertainment.

Do yourself a favour - if you haven't heard them before, look up the band from the movie - The Jeff Healey Band. So good. 

Sunday Post 49; It's Monday! What are you reading? 49

 

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/

My week was fairly uneventful, except of course for the heavy chains of capitalism.

We won at quiz on Wednesday night by one point, but a win is a win, no matter how narrow the margin. 

We got talking at work about some of the "reboot" movies that are coming out, and Roadhouse came up. So, of course, on Thursday night I had to dig into the vaults of TV Land and watch the original. The original Roadhouse is both great, and also terrible. This remains true. The soundtrack, however, still slaps. (Is that what the kids are saying? "Slaps"?)

Friday, Spawn had a friend over for a sleepover, so I retreated to my room and told myself "I'm not going to watch the whole Eras tour movie, it's over three hours long." Reader, I watched the whole Eras tour movie.  I don't consider myself a "Swiftie" as such but I do like quite a few of the songs, and I admire the work ethic. And honestly - it's a great show. One of my workmates went to see Taylor Swift in Sydney and declared it the greatest night of her life. 

Saturday a friend of mine and I went to the library, and after Spawn's wee friend had gone home and he had tidied up the debris of their sleepover, we went trawling some secondhand stores. Spawn bought a couple of books, and I found a photo frame for 50cents, which I've used to frame a Monet print card. 

Saturday night I went to my friend's place as usual and we stitched and watched reality TV. We're off to the movies later today to see Wicked Letters.

I finished Poirot & Me, and also You Can Trust Me, both of which I did enjoy. 

Currently I'm reading The Labours of Hercules, short stories by Agatha Christie featuring the little Belgian detective, and I started The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, first book in the Order of Legends series, which is shaping up to be very promising.

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

Maree's Movie Night - Pain Hustlers

 I was going to watch The Bourne Supremacy on Friday night, but couldn't find it anywhere.

This popped up on Netflix, and I thought it looked interesting, so I dived in.

Pain Hustlers is based on a true story about a small, start-up pharmaceutical company trying to push a new painkiller for cancer patients.

Emily Blunt is down on her luck single mother Liza who talks her way into a job with the company, and Chris Evans is the slightly skeevy rep who recruits her.

It's always fun to see Chris Evans play against the Captain America stereotype and it's the same with this movie, although the front and centre star is without a doubt Emily Blunt.

Her character is motivated by the right things - she's trying to make a better life for herself and her daughter who is prone to seizures due to a tangled bundle of nerves in her brain. Catherine O'Hara also shows up in a great supporting role as Emily Blunt's character's somewhat chaotic mother.

The drug starts to take off for cancer patients, and it's not long before doctors are prescribing it for all kinds of pain. The kicker is - it's fentanyl. Which I don't know a lot about, but I do know it's incredibly addictive. There's a lot of other dodgy dealings and kickbacks as well which did largely go over my head.

But the story and the acting were engaging enough to keep me invested.

When the husband of one of her friend's dies from an overdose, Liza realises she needs to do something, and turns whistleblower, which brings the company crashing down.

Pain Hustlers is definitely worth watching - great cast plus a solid story make for a good night in.

Sunday Post 48; It's Monday! What are you reading? 48

 

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

Why is it when you cut yourself, it's always in the most inconvenient place? I cut my finger yesterday and it's right at the tip, so when I'm typing I hit the cut every single time.

Anyway. 

My week was much more uneventful. 

I went to work because capitalism and I didn't marry rich when I was young and skinny. 

We won at quiz on Wednesday night which is always nice.

Son of Mine had a sleepover at a friend's on Friday night. It's funny - both his dad and I are pretty introverted - his Dad moreso than me - but somehow we've created this extroverted social butterfly who can make friends with anyone. 

So I parked up on the couch with some stitching and had planned to watch The Bourne Supremacy but could not find it on any of the streaming platforms we have. After a bit of browsing and false starts, I watched Pain Hustlers on Netflix, which is about a pharmaceutical start up with Emily Blunt and Chris Evans. Review to come later in the week.

Yesterday morning I arose from the depths, got myself settled for some uninterrupted TV and watched episode 2 of The Fall of the House of Usher. I'm greatly enjoying it but I can only take one episode at a time, and I need to wait until Son of Mine is out and about. 

Then I went to pick him up from his friend's and took Lily to the vet for her regular blood tests. 

I did some reading in the afternoon and ferried Son of Mine and another one of his friends about for a bit. He went to that friend's last night for another sleepover. He's going to come home and crash VERY hard I think. 

I'm still reading Poirot and Me by David Suchet which I'm enjoying. I also rented a couple of the Poirot seasons from the library, so I've also been working my way through those. 

I'm also still reading You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard which is still great.

