chesilbeach

I went to see Bill at the cinema on Friday morning. I've not seen any of the Horrible Histories television programme, but it's made by the same team as far as I know. I loved it. Lots of things for both kids and adults, with the main ensemble cast all playing multiple characters, and just good fun. Can't wait for it to come on telly so I can watch with my other half.

Read The Snow Sister this morning, and it's as charming as all Emma Carroll's other books, and has a lovely message too. A perfect little Christmas story. I'm almost 100 pages into The Bone Clocks now, and hoping to sit down for a good long session with it after lunch.

I read a bit on my Kindle this morning and tried the landscape mode, and because you don't have the keyboard or buttons on the Paperwhite, it actually worked really well. I did actually find it easy to hold and more balanced in my hand. Might continue for a while and see how it goes.

Georgia & Giovanni - salsa - Why have nearly all salsas on Strictly become disco dances? Lifts didn't fit and Craig was right about the stop/start nature in and out of them, but I do like watching these two dance. Carol & Pasha - Viennese waltz - I think Carol is definitely improving, although there is still plenty to work on, this was the most musical of all her dances so far. Anita & Gleb - tango - I personally didn't like the stylised opening and finish, BUT, Anita danced the actual tango section in the middle brilliantly. I think it suffered from being early in the programme, and would have scored higher if it had come at the end. Definitely one of my most anticipated couples to watch each week. Peter & Janette - rumba Not bad for a male celebrity rumba, but he did seem to shuffle a bit in the transitions. Nice to see him early in the show and not dancing in the last few dances again. Kirsty & Brendan - Viennese waltz - my favourite of Kirsty's dances by far. Too much killing time getting down the stairs at the beginning, but once she got into it, I was surprised by how good I thought she did. Love watching Brendan ballroom dance as well Ainsley & Natalie - jive - Had to watch it again, as I spent all my time watching Nat last night! On the positive side, he had good timing and rhythm, but the kicks and flicks were a bit ugly at times, but Nat looked great Jamelia & Tristan - foxtrot Oh what a shame she went wrong and couldn't pick it up again properly. The first half was lovely, not technically perfect, but I was really enjoying it, and then that mistake and she just lost it. Up until then it was my favourite of her dances so far. Katie & Anton - salsa I think I watched a different dance to the judges. It looked to me like Anton went wrong, not Katie, and then she tried to dance what had been choreographed at the end and he just made it up! I thought she danced the basic salsa step really well, and used the floor well, and also was able to keep the footwork going while doing the armography, which most celebs fail to do. And some good proper salsa not disco. I enjoyed it! Jeremy & Karen - watlz. It was okay, but too much out of hold for my liking. Gapping when they were in hold, but that might be because of the difference in their heights. Instantly forgettable. Helen & Aljaž - quickstep - I didn't understand the story at the beginning, but once they got on the floor, I really enjoyed it. Another one I had to watch a second time, as I end up focussing on Aljaž when he dances as he puts so much personality and charm into his performance, but I thought Helen did really well. Jay & Aliona - paso doble Very impressive - I do think he did get the Spanish arms right, although I would have liked a bit more shaping in his body, as he was a bit too straight in his back. I actually felt that he had much more character in his performance this time around rather than rabbit in the headlights, remembering his steps. If it'd had a better song, it would have been great! (I actually watched it on mute while playing a paso song, and it looked so much better). Kellie & Kevin - jive Absolutely hated the story and the props, and I don't think the song suited a jive either. The bits where she was holding the suitcase looked odd, as it looked unbalanced, as when she was trying to reach out for the suitcase towards the end. Arms and hands weren't great - needs to go and watch the Halfpenny jive to see how to use her arms and hands to complete the look of the jive. I think the bottom two will be out of Carol, Jeremy, Ainsley and Jamelia, but Jeremy seems popular with the public, although maybe that's been in the more fun dances, and the seriousness of the waltz this week will put him down there, but if Jamelia is in there, if she doesn't go wrong this time, and dances the whole dances as well as the first half, then I think the judges would vote for her.

My old keyboard Kindle did, and I've just checked my Paperwhite and that does it too. Which version do you have, Ben?

It doesn't help that the group dances are rubbish nowadays. They used to be demonstrations of the ballroom and latin dances, choreographed by the pros on the show, but now seem to be just generic moving to music with no distinguishable style, and like you said, Kay, just manic. And it's another Charleston this week - why are they so bloody obsessed with the bloody Charleston???? It's not like the pros even know it, they have to get outsiders in to choreograph, and it hasn't even got much technique. Urgh. I miss group dances like this:

I used to really like Aliona on ITT (how could you not love someone who had a cupboard full of tins of custard), but when she started bellyaching about always getting the duffer over the last few years, she's gone done in my estimation. I think it spoiled Greg's Strictly last year, and if he'd danced with someone else (despite having to dance some stupid cooking theme shoehorned into his routine) he might have enjoyed it more, and perhaps lasted a bit longer, which I always like for someone who loved the show and wanted the full Strictly experience. Fortunately, if Kay's backing Jay, chances are he won't win so Aliona won't be the first pro to win twice

I've picked up Claxton by Mark Cocker a few times in the bookshop (including this morning), but can't decide whether to get it for myself, or buy as a present for my OH for Christmas and then just read it after him. I've become quite keen on books including nature whether fiction or non-fiction at the moment, and this one looks good.

