Reading And Watching Joyously

 Quite enjoyable - fairly simply written but touched on some deep issues.  It was also stressful at times, I was quite worried as to how the main character was going to recover from some of the setbacks she encountered. I used to read a lot of books set in India, it was nice to return to the culture - I don't remember reading any set in the 1950s as this was. It gave an insight into a time I know less about, and I loved the glimpse into Indian life, especially from a woman's point of view. It showed how life is so different for women depending on their wealth, caste and status, and how standards of behaviour were so vastly different for men and women.

 This book was in one of the boxes sent to me by the library, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it. The cover didn't appeal (it reminded me of a book I borrowed and didn't read once before, by the author of The Book Thief) and it was a detective story, which is not my favourite. It was set in a fantasy world though, one with parallel universes and ways between them, and I'd been coming across that concept a lot lately so decided to give it a go. There was an introduction that talked to reader about them potentially having doubt about whether to read the book, but that it would definitely be worth it - so that seemed to be talking to me!  I kind of liked it - I was never fully sure whether I was enjoying it or not. The parallel world concept and the way sorcerers operated was pretty cool - and there were Fae (fairies) which I always like. But the world was pretty confusing and I wasn't entirely sure how things worked through most of it. The main character was not...

 Caitlin really wanted to watch this because she's a fan of Millie Bobby Brown, and she thought I'd like it too. I wasn't sure as I'm not always a fan of detective stories - I really loved it! (So did Caitlin). The cast was excellent - Millie Bobby Brown was awesome, Helena Bonham Carter was quirky and enjoyable as always, and Henry Cavill was excellent (I didn't like him as Superman, but loved him in this). The rest of the cast were great as well. The storyline was interesting and not obvious, and it turned out to be a detective story that I was enthralled with. The use of the fourth wall by Enola made her even more interesting. There were themes of friendship, duty, family responsibility, personal responsibility - I was impressed by everything about this movie. It was also cool to watch it just before Caitlin turned 16, as Enola turns 16 at the start of the film.

 Caitlin and I watched this during the week on a day where we had no motivation and wanted something fairly mindless and fun to watch. It delivered exactly what we were after, with a slight variation in the basic dance movie theme but nothing that involved too much thinking. It was enjoyable, not too unbelievable (although we had a couple of complaints - I felt the timeline was inconsistent, there wasn't enough time for the main characters grades to get really bad and then recover again, and Caitlin was concerned at the speed at which the romantic relationship developed given the (undisclosed) age difference, and she noticed that they didn't bother to flesh out the personalities of a couple of the characters) and quite a feel good movie all around. The girls were excited to see Liza Koshy in the cast - a YouTuber they used to watch. The dancing was good, the music was good, it was fun to watch.

 An enjoyable story and a cool concept. Two separate stories that inevitably merged together by the end. I liked the slightly supernatural theme, The writing didn't always flow and was a bit forced at times, but the characters were believable and real. It was mainly a story about friendship and about it never being too late to find happiness.

I have always loved this movie since I saw it at the movie theatre when it came out. I thought it was brilliant then and I think the same thing every time I see it. I love that even though I've seen it possibly a dozen times, I still feel the tension and the worry every time as Romeo fails to receive the message from the priest and so makes his fatal decision. I'd been wanting to watch it with Caitlin for years and she was finally in the mood for it. We watched it with subtitles which helped with some of the trickier language. She hadn't realised that the dialogue was all from the original play, she was impressed. I felt a bit like I was showing off a well known location to her, and I was worried that it wouldn't hold up - we laughed at a lot of it and pulled it to bits like we tend to do but it was still excellent, and she enjoyed it. I love the soundtrack and I've listened to it recently but forgotten how well it fits into the movie. Still a favourite.

I loved this book so much! It was sent to me by the library in my box and I had never heard of it. It looked interesting, a teen paranormal mystery - I was only a couple of chapters in before I just wanted to sit and read it all day. Fairies and forbidden romance are my favourite combination of topics (not fairies like Tinkerbell, but mythological fairies (Faeries, Seelie) and that's what this book had. AND it was set in Australia which I hadn't encountered before - an Australian setting for a fantasy novel. It was scary at times and often exciting. The first person narrative gave a good insight into the fear and determination and confusion of the main character, she was a very believable 17 year old. There were a couple of moments that didn't quite flow, as if the story had changed a bit and an edit had been missed, but it didn't detract from the story. Halfway through I realised that it is the first book in a series, which means there's more to come - I can't ...