Changes to the Blog

For the past few months I've been going through the dilemma of what direction I want my blog to take.  I don't want to stop blogging, but I've found that I really don't have the time or inclination to keep up with it like I used to, and I needed to find a way to make it work better for me.

And after much thought, I've decided that really simplifying the whole process would be best, and that I would like to move it over to tumblr.  I like that it is easier to access and update tumblr through the mobile app, and that it encourages microblogging and also makes it easier to keep up with blogs through the app.  I will miss using blogger because it has so many more features, but I'm really hoping that the tumblr interface will keep me motivated to blog.  And it was also fun tweaking a new theme design. :) I keep tending towards a more minimalistic look and I really like the look of my tumblr page now.

Luckily I have my domain name, so I plan to point it towards the tumblr blog this Friday, and make the switch complete.  If you're following me on bloglovin, I'm hoping that posts will continue to update there the same way.  And I will keep this blogspot blog up for the sake of prosperity since it has about four years worth of posts and good times.

I imagine that my blog will be a bit different now - I'll post about more different things - movies, shows and life stuff - as well as book reviews.  And I'll be continuing the Movie Musical Challenge over there too.

If you would like to visit my tumblr page now - it's here: http://bookishwhimsy.tumblr.com/

And if you are on tumblr, and I'm not following you, please let me know in the comments so I can remedy that!

Review: Castles

Castles (Crown Spies #4)
by Julie Garwood
Historical Romance
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

Orphaned and besieged Princess Alesandra knew that only hasty marriage to an Englishman could protect her from the turmoil in her own land. To the amusement of her makeshift guardian, Colin, younger brother of the Marquess of Caineswood, the bold raven-haired beauty instantly captivated London society. But when Alesandra was nearly abducted by her unscrupulous countrymen, the fighting instincts that won Colin a knighthood for valor were rekindled.

Deceiving himself that he wanted only to protect her, Colin swept her into a union meant to be a marriage in name alone ... yet Alesandra's tender first kiss and hesitant caress ignited a wildfire in his soul. As the lovely princess dashed headlong into unforeseen dangers, Colin would follow, knowing he must claim her as his own forever. Now he would risk life itself before he would lose this sweet, tempestuous angel ...

Review:

Castles is a lovely romantic story with a little mystery and a quietly sassy heroine.  Alesandra keeps tries to act with decorum and it's not always easy, but she is very smart and figures out ways to get what she wants.  I enjoyed reading about a heroine who wasn't too outspoken or confident, but was not a pushover and could hold her own against the forceful personality of Colin.

Colin was a total alpha male, and a great match for Alesandra, even though I sometimes felt like Colin could be a little too overbearing and harsh.  But he did soften in time (as of course he had to!) and it was very sweet to see how Alesandra changed him for the better.  Both of them had their insecurities that they worked through and I love that their romance developed somewhat slowly.

I also loved that the secondary characters felt fleshed out and added to the story - even the smaller characters felt like a big part of Alesandra and Colin's development, and it was great to see how much they added to the plot.

The story has a mystery that is pretty predictable, and because it figured so little into the main plot, it was a little jarring when the story would make reference to it.  It created a great denouement for the story, but sometimes it did feel unnecessary.  This is a book I'd recommend for the way it builds the romance which is very touching, and for the great heroine.

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury

A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2)
by Sarah J. Maas
Fantasy
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Review:

I think it's safe to say that this book took the series in directions I could have never anticipated.  I love how Sarah Maas can completely change dynamics and relationships and reveal hidden depths about these characters you think you know from the first book.  As a reader it's nice to have these surprises.

I should say that at first I wasn't really happy with the way things were going.  I don't want to spoil things, but with A Court of Thorns and Roses, Feyre had to go through so much, that it almost felt invalidated in this book because of how things were changed.  Feyre also is recovering from the horrors of her time Under the Mountain, so I felt like the story took awhile to get underway due to how damaged she was.  It was chilling though to read just how devastated by those events our heroine was, and I admired how realistic it was for Maas to explore those things.  It also served to strengthen Feyre, and really showcase that fierceness in her that I loved to see.  The pace of the story was slow for me in the beginning, but the character development was stellar.