Finished the excellent and chilling Monsters by Emerald Fennell yesterday and I've now started reading The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. I was carrying the hardback around until I was sure I was going to read it, but after 50 pages, I figured I might as well buy the Kindle version, as it's not going to be a short read, and it's just too big to carry everywhere. Have also started listening to Northanger Abbey as I'd run out of podcasts, and I'm doing the A Tale of Two Cities group read too, so that's three books on the go at once Needed to kill some time waiting for the bus home, so stopped off in the bookshop and actually managed to find a copy of Emma Carroll's latest book, The Snow Sister, although at only 100 pages, it's more of a novella than a novel. Still, I'm looking forward to it, and will probably read it tomorrow.

I only read my Kindle in portrait, but if I'm reading on my tablet, I'll tend to read in landscape, and sometimes have the view set to two pages wide, so it looks like a book on the screen.

Aw frankie … I don't know whether to congratulate or commiserate with you! Still, at least you'll never be in want of a book to read

I'm not sure it'll last though - last time, they broadcast the first half the series up until you take your Christmas break, but they didn't start again for a few months after that, and then they took a second break before the last few episodes - it's so frustrating!!!

Decided to start Monsters by Emerald Fennell today. Excellent so far

Hello Amber! I see you're reading A Week In December at the moment … I'll be interested to hear what you make of it

And back to Strictly … We were talking about Jay's song last night, and OH didn't know the Bon Jovi song, and when we played a clip of it I came across the Talk Talk song of the same name, and we both agreed that would make a much better paso song with the right arrangement! The only other song choice I don't like is Jeremy's waltz which I'm sure is in 4/4 time? Never like a waltz without a 3/4 or 6/8 time sig.

I haven't read any of his books before, so I'm going in with an open mind. I wouldn't have chosen it myself, but I'm happy to give it a go, especially as I've had to miss the last few meetings and it will be good to discuss a shared book with them all again! I'm going to read a bit first and if I'm enjoying it, I'll probably buy the Kindle version so I won't have to walk around lopsided

I finished my chapters for this weeks instalment of A Tale of Two Cities today, so I need something new to read until the end of the week. I know I need to start The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell for my book group, but I can't carry that big a hardback into work!

It's this version read by Gareth Armstrong. He's got a very traditional sort of style of voice, which matches the tone of the writing and is adding to that earnest feel to it all. The first chapter wasn't so bad, as when their mother was present, I sort of felt she had an affectionate teasing attitude to their serious stance on their upcoming adventure, but now it's the children on their own, it's just a bit much for me. You're absolutely right, that's how it was then, and I think Enid Blyton is probably more caricatured (for want of a better word) which makes it more light and endearing to me. Like I said, I'm not writing it off, just need to make sure I don't try and listen for long periods at a time, maybe just a couple of chapters at a time.

We're about three weeks in to the 2015 series of MasterChef Australia. I'm so pleased they've gone back to the original format for the last couple of series, it's so good. Only a few of people in the top 24 I wasn't keen on, but they've nearly all gone already, and I just love watching how they all improve as they learn so much from the judges and chefs they work with.

New series (series 9) in the UK starts next Thursday on E4. I didn't think the last series was as good as earlier ones, but there were still some highlights in there, and can't wait to see where the cliffhanger they left us with will go.

I was just going to post this link about it! Different article, but pretty much the same content, but still, Gilmore Girls news is Gilmore Girls news, and we want to read it ALL.

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I started listening to Swallows and Amazons yesterday … hmm, not keen so far. I know I love Enid Blyton, most of which are quintessentially upper/middle class, but I found S&A to be a bit much. I felt all the Captain Jack and Mister Mate, and the sheer earnestness of it was a bit much to take, and after an hour I'd had enough. I'm not giving up on it, I just think I'm going to have to listen in smaller sessions. Today, I started A Tale of Two Cities for the group read, and I'm really enjoying it so far! I've read the first five chapters, and it's very good.

