Sci-fi movie fest! #RRSciFiMonth
15 November 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #RRSciFiMonth, Broke and Bookish, Movie freebie, Top Ten Tuesday

Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is :
Movie Freebie

Given that November is Sci Fi Month (organised by Rinn Reads and Over the Effing Rainbow this is a fun event that celebrates sci fi) I’m going with science fiction movies and here are ten that I always enjoy:
1. Alien – I love this film. It’s dark and downright scary. I recall years ago watching a documentary about the making of the film and one story stood out to me – which was about the shooting of the ‘chest burster’ scene where the alien breaks out of Kane’s chest. Apparently the other actors – although they knew that the alien would be, literally, bursting out, they weren’t aware of all the special effects in terms of the blood and viscera. The scene was a one take effort and the stunned surprise that you witness was real as opposed to actual acting! I think that’s a great story. I have no idea if it’s true but the scene is brilliant!

2. Star Wars – and I’m talking about the first film now (as I refuse to call it No4). No funny story as such but a whole bunch of quotes – guess the character:
“You don’t need to see his identification … These aren’t the droids you’re looking for … He can go about his business … Move along.”
“I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
“Boring conversation anyway. Luke, we’re gonna have company!”
“Into the garbage chute, flyboy!”
“What a piece of junk!”
3. Jurassic Park. I thought maybe a little bit of useless (or incredibly useful depending on your pov) info about the main star – the T-rex. One of the largest built animatronics. 20 feet tall and weighing 17,500 pounds (which, wow!) The roar was a combination of a baby elephant, tiger and alligator. The breath was a whale’s blow and the sounds of the T-rex tearing apart a Gallimimus were created by recording a dog attacking a rope toy!

4. Avatar. Production originally began in 1994 and yet the film didn’t premiere until 2009! This film may have cost A LOT to produce but it surely must be one of the most visually stunning pieces of work ever and here’s the original trailer if you want to have a gander:
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5. Matrix – maybe not everyone’s cup of tea but I loved this and it certainly set the bar for action scenes with the invention of Bullet Time (not to mention a lot of spoofs)! I love all the references in the film, e.g. Morpheus (Greek God of dreams). But I particularly like the Alice in Wonderland reference. ‘follow the white rabbit’.

6. Terminator 2 – great film – and surely has some of the best quotes ever! Well, you might not really ever have need of them but I like them – here are a few:
‘I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.’
‘Come with me if you want to live!’
‘Say… That’s a nice bike…’
‘Did you call *moi* a dipshit?’
7. 12 Monkeys – time travelling, post apocalyptic, neo noir – what’s not to love? In fairness though, I didn’t love this the first time I saw it! But then it just grew on me – like a mutated fungus!!!

8. The Fifth Element – funnily enough this is another Bruce Willis film (see above) and was also another film that took a little while to grow on me (yet more fungus – just call me a truffle!).
Leeloo: Leeloo Dallas mul-ti-pass. Korben Dallas: Yeah. Leeloo: Mul-ti-pass. Korben Dallas: Yeah, multipass, she knows it's a multipass. Leeloo Dallas. This is my wife. Leeloo: Mul-ti-pass. Korben Dallas: We're newlyweds. Just met. You know how it is. We bumped into each other, sparks happen... Leeloo: Mul-ti-pass. Korben Dallas: Yes, she knows it's a multipass. Anyway, we're in love.
And here: ‘Big Bada Boom!’
9. Interstellar – I think this film is fantastic. I definitely needed to watch it more than once though I will admit! Very clever and some mind bending scenes!

10. Finally, Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The movie trailer (plus bonus points for spotting the Potter character):
Ode to bloggers..
11 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: 10 book blogger recommendations, Broke and Bookish, Top Ten Tuesday

Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is :
Ten Books I’ve Read Because Of Another Blogger
One of the beauties of blogging is the number of amazing books that I’ve picked up as a result of great recommendations. This list barely scratches the surface of course – not to mention I can’t in fairness always remember who recommended a book. Of course a lot of books I’ve stumbled on purely by good fortune (or dumb luck) but here are a few examples of books that I probably would have overlooked (at least for a while):
- I am Legend by Richard Matheson – this is one of many titles that I came to read courtesy of Jenny at Wondrous Reads.
- The Troupe by Robert J Bennett – recommended to me by Andrea at The Little Red Reviewer – again, one of many titles that I’ve picked up from this excellent blog!
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman – I first read about this on Carl’s Stainless Steel Droppings blog – I can also credit Sanderson’s Way of Kings and Butcher’s Dresden files to my early exploration of this blog.
- The Kushiel books by Jacqueline Carey. To be honest I had already read Kushiel’s Dart but hadn’t continued with the series. Thanks to Susan at Dab of Darkness and a number of readalongs involving a host of other bloggers I’m now in the process of reading my sixth book from this series (Kushiel’s Mercy).
- My favourite UF of the moment – the Toby Daye series by Seanan McGuire. Currently reading book six as part of a readalong. I wouldn’t have picked up this series without the readalongs organised by Lisa at Over The Effing Rainbow.
- Danya at Fine Print recommended to me Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews which was a rather sizzling first in series that I really look forward to continuing with!
- Mogsy at the Bibliosanctum first drew my attention to Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier which I loved.
- Lisa at Tenacious Reader recently wrote a review for Rae Carson’s Walk on Earth a Stranger. Now, I had seen this around the blogosphere a number of times and I like the look of it already but this review I think really pushed me over the edge with this one. I haven’t yet picked it up but it’s on the top of my list now.
- The next two are slightly different. The Classics Club blog is a blog where people come together to talk about classic literature and to set themselves up with a list of books that they would like to way. It’s a way of encouraging us all to pick up some of the older books that we might otherwise not get to. I’ve read some good books so far – my last one was the very dark and spooky House of Usher by Poe.
- Finally, three different sci fi events hosted by Rinn Reads, Stainless Steel Droppings and Little Red Reviewer that have increased my sci reading enormously. For example, I never would have read Flowers for Algernon or Fahrenheit 451 without these events and that would have been a crying shame.
And now, a little buffet of covers:
I love you, I love you not!
24 May 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Broke and Bookish, Ten books I feel differently about, Top Ten Tuesday

Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is:
Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed
I think this is a tough one and required a lot of thought. Of course ‘feeling differently’ I suddenly realised doesn’t have to be a negative! Anyway, for differing reasons here are my books – some that I think I would like more and some maybe not so much.
- The Hobbit by JRRTolkien – this was a school book and so I never really had good associations with it – until I reread it later on in life and was able to take in the detail and enjoy it more.
- The Lord of the Rings by JRRTolkien – this is a book that I read years ago and really enjoyed it, I then reread it years later, after all three films, and loved it even more!
- Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. This is a book that I read after my own personal discovery of Neil Gaiman and before I really had a proper appreciation for Terry Pratchett. As it is I feel I could probably reread this as at the time I didn’t really give it proper attention.
- The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe – I read this when I was in my ‘romantic’ years. I’m not sure I would enjoy this now, I did at the time because it had this gothic feel – I think I would probably find it a bit tedious now.
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – not my favourite Bronte novel to be honest as the two main protagonists are so selfish. I sometimes wonder if I should give it another go though – just purely because I think my view on this was coloured by the film which isn’t quite as bleak.
- Moon Called by Patricia Briggs – this is the first of the Mercedes Thompson stories – and to be honest, though I love this series now – I didn’t enjoy the first book and in fact only kept reading because I bought all three at the same time and so was determined to finish. I think it could be interesting to revisit this and see how I feel about it now given that I know Mercy a little better.
- The Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine – I read this entire series out of sheer ‘I will not be beaten’ syndrome. Would I particularly recommend them – not really. That being said there’s nothing wrong with the series and I did have fun with it but these are very much YA books.
- The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks – I love this book, except the ending, which felt almost tacked on. I quite often feel like I should go back and revisit it – maybe I just raced to the end in my eagerness to find out how things would conclude.
- Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier – I’ve read this book a few times and I always love it – in fact I think each reading just makes me like it more. I can’t pin down why it’s just one of my ‘go to’ books.
- The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer- this is a series that seems to take a lot of ‘beating’ nowadays. In fairness, I read all the books and at the time I enjoyed them. I can’t and won’t try to deny it and I was certainly swept up like a lot of others! However, on reflection, would I still read them. No. Probably not. I think I would be annoyed with both main characters if I was to read this series now. I can’t be sure of course but I don’t feel inclined to try.
Not at all bookish!
10 May 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: 10 none bookish websites, Broke and Bookish, Top Ten Tuesday

Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is:
‘Ten Websites I Love That Aren’t About Books’
Wow – I found this one a toughie to be honest. I don’t think I check out too many websites or blogs that aren’t book-centric but here are mine:
- Genkinahito – a great site mostly about movies that I’ve been following and enjoying for years: Taken from the about page: ‘I work in an art gallery but I love films, anime, gaming and Japan. I am also learning Japanese. I sometimes write for magazines and film festivals and other websites and I have been known to interview/talk to the odd director and actor’
- Carmen’s books and movies – although this does include some book reviews as well I really enjoy Carmen’s thoughts on films.
- @pabkins – on twitter and instagram. Also a book review blog called Not Yet Read – but, I’m focusing here on the twitter and instagram. All sorts of arts and crafts. Lots of fun events. Great personality and very talented.
- Bayou Quilts – a blog belonging to Jenclair – a very creative blogger with lots of ideas for arts and crafts
- imdb – i love movie sites!
- Rotten Tomatoes – ditto the above
- Wikipedia – just because I use it for all sorts!
- Any number of foodie websites – for example BBCGoodFood
- Amazon – and, yes, I know this is a source for books – but I use it for Prime which allows me to watch certain series – such as Outlander or Vikings – because, VIKINGS!
- This is a blank space for you to give me some ideas
Where are they now??
3 May 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Broke and Bookish, Ten characters we'd like to read more of, Top Ten Tuesday

Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is:
‘Ten Childhood Characters You’d Love To Revisit As Adults’
Now, it’s quite possible that some of these already have follow on novels – but I’ve either not read them or I’m not aware so here are mine for this week:
- Alice from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland – just what did happen to Alice?
- Harry, Hermione and Ron – I know that J K Rowling wrote them grown up with their own children – but I’d like to see maybe a few of the years in-between.
- Merry, Pippin and Sam from JRR Tolkien’s LotR – I mean, we know that Sam married his young lady from the Inn but what happened to Merry and Pippin.
- Nobody, Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book. To be honest I really thought we might hear more about what happened to Bod.
- Mowgli from Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book.
- Christopher from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon – it would be interesting to read another tale from Christopher and gain a little more of his perspective.
- Melanie from the Girl With all the Gifts by M R Carey – I am curious. Or maybe I just want to read more from this particular alternative world.
- Katsa from Kristin Cashore’s Graceline – I really enjoyed this world and the character of Katsa.
- Judith from All the Truth That’s in Me by Julie Berry. I loved this book and would gladly return.
- I have to go here – Kvothe, Patrick Rothfuss – yes, I so want to read more about what happens to Kvothe. If any one wants to throw me a line and let me know when the third book will be out then please do so!