Rhysand was a favorite character in the first book for me, so learning more about him and his court was definitely a highlight.  Especially because there is so much depth to him that was only hinted at in the first book.  And he is still solidly a favorite character for me.  He's almost too perfect really, as a romantic ideal, and it's not fair, haha.

The world expands too, as more is revealed about the other courts, and the threat against the fae and the humans become more apparent.  The story really ramps up towards the end too, as everything in the story comes together for a pretty heart-stopping finale.  I was absolutely riveted.  It's crazy how intense this story became - it went from the characters sort of dancing around each other in uncertainty to so much being laid out on the line, and so many things going wrong.  It was brilliant.  And the last book in this trilogy will be glorious I'm sure!

Star Trek Beyond

Last week I finally watched the new Star Trek film - one that I have been anticipating for awhile now because it was co-written by Simon Pegg, and featured a new story idea (still love you Into Darkness!).  I had such high hopes for this - or rather so much faith in Simon Pegg for some reason.  Star Trek Beyond was a good film, but not as good as I was hoping.  Anticipation and Expectation is a bummer sometimes.

My feelings on the film are mostly positive though.  It's an enjoyable movie, sometimes a little too predictable, but there are some great epic moments, the way the story moves between what is happening with the separated crew was excellently done, and the way the different storylines meshed was fantastic.  I loved that the film started with a bit of humor with Kirk trying to broker peace with an alien race.  It felt very much like the start of a fun adventure, and I think the movie mostly delivered on that.  It does have it's darker moments though, and some great emotional moments for the cast.

Thinking about the film though, I was disappointed by the sense that the story felt too derivative of the Original Series TV show.  Which is a little odd for me to say, because it's like saying the film was too faithful to the original and I almost never have a problem with that.  But a lot of the moments or the plot points felt too episodic or traded on the dynamic of the characters in ways that were already explored thoroughly in the show or even in the Abrams films.  It all felt so familiar, that it was hard to appreciate the film as it's own thing.  I was thinking as I was leaving the theater, that the films might be better if they had a completely new set of characters (so excited for Star Trek Discovery!) or maybe in a similar way to First Contact - if it explored something that the Original Series didn't really explore.  With First Contact, the story was so much more cohesive and riveting because you see a different Picard, changed by the Borg, and the effect on his character was huge.

I'm not sure if being a fan of the show hurt or enhanced/validated my feelings for this film.  When I first watched the two Abrams films, I had never seen any of Star Trek before (refer to my first post on getting into Star Trek!) so I didn't have anything to compare or detract from the films.  I could appreciate them as their own thing, and I haven't re-watched those films since.  I should, just to see if I would feel differently, or less enthusiastically about them now.

Anyways, despite some of my lackluster emotions toward this film, I think it is very good, and worth watching if your a fan, or maybe more worth a watch if you are not as much of a fan.  I can see why this film is more appealing to the Trekkie though because it adheres more strongly to the ideals and the message of Trek, and it highlights some of what fans love about the show.  It was beautifully chilling to see the new Enterprise built, the old theme music used, and the "space, the final frontier"  speech being said.  My nostalgia (from watching it just a couple years ago...haha) for the TV show was satisfied by the inclusion of these things.  I look forward to the next film and I even hope that Simon Pegg might co-write it again, because I feel like he can really do something great with Star Trek.

Pokemon Go Book Tag

I'm a bit addicted to PokemonGO, so when I saw Aentee's book tag, I had to participate!  Even though it took me awhile to find the time to write my answers to the tag, heh.  I'm so glad to mix my love for books and my new love for this game though. :)   And thank you also to Aentee for the wonderful graphics she created for this!  I tag anyone PokemonGO players who would also love to mix the two fandoms.

