There are a number of films that I tend to just to assume that I’ve seen, mostly these are the ones that are on television so often that it’s easy to think that I must have caught them at some point. Or ones which have entered the collective consciousness and seem so familiar that I must have seen them…
Hausfrau
30 March 2015 by Leave a Comment
It’s not easy moving to another country, I only moved from Glasgow to Weymouth when I left home after university and it was a huge culture shock. It took me a while to get used to my new home. Even now, 15 years on, England is still a bit of a foreign country…
I Was A Male War Bride
26 March 2015 by 2 Comments
The easiest question in the world for me to answer is “Who is your favourite actor?” From the age of about six or seven the answer has been the same – Cary Grant. There are others I admire – James Stewart runs Grant a close second, Tom Hanks is always impressive…
I Let You Go
25 March 2015 by 4 Comments
The other day I reviewed Clare Donoghue’s brilliant crime novel No Place to Die and declared it to be my favourite book of the year so far. It really was, until the very next book I read. Clare Mackintosh’s amazing I Let You Go is not just my favourite book of this year (so far) but one of the best I’ve read in a very long time…
No Place to Die
23 March 2015 by Leave a Comment
What’s your worst fear? I’m terrified of flying (or at least I’m terrified of not flying), for other people it’s heights, crowds or snakes. One fear I would expect to see come high on the lists of most popular phobias is that of being buried alive. It’s a horrible thought, the darkness…
August: Osage County
18 March 2015 by Leave a Comment
There’s a very specific kind of acting that I can’t stand. It’s over the top, it’s shouty, it’s showy, it’s very much aimed at getting awards. I refer to it as ACTING with all capital letters, when you speak about it you slip into a loud, plummy accent. ACTING darling, ACTING…
The Abrupt Physics of Dying
16 March 2015 by Leave a Comment
It’s often said “Don’t judge a book by its cover” but let’s be honest, we all do it don’t we? If a cover doesn’t draw our attention then it’s unlikely that we will pick up the book, scan the blurb and read the front page. For some people a pastel cover with shiny text screams “chick lit” and they’ll avoid at all costs…
The Boy In The Book
14 March 2015 by Leave a Comment
I am a child of the 80s. We made our own fun back then – none of this X-box, Snapchat or Facebook malarkey. We had our own imaginations to keep us going. If that makes me sound like an old gimmer then fair enough, I probably am. Unsurprisingly = most of my fun came from reading and for a time in the mid-80s I was fascinated by the “Choose your own adventure” stories…
Maleficent
13 March 2015 by Leave a Comment
A rape analogy, a depiction of insanity brought by the relentless pursuit of power and the message that familial love is more powerful than teen romance. Not exactly what I was expecting from a Disney retelling of one of its own beloved stories but that’s exactly what I got from Maleficent, the live-action version of Sleeping Beauty…
Season to Taste
12 March 2015 by Leave a Comment
Every now and then I receive a book that makes me throw my review schedule out of the window and read it straight away rather than in strict order. The concept will just grab me and I’ll need to know more. Natalie Young’s Season to Taste: or How to Eat Your Husband was one such book…