Helllooo! And Merry Christmas or whatever holidays you are on!

A week off (and a few days still to go) have done me wonders. I’m not the most seasonal people but I really enjoyed a few days of doing bery little bar tidying up. Eating and oh yes reading! A long-awaited bookshelf tidy-up has sorted out the read and the TBR and allowed me to prepare for next year’s readings (more of that below). Now thought going into my best reads of 2019 on New Year’s Eve and my reading and other goals for 2020 on New Year’s Day

What Have I been Watching?

Lord of the Rings – Fellowship of the Rings – aww so many feels for what is a great adaptation. One day I’m going to be able to watch all three in one day but not this Christmas. But one day!!!!

Rise of Skywalker- Within a few moments I was – are you kidding me? Then I got the distinct feeling that The Last Jedi was being overridden and unfortunately, I found this a feel lacking heart or narrative sense. Its very clear that the producers hadn’t bothered to get an actual three movie plot agreed and this tears holes int eh films that came before. The side-lining of Rose was unforgiveable; and the only saving grace was the acting of the new leads. A wasted opportunity sadly. I can only hope new films re-find that sense of new adventures that The Last Jedi hinted at. I’m bored with nostalgia fests.

Snow White and the Huntsman – Wow this is awful…so awful…so bad

What Have I Been Listening To?

Uncivil – thanks to Stark Holborn for the heads up on this a tale revisiting the actual truth of the Civil War in particular how it treated and subsequently treated african americans. Early days but this looks very good

What have I reviewed or read?

Right back to normal now so

The Invisible Library series – I’ve been catching up on this delightful fantasy adventure series and am every impressed with the latest instalment – The Secret Chapter – so much so I did a Happy Endings? Looking at the series so far here

Anne Michaud’s horror collections – After being a huge fan of her Girls & Aliens collection I was very happy to discover two more are out from Fox Spirit books Girls & Ghosts and Girls & Monsters

In space opera I realised how stupid I’ve been not to get straight into the brilliant Fleet of Knives by Gareth L Powell

At this time of the year who doesn’t like a murder? In short stories I loved the PD James collection The Mistletoe Murders and Other Stories

And there is an absolutely great locked room mystery in the Sherlock Holmes tale The Vanishing Man by Philip Purser-Hallard

I also managed to finished some books and will be reviewing soon

Tentacle from Rita Indiana – an interesting but very grim piece of Caribbean SF

Ness by Robert Macfarlan & Stanley Donwood – a very weird semi-poetical tale of an abandoned military station and abattle between nature and technology to end or save the world

Okay by Gillen, McKelvie, Wilson & Cowles - the final volume in the The Wicked + The Divine graphic novel series and the ending was worth the wait

What am I reading or coming soon?

Trying to get some ARCS out of the way so next week will be reading

Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward – a behemoth of a new fantasy tale but the first few chapters are excellent at grabbing my attention…

Mutant Empire by Christopher Golden – Marvel prose again and so far so good

The Djinn Falls in Love edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin – still need to sit down and lose myself into this

Mistletoe by Alison Littlewood – having been a fan of her short stories in various collections very much enjoying this seasonal ghost story

The Silver Wind by Nina Allan – an author I’ve wanted to read for some time

The Case of the Spellbound Child by Mercedes Lackey – a new author for me and a latest mystery in a magical Holmes series let’s see what that looks like!