The Game:  For the starter, I picked Charmander, because my nickname is "Char" sometimes, and... that's pretty much why I have a connection with Charmander. LOL

The Book: This is a hard one... I'm not sure I remember the book that started it all, but it may have been a Nancy Drew book, or The Black Stallion by Walter Farley, which started me on reading book series.  I know The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain started me on reading the Classics when I was in high school.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Florence Foster Jenkins

I was able to attend a screening of this film Monday night - which comes out August 12th in the States, but it was out earlier in England.  I saw the ads for it when I was in England earlier this year, but didn't make it to the theater.  It looked interesting ("Inspiring true story of the world's worst singer") and it stars Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, so I was even more keen to see it.  It is based on a true story, but I've never heard of Florence Jenkins, so I really had no idea of what the plot would be going in.  My review will have some spoilers for aspects of the story, but nothing major and nothing about the ending.

I think what should be the appeal of this movie is the humor and the heart of the characters.  Definitely not the singing, because it is awful and goes on way too long.  Some of the instrumental music is very beautiful though.  But the humor felt flat to me all throughout the film.  I'm not sure what it was.  There were people laughing in the audience though, so maybe it's just not my kind of humor.  The incredulous reactions of people in the movie to Florence's singing was milked a lot though, and if felt a little much.

With the characters, it's established very early on that there were meaningful motivations for Florence, her husband St. Clair, and her pianist Cosme, to want to showcase Florence's (awful) singing, and their backstories were very touching, although there were moments when it was hard to sympathize with St. Clair, the husband.  But in a way I also found it hard to empathize with such self-delusion and manipulation, even though it made Florence so happy.  It felt kind of cruel actually, and I think that also helped diminish my enjoyment of the film.

One thing I really loved was the character of Cosme.  He was kind of thrown into being a pianist for Florence, not really aware she couldn't sing, but needing the job, and in the end, caring about her as a friend.  His character arc, and the humor of his reluctance to continue in the situation made him very endearing.

The movie isn't particularly memorable unfortunately.  It looks great visually - I loved the Forties New York era, and the acting was fantastic, but the humor was very hit or miss with me, and I didn't empathize with the characters as much as I wanted to.  It's too bad, because everything about this film seemed like it would be great entertainment!

San Diego Comic Con 2016

Last weekend, I finally experienced San Diego Comic Con, thanks to the boyfriend who scored tickets for Saturday and Sunday just a couple weeks before.  I've always been a bit wary of how crowded and crazy the con is from everything I've heard about it, but of course I was eager to see for myself just how crazy it is.  It was a blast.  

When I was planning for what to try and see, I ruled out all the major panels - the ones where people line up and sleep overnight outside to try and get into - and opted for the smaller (mostly Star Trek related) ones that I was hoping wouldn't be too hard to get into.  So in that respect the con was a big success because we got to see all those panels.  

Continue reading →

Update

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep up with blogging as much as I want, but I do still plan to post!  I have a couple ideas, but at the moment, my priority is to finish A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, because it's taking me way too long to get through it (I'm enjoying it, but finding it hard to get in my reading time!)

I'm also going to San Diego Comic Con this weekend (woot!!!) so there's no slow down on the life stuff happening right now!  I hope to post about the con though, since this will be my first time actually attending the convention, instead of seeing everything outside of it.

As always, I'm so grateful to everyone who visits my blog!  Thank you, and I'll still be around!

The Newest Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Last Friday, I went to Universal Studios Hollywood to celebrate my Mom's birthday, and was extra happy to be able to finally see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  I have yet to visit Florida and see how amazing it is over there, so it was great to finally be able to see it in my neck of the woods.  And I took a few photos to share the experience on my blog!

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On Being Kind When Reviewing Books

I've been thinking about writing this post for awhile now, but hesitated because I never want to sound like I'm trying to tell people what to do.  But this is something that influences the way I approach reviewing books, so at least for me, I thought it would be interesting to explore it.

When I’m considering buying a new book, book reviews are usually the first thing I check out. (Well after looking at the book cover and reading the blurb.) Seeing what other people think helps me a ton when deciding on whether or not to spend my money. But what makes me sad - even if it’s a book I didn’t like - is seeing those really angry reviews. The ones that rip into the the story and call into question the sanity of anyone willing to read it. Or the sanity of the author for writing it. I just wish those reviewers would be a little kinder. Now being kind when reviewing books is an interesting conundrum. On the one hand, if you, as the reader and reviewer, are disappointed by a book, you should make your disappointment clear as a warning to potential readers, and maybe if those feelings are strong enough, you want to show it with a few choice insults. Just for the sake of accuracy and to make sure there is no mistaking your attitude of derision and displeasure.

