Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Original Screenplay – by J.K. Rowling

14 08 2023

More books like this and I might actually have a hope of reaching my reading goal this year – I’m currently vastly behind! It was a three day read, mostly because it’s just the script for a 2 hour film so doesn’t take long at all.

Like last time, it was hard to keep track of the characters because you’ve had no description of them, and no face to remember. I didn’t feel like I cared about the plot too much, I guess partly because of this, mostly just read it because it was easy to read and is part of the Harry Potter universe. It was fine, I’ll put it on the shelf with the rest.

We start in New York from last time, and travel via London to Paris, including a visit to Hogwarts, so there’s a bit more of the magical world to see, and a familiar face from the original series is back, just a lot lot younger – Professor Dumbledore!

I’m currently watching the film on a streaming service – they’ve just got to Hogwarts and that familiar refrain started playing, which was lovely.

Overall it’s fine, but maybe these prequels have just struggled by not having the depth of full novels behind them like the original books? They definitely don’t feel like they’ve been the same roaring success…. of course, that doesn’t mean I won’t read the next one eventually.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Daisy Jones & the Six

11 08 2023

Anyone who read this book seemed to rave about it, so I wanted to give it a try, and they weren’t wrong!

It’s written in a really unusual style – the book is about the [fictional] rise and fall of the band The Six, and the singer Daisy Jones, but is written as interviews with everyone looking back on that time. It reads like one of those documentaries with a load of talking heads that tell the story with a very occasional narrator, really clever.

Because the interviews with the author are done separately, you sometimes get little bits of the story that contradict from person to person, which makes it more realistic really when they’re remembering that far back.

The story they tell itself is gripping, the life of rock stars in the 1970s, with all you would expect to come with that – I flew through the book.

The only slight downside for me (and slight spoiler warning here) was a little twist at the end that was somewhat reminiscent of How I Met Your Mother, which I had never really liked. But I’d only knock off maybe a quarter of a star off for that, as the rest was so good.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

The Bullet That Missed – by Richard Osman

31 07 2023

The Thursday Murder Club are back for book three!

This time they’re looking into a cold case of a young local news presenter who’d been killed a decade previously – and while they’re looking into this, Elizabeth starts receiving anonymous threatening messages…

It’s so weird how a murder mystery can be such a cosy read, but the characters are so warm and real (special mention for Joyce and her dog, Alan), and you can just feel Osman’s sense of humour and enjoyment of British idiosyncrasies throughout.

As with previous books, there’s not a lot I can say without giving spoilers, but I was up rather late last night as I read the last 50 pages or so, absolutely hooked!

My copy from Waterstones had a little bonus bit of content at the back, a little insight into Joyce’s side project in this book, which was a good bit of fun.

Some spoiler-free quotes from the book:

  • “The Thursday Murder Club? Sounds made up.” “Everything is made up, when you really think about it.”
  • “I just think that you can be very talented and have lovely hair. Perhaps I’m shallow, but both of those things are important to me. Claudia Winkleman is a good example.”
  • “Everyone wants to feel special but nobody wants to feel different.”
  • “If life ever seems too complicated, if you think no one can help, sometimes the right person to turn to is an eight-year-old.”

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Three Sisters, Three Queens – by Philippa Gregory

16 07 2023

When I started this series I came in partway through the suggested reading order, so while this is the third I’ve read, it’s actually the eighth…. I’ll go back to the beginning once I get to the end!

It seems to overlap a fair amount timeline-wise with The Constant Princess and The King’s Curse, but takes you to mostly a completely different set of events. It’s narrated by Margaret Tudor, the older sister of Henry VIII, and the three sisters/queens referred to in the title are herself, as she marries the king of Scotland, her younger sister Mary who marries the king of France, and Katharine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII, so sister-in-law, and queen of England. The focus is on Margaret’s story, but with written correspondence with her two sisters in London to include theirs.

Margaret is sent to Scotland as a teenager to marry their King James, over the many many years covered, she ended up having three marriages (died, divorced (and very off and on until the divorce was final), survived), and five children, only two of whom survived infancy.

