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?