But being kind when reviewing does not mean letting a book slide for it’s faults or being banal or ineffective in your comments. It is important to point out what did not work in the book, but also important to remember that not all readers are the same. Reading is a solitary pastime, so a review is an account of a personal experience with a book. I don’t think you can be completely objective when reading a book because you project a little (or a lot) of yourself into the story. (Or in the case of a book you hated, you probably identified with nothing at all, and you would feel insulted if anyone thought you did.) But for every book that someone hated, someone loved it. In book reviewing, I think being kind is just in remembering that someone does love that book.

I know that many people really write the review for themselves, and to that I’d say that being kind can also help make a review more precise. To my mind, a review full of vitriol doesn’t necessarily make it more accurate. I mean generally if someone is angry, their judgement is impaired. There is someone out there who does like that book, so there has to be some merit to it. Perhaps a character stands out, a plot point was interesting, a point of view resonates, the writing wasn’t all bad, or there was just enjoyment value. This kindness approach can help to really see the book for what it is, and not for what you want it to be. And maybe, if you’re writing a review just for yourself, that one merit you flew by when writing about how much you hated everything else, could be something you actually look for as a reader in the future. Sometimes there are books you hated, and yet find they are not so bad when you read them years later.

If you are reviewing books to help other readers, it seems more helpful to weigh the good and the bad as much as possible to paint a complete picture (or at least complete from your point of view.) As a reader, you love books, and writers want their books to be loved, so not to get too hippy dippy, but wouldn’t it be nice to spread that bookish love more and try to be kind when reviewing books?

Now, maybe I should reread Moby Dick… Lord, give me strength.

Movie Mini-Reviews

Lately I've been watching a lot of films in lieu of reading (all the fault of my boyfriend, although he's reading Jane Eyre, so it's win-win!), and I thought it would be nice to jot down some thoughts on what I've seen for my memory's sake, and also to see if any of my blog readers have thoughts on these films.  I'll start first with the less recent watch -

The Girl (2012)

Starring: Sienna Miller and Toby Jones

I love Hitchcock's films, so I thought I would love this behind the scenes look at the making of The Birds and Hitchcock's relationship with Tippi Hedren.  Even though I knew they didn't have a good relationship.  But wow, this film did not shy away from showing a disturbingly perverted side to Hitchcock.  I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it's definitely not how I want to think of Hitchcock.  The film itself moves a bit slow too, which didn't help with my overall enjoyment of it.  Also there were plenty of moments that showed off how creepy Hitchcock was towards Tippi, and I wish there had been more of an explanation/reasoning on why she decided to do another film with him after The Birds.  And I would have been interested to know more about Hitchcock's wife and what she was really thinking during that time.

The Lost Boys (1987)

Starring: Jason Patric and Corey Haim

This is a film I've heard a lot about, but never watched, so now that has been rectified.  It's kind of surprising it's taken me this long to see it, given how much I love vampire stories.  This one reminded me a lot of Fright Night with the tone, and the stand-off at the end.  This is a very entertaining film - it has all the hallmarks of an exciting vampire film - an innocent resistant to becoming a vampire himself, an allure and danger to the vampires, a beautiful girl in need of rescuing, and a surprise villain in the end.  And it has some very humorous moments! It was surprising to see a young Kiefer Sutherland too - he's very well cast as the dangerous, seductive vampire in this!

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Appreciating the Cotswolds

The Cotswolds is an area in Southern England covering six counties that comprise of "rolling hills and grassland" and "thatched medieval villages, churches and stately homes built of distinctive yellow limestone."   It's inordinately beautiful, and on my trip to England last month, I visited the area for the first time.  (Well I've been to a couple towns that are part of the Cotswolds - Stratford Upon Avon and Oxford - before, but this time I really took in what makes that part of England unique.  Thanks to the driving of a dear friend since it's not easy to get around in that area by public transport.)

