timebug

Hayley and Kudz; whilst I am not a fan of the Harry Potter series in any way shape or form, my neice has the whole collection narrated by Stephen Fry, which she swears are totally engrossing. She also has one of the U.S versions read by JIm Dale which may be the one you refer to, where he draws it out and uses a whiny approach to the whole thing?

Promise

Guilty

I would expand Hayley's post above, and say that (IMO) any of Ray Bradbury's short story collections are well worth a visit! And John Wyndham's short story collections are a delight.

I will sneak in and win...at least for a short time!

I am three episodes in now, will watch episode four later today probably, and find it has improved; it still has various stumbling blocks as regards the quality of the acting and script dialogue, but overall, the stunning visuals are carrying it along! (So far!)

I had the 'Reacher'argument a couple of years ago with a lady friend. She reads classics and only classics, and she berated me for 'wasting time reading trashy novels like that'. I pointed out that my own choice of reading is generally a good biography/autobiography or historical book, followed by a couple of quick 'thriller' or mystery novels, to clear my brain, ready for the next 'serious' book I read. Among those 'quick' reads, were the Reacher series, which I find to be generally well thought out and well executed plots, and Reacher himself is a solid (In more ways than one!) 'hero' of the stories. As a much younger man, I used to condemn people who read Mills & Boon romances, now, I accept that whilst they may not be to my tastes, there is a wide market out there for such things! So if you want to read an action/thriller with a convincing 'hero' then give the Reacher series a look. You may find it is worth the effort!

....And then, I watched 'Prey'. Having seen all of the previous 'Predator' films and noted that each one was worse than the one before, I came to this with very low expectations. Which were mostly correct. It had the odd scene that tried to make it rise above 'duh!' level but very few. Basic plot is that the Predator arrives on Earth three hundred years ago. A young girl in the local Cheyenne tribe starts to work out that in the woods, is something unpleasant. Enter a bunch of French Canadian trappers, uncouth and villainous, and prepare for mayhem. Nice idea, badly done, equals dull film.Next!

A Little Loving - The Fourmost Apologies for earlier when I posted ' Don't Stop Me Now - Queen' but the last post shown on my screen was 'Don't Stop the Dance - Roxy Music' and it was a logical follow on. Something must have prevented the later posts showing!

Watched 'Thor: Love and Thunder' and was thouroughly dischuffed by it! The first three 'Thor; films were (IMO) good fun with decent enough stories and comic book action. This one was a CGI Bore-fest from the word go! I am not a reader of the Marvel comics that these were taken from, and have not seen the ten thousand other Marvel films that (apparently) all inter-connect to form a whole; but this on was just tripe.

Whilst not a Christian myself, I have no problem supporting my friends who do believe, and like anything in life, so long as what you believe in causes no harm or distress to others, that is fine with me!

I read one novel may years ago that was being 'pushed' as a horror story, and it was the vilest most foul piece of rubbish that I have ever read. I will not name it here, as a caual reader may be tempted to find out the cause of my revulsion by checking it out. Suffice to say that it was really awful, in the truest senses of the word, and whilst I would defend banning anything and the 'burning of books' in this one case, I would happily make an exception.

Hux, I always found 'As I walked Out One Midsummer Morning' by Laurie Lee to be a fitting companion to his more famous 'Cider With Rosie'. A nice warm pair of books reflecting a bygone age where things seemed so much more innocent!

Watched both series,and found a sneaking regard for it. Okay, it is NOT the book, by any means, but a free-form jazz riff on the basic story, if you like! And i loved the ending which most critics online didn't!

Watched the first two episodes. Oh dear! Given a strong text and a decent story, why do the tv/film makers have to fiddle with it, alter it beyond recognition in many cases, in the name of 'drama'? Slow direction, which could have worked, had the story been made better use of, or the actors could actually act. For the most part they seem like a badly rehearsed am-dram group in your local Church Hall! Visually stunning, as apparently New Zealand lends itself to Tolkien-esque settings if filmed properly. The actors accents wander all over the shop, from cod-Irish to very cod 'Mummerset' and back. With touches of Americanisms thrown in, and some stiff upper lipped English! Will probably stick with it, poor as it is, because I love the original books and source material(s) that this is drawn from, but in general, as I started with; Oh Dear!

I was Texted by my Doctors Surgery on Monday and invited to sign up for my fourth Covid Jab (Booster) and a Flu jab! I did so and will be getting them on the First of next month. I had a reaction to my first one, when about eight hours after getting it, I went cold, shivery and slightly nauseous. It only lasted a few hours and I was then okay. Numbers two and three, I had no reaction at all. So here's hoping, for number four!

I loved the Stainless Steel Rat series, and after reading them, found everything I could get my Hands on by HH!

I have always been an avid reader, and love discussing books with any other reader. Like Hayley, I have many friends who share many interests with me, but very few of them are readers; it is good to discuss a favourite book that two or more of you have read and enjoyed, but many of my friends just will not read, and so these discussions just never happen! My elder Son loved reading, his younger brother was more sporty/outdoorsy/active and many of the talks I had with elder Son, about what we had read were totally 'over his head' as it were. My Grandaughter inherited the reading bug from her aged Grandad fortunately, and we have some cracking chats on what we think is good and otherwise. Like music (I have friends who do not listen to any music!) reading is a personal choice and one which I am glad that my own Mother passed on to me. My Father was a reader too, but never had the time to read everything that he wanted to, where my Mother always managed to fit in at least an hour a day on her current book!

Don't Stop Me Now - Queen

Just finished 'And Away....' the autobiography of Bob Mortimer. Comes axcross as a decent chap, with no artifice about him, but I was slightly disappointed to find that despite a number of friends and family telling me it was the 'funniest book' they have read, I did not think so. I have read books that I have found far more comical, but still, a decent enough book.

Hold Back The Night - Graham Parker & The Rumour

The Night Before - The Beatles

Had to go to our local Hospital for my annual blood test, and my appointment was for 9.am. Arrived and registered on the computer at around 8.45 and was called in at around 8.50! I was back home by 9.15 which was pretty good, as it is a fair walk there and back!

Have no 'new' books to hand at the moment, so in the past month I have re-read all of the Colin Dexter 'Morse' novels, a couple of Dick Francis' thrillers and a Desmond Bagley that was always a particular favourite! Must get hold of something new that I want to read......

Poppy, whilst I love the 'Hamish MacBeth' series, the 'Agatha Raisin' books give me more enjoyment/pleasure to read. But I never got on with the TV version. Firstly Agatha is dark haired, so why cast a blonde for her part? They also changed too many things about the supporting cast for my liking, and the whole thing came across (to me) as a quick 'lets cash in while we can' enterprise!