Sunday Post 94, It's Monday, what are you reading? 79

The Sunday Post - a chance for bloggers to have a chat and a catch-up - is hosted by Kimba, here: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday, What are you reading? is hosted by Kathryn, here: https://bookdate.blogspot.co.nz/

Sometimes when I sit down to do these posts, I know exactly what I'm going to talk about. Others .... well other times I think "My week was exactly like every other week, what am I going to talk about?"

I have nothing - lol. Um. I've been enjoying the long weekend and not doing much at all. I had lunch with a friend yesterday, and today spawn and I read some Harry Potter, watched Moana and did some colouring and dot-to-dot-ing, which was fun. Other than that ...

Other than that, I have nothing. I need to step up my game.

I read My Story by Elizabeth Smart, and my friend and I watched Tut, the mini-series from a few years ago on Friday night at her place.

I'm still working through Wizards and Glass and The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.

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

Review - Love, Simon

I'm not sure whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that I only read the book a coupe of weeks ago, because it meant the changes made in the movie really, really stood out and were a bit distracting.

Having SAID that ... Love, Simon was great. Sweet and bittersweet, and kind of adorable, and I don't know, it all just worked really well.

I will most certainly fight a bear for Simon, and for his friends.

Martin though.... Martin's on his own.

Anyway. Simon starts exchanging emails with an unknown boy who puts a post up on the school's blog about being gay. Simon has no idea who it is, but he reaches out, recognising a kindred spirit.

The film handled the emailing aspect really well, and also Simon's speculation over who the other boy could be. If you didn't know for sure, then you would be kept guessing right along with Simon.

And yes, I got teary a couple of times.

A+, would fight seven out of ten bears.

Review - The Boundless Sublime by Lili Wilkinson

Ruby is struggling with the burden of grief - her little brother has died, and she believes that the accident that killed him was her fault.

Her father is in prison for the actual act, and her mother has sunk into a deep depression.

Ruby can't see any way out of her own personal tunnel of despair until she meets Fox. Fox is a member of the Institute of the Boundless Sublime, and it's not long before Ruby finds herself following him and becoming caught up in the Institute herself.

The Institute is, of course, a cult. It's run by a man who, disturbingly, is called "Daddy" by everyone at the Institute. He's a kind of ... Charles Manson figure, I guess? Charismatic and manipulative.

Ruby buys into the rhetoric for a while, and starts to believe the L Ron Hubbard level of BS that's being shot at her daily.

However, when Fox and another woman disappear, Ruby starts to wonder if the Institute is really as benign as it seems.

I read The Boundless Sublime in one sitting pretty much. I just started, and then kept going until I'd finished it. There are issues with some of the pacing - particularly towards the end of the book - but my heart just about broke for Ruby. She's grieving and struggling with regret and blame and trying to keep it all together for her mother's sake, so when she meets Fox, she's vulnerable enough to fall into the cult.

Ruby's the most vivid character in the book, and although Fox is sweet, I found there to be something ephemeral about him - something unreal? Possibly because he was raised almost entirely inside the cult itself, I'm not sure.

Definitely a good read.

Sunday Post 93, It's Monday, What are you reading? 78

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

Last week was ... ordinary. I think that's the right word - lol. Just work and stuff, the usual.

Work is going okay, though I did catch myself on Thursday, getting awfully bored. Which is not good. I'm grateful to have a job, I really am, but I need to watch myself a little bit, I think and try and stay a bit more focused.

What else. I finished a book - The Boundless Sublime by Lili Wilkinson, which I really enjoyed. I also went to see Love, Simon yesterday, and went to the library. It was nice to get out and about on my own for a bit.

I'm still picking at Wizards and Glass, though I've busted The City Stained Red back to want to read for now - it needed to go back to the library anyway.

I was channel surfing one day and I came across a documentary on the crime channel about Elizabeth Smart. It was in her own words, and it was absolutely riveting. I found her book in the library yesterday, so that's next up. I'm also still reading The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.

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

Review - Dr Strange

Steven Strange is an eminent neurosurgeon, and let's be honest, an arrogant dick.

He gets into a bad car accident and I'm not sure, but I think he breaks, like, all the bones in both his hands, which puts a bit of a damper on his surgery career.

He tracks down someone who says he was cured of paralysis in Kamar-Taj.

Strange heads East and becomes a student of The Ancient One (a bald Tilda Swinton and yes it's weird.).

He learns magic, adopts a levitating cape and saves the world from Mads Mikklesen.

I don't know much about Strange from the original comics, and I thought the movie was .... okay.

It's not my favourite of the recent Marvel movies but it was watchable, even though Bendyouover Caddyshack with an American accent is really, really weird.

I'm not sure what I can say about a movie where the best thing is the levitating cape.

Review - The Fandom by Anna Day

Dressed up and ready for the excitement, Violet and her friends Katie and Alice and Violet's younger brother Nate are all ready for Comic-Con.

They're celebrating their favourite book, The Gallows Dance, where they're meeting actors from the movie and anticipating having fun.

Then things go a bit ... wrong.

There's an accident, and Violet and co wake up in the world of The Gallows Dance, right at the opening scene.

When they inadvertently kill off the main character, they are forced to go through the events of the book themselves in order to try and find a way home.

The Fandom is part Hunger Games, part ... modern-girl-in-fantasy-realm, part ... something else - lol. I have to admit, I did enjoy it, and I think 17YO me would have LOVED it, I spent a lot of time as a teen imagining myself in other worlds, and The Fandom definitely plays in to that. It's also a kind of love letter, almost, to large recent fandoms like Harry Potter, and there are references to that series and others that will definitely be recognised.

It's definitely a read in a single (or two) sitting book, but it doesn't suffer too much for that. The story is fun, the characters are engaging, and it's really, really readable.

Sunday Post 92, It's Monday, What are you reading? 77

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

Let's see ... last week went along pretty much the same as every other week lately, which is no bad thing. I've had some up and down days at work, but that happens. I've only been there for five months and I've never worked in a call centre, so I figure speed bumps are inevitable.

Anyway. Everything was normal, as I said, until 4.40am on Friday morning, when Spawn woke up with a fever, and aches and pains. Sigh. It feels like he only just got over his tummy bug, and BOOM! It was my turn to stay home with him, so that's what I did on Friday, giving myself an accidental long weekend. It was a good day to be inside - rainy and strong winds.

He's feeling much better now, thankfully - the fever broke overnight last night and he's back to his bright and bubbly self.

So back to normal tomorrow and *fingers crossed* that things stay normal - lol.

What else. I've started watching Nailed It on Netflix, which is hilarious. It's a kind of baking show where ordinary people come in and try to re-create incredibly elaborate cakes and it's just kind of awesome.

I'm still reading The City Stained Red and Wizards and Glass, and I also read The Fandom by Anna Day which was a very quick read. I'm also reading The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet at lunchtime at work.

We all sat down and watched Dr Strange today, which was ... okay. Review for that later in the week.

So how are you doing? What are you reading?