The villages I visited included Bourton-on-the-Water, Upper and Lower Slaughter, Blockley and Broadway.

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Review: The Dark Days Club

The Dark Days Club
by Alison Goodman
YA Fantasy
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

London, April 1812. Eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall is on the eve of her debut presentation to the Queen. Her life should be about gowns and dancing, and securing a suitable marriage. Instead, when one of her family's housemaids goes missing, Lady Helen is drawn to the shadows of Regency London.

There, she finds William, the Earl of Carlston. He has noticed the disappearance, too, and is one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of powerful demons that has infiltrated every level of society. But Lady Helen’s curiosity is the last thing Carlston wants—especially when he sees the searching intelligence behind her fluttering fan. Should Helen trust a man whose reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her headstrong sense of justice lead them both into a death trap?

In The Dark Days Club, internationally best-selling author Alison Goodman introduces readers to a heroine who is just as remarkable as Eona—and yet again reinvents an establlished literary genre, making it her own.

Review:

The Dark Days Club has a fun premise and delivers on a romp of a romantic adventure, with darker overtones.  While the story takes it's time to develop the characters and for the unique world of demons to be fleshed out, it was worth the slower pace to get to know these characters.

Lady Helen was a feisty character, typically unconventional enough to be open to embracing the darker world of battling demons, but she does struggle with changes to her world view, and I appreciated how realistically hesitant she was about embracing that.  I felt the ultimate conflict of this story was in whether Helen could take on her role, and the conflict of some greater evil rising will be further explored in the later books.  I may have had some moments when I felt like Helen was too naive or too indecisive, but it did feel right for the story that she was scared about the changes in her life.

The world-building was a highlight of this story for me.  The demons had a unique spin to them, and it was intriguing to find out more about their limitations and the balance of power that exists between them and the Dark Days Club who are supposed to protect the innocent from them.  Again, the realism to the fantasy was wonderful, and I think it set up what will be some fantastic plot twists in the next book(s).

There is a romance, and it is a nice slow-burn one - it doesn't take too much away from the action in the plot, and it presents Helen with some real options about what she wants from her life.  I like that she is presented with a choice  - one that is more normal than the other - and Helen has to wrestle with which one works better for her.  I, of course, was partial to the darker, sarcastic Lord Carlton, and I really enjoyed his interactions with Helen which was very antagonistic in the beginning.

The Dark Days Club is sn enjoyable read, with a unique take on demons, a great protagonist, lots of potential in Helen, and the beginnings of an epic confrontation to come.

Suspense Sundays (200) Lazarus Walks

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"Lazarus Walks"

Air date: October 31, 1946
Starring Brian Donlevy

>>Episodes here<<

Dr. Robert Graham is contacted by a man, Roger, who was clinically dead for four minutes before being brought back.  Roger needs Dr. Graham's help because ever since that experience he's been able to "know" when someone is lying about something and is able to know the truth.  Dr. Graham wants to study Roger's case further, and during the course of that, Roger discovers that Dr. Graham wants to murder his wife.

With the way I summarized the story, I feel like the more interesting point of view would be Roger's, but this episode is from the point of view of Dr. Graham, and the suspense comes in seeing if Dr. Graham can outsmart Roger.  I feel like this has such an interesting premise, that it could have been a more absorbing story than it actually is, but Dr. Graham's side of the story was still pretty intriguing.

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I'm sorry to say that this will be my last Suspense Sundays post for now, it's been getting harder and harder to find the time to listen and write about these episodes.  Two hundred episodes seems like a good place to stop - or take a break, I might bring this back again someday! 

Review: The Course of Love

The Course of Love
by Alain De Botton
Fiction
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

The long-awaited and beguiling second novel from Alain de Botton that tracks the beautifully complicated arc of a romantic partnership, from the internationally bestselling author of On Love and How Proust Can Change Your Life.

