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secondbeatsongs · 1 year

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true crime-style podcast, but halfway through the series you realize the hosts have just been explaining the plot of an Agatha Christie novel

#personal #sbs rambles #agatha christie #I'd listen to a podcast like this tbh #I've been reading more agatha christie books/plays #I think Spider's Web would make a fantastic podcast #but so would most of her books if presented like that #come onnn #tell me you don't want a 10-part series on Murder on the Orient Express #talking about the characters as if they're real people #it would be wild

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jtownraindancer · 7 months

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top 5 burn characters go

Good gods Anon this is evil. Only five!??? 😭💕

I spent like three days trying to make up my mind on this, and I'm still not satisfied, but as of the moment, in no particular order:

The Best Boys

Mr. William Guppy of Kenge & Carboy, Bleak House

He's awkward, he's manipulative, he has no real social skills to speak of, and he's in love. I actually really disliked this character when I first read the book circa 2011, but as Burn seems wont to do, I ended up being completely won over in the end. ^_^; His Guppy is expressive, less a comic relief and almost sympathetic. I mentioned in a conversation with @synthapostate about how Guppy is technically an antagonist, but he's played in such a way that you really can't see it (unlike the book). Also the camera is half in love with Burn this entire series, and it makes it very, very easy to fall in love with this dorky, curly-haired puppy of a man.

Dr. Hermann Gottlieb, Pacific Rim & Pacific Rim: Uprising

I could write sonnets about Hermann for how much I've come to love him. 😅 He's one of the Characters of All Time for me. From his passion, his stubborn resilience, and his sharp humor, to his unwavering loyalty for those he cares for and his ability to care so deeply, how could I not irrevocably fall for him? (Also singlehandedly the cause of the 2023 Burn Binge.) Hermann found his way into my heart from the very beginning, but I never realized how at home he had made himself until the day I turned around and he was patiently waiting for me to see him. I think I fell for him and Newt in the same fell swoop, and my love for both of them is unwavering.

Dr. Owen Harper, Torchwood

I've been in love with this bastard since 2013; I've been repressing that adoration for 10 years. I- I don't really remember the exact moment that my opinion of Owen shifted from extreme dislike to him carving a permanent place in my very being, but there it is. He's sarcastic, an incorrigible flirt, and has one of the biggest, kindest hearts I've ever come across in fiction. At the time, I was pre-Med, and I aspired to be half as compassionate a doctor as him. After Exit Wounds, I gave up Torchwood (I couldn't, not with Tosh gone too.), but I've slowly been dipping my toes back in via Burn's reading of some of the books & the Big Finish audios. It's been 10 years, yet I think I'm more in love with this bastard than I ever was before. (And okay, I admit, he might be my favorite-favorite ^_^;)

Sgt. Detective William Blore, And Then There Were None

Bill, Bill, Bill... He's a crooked cop, he's tired of everyone's nonsense, he's filled with regret, he's probably gay. Detective Blore is yet another classic lit character that I