Author: Murdocal

Book Review – The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

books, reviews

Rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Last week, a friend of mine asked for reading recommendations. I enjoy talking about books with people but I do find it stressful recommending them. Especially when the person doesn’t give me an idea of what they like to read. Especially as I like to read a variety of books. I don’t like to put myself in a box in terms of genre and tropes. Although, there are certain books that I do tend to avoid. I’ve never been a lover of romance books which makes me avoid them most of the time. I’m trying to embrace more genre fiction this year and that includes romance. There might be something out there that works for me. So, I’m open to suggestions. It’s the reason why I ended up listening to TikTok and buying this book. Normally, I would have just forgotten it existed and moved on.

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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. Not only I am going through a slight crisis because I’m turning 35 today but I feel as though I’ve been working for ages. It’s only March so Christmas was really only a few weeks ago. It doesn’t stop me from looking ahead to my next holiday. I’ve got a few days off over Easter and I intend to use them wisely. By that, I mean, doing nothing but reading and sleeping. Possibly eating chocolate eggs but we’ll see. I’m just a little bitter because I wanted to book a day off this week so I could have a long weekend for my birthday. Unfortunately, someone got there first. I wasn’t planning on doing anything but it would have given me one extra day. Still, today should be fun. We’re having a family get-together to celebrate the big day.

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Film Review – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The first Black Panther film was a runaway success that breathed new life into the MCU. It gave more depth to the fantastic character first introduced in Civil War and gave Chadwick Boseman a chance to really make an impression in the Marvel franchise. T’Challa was set to become one of the strongest and most loved characters that these films have produced. You can see how much he meant to people by the reaction to his death in 2020. Marvel film fans mourned his passing to colon cancer. As it was Hollywood, talk quickly turned to what would happen with Black Panther in the future. Some suggested that they could simply recast. There was also talk of digitally recreating Boseman. The most obvious choice was to move Shuri, T’Challa’s sister into the spotlight as she did in the comics. But would this film ever get beyond the sadness of losing its lead actor? I had to find out.

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Bookish Post – February 2023 Reading Wrap-Up

books, wrap-up
Teacup on top of vintage books.

Number of books read: 8
Number of rereads: 0
Number of physical books: 4
Number of ebooks: 0
Number of audiobooks: 4
Number of ARCS: 0

5* reviews: 0
4.5* reviews: 0
4* reviews: 2

February started slowly and I didn’t think I was going to get much read. It has just taken me so long to finish anything this month. I guess that’s mostly down to the book that I read. They didn’t end up being as good as I’d hoped. The kind of books that sound really good but just don’t deliver. On the plus side, I’ve knocked a few long-time members of my TBR off the list and have moved a few more audiobooks into my completed library and out of my not started library. So, what did I read in February?

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Book Review – Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

books, reviews

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

This recent trend of feminist rewritings of myths and legends isn’t going away any time soon. It feels like every single book being published at the moment is based on some poor figure in Greek mythology. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it but do we need quite so many at the same time? People regularly moan about the lack of originality i the film industry but what of publishing? It feels as though the only books getting a green light right now are either mythology retellings or cosy crime. Flooding the market with these types of books just means that quality declines. Yes, The Song of Achilles was great but not everything can be the same. Ariadne is one of those books that I’ve heard so many good things about. Although, it was also nominated for a GoodReads award in 2021 which is often a worrying sign. I was interested to see what it would be like but also kind of scared to start it. This week, I finally took the plunge.

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown

Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

I feel as though I’ve finally made a bit of progress this week. I’ve finished a few books which feels good. Okay, I was mainly doing it because I needed something to write a review about but that’s something. It means that I’ll have a few more books on my monthly wrap-up. I just need to try and finish my current read before the end of the month. I don’t want to still be reading it into March. Plus, I’ve plenty of other books that I want to get through next month.

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Film Review – Brian and Charles (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

It was the BAFTAs last weekend and there was a lot to take away from the ceremony. For one thing, all of the winners were white which seems ridiculous given the diversity among the nominees. For another, Colin Farrell didn’t win Best Actor for his role in The Banshees of Inisherin. One of the few things that we can say that BAFTA got right was nominating Brian and Charles for Outstanding British Film. It wasn’t exactly going to win because it was up against some stiff competition. However, I was happy to see it getting recognised. Even though I hadn’t actually seen it at that point. It was a film that I had been eyeing up for ages because it just sounded like my kind of thing. A quirky British film about a lonely weirdo. I loved the idea of it. The award ceremony on Sunday gave me the perfect excuse to finally watch it.

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Book Review – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

books, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

How do you feel about audiobook dramatisations? I’ve listened to quite a few on Audible over the years and I think they’re quite fun. Although, you do lose something from the original source material. It’s basically the halfway point between a book and a film, right? You don’t get the full story but you still get to use your imagination a bit. On the plus side, it does mean you get distinct characterisation and it does help to sell the story. It also offers some production value that helps the with atmosphere and setting the scene. However, is it okay to listen to a dramatisation and not the unabridged version of the book? I don’t know and I’m not actually going to discuss that in this post. What I am doing is reviewing Audible’s original dramatisation of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea because I needed to find something quick to listen to.

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Book Review – Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami

books, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I like tot think that I’m a big fan of Japanese fiction because I’ve mostly enjoyed everything I’ve ever read by Japanese writers. Of course, I don’t think I actually read enough of it to justify that classification. It’s all just part of a wider issue where I still mainly stick to British or American writers. As part of my plan to improve my range, I picked this beauty up last year. I found it in a bookshop when I was waiting to meet some friends. It was part of their books under 200 pages display which was basically everything I was looking for in a book in 2022. I was fully drawn in because of the bright blue cover and quirky premise. It just sounded like something I would enjoy but that wouldn’t take much work. Of course, it’s taken me almost a year to get around to reading it but better late then never, right?

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Sunday Rundown: That’s What She Read

books, films, rundown

Sunday Rundown

What have you been reading this week?

It’s been a busy week and a busy weekend. Not much time for reading, which is becoming a bit of a theme lately. I’m sure I’ll turn it around soon. Although, I’m not too bothered as this year wasn’t supposed to be about quantity but about getting through my TBR. I’ve been reading longer books so my numbers are obviously going to go down a bit. February won’t be my best month ever but I’ve managed to cross a few off my list. Some of them have been there for a while.

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