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

Short reviews

 

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travls Baldree is a prequel to Legends & Lattes, which I absolutely loved. And, I have to say, this one had me grinning like an idiot as well.

Viv is a young, brash Orc, just starting out as a mercenary with Rackham's Ravens when she's badly injured by the minions of necromancer the crew is chasing.

She's forced to take downtime and finds herself settling into Murk - a sleepy beachside down to rest and recuperate.

Viv doesn't take the enforced rest very well to start with, and things start to stack up for her.

Luckily, she meets some friends along the way, including Fern who owns the town's only bookstore, and Maylee, the dwarf - and romantic interest for Viv - who owns a bakery.

Unfortunately, the necromancer is still out there, and she's heading for Murk...

This was just. Lovely. I don't know how else to describe it honestly. I loved it so much.

After the book of Miss Marple short stories by modern writers didn't work out, I decided to go back to the source material. 

I picked up A Caribbean Mystery, in which Miss Marple is on holiday in the Caribbean - slightly bored if she's honest, but overall enjoying herself - when someone is murdered.

The murder - of a retired Major who's main goal seems to be boring everyone rigid with his stories - sets off an unexpected chain of events, leading to Miss Marple acting as a very unlikely Nemesis.

I haven't read this one for a few years so had forgotten whodunit. So I was entertained and surprised at the same time.

I had seen Foundryside at my library a few times, but - true confession  - the cover put me off for some reason, so I never picked it up. I *think* I saw someone on an instagram reel mention it and I though "oh, that DOES sound lik me," so I borrowed it from the library.

And it's SO good! Sancia is an escaped slave, living on the margins of a society with a very strong dividing line between the haves and the have-nots.

She survives by stealing, and she also has a secret - Sancia has a scrived plate in her head, which means she can ... talk? to things that she touches - walls, doors, windows ... 

She does a job for a fence, and steals a key. What Sancia doesn't realise is how important that key really is.

The worldbuilding is great, and Sancia is a truly compelling main character. Fantasy plus heist is one of my favourites, and this did not disappoint.

Sunday Post 47; It's Monday! What are you reading? 47

 

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 slightly more eventful than I generally like.

My sister was admitted to hospital last Monday night with pneumonia. (She's fine, and home now). So on Tuesday after work I went down to see her and take some magazines and books as she was - understandably - bored. 

Tuesday was also my work bestie's last day, and she has now moved to a different city. I miss her a lot - more than I thought I would, to be honest. I know we can keep in touch thanks to the magic of social media and cellphones but it's not the same as seeing someone every day.

Quiz was Wednesday night, and we didn't place for the first time this year - we came fourth. Can't win them all, I guess.

Friday night was a work do at a pub that had already been cancelled twice. 

I was very ready for the weekend by the end of it all.

I went to the library yesterday and to a secondhand store where I found a couple of art cards I'm planning on framing and hanging up. 

Son of Mine had a sleepover here on Friday night, and then spent Saturday night at another friend's place. So he's feeling rather tired today. 

Today I haven't done much at all, and it has been nice.

I finished Foundryside, and very much enjoyed it. I also finished A Caribbean Mystery.

I started Wife after Wife by Olivia Hayfield and I don't know whether it's just me, but I got 3 pages in and honestly could not take the writing. But it has a bundle of 4 and 5 star ratings on goodreads. But the writing is just ... clumsy somehow? Life is too short to read books that irritate me. 

Anyway. I'm reading Poirot and Me by Sir David Suchet, about his 25 years playing the great detective, and I also started You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard, which is shaping up to be very promising.

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

Maree's Movie Night - The Bourne Identity

 

I mentioned in my Sunday Post that I'm trying to watch more movies this year. I've set a goal of ... 55? I think? and I've watched about 10 so far.

So I've decided, to help me stay on track, I'll start reviewing the movies that I watch. 

There's no rhyme or reason to it, it's just what I'm feeling like on the night, and how good my concentration levels are. 

So. First up is The Bourne Identity, starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne.

I haven't read any of the books, but the movie is highly entertaining.

Jason Bourne is some kind of super-spy, who has been fished out of the ocean with absolutely no memory of who he is. Then things start going REALLY bad.

A friend of mine pointed out that the reason these movies are so good is that Bourne has to rely on his wits to get through, and she's right. He has amnesia, but muscle memory kicks in and he powers through. 

The cast is absolutely stacked to the gills with some top action talent, though Julia Stiles is criminally under-used in this one. From memory her part expands in the next movie.

The perfect Friday night film.

Sunday Post 46; It's Monday! What are you reading? 46

 

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/

Son of Mine is over his bout of Covid and husband and I were lucky enough not to be infected this time around. Son's symptoms were mostly that of a bad cold or flu, and he spent a lot of time napping. He's feeling better, tested negative, and he's back to school tomorrow. Which he is VERY excited about.*

*Not.

