Friday, 23 November 2018

Chuckles Weekend Roundup


Welcome to my feature Chuckles Weekend Roundup where I will be looking at what books I've received, anything interesting I've done or bought or watched and other random stuff. I'll be taking a look back at what happened in my blogging world too, sort of like The Sunday Post that some of you do! 

Please note that I'll be visiting your STS/SP as normal, but I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow DISQUS to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I am the only one who does that on my social media! I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. Sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress-they try to block me because I deleted my account with them but I will persevere as it only happens the odd time!
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Here we are going towards the end of another month and Winter is here for sure! It's really cold so I'm glad to have the gas fire in the living room and the electric heaters in the two bedrooms. Brr! Going to the loo in the middle of the night is not a lot of fun though but others have it way worse so I'm not complaining. This week overall has been a bit up and down with high stress but getting some TV and films watched, and a bit of reading for SciFi month. I'm happy enough with progress although I'm not setting the heather on fire or anything!

I've got in a few books from the friend of my neighbour that I asked for and a few I got for myself. My dad got Fitzy autographed by the man himself in a shopping centre signing and it was also signed by fellow footballer Frank McAvennie. I still have a package to come before next week but I have bought my last books until January as I'm going onto a book ban this winter! That is the plan anyway and I intend to try really hard! I explain all that in my posts this weekend concerning my TBR!

DOWNLOADS



PAPERBACKS



GIFTED
 
 

 
 


Chuckles Blogging World
I kept pretty much up to date this week and finally got a few book reviews done! At last! I'm still working on reviews from books I read in July. The date I read each book is at the bottom of the review just above the star rating.
 
Book Reviews 
 
Hunter Shea-Jurassic Florida
 
Norman Hendricks-Hungry Things
 
Tim Meyer-Sharkwater Beach
 
Elizabeth Briggs-Future Shock

Regular Posts
I went Around The Blogs as usual. Cover Love featured Mazarkis Williams, Top Ten Tuesday was 10 Things That Make Me Scream, Can't Wait Wednesday was Bangkok Warlock and Books From The Backlog featured Black Wings series. 
 
Chuckles Cover Love

Around The Blogs With Chuckles

Top Ten Tuesday

Can't Wait Wednesday

Books From The Backlog

Discussion Posts
Chuckles Chuntering looked at the trip from hell to the vampires at my GP surgery!
 
Chuckles Chuntering
 
Film & TV Reviews 
Caught up with Coronation Street, Masterchef The Professionals and a new series of Snake City! I also got some films matched!
 
SciFi Month Film Update

Special Posts
 
none this week
 
Book Tags/Blog Awards 
 
 none this week

Currently Reading/Up Next
I'm finishing up the Future Shock Trilogy which I felt the urge to read first and I've been enjoying it a lot. The next things on the list are probably the Testing trilogy, Illuminae and Becky Chambers but that might yet change!
 
 
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Thursday, 22 November 2018

Book Review: Sharkwater Beach by Tim Meyer


Beneath the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the biggest predator on the planet hunts, craving the flesh and blood of every creature it can sink its teeth into. Detective Jill McCourty receives a phone call from her old college professor when a mangled body washes up on the shores of Sharkwater Beach. Together they must discover what stalks the waters around the private island and stop it before it reaches the mainland. But how do you stop something so enormous, something so unique that it may have existed in another time?

Jill vows to make sure what happens at Sharkwater Beach, stays at Sharkwater Beach.

My Review: 
The workers at a sub Aquatic research facility 200 miles from Florida are being wiped out when their shark test subject escapes into the flooded facility and starts eating everyone it can. One of the bodies washes up on a beach and it is taken by college professor Neil to study. He calls in former student and girlfriend Jill, a detective and shows her the bug filled body and a tooth wedged in it that is bigger than a megalodon. Jill is persuaded to join his team at Sharkwater Beach to investigate the shark, while the survivors of other shark attacks and helicopter crashes end up on the same island. If they thought the shark was bad, they have no idea what is coming next.

I loved the cover for this book and hoovered up an ebook copy as I can never resist any creature feature with a shark. I did come out of it a little disappointed though. Firstly it is not a shark story really as later in the book the shark is replaced by alien monster things which I wasn't expecting but didn't greatly object to. I just want to warn other readers so they know what to expect.

