THURSDAY
Another tiring day! Yesterday my dad put together the kitchen trolley for me. It is basically a three shelf trolley with wheels which has helped me tidy up the kitchen a bit instead of having stuff lying everywhere on every surface. Our kitchen is tiny so I need every bit of space saving that I can! I took all my bakery products and kitchen staples out of the big cupboard and onto the trolley. Now I have space to get my canned ice coffee out of the boxes on the floor and into the space in the cupboard. Yea, another task completed!
I continued trying to get files deleted and sorted to be more user friendly on the computer. I was working on it all day up to about 10pm so no time for reading sadly. Still, getting anything productive done is a win at the moment and gradually the house is getting into shape.
FRIDAY
My dad let me organise his new desktop storage unti for him and that got all his stuff off the living room floor where it has been living and breeding since we moved all the bookcases! I'm pleased that we have another task done. Today I have to do more on the computer and I have to cut all the newspapers from July ready to go into my scrapbooks eventually! Update. Of course I never got near the newspapers I was intending to cut as getting the computer stuff done took way longer than expected.
Tonight was the toilet visit from hell-constipated to start with, taking ages for things to actually progress, and then the panic of WHY WON'T IT FLUSH and having to poke it with the toilet brush!!! Sorry, that was pure gross but I intend to share my miseries with all of you whether you like it or not! Feel free to gag as much as you like! The good thing is that my toilet visit let me finish Jenny Lawson's 'Lets Pretend This Never Happened' and I was sharing her toilet laxative rapist notegiver drama while experiencing my own problems!
SATURDAY
Groan! My stomach feels like it hosted a serious party last night but without giving me the fun alcohol buzz that goes with it. Seriously there can't be more of yesterday's drama to come, surely! (Don't call me Shirley). Anyhoo, today I caught up on blog visits and comments so I'm nicely on schedule. I'll be trying to write a mini book review post while trying to follow the football scores on Twitter as the new Scottish football season starts today. Another panic filled season to come no doubt!
YAS! My beloved football team have won their first match of the season and it was against a tough side that we usually find hard to beat. It's weird having the football back and having something new to panic about every week.I was also pleased to get some good reading done tonight. I read two Paddington books and a short fun zombie novella so that gets the weekend off to a really great start! I even started on a third Paddington book which I'll finish tomorrow.
SUNDAY
Between another bout of insomnia and raging gut pains this morning, I'm in a bit of a foul mood right now! I did manage to write and publish my mini review catchup post so that's a bit of a win. I'm still a bit behind with about ten Paddington reviews, two Enid Blyton and a few others too. Well, five written so far today is better than nothing! I'll gradually get caught up. My dad built another of those desktop shelf things and will be happily sorting things out to put on it tomorrow. I'm getting a decent amount done each day but the 'to-do' pile also seems to be forever growing!
MONDAY
Why is there always so much bloody housework to do every week? It's never ending! This morning I've got two loads of washing to get done (one being a dressing gown and slippers), I have to dust, get the ironing done and be ready for the Asda delivery coming this morning. They want to stop using plastic bags to put the stuff into but that means unpacking every item by hand into my hall and repacking it into bags to transport to the kitchen. That was a serious nightmare on the last delivery so I've begged them to deliver it all in plastic bags this time! The environment is going to have to wait as I'm knackered and that needs to come first this week!
Overnight I read another Paddington book so I have book 13 in the series plus two recently published editions and then I'm done. What am I going to do when Paddington ends! On the plus side my bank account is letting me buy a cross stich of Catherine of Aragon to add to the Anne Boleyn I've ordered. I just hope I can get the other four before they go out of stock!!!
The Browns are going
abroad, and Paddington considers a holiday in France is not to be taken
lightly, So he packs a disguise outfit, his magic set and a map of
France printed on a tea towel. Paddington is in charge of the
“EYETINNERY” and, as Mrs Bird mutters darkly, “There’s no knowing where
we might end up.” But he’s planning some very good holiday ‘doings’
indeed for the Browns. And Paddington himself becomes the only bear ever
to ride in the famous Tour de France bicycle race – and win a prize!