Anita & Gleb - I thought she did pretty well considering it's only week 4, and the samba is a really difficult dance for both technique and the different rhythms, and the choreography was full on from Gleb Daniel & Kristina - Not bad, good footwork and Kristina put as much class into the routine as she could based on his ability Kirsty & Brendan. Terrible song choice, but Brendan has been defending it on Twitter today saying it was his choice, because Carol was using a traditional song, he wanted to choose something completely different, and while I don't mind using something contemporary I didn't think it worked for a paso. Georgia & Giovanni - much happier with the content for her, and I think she coped well with it, just needed to smile when in hold, and she lost her frame a bit towards the end. Jeremy & Karen - at least a half of the routine was either in the bath, standing still or that stupid lying on the floor step. I know it's tricky for tall people, but I'd rather see someone try and actually dance than hide the fact they can't in silly sets or choreographed standing around. Kellie & Kevin - loved it. Loved the back story, loved the song, loved the romance of the opening and how Kevin choreographed it from the close social hold stepping into the ballroom hold, loved Kellie's heel turn … I loved it! Jamelia & Tristan - so much better! Really suited her, but if I'm honest, I'm sick of seeing so many Charleston's, and I can't believe it will ever be better than Sophie & Brendan from a few years ago. Jay & Aliona - poor Jay. It took nearly 30 seconds to get in hold which bothered me, and after the first mistake I thought he'd picked it up, but another slip and it all went wrong from there. Definitely positives there though, and I think he'll be back better next time Carol & Pasha - much better than expected, definitely her best dance so far Ainsley & Natalie - meh. I just can't get excited about Ainsley, despite loving Nat. Helen & Aljaž - she surprised me with an improvement on her last latin, although that song and dance was used by Pamela Stephenson a few years back, and she stumbled and shimmied her way out of a spin that is still one of my favourite Strictly moments, and I couldn't get that out of my mind! Peter & Janette - it looked to me like his legs were bent not flexed, and he had a habit of lifting his left elbow which made his frame look odd, but it's still only week 4 - even for Peter! - and I thought it was a good effort. Katie & Anton - loved it! Only her second ballroom and I thought her hold was very good, but I don't think she closed her feet properly on the natural and reverse turns. Despite what Claudia said on the results show, it was Anton's fourth time at the top of the leader board, but still, it's a very rare occasion we've seen him there! As for the dance off, I think Daniel deserved to go, if you base it on the dance off alone, which is what the judges are supposed to do. He went wrong just over half way through, and the middle section was completely made up, and then when he did pick it up again they were ahead of the music and got to the end section too quickly and again had to make it up again. He lost his frame as well as the steps, and the judges would have picked up on that. Kirsty actually looked better to me in the dance off, including trying to improve her posture and the shapes were better than first time around, and she kept to the routine, which Daniel didn't, so I thought it was the right choice.

We're having another group read and this time we've decided on A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. We've split it up into five sections of around 80 pages each, reading one section per week. We'll be discussing our progress along the way, so there will be spoilers! Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): Lucie Manette has been separated from her father for eighteen years while he languished in Paris's most feared prison, the Bastille. Finally reunited, the Manettes' fortunes become inextricably intertwined with those of two men, the heroic aristocrat Darnay and the dissolute lawyer Carton. Their story, which encompasses violence, revenge, love and redemption, is grippingly played out against the backdrop of the terrifying brutality of the French Revolution. Please feel free to join in! We may find we need to change the timescales as we go along, but will update this first post to say what instalment we're currently reading, with links to where each discussion starts, but please bear in mind, there will be spoilers! Week 1 - reading until Sunday 25th Oct 2015 Issue 1 – Book 1, Chapters 1 to 4 (p 27) Issue 2 – Book 1, Chapters 5 to 6 (p 51) Issue 3 – Book 2, Chapters 1 to 3 (p 80) – total 80 pages Week 2 - reading until Sunday 1st Nov 2015 - discussion of this section starts here Issue 4 – Book 2, Chapters 4 to 6 (p 107) Issue 5 – Book 2, Chapters 7 to 9 (p 135) Issue 6 – Book 2, Chapters 10 to 13 (p 161) – total 81 pages Week 3 - reading until Sunday 8th Nov 2015 Issue 7 – Book 2, Chapters 14 to 15 (p 184) Issue 8 – Book 2, Chapters 16 to 18 (p 209) Issue 9 – Book 2, Chapters 19 to 21 (p 233) – total 72 pages Week 4 - reading until Sunday 15th Nov 2015 - discussion of this section starts here Issue 10 – Book 2, Chapters 22 to 24 (p 260) Issue 11 – Book 3, Chapters 1 to 3 (p 286) Issue 12 – Book 3, Chapters 4 to 7 (p 313) – total 80 pages Week 5 - reading until Sunday 22nd Nov 2015 Issue 13 – Book 3, Chapters 8 to 9 (p 341) Issue 14 – Book 3, Chapters 10 to 12 (p 371) Issue 15 – Book 3, Chapters 13 to 15 (p 404) – total 91 pages All reading dates subject to change after discussion.