Lets start with the good. I did like the idea of this genetically altered shark being used for strange purposes at the sea lab and breaking out after eating a fair number of people. I enjoyed the scenes of it attacking people and heading towards this beach. Having the shark POV didn't greatly bother me to be honest but I know it bugged other people so I thought I better mention it. It does clue you in that things are not going to be quite what you expected when you started reading the book. There were a few characters that I did like which I'll mention later. There was also a good deal of tension and horror in the second half of the book which I quite enjoyed. There were scenes which were nicely satisfying throughout but the real issue for me was the female MC and Professor Pervy.

The characters. Neil is a slimy git who likes to seduce his female students and seems to think of himself as a ladies man when he is in fact a creep. He is married but it doesn't stop him having a student girlfriend as well as trying to get back with Jill. I thought he was a cretin and hoped he would get eaten. Jill was even worse. She willingly slept with the guy when she was his student but now she has a massive chip on her shoulder about it as she quit her course because of it and became a cop instead. She has to keep sniping at Neil about the past despite claiming she has moved on which she obviously hasn't, as she freaks out when she finds out he has got married 'behind her back'. She is also rude and obnoxious to all his students who try to be nice to her as she is jealous that he is sleeping with one of them-of course Jill picks out the wrong one and is so nasty to the poor girl. The continued angst and whining from Jill drove me totally barmy and spoiled the book completely.

There were also good characters and I wish the book had centered more around the actual students rather than Neil and his love quad. I liked CJ who survived the boat attack that killed his friend, and he ends up washed ashore with a couple of survivors from an elite unit. Brinks and Gard are in a helicopter when it explodes as they go to investigate what happened at the facility, losing a friend in the process. Brinks suspects that they were all meant to die in the explosion and is determined to get to the people that sent them there. The conspiracy stuff I could take or leave personally but I did like these characters much better. They team up and go to the local bar/hotel to try and get help, as Jill's group does when things go badly wrong for them. Then the blood really starts to flow. 

I have to admit that overall this was a decent plot and I did read it to the end to see what happens which would make it worth 3 stars but it was totally spoiled for me by the Neil and Jill show which had me doing the eyerolling and tutting throughout so I have to drop the rating for that. I also didn't like what happened to one of the characters near the end but I can hardly blame the author for that so it doesn't affect my rating.

Read July 2018.
2.5 stars. 
Posted by at 8 comments:

Chuckles Chuntering


Yesterday was a complete trial. I was called in for my yearly kidney function and thyroid tests and I booked an appointment with the one nurse at my GP practice that can always easily get blood from me. I arrived to be told she was off sick. My panic level went up a notch as I've had terrible experiences with the other blood taking nurses there including the back of my hand swelling up like a balloon one time so I was in a bit of fear as I went into the exam room. The woman there was a local district nurse and as soon as she looked at my arm, announced 'oh dear, how am I going to find a vein?' WTF??? LOOK why don't you! Prod around a bit! That might be a good place to start FFS!!! After a quick prod, she was eying the back of my hand and I was thinking 'no you bloody don't!' and I had to suggest she looked at the other arm, which she did. By now my pulse was in overdrive!

She had one failed attempt and said 'what am I going to do now?' while I silently freaked out in the chair. She told me she was going to find the nurse that damaged my hand and said 'we can do it tag team...Teresa can prod your arm to find a vein then I'll jab you!' and off she went. My panic level was going into the red by now with visions of being held down in the chair and attacked! She came back alone, fretting that Teresa was with another patient and could be a while (no prizes for guessing WHY that was and I pity the patient) and wondered if I could just hang around the waiting room until she could find someone to help! Oh that was it...I was out of my chair trying not to have a meltdown and announced I was leaving. I just fled the room and my dad had to calm me down before driving us home. I don't know where they found her but her patient manner was horrible! You don't tell the patient you can't do it!!! You're supposed to show confidence and calm!!!

I was in a bit of a state most of the day, mulling it over and knowing I'll need to go back again at some point to get it done so by the time I was going to my bed, I was all over the place and had a full blown panic attack. My dad had to sit up with me for two hours before Isettled down enough to go back to my bed. Needless to say I didn't sleep well at all and I feel like crap this morning. WHY are the health professionals so bad at taking blood??? I seem to get this every time I go to someone other than Lorraine. She never has any problem taking it and it never hurts or bruises! Oh man I hope she is back at work very soon as I can't take another day like yesterday!