My Review:
What can possibly go wrong in putting Paddington in charge of the events as the Brown family and Mrs Bird take him on his first overseas holiday to France? His first problem is when he tries to withdraw his money at the bank and feels that he is being ripped off, causing hard stares all round and police involvement! The Brown family have a sinking feeling in their stomach when Paddington goes AWOL at the airport and there is an issue concerning whether he is trying to travel without a passport, causing a proper stink at customs. Is he actually in the country legally or is he an illegal bear who could be deported back to Peru?
In France Paddington discovers that the eating of smails is considered normal but he has a way to go to convince the Brown family of this! Getting lost also seems to be the order of the day with Paddington in charge but this bear always seems to land on his paws and he discovers a great hotel, an exciting festival and new friends among the locals. An invite onto a ship by an ex-pat of course goes wrong when a castaway situation occurs. Paddington ends up as more of a hinderance than a help when it comes to signalling for help!
My favourite story in the book had to be when the town were getting prepared for the Tour De France bike race coming through. Paddington as usual misunderstands what is going on and decides to adapt a bike so he can take part in it with very amusing consequences! I couldn't stop laughing when the locals were screaming encouragement in the form of 'VIVE LE BEAR!' as the Brown family wondered with anxiety where Paddington had got to! The illustrations of the bike race were funny too and as always, really added to the story!
I like that Paddington seems to be able to turn each disaster into a triumph, often with help from his friends or family and I like that the poor bear has a good heart and good intentions! His adventures are great and I never stop being amused at his hard stares for people who really deserve it and the trouble a bear can get into every day. I never get tired of his adventures and I'm loving this series of books.
Read July 2020
4 stars.
I review everything I read, on my blog and
on Goodreads. Most reviews are of a decent length but sometimes you
don't have much to say about the book because of its length or you DNFed
it or various other reasons. In cases like that it makes sense to write
a few mini reviews in one post and clear them out your way! So lets
catch up with some reviews from July.
1) Griffin Smith-Annihilation
This is not for the
squeamish or for those who may have weak stomachs. If you're offended by
vulgar and crude language or if the thought of a desperate ragtag group
of cataclysmic survivors doing what's necessary to stay alive in an
apocalyptic world brings any semblance of bile to the back of your
throat. After the release of
"Annihilation", a synthetic designer drug that was marketed as a
perfectly legal high, turned its unsuspecting users into "feeders." ( It
causes imminent death and then re-animation into a zombie like state.) This
is the first in a series of episodes that follows the adventures of
Mason Briggs, and a group of survivors that he meets and loses along the
way.
Annihilation was a legal high and by the time it was banned, the drug chemistry was being constantly changed by illegal 'chemists'. The users bodies began to morph, causing sickness, death and reanimation as zombies. This story follows military man Mason as he tries to stay a step ahead of the zombies. I disn't complete the book even though it was short as I couldn't stand the characters. You know you're in trouble in a zombie book when you want them all to be eaten.
To be honest the language didn't bother me in the book or I never noticed it amongst the other issues. For a military man, Mason has the brains of jello and his plan to get them safely from one location to the other was crazy. The fact that so many zombies were able to sneak up on him on the beach showed that he wasn't exactly switched on in the brain department. The rest of the MCs we meet are dreadful steriotypes. Pualani the spoiled bitch with the pet dog who whines more than it does and is dumb enough to take it for a morning walk on the beach in the middle of the apocalypse. Barry is the Irish drunk who can only think of holing up in the pub so he can drink all the Guiness. Brody is a dumb idiot. I can't say I liked anything about this short novella and I won't read any more in the series.
Read July 2020
DNF 2 stars.
2) Eli Constant-Red Eye
When a red-eye flight from London to Los Angeles brings two strangers together, they have no idea that it’s the
end of the bloody world! Rose, a British runaway, is ready for the adventure of a
lifetime. Her hopes are high, her funds are low, and nothing is going to
rain on her parade. Except maybe the apocalypse! Sam
is an American ballerina on her way home from a hellish vacation. She’s
tired of culture, tired of traveling, and seriously tired of men. She
can’t wait to get home. That is until everyone turns into flesh-eating zombies! Neither woman expects their exhausting overnight flight to devolve into bloody carnage of terror and mayhem. But when you’re over 30,000 feet in the air and there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide…what else can you do but team up with as many survivors as possible and try to stay alive?