Anyway. I opted not to go to quiz on Wednesday night as a couple of my team members are immuno-compromised, so I stayed home, and the team won without me. 

Apart from that... not a lot, really. Son of Mine and I went to the library on Saturday, and he's recently taken up drawing, so I took him to buy some colouring pencils and sketch paper. I went to my friend's as usual on Saturday, where we stitched and watched Survivor. We're only up to season 44, so no spoilers. :)

Today I had some sour cream and bananas that needed to be used up so I made a banana loaf, which came out pretty well. I spent the rest of the afternoon stitching and listening to You Must Remember This, a podcast about the first 100 years of Hollywood history. It's interesting stuff and podcast listening is great for stitching.

Otherwise I've been watching more Star Trek: Voyager. I also started season 2 of Reacher, which for me is just pure entertainment. I've only read one of the books, and I thought it was okay, but the show is great fun. I also watched the first episode of The Fall of the House of Usher, which I really enjoyed, but I need to wait until Son of Mine isn't around. I enjoy watching things with him but he comments on everything and I feel like Usher is the kind of show I really need to concentrate on.

I'm trying to watch more movies as well as reading more books, and towards that goal I try to watch one movie a week. Sometimes it pans out, sometimes it doesn't. This week I watched The Bourne Identity, which I haven't seen in many years. It holds up pretty well.

I'm still reading Foundryside, which is great. I had started Marple, an anthology of short stories featuring Miss Marple by modern day writers, but I sent it back to the library after "Miss Marple let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding" in the first story, and Miss Marple cursing ("hell" but Miss Marple would never) in the second one. So I've gone back to the source material, and I'm re-reading A Caribbean Mystery. 

Sunday Post 45; It's Monday! What are you reading? 45

 

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/

My bank account cried out to me in dark despair, so I went back to work on Monday after my break. To say I was reluctant to go back to work is an understatement. Reader, I did not want to. 

Reader, I had to.

Anyway. We came second at quiz on Wednesday night, which is fine. Generally I'm happy if we place. 

Thursday, Son of Mine had gone on a field trip to the Waimumu Field Days with his school - https://www.southernfielddays.co.nz/ It rained on Thursday and he ruined his sneakers. So after work on Thursday night the two of us had salad - I mean burgers at McDonald's and did a spot of shopping for new sneakers.

Friday night my department was supposed to go out as a group but one of our team leaders ended up going home with a stomach bug. So that event was cancelled, and some of us just ... went to the pub.  It was fun, and I was home by 9 but I was definitely peopled out. 

Yesterday my friend who is leaving soon came around and we watched The Emperor's New Groove, which is her favourite movie.

Today, Son of Mine woke up with a completely blocked head, and youuuu guessed it. He has COVID. 

The guidelines now state you don't have to isolate, and your household doesn't but I am keeping him home from school for the week, and I picked up my hard drive from work in case I need to stay home as well. So far I've tested negative but COVID is a sneaky bastard. 

Saturday night friend and I went to the library, and did a few errands, which definitely included a bakery. I restrained myself to just some lemon cupcakes so I'm proud of myself for that.

I'm still reading Foundryside, and I finished Bookshops and Bonedust, which was very cute. I also started Marple, an anthology of Miss Marple stories by modern-day writers. I'm not very far in as of yet though.

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

Short reviews

 

Fourteen year old orphan Mona works in her aunt and uncle's bakery. She bakes, she sells to customers ... she can also create magic through dough.

However, when Mona literally trips over a dead body in the bakery's kitchen, things start to get bad very quickly.

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking - apart from having the greatest title - is a fun fantasy novel. The magic system is a lot of fun, and there are some truly memorable characters. Not just Mona - there's Bob, the sourdough starter, Knackering Molly and Spindle, the thief. 

It's so much fun to read.

The Scottish Play, by way of Terry Pratchett's endlessly creative imagination. 

Featuring Nanny Ogg,  Granny Weatherwax, and Magrat, the newest witch, who has definite ideas about How Witching Should Be Done. Unfortunately, she's stuck with Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax, who just sort of .... get on with it.

The old king of Lancre is murdered, and a new one sits on the throne. A bad king. What are three witches to do? 

Well, not interfere, certainly ... 

Whenever I don't know what to read next, I have three go-to authors. Agatha Christie, PG Wodehouse - and Terry Pratchett. You really just can't go wrong with Discworld.

I wanted to read this one before watching the Netflix show. I'm glad I did, but they have very little in common. That's not a bad thing, though.

The book hints at terrible things and hauntings, but - for me - it didn't dive into them enough. I wanted ... more, if that makes sense. I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle a few years ago, and loved that one. It's creepy and tense and incredibly atmospheric.

I enjoyed Hill House, and do love a spooky story, but I wanted more from it than I got.