I'm thinking I need some retail therapy badly!!!
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Books From The Backlog-Black Wings


Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf.  You might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. Go to Carole's blog and add your blog post link in to join in the fun! Hosted by Carole at https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.co.uk/

This seems like a fun feature and I have been planning to take part since Carole launched this so at last, here we go! I have a TON of unread books to choose from in various genres and I'm looking forward to sharing some of them with everybody. 


She's an Agent of Death who really needs to get a life.

As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black is responsible for escorting the souls of the dearly departed to the afterlife. It's a 24/7 job with a lousy benefits package.

Maddy's position may come with magical powers and an impressive wingspan, but it doesn't pay the bills. And then there are her infuriating boss, tenant woes, and a cranky, popcorn-loving gargoyle to contend with.

Things start looking up, though, when tall, dark, and handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in Maddy's building. It's probably just a coincidence that as soon as he moves in demons appear on the front lawn. But when an unholy monster is unleashed upon the streets of Chicago, Maddy discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Powers linked to a family legacy of tarnished halos.

Powers that place her directly between the light of Heaven and the fires of Hell...

I really enjoyed this first book in the series when I read it back in 2012. I loved the characters, the plot and adored grumpy gargoyle companion Beezle! I just never got back to the series but I intend to read the whole lot next year!
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Wednesday, 21 November 2018

Book Review: Hungry Things by Norman Hendricks


Sue Mayfield has been a huge fan of yacht rock legend Darren Minor for so long she was the first to move into his luxury development right across from a mysterious facility hiding a terrible secret. Creatures are being studied there, creatures older than time and hungry for blood. They slither; they slip; they invade your body and rip you to shreds.

Sue and Darren must team up with a secret military force charged with containing the infestation threatening mankind, leading to an ear blasting, flesh tearing battle on an isolated oil rig in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico for the fate of the whole planet. 

My Review:
Jacob is a resident at a bizarre retirement home for fans of washed out singer Darren Minor. A place that continually plays only his songs and the main entertainment is a 2 hole golf course and a full putting course. When he is attacked by eel like creatures in the rough, he is quarantined in a locked room and his friends Sue and Dan sneak in to see him. They find him dead with lots of the creatures swarming around on the floor, prompting the arrival of men in Haz Mat suits and a full quarantine on the place. Then the second outbreak hits.

OK this book was bad on so many levels that I just can't even! Firstly, I hated that retirement home. The thought of forever being stuck there only able to listen to the songs of one person forever feels like a punishment rather than a gift for his fans! The place was mind numbingly boring and I'm not surprised that the residents were grumpy if all they do is listen to that and play putting games! The secret military force don't seem to be following any proper rules by taking this retired guy with health issues to exactly where the creatures were sighted and then putting him in danger of attack when they find them. Yeah that works.

The side characters were seriously lacking in personality and were just there to be annoying. Dan and Sue are ok other than the incredibly stupid decisions that they choose to take. Your friend has been quarantined and nobody is saying why so you just decide to steal a card from a staff member and go to have a look, risking the lives of everyone? Then the place gets the Haz Mat suit guys, and the secret military force coming to visit decide to just let Dan and Sue into the secret mysterious base across the street where these dangerous genetically engineered creatures were being kept and leave them alone to look around while the staff chat amongst themselves? And of course the tank itself just happens to be sitting open and unprotected (how did these things not just slither out???) allowing Dan to just pick up one of these deadly creatures that he saw killing other people??? How stupid is that!

Oh and then we get to the sudden arrival of Darren Minor himself as the second outbreak starts at the retirement home. He arrives in a blaze of glory (literally) with his devoted crew and flamethrowers. For some stupid reason, they end up fighting the military group and they start killing each other while these slithering things attack the residents! Why are they not all working together to tackle the bloody problem? They are all just too stupid to live and this is where I decided to DNF it. I found myself not caring about the characters, thinking the plot was mega dumb and not being entertained or amused by the pure stupidity of it all.

This was recommended to me on a horror newsletter-maybe by Hunter Shea, but I'm not sure but I wish I hadn't bothered with it!

Read July 2018.
DNF 1 star. 
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