I have read books by both of these authors so I was looking forward to this joint work. On the plus side, I liked the way the drama unfolded in the air with limited options on how to survive the immediate crisis. The zombies were well written, there was tension and some gore and of course enough death to satisfy the zombie fan. As the plane approaches LAX, it is clear that there is trouble on the ground as well as in the air but the women are desperate to give themselves a chance by getting off the flight in one living piece. I'm not a great fan of joint narrator MCs but it worked in this case for setting the scene.
My problem was that I hated Rose, one of the two narrators. She was a dumb female who for example is clueless about ears popping on a plane. OK she might never have flown but surely she'd have heard of that. Instead Rose is running away from the future her family have planned out for her and all she can think about is how amazing that big planes have toilets. She then lets the other passengers order her around and send her to investigate the blood in first class. Seriously Rose is pathetic. But what always rubs me up the wrong way is British steriotypes. We have a mild climate in the UK so the sun isn't as hot, less humidity, the snow isn't as deep, the storms less severe and the rain keeps everything green but it doesn't bloody rain all the time. I wish authors would stop putting the UK down in books as it makes for a bad impression. Who wants to visit if they think it never stops raining? There is also a ton of fat shaming in Rose's thoughts as if everyone here is fat, being fat is a British problem, and that fat people are disgusting. It was really infuriating and insulting. I was already switched off from the book by the time it got halfway and I won't be reading on. I hope Rose gets eaten.
Read July 2020
DNF 2 stars.
3) TW Gallier-The Horde Rises
Kyle is awakened out of
an amazing dream by his friends, Ralph and Olivia. They are all
frantic, saying it's the end of the world. He thinks the dumb computer
geeks are crazy and he just wants to go back to sleep, but then they
turn on the TV news and his world changes. Zombies are running amok. There was a full-scale nuclear exchange overnight, followed up with a biological weapon attack. He
just wants to get home to his family. The three of them are convinced
the skills they learned playing the video game Zombie Hunter will serve
them well. It quickly proves nothing like the game, and there are a lot
of zombies between them and home. Kyle fights his way through
the undead and other survivors, with his friends by his side. Their
desire is to get back to their small home town before the zombies get
their families. And then the next wave of attacks hit and the lights go
out.
Our three MC's are big fans of the zombie computer game they always play so when they find themselves in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, they are sure they know what to do. The apocalypse began with gas warheads from the Middle East striking the US and everyone who breathes in the fumes turns zombie. If it is such an airborne virus and there are zombies all over their town, I found myself wondering how our MC's seem to be fine when all around them is chaos.
Surprise I hated all three of these characters. You've discovered the apocalypse has begun, you need to get to somewhere safe...but the three characters found time to leer at each others bodies as they got dressed. Naturally, they were all dopeheads as well which really annoys me. For so called zombie experts they had no clue, seemingly unaware that making as little noise as possible keeps you safer, that having a coherant plan before you go charging off is a good thing, that silent weapons are as important as guns, conserving your ammo is good, and knowing where you are going to run to is essential. Instead they bicker, change the plan every few minutes ie 'north is colder so zombies might freeze ah but south is better as we'll get too cold without warm clothes and camping gear', lets find our families but oh wait why not stop in this other town and see if they'll give us all the supplues and ammo we need! Jeez. These people were idiots and seemed to think they WERE in the middle of a game. I didn't get halfway through before I had enough of these muppets.
Read July 2020
DNF 2 stars.
4) Charlie Dalton-Virtual Insanity
Four friends celebrate a stag weekend at Virtual Insanity, a cutting-edge virtual reality company. Built
on a disused military research facility, the futuristic headsets scan
existing landscapes and re-imagines them with post-apocalyptic
environments. They battle zombies, overcome obstacles, and fight to stay alive. But when one member of the team falls off the grid, he uncovers a secret even the game’s designers aren’t aware of.
Pat, Jack, Ron and Georgie are having a different kind of stag event for Ron, who is marrying soon. Instead of a night on the town, they are trying out a new virtual reality zombie event. The technology is advanced and they are all impressed by what they are shown when they arrive. Everything through the headsets look real-the landscapes, the weapons and the zombies. The men can't wait to get started on the game and their first zombie encounters leave them tired and excited by the realism. Pat and Ron decide to create a diversion and draw the zombies away to let Jack and Georgie enter the building and find the 'cure' in the lab that means they win the game. This is when things go a little wrong.
I can't say anything else without spoiling the book but I enjoyed this short zombie novella. I'm not a tech person but I actually found the descriptions of the virtual reality technology interesting, and it sounds like the kind of thing that lots of people would enjoy playing. There was realism in Georgie struggling to stop wasting bullets as he tried to shoot the zombies rather than everyone being instantly accurate. I liked the overall set up of the story and the satisfying ending. Yes I was able to predict the couple of twists in the plot but that never stopped it being an enjoyable read. This was my first Charlie Dalton read and I look forward to reading more by the author.
Read August 1st
3.5 stars.
5) Brian Moreland-The Girl From The Blood Coven
Who—or what—killed them all? In
this short story prelude to The Witching House, the year is 1972.
Sheriff Travis Keagan is enjoying a beer at the local roadhouse when a
blood-soaked girl enters the bar. Terrified and trembling, Abigail
Blackwood claims her entire family was massacred at the nearby hippy
commune in the woods. But when Sheriff Keagan and his deputies
investigate the Blevins House, they discover there’s more to Abigail’s
story than she’s told them. Much more.
This was a really short prequel so I can't say anything much about the plot, other than I really enjoyed reading it. We get to know the Sheriff quite well considering the book is so short and I liked him straight away. I also had sympathy that after a long day, he just wants a quiet beer and a good sleep when all hell breaks loose and the blood covered girl stumbles into the bar. Travis and his deputies have to go out to the hippy commune that is rumoured to be full of witches and what he discovers there is horrific. That's all I can say about the plot!
I can say that this was the first offering I've tried from the author and it does make me want to read the follow up novel The Witching House, as well as trying other work by him. I found the writing style to be good and it flowed nicely, not over descriptive. He built up the tension nicely as we waited to see what was going on in the commune and this little story really packed a punch. I look forward to reading more by the author.
Read July 2020
4 stars.
While on holiday by the
sea, Mike, Peggy, Nora and their friend Jack go exploring in the caves
on the beach. They soon discover a secret passage that leads to the Old
House on the cliff, where they find a kidnapped young prince is being
held captive! The friends make a bold plan to help the Prince escape -
but will it succeed?
My Review:
It's the school holidays and the four children are ready for another adventure. With their parents away in Ireland on a lecture tour, Mike, Peggy, Nora and Jack are sent to the beach at Spiggy Holes in Cornwall, under the supervision of Miss Dimity. They are looking forward to sailing, swimming near the beach and exploring the caves where smugglers were said to come ashore in days long gone. There is also the abandoned mansion beside their smaller house which has a big garden to explore. It's shaping up to be an interesting summer.
The children decide to go to the big house and are startled to find it has unpleasant new owners who chase and threaten them, and install guard dogs to keep them out. The behaviour of the new people arouse suspicions especially when they hear that they have tried to buy Dimmy's house and were very angry at being turned down. They also try to buy the one boat in the area belonging to local man George who also refuses to sell. Could it be that these new people are modern day smugglers who want control of both houses and the boat to secretly transport something that they don't want anyone to know about? Why is the woman from the house questioning the children about what they do and where they go?
The four of them decide to keep watch day and night to look for any suspicious activity at the big house and finally they are rewarded when they see a signal going out to see. Rushing to hide in one of the caves, the children see the smugglers disappearing into a cave but not coming out. Could therebe a secret passage from the caves up to the big house, unused since the old days of smuggling? Dare they look in the cave and maybe follow a secret passage? And who is the boy that is locked in the tower room? Is there any way they could rescue him from his captors? How can they get past either the dogs or the locked tower doors?
I always enjoyed this kind of adventure in the books I read as a kid and the Secret series still delivers a good yarn even all these years later. I'm always amused by the way the kids never tell an adult what is going on and instead decide to solve the mystery themselves, getting into all kinds of trouble in the process. Adults and the police are rarely seeen as a good option to go for! But this book does it a little differently and the children reach a stage where they are going to have to confide in Dimmy and George and get their help with a plan. I actually liked seeing the kids and adults working together to try and reach the prisoner in the tower.
This was an enjoyable kids book that ramped up the adventure and tension elements that are always in this kind of book. I was actually pleased to find that I enjoyed this book as much now as I did at the time and I'll certainly be reading the rest of the series.
Read July 2020
3 stars.
I've discovered that the way to survive the utter fear and panic of this pandemic was to keep busy. I was ensuring I kept up with my online friends so we could help each other through the bad parts like a huge online support network, and it was reassuring to know that others shared your worries and you weren't the only one who sometimes felt like they were losing the plot. In those first weeks, I was afraid that the virus was going to attack me if I so much as stepped outside, I was hyperventalating behind my mask going into a local shop for milk, had a full on panic attack when our Prime Minister looked like he could die and then my uncle went into hospital. Those weeks were bad and I realised I needed to take control of my mental health or I was going to have a breakdown. Although sadly we lost my uncle to Covid 19 and underlying health issues, I did manage to regain my mental stability.
Reading is usually my mode to relax but I found it hard to concentrate on books with everything that was going on, and I know a lot of you had similar struggles. For ages I was reading virtually nothing until for a giggle I picked up ebook copies of childhood favourites by Enid Blyton and the first Paddington book, which wasn't a re-read. Suddenly I was back in those carefree days of the gosh, crikey, spiffing kind of child adventures I loved as a kid! The Wishing Chair was fun, the Secret series has been enjoyable and Paddington has been brilliant! I also did a Harry Potter re-read which gave me the fuzzies. Now I'm inching back into my beloved horror and non fiction so I'm a lot happier. Adventures are fun, whatever genre you are reading and these childhood books helped my mood as they are quick light reads.
Fun has also come in the rewatching of old favourite films. For me this means shark films like the Jaws series, Deep Blue Sea and The Meg, adventures like Jumanji and The Mummy, Harry Potter and the Jurassic Park/World films, Star Wars (original trilogy), Mamma Mia!, A Bug's Life, Barnyard, The Jungle Book, Alien 1-3 etc. I've also caught up on reality TV I enjoy like Great British Menu, MKR, Masterchef and Pimp My Ride. More of that stuff to come all summer. I'd love to watch new films and dvd boxsets but I'm not quite ready for new stuff yet! I'm slowly building up to it! (I hope) I also have lots of great cds but I'm saving listening to them for when I start to clear out my bedroom and get it into some kind of order!
I used to love arts and crafts as a kid and I've plunged back into it by building Diagon Alley in 3D to display in my room and 3D puzzles of Winterfell and King's Landing. I have another 10 3D puzzles for Harry Potter and Game of Thrones to two, two jigsaw puzzles and 3 sequin art Paddington projects! That will entertain me right through the winter! I'm toying with getting in a few cross stitch projects related to my interests if I find any. I'm looking at the six wives of Henry VIII but haven't got the money to order more than one right now so I went for Anne Boleyn first as I liked her outfit best! I also have my glue, scrapbooks and sellotape supplies for my news scrapbooks.
I'm also picking up crossword puzzlebooks over the coming weeks to give me a winter stock. I'm grabbing some of the women's magazines that focus on real life story and puzzles for added entertainment. Hopefully I can pick up the odd history, dinosaur or other cool magazine to add to a small pile that I can browse whenever the mood takes. I also get my weekly Inside Soap and Hello (for the Royal articles). I have a huge pile of colouring books ready to use and a supply of lovely gel pens to use.
I'm also doing a total rewatch of my beloved Coronation Street! I've watched April 1976 up to March 1991 at the moment, taking notes on each episode for future reference. Very time consuming! Never mind Chuckles, just 29 years to watch!!! *freaks out a bit* I've also got hold of some classic Eastenders-the first 10 years which were 1985-1995. I no longer watch it but I liked the early stuff. I won't be watching that for a long time though! I also have my favourite five or so Brookside years on disks too.
So it looks like I'll be well covered for winter and any future lockdown. I have a variety of stuff I can do for fun to keep me occupied every waking hour! I certainly recommend getting in supplies of everything you need for entertainment ahead of the winter rush of mass buying on Amazon. Being prepared for vital food and health supplies is great but we also need to take care of our mental health with fun stuff too. I'm loaded for bear and ready to rock!!!
What have you been reading and watching? Have you been doing any arts and crafts? Doing any puzzles of any kind? Are you planning on stocking up for winter or in case of another lockdown?