We all know the headiness and excitement of the early days of love. But what comes after? In Edinburgh, a couple, Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love. They get married, they have children—but no long-term relationship is as simple as “happily ever after.” The Course of Love is a novel that explores what happens after the birth of love, what it takes to maintain love, and what happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average existence. You experience, along with Rabih and Kirsten, the first flush of infatuation, the effortlessness of falling into romantic love, and the course of life thereafter. Interwoven with their story and its challenges is an overlay of philosophy—an annotation and a guide to what we are reading.

This is a romantic novel in the true sense, one interested in exploring how love can survive and thrive in the long term. The result is a sensory experience—fictional, philosophical, psychological—that urges us to identify deeply with these characters, and to reflect on his and her own experiences in love. Fresh, visceral, and utterly compelling, The Course of Love is a provocative and life-affirming novel for everyone who believes in love.

Review:

I absolutely adored this book.  It was a refreshing, fast-paced and thought-provoking read, that delved into the nature of love - not just the first infatuation and romance, but long lasting relationships and marriage.  It was just fascinating for me, and interesting to see how the actions of the two protagonists were broken down by the author.

The structure of this novel is non-traditional, in that the author often inserts philosophical or thoughtful commentary on each stage of the romance, and the actual story lacks a real novel structure because it's more of an overview of how Rabih and Kirsten met, fell in love, and their progression with marriage and children.  I'm not yet at the stage where I have a lot of experience with this, so it was wonderful to get an impartial look at the emotions that run through these experiences and what it means for the person and for the significant other.  Even though the story is mostly from Rabih's point of view, the novel looks at the relationship in such an equitable way, that I felt like I could easily relate to both Rabih and Kristen, and all of their trials and successes.  It's a little bittersweet to read the progression of their relationship, with all the ups and downs, in such a truncated way, but revelatory to get such a unique overview of these two peoples' lives.

This is a book that I think will stick with me for a long time, because the experiences discussed in this book are so meaningful and timeless.  The thoughts and emotions are applicable to almost everyone, and the search or maintenance of a long lasting romantic relationship is certainly a major part of most people's lives.  This is a beautiful and fascinating book.

Jane Eyre 1956 - an early miniseries adaptation

On my trip to England last month, I made a point of visiting the British Film Institute in London to see an early six-part (half-hour each) adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Daphne Slater and Stanley Baker.  Now, I'm definitely a purist when it comes to adaptations, and for an older adaptation, I was totally prepared to watch something over-the-top, overwrought and not very true to the story.  I was pleasantly surprised by this version however!  It was quite good!  There were a few stand-out aspects to the way the story was told, and I enjoyed Slater and Baker's interpretation of the characters.  I might have wished for a little more from them, but we can't always get what we want, haha.  For this post,  I'm going to go a little in depth with the whole adaptation, so this is another lengthy Jane Eyre-related post that I'm sure my blog does not have enough of!

The dialogue/script is a good jumping off point for my initial impression of the story.  It follows the general plot of the novel very well, but often veers off from using the actual dialogue in the book.  Which is interesting to me, because that can so easily go wrong, but in this case, I quite liked the script.  There were the odd missed moments - when it came to the more emotional scenes, it would have been nice to have Charlotte's beautiful words come into play, but the gist of the scenes, and the characters' emotions were there.

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Suspense Sundays (199) A Plane Case of Murder

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"A Plane Case of Murder"

Air date: October 10, 1946
Starring John Lund

>>Episodes here<<

Randy Judson, until recently, was a prisoner of a concentration camp in the Philippines.  The only thing that got him through that terrible time, was thinking of his lovely girlfriend waiting for him back home.  But when he does get home, he discovers that Marian married a rich man, and now Randy wants revenge.  He manages to convince Marian that he's a rich man too, due to all the attention over his experience in the Philippines, and now Marian wants him back.  The only way she can get rid of her husband though is through murder.

The story does involve a plane, hence the heavy-handed stress on "plane" in the title and in the opening scene of the episode.  This is a pretty clever story, despite the general awfulness of both Marian and Randy, but like with most Suspense episodes, people get what they deserve.  I did also love the double cross, that you could see coming a mile away, but was still pretty satisfying.  

Movie Musical Challenge: Easter Parade

In Movie Musical Challenge, I'm watching 20 films I picked as great films or films I wanted to watch.  This post is about the 1948 musical Easter Parade starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire.

Easter Parade is a charming film, but without a lot of substance.  Fred Astaire and Judy Garland are a great onscreen match though - they had good chemistry and a sweet romance ultimately. And of course their dancing together was excellent.

The film is a kind of a Cinderella story, with Judy's character Hannah, being primed by Astaire's character Don to becoming a big star of the stage.  Their ups and downs as a performing couple, and then as a romantic couple are shown, but it's strange that their romance was a bit of a surprise.  Although they had chemistry as performers, I felt like they didn't really show how that developed romantically until Hannah was suddenly sighing over Don.  Being such a fan of romance, I'm sure if that was developed gradually, I would have loved this film more.

The music is good, but surprisingly unmemorable to me.  I can't even pinpoint a great musical moment - the only one perhaps that stands out above the rest is "Stepping Out With My Baby" which features Fred Astaire, and some awesome dancing.  And an interesting slow-mo sequence of him dancing, while the back up dancers look to be dancing in real time.  It seemed a little odd for that bit of technical filming to be included in this, when everything else in the film was pretty straightforward, but it was cool to watch.

Originally Gene Kelly was cast in the male lead role, but had to back out when he broke his ankle, so a part of me is sad that I can't see what Gene would have done with the part, because while this is a nice film, it doesn't particularly stand out to me.  Perhaps the biggest draw is the fact that it features Judy Garland and Fred Astaire together, and for that I can recommend giving this a watch.

Review: Warrior Witch

Warrior Witch (Malediction Trilogy #3)
by Danielle L. Jensen
YA Fantasy
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil they have unleashed upon the world.

As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who’d see them dead. To win, they will risk everything. And everyone.

But it might not be enough. Both Cécile and Tristan have debts, and they will be forced to pay them at a cost far greater than they had ever imagined.

Review:

The third book in this fantastic trilogy maintains the excitement and suspense that I've loved about this series since the beginning.  The cliffhanger in the second book was pretty dramatic, so finally getting a resolution and finding out more about the trolls and magic in this world was so satisfying.  I found this an intense read, but perfectly balanced in it's drama and the resolution for the characters.

The romance was always a major draw for me in this series, and Cecile and Tristan are so close and so perfect for each other, that I was wondering where their relationship could develop from there, but the author manages to take it to the next level, and develop them even further.  It was interesting, especially to see a different side to Tristan - one in which he is not so caught up in Cecile, and had to be a bit darker, with more of an edge.  And I love that the resolution of their story had some unexpected moments that made me feel so many emotions for the both of them.

With the war finally being played out in the story, there are some major consequences that made this book very emotional in so many ways, however.  There were times when I felt things were resolved a little too easily, but that was a minor thing for me, because the ending had a major obstacle that did not resolve the way I expected at all, and added a lot more gravitas to the story, and justified that there were serious consequences to the actions of some of the characters.

It was a completely fitting and engrossing end to a wonderful series.  Anyone who hasn't had a chance to start the trilogy, should pick it up as soon as they can - it's a fantastic binge read!

(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review.  I was not compensated for this review.)

Suspense Sundays (198) Three Times Murder

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"Three Times Murder"

Air date: October 3, 1946
Starring Rita Hayworth

>>Episodes here<<

Laura Morton decides to murder her husband and make it look like an accident.  Her husband loves to shave with his electric shaver in the bath, and even though she often berates him for it, he persists.  Of course something bad eventually happens.  The district attorney, Elmer, is sure that she did it, and nags her to confess.  When she is found innocent by trial, she finally breaks down in private and confesses to the DA.  But then she goes on with her life and marries another man who she is very happy with.  Sometime later she discovers that this man has a brother - the same district attorney who knows she committed murder.

Ooh this was a clever episode!! Interesting take on the femme fatale, because I did feel symapthetic with her, and it was interesting that Laura was very much in love with her second husband.  I was expecting that she would want to murder him too.  It is interesting that the district attorney is the one who really feels like a villain even though he did not commit murder.  But he is so unpleasant.  It's an interesting twist on a story that at first seemed pretty straightforward.