Obviously there is a fictional element to the book, but the author puts a note in the end to discuss the historical elements, which was interesting (and I’ve had a go through some Wikipedia pages too to find out a bit more!). I found this paragraph from the author’s note particularly interesting to show why she told the story in the way she did:

“[…] I was struck by how their histories intertwined and reflected each other. They all three experienced arranged marriages, were widowed, and remarried the men of their choice. They all three lost children in infancy. They all three depended on the goodwill of Henry VIII, they all three fell from his favour, all three were threatened by the rise of Anne Boleyn. They were all born princesses, but experienced debt and even poverty.”

At some points it felt a bit repetitive, in and out of relationships, and so many lost pregnancies and children between the three women. Much as these are obviously really sad things, in a novel I guess it can just get a bit “oh that again” when it happens so often, but sadly a reality of that time.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

The Sacred Diary Of Adrian Plass, Christian Speaker Aged 45 3/4 – by Adrian Plass

30 05 2023

A sequel to the original Sacred Diary, Adrian is now being more recognised as a Christian speaker, and a few members of his church form a support group for him, to pray, to discuss plans, to review speaking engagements. The book even involves an international booking for him!

I’ve never quite worked out where the line is drawn between fiction and non-fiction in these books – I’ve read him say that his son Gerald is fictional, but some of the events must surely be based on his experiences. Ultimately I decided not to worry about it too much, and just enjoy it.

In this book, Gerald has tried writing his own version of some Bible stories, with alternative endings – quite funny, but not sure if one or two took it too far!

I love Adrian Plass’ writing, even in this at least partly fictitious version of himself he is still warm, relatable, self-deprecating, funny and wise – all the things we love about him!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Books I've Read

The Switch – by Beth O’Leary

18 05 2023

I’ve really enjoyed Beth O’Leary’s books so far, and this was no exception!

Leena is forced to take a two month break from work after a bad presentation, after which it’s noted that she hasn’t taken annual leave in forever.

Her grandmother, Eileen, recently split from her unfaithful husband, and doesn’t want that to be it.

They decide to swap places for the two months, Leena heading up to Eileen’s little village in Yorkshire and keeping up with Eileen’s social responsibilities there – and Eileen heading down to Leena’s flat share in London, hitting the dating apps, and revamping the communal area of the building to create a space for those who are lonely. And because it’s chick-lit, of course there are romantic storylines for both of them. There were some very sad parts too – throughout is the background that Leena’s sister died a year or two ago, and how Leena’s relationship with her mum has suffered since then.

You could see where some threads were going from pretty early on, but I don’t think that’s always a bad thing, and some still kept you guessing.

Overall it was a fun read, uplifting, and very sweet, I particularly enjoyed the neighbourhood watch gang up in Yorkshire.

A couple of silly quotes that made me fold page corners down from those people:

“And she’s vegan. Which is really annoying.”
“Oh yes, my friend Kathleen has that.”
“Has what, sorry?”
“Veganism.”

“She loves detective stories.”
“Most nosy people do, it’s good validation.”


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

The Four Loves – by C.S. Lewis

6 05 2023

At only 170 pages, I thought I might get through this fairly quickly, even if it is non-fiction. I was wrong, it took me nearly two months! I think really it was just a bit too clever for me.

Lewis discusses the difference between need-pleasures and appreciative pleasures, between need-love and gift-love, before getting to the main content of the book – the four types of love: Affection (storge), Friendship (philia), Eros (romantic) and Charity (agape).

From the chapter on friendship: “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather, it is one of those things which give value to survival.”

Eros he says is about the Beloved, not necessarily the sexual connotation we tend to give the word – he separates this part out and names it “Venus”. (They can come together, but there can also be “Venus, uncontaminated by Eros”). All this makes the following quote less weird: “Affection is taken as the image when God is represented as our Father; Eros, when Christ is represented as the Bridegroom of the Church.”

