Another topic that I have now mentioned three too many times on my channel.
14.5.15
11.5.15
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon [REVIEW]
After putting this book down, I wondered why it had taken me so long to pick it up in the first place? Why had it taken an invitation to the stage production to give me that much needed push to finally read this?
I don't know. I can only be honest and say that while I always felt that The Curious Incident is one of those books that everyone else has read and that I really ought to read it (at some point), there wasn't any other pull towards this book. I guess I kind of felt like I had missed the boat entirely and nothing new or interesting can be gained from reading this book now.
Oh how wrong I was! This is such a clever book. The observations made by our main character, Christopher, were awe-inspiring. I mean that. I was awed. It felt like someone was showing me the world in a completely different light.
If you have never read this book then I strongly urge you to do so. It's a delight.
I don't know. I can only be honest and say that while I always felt that The Curious Incident is one of those books that everyone else has read and that I really ought to read it (at some point), there wasn't any other pull towards this book. I guess I kind of felt like I had missed the boat entirely and nothing new or interesting can be gained from reading this book now.
Oh how wrong I was! This is such a clever book. The observations made by our main character, Christopher, were awe-inspiring. I mean that. I was awed. It felt like someone was showing me the world in a completely different light.
If you have never read this book then I strongly urge you to do so. It's a delight.
8.5.15
THE UNWANTED UNBOXING
There really isn't much more to say. I pretty much cover it all during the video.
It better be a good book!
5.5.15
UNFRIENDED [Film Review]
One of the perks of my friend's job is that he gets discounted cinema tickets. In the days post-Orange Wednesday (waaaa..!) this is actually pretty awesome because cinema prices... are RIDICULOUS!!
He asked what I wanted to see and, considering how out of touch I am with film releases, I had no idea. A quick look on the Vue's website and "UNFRIENDED" caught my eye. After watching the trailer, my mind was made up. I didn't even bother watching any other trailers because I had decided that I wanted to see what this was all about!
Plus, it looked terrible. I mean, like one of those films where you'll actually laugh at how un-scary it is, there may be a couple jump-scares thrown in just to remind you what genre it is but on the whole, nothing terrifying.
But I was wrong! Well, at least about it being terrible. I definitely wouldn't class this as a scary film but I was very impressed with how engaged I was with the story. I absolutely LOVED the whole screen-capture element and how we are basically watching Blaire as she skips between windows and applications.
The biggest let-down for me was the last second. Literally. The last SECOND. Everything up to that point was so engaging and creepy and I enjoyed it so much but then BAM. The whole film just nosedived and I was sat there thinking, you have GOT to be kidding me.
But really, I can forgive it for this one second. I'll just pretend that never happened haha.
He asked what I wanted to see and, considering how out of touch I am with film releases, I had no idea. A quick look on the Vue's website and "UNFRIENDED" caught my eye. After watching the trailer, my mind was made up. I didn't even bother watching any other trailers because I had decided that I wanted to see what this was all about!
Plus, it looked terrible. I mean, like one of those films where you'll actually laugh at how un-scary it is, there may be a couple jump-scares thrown in just to remind you what genre it is but on the whole, nothing terrifying.
But I was wrong! Well, at least about it being terrible. I definitely wouldn't class this as a scary film but I was very impressed with how engaged I was with the story. I absolutely LOVED the whole screen-capture element and how we are basically watching Blaire as she skips between windows and applications.
The biggest let-down for me was the last second. Literally. The last SECOND. Everything up to that point was so engaging and creepy and I enjoyed it so much but then BAM. The whole film just nosedived and I was sat there thinking, you have GOT to be kidding me.
But really, I can forgive it for this one second. I'll just pretend that never happened haha.
2.5.15
MAY TBR!
I was too embarrassed to mention The Midwich Cuckoos & The Stepford Wives again so for the time being, have reverted back to the good old fashioned TBR style video in which I show you the books I hope to read this month.
There are a couple that are definites, such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, which, as I type I've actually nearly finished. I'm going to see the stage production later this month and wanted to read the book before I went. Today has been a gloriously lazy day but that's probably due to my picking up the book early this morning just to get it started and then hours later discovering that I'm nearly finished. May have something to do with my brain excitedly lapping up anything that isn't Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which I have been tackling since mid-February...
Also, this is the month where Let The Readalong In happens, the first ever readalong that I have created! Well, co-created. Hanaa from CravingBooks and I have been saying for ages that we should read a book together but have always had a bit of an issue with scheduling so have decided to read this Gothic Horror cult classic during May! I can't wait! And this is despite the fact that I have seen the original Swedish film adaptation and was not a fan. I vaguely remember a really stupid scene with some very fake looking cats...
I'll be rereading I AM OTTER as well. Have you guys read this book? If not, you should! It's a kids book but it's gorgeous! I'll hopefully dedicate a full blog post to this book at some point but for the time being, I'm actually gonna sign off. I'm meeting up with some of my fellow book clubbers and I'm hoping to persuade them to change the next book club date so that I can actually attend.
Until next time, thanks so much for reading and I'll see you soon!
^!^
There are a couple that are definites, such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, which, as I type I've actually nearly finished. I'm going to see the stage production later this month and wanted to read the book before I went. Today has been a gloriously lazy day but that's probably due to my picking up the book early this morning just to get it started and then hours later discovering that I'm nearly finished. May have something to do with my brain excitedly lapping up anything that isn't Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which I have been tackling since mid-February...
Also, this is the month where Let The Readalong In happens, the first ever readalong that I have created! Well, co-created. Hanaa from CravingBooks and I have been saying for ages that we should read a book together but have always had a bit of an issue with scheduling so have decided to read this Gothic Horror cult classic during May! I can't wait! And this is despite the fact that I have seen the original Swedish film adaptation and was not a fan. I vaguely remember a really stupid scene with some very fake looking cats...
I'll be rereading I AM OTTER as well. Have you guys read this book? If not, you should! It's a kids book but it's gorgeous! I'll hopefully dedicate a full blog post to this book at some point but for the time being, I'm actually gonna sign off. I'm meeting up with some of my fellow book clubbers and I'm hoping to persuade them to change the next book club date so that I can actually attend.
Until next time, thanks so much for reading and I'll see you soon!
^!^
29.4.15
15.1.15
Can a BAD BOOK ever be GOOD? "The Silent Land" by Graham Joyce [REVIEW]
I uploaded this video yesterday and would have also written this blog post if I hadn't been dashing out to go on a photography bender with my friend Jennifer. Don't know about the rest of the world but Edinburgh is fuh-reezing at the moment. Turns out, I'm also not a very good photographer!
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| Down by Western Harbour |
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| Jennifer with her new toy |
But I digress. What I wanted to quickly talk about is the weird and wonderful phenomenon of something being "so bad, it's good".
This certainly isn't something new; in my video I mention the fascinating tale of Trolls 2, a film so bad that it has become a cult classic! You apparently don't even have to have seen the original Trolls film to appreciate the sequel as it has absolutely nothing to do with it. For more information, I recommend you watch Best Worst Movie, a documentary made by one of the original cast members.
I also mention that classic 2004 blockbuster, Sleepover. I have no idea how my sister and I ended up watching this piece of rubbish but watch it we did, over and over and over again. We even shared our experience with our friend Sofi and would have our own Sleepover sleepovers; sleepovers arranged with the sole purpose of watching Sleepover... good times.
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| Just look at those ratings! |
As far as books go, I've only experienced the "it's so bad it was good" phenomenon twice (that I can think of). The first was back in 2011 when I read Witch and Wizard by James Patterson (yeah, right). It was given to me by my grandmother after getting a free copy with some newspaper. I read it on a whim as there really was nothing about the synopsis that excited me.
Most of the time, if I don't like a book, the rest of the reading experience becomes a chore and puts a serious damper on reading in general. That's why, when The Silent Land was picked for book club, I had my doubts. A quick read of the back of the book had potential, but there was a lingering fear that this book would be predictable. I mean, I challenge you to read the back and not guess correctly the "twist".
The book is about a married couple celebrating ten happy years of marriage by taking a skiing holiday in France. Joyce doesn't mess about and has them swept up in an avalanche pretty near the beginning. After struggling free from the snow, the couple make their way back to their resort only to find that it is deserted, they have the whole place to themselves. Only issue, every time they try to leave, they somehow end up back in the resort...
You know what happened, right? Sure, let's make it sound all supernatural and eerie but... come on!
Anyways, predictability aside, I managed to read this pretty quickly. Going by my usual measure of a bad book (it becoming a chore and sitting untouched for weeks on end) this wasn't ticking any of the boxes! I practically sped-read the whole thing, sometimes chuckling, sometimes laughing out loud in a hearty fashion. It was definitely what I would class as an easy-read. But it was also enjoyable because, despite the terrible writing, the at best weak plot and the truly ridiculous characters with their outrageous dialogue, I enjoyed this book. Doesn't make much sense until I remember films such as Sleepover and the cult classic Trolls 2.
The meeting at book club was also a blast. We all agreed to different degrees on how awful the book was and then sat around reading out random passages. Maybe this has aided in creating this weird fondness I have for this book but for anyone outwith a book club in which to share the giggles, my recommendation for this book would come with a giant warning sticker.
Overall, I would give this book a generous 2 out of 5 for style and execution but for sheer entertainment, this gets brought up to a 3!
If you would like your own copy of The Silent Land, simply CLICK HERE to be taken to its page on Book Depository. This is an affiliate link which means I get a small commission if you do end up buying it ^!^
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