Author: Murdocal

Film Review – Wish (2023)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This film wasn’t really on my radar until one of the songs turned up on one of my Spotify daily playlists. I’m not one of these big Disney fans who watch the latest releases when they come out. If it’s something special then I’ll maybe check it out sooner but, most of the time, I’ll just wait until it’s available to stream. Before this week, I didn’t know much about Wish. Well, except that everyone hated it. The negative response certainly didn’t help convince me to see it. Still, I’d heard one of the songs and it was great. I knew I had to watch it and hear the rest. Even if it was terrible, I hoped that the soundtrack would be worth listening to.

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Book Review – Pity by Andrew McMillan

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I haven’t read any of Andrew McMillan’s poetry, so I didn’t have any expectations going into this one. I just knew that I wanted to read it. Not only is it set in the North of England, which is obviously very important to me. Especially as Andrew McMillan is actually a Northern writer. I’m so used to seeing Southern authors setting a book in the bleak North and presenting it as very backwards. It’s like they don’t see people from the North of England as real people. I had to hope that Andrew McMillan would be able to represent this part of the UK in a realistic way. In terms of story, it certainly sounded like my kind of book. I love a generation spanning tale that is inevitably going to be a bit bleak. It’s my jam. The fact that this also had queer representation and was so short was just more appealing. This could easily become my top read of 2024, so I had to give it a shot. It also helped that our book club chose it to be our final read before going our separate ways.

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Book Review – The Men by Sandra Newman

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I was totally on board with the concept of this book. I know it could be seen as divisive but I wanted to see how the premise would play out. I’m not a huge fan of dystopian fiction and gender based apocalypse narratives don’t always work out as well as they should. I still can’t get over how disappointing books like The Power by Naomi Alderman were and how horribly miss-sold we’ve been. Do we not want to hold ourselves to a higher standard with our feminist science-fiction? Even Margaret Attwood has slipped from her place near the top with the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. They’ll publish anything if it’s a feminist dystopia these days. I’m absolutely sick of it.

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown
Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

What a week. It’s just been non-stop at work and I’ve paid for it at home. The usual lack of sleep and tiredness has been here making reading difficult. Still, I managed to finish a couple of books this week, which means I’ve not lost momentum. I think April is going to end up being a really good month. I know it won’t keep happening for all of 2024 but it’s good to have a genuinely productive month for a chance. I still have a few more days, so who knows how many I’ll get through before May.

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Film Review – Scoop (2024)

films, reviews

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

I really loved Frost/Nixon when it came out. I’m not saying that I don’t love it now but I haven’t seen it in ages. Not only is it a film that portrays an important moment in history but it manages to capture the tension of the situation. I mention is because whoever wrote Scoop clearly thought this was their Frost/Nixon. This time, David Frost has been replaced by Emily Maitlis and the disgraced former president of the United States swapped for the disgraced son of the Queen of England. I know that Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview was a big deal after it came out but I wouldn’t have said it deserved to be turned into a film. After all, Prince Andrew is still a member of the royal family and hasn’t seen any real consequences to his actions. It doesn’t feel like quite as much of a win. But, having seen Rufus Sewell’s transformation, I had to see what the fuss was about.

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Book Review – The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Stuart Turton is one of those writers that has been on my TBR for ages now. I’ve had a copy of The Devil and the Dark Water since it came out. I don’t know what stopped me from picking it up but something did. It was probably just because it seemed so much bigger than the books I was reading at the time. Whatever it was, I didn’t read it. It’s a similar story with The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Okay, I don’t actually own a copy of it yet but I’ve been meaning to check it out for ages. I knew as soon as I read the synopsis of this book that I needed to get it. It just sounded so good and I say that as someone who normally avoids post-apocalyptic fiction. It just doesn’t excite me. This, on the other hand, did excite me.

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Bitesize Book Reviews 19

books, reviews
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I’ve been reading a lot more on my Kindle recently. It’s not the format I typically pick for my reading but I don’t know why. I think I’m quicker on my Kindle than I am with physical books. However, having a full Kindle library is less aesthetically pleasing than having a full physical library. The reason I’ve been doing more if that I realised that Amazon had started a Kindle Challenge and if there’s one thing I love it’s the gamification of reading. it’s the only reason I still bother to pick a Goodreads reading goal and try to keep my Storygraph streak going. I’m not trying to compete with anyone else but if I can compete with myself I’m a happy bunny. So, I decided to try and get more Kindle reading done and started a free trial of Kindle Unlimited. I’ve had KU before and not used it enough to justify it. I’m giving it a chance and picking a few fun graphic novels that I can fit in between my other reading.

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown
Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

Last week was a weird week. I took some time off to help my sister with childcare. So, it wasn’t exactly a break but I had a lot of fun. Then my last two days at work felt so awful. It was slow and busy. I also know that this week is going to feel even worse because I haven’t done a full week in so long. Thanks to Easter, it’s been over two weeks and I don’t know if I have it in me. I’ll have to try and get better at sleeping this week because I’m already so tired. I’ve spent a lot of last night reading and I plan on doing the same today. I have a lot to catch up on and I have a lot to get through this month. Although, I’m feeling pretty good about everything. I’ve slipped a few extras in recently so my count is looking healthy. It’s just about crossing off the books that I need to get to.

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Film Review – Damsel (2024)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

You have to hand it to Millie Bobby Brown. She’s trying really hard to create inspiring characters that young women and girls can look up to. She’s been banging on about how great Damsel would be a feminist dream in the same way that Emma Watson did about the Beauty and the Beast remake. We all remember how that went. I’m all for flipping the narrative but what I’d seen about Damsel didn’t fill me with much hope. Yes, it was reworking the old “damsel in distress” narrative but I just wasn’t convinced it would be everything it was hailed as being. After all, Netflix don’t have a great history of being nuanced and sensitive storytellers. Still, I had to see for myself.

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Bitesize Book Reviews 18

books, reviews
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I managed to sneak a few short middle grade books in recently and I just wanted to get the reviews out of the way. Mostly because I didn’t feel as though I had much to say. The first two were the continuation of Jennifer Killick’s Dread Wood series that I’d borrowed from the library. Listening to middle grade fiction at work is brilliant. The relaxed and fun story is a great counter for the stress of office life. It also means I’m less likely to miss anything. If I listen to something too complicated then it’s more likely that I’ll stop focusing on the story. We’ve all been there when we suddenly realise that we don’t know what just happened in the audiobook. Do you go back? How far back to you go? Or do you just carry on and hope for the best? Talk about stressful.

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