The book doesn’t have the best attitude towards women, at one point considering them unable to join men’s conversations as they would need the discussion explained to them. But I think we just have to put this down to the time the book was written, and move on.

There was an interesting section at the end about whether we’ll recognised loved ones in heaven, but I genuinely couldn’t tell you what his stance was on it. Probably a book for people more studious than myself – I’m very much ready to dive back into some chick-lit now.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All – by Jonas Jonasson

10 03 2023

I’ve enjoyed everything of Jonasson’s that I’ve read so far, so it was a no-brainer to read another!

Our main characters are a hitman, recently out of prison and staying in a cheap hotel, a hotel receptionist called Per Persson (at which, the author points out the name isn’t that weird, given his own!), and an athiest former priest who only went into the business ‘cos her father made her.

The receptionist and the priest (as the author mostly refers to them) hatch a plan to earn money, hiring him out to commit more minor crimes (broken bones, etc), but eventually this escalates and they end up on the run with millions of Kroner in a couple of suitcases.

The hitman has discovered Christianity, but not the most accurate form of it – his involves significantly larger portion sizes of communion wine for one thing – and the receptionist and the priest see a way to earn more cash, in having him preach generosity to a gently sozzled congregation.

I’m really not sure what genre I’d assign to this – comedic crime?! Whatever it is, it’s very engaging.

Favourite quote: “Sometimes the line between manliness and sheer stupidity can be razor-thin.”

The book is complete chaos and I loved it.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Books I've Read

Persuasion – by Jane Austen

3 02 2023

I didn’t manage to fit a Jane Austen into my reading last year, so made sure I got one in early this year!

The 1995 adaptation of Persuasion is my mum’s favourite, but not one I was ever that familiar with. I ended up watching both the ’95 (Amanda Room & Ciaran Hinds) and ’07 (Sally Hawkins & Rupert Penry-Jones) versions last year though, ready to try out Netflix’s version, so I was all warmed up and ready to give the book a go!

Anne Elliot was in love at 19, but persuaded to refuse an engagement proposal due to his being a naval officer. We meet her now age 27 (shockingly old to still be single!) as their paths cross again; he’s now a captain. Anne finds she still has feelings for him, but it seems his interest lies in her sister Mary’s sister-in-law.

Mary is probably the character who provides the most humour in the story; she is one of the main things I remembered from the ’95 adaptation because she is played so wonderfully by Sophie Thompson – “I am so ill!”. The problem with adaptations from the pre-internet era is that I cannot find you a clip of her in this role on YouTube, but it’s worth watching for her alone, I promise. (When looking for a trailer I could only find one for the ’07 version even then!)

There’s a relatively well known part of the story where some of them go to visit Lyme [Regis], and walk along The Cobb. The Cobb is one of the places where I had one of my worse reactions to heights, we were going to walk along it, but my legs went to jelly and I had to get down pretty quick and walk along the bottom while everyone else went along the top. I don’t understand how they still let people up there with no health and safety given the regulations applied to so many other things! Hah! (If you’re not familiar with The Cobb, do Google it or go on Google street view).

Of Austen’s six completed novels, I’ve now only got Mansfield Park to go! But have still got Sanditon etc to try after that.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

A Christmas Cornucopia – by Mark Forsyth

29 12 2022

Absolutely brilliant! My brother got me this for Christmas and it goes through the history and reasons behind so many things about our traditions at Christmas. From carols, to boxing day, to the life story of Santa Claus (who is a different person to Father Christmas), there was SO much to interest! I had to stop myself reading out every other paragraph to anyone who’d listen!

It even dispels the urban myth that Santa didn’t wear red and white until Coca Cola got involved. In fact it rubbishes various theories you often hear about many things, including why we celebrate on 25th December. I even learnt about why we shouldn’t ever be singing the words or tune we currently do for Hark the Herald, which made me sad.

I won’t spoil any more of it for you, but the tone is very light-hearted, and at only about 150 pages, it’s a lovely little read for this time of year – highly recommended!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Books I've Read

« Previous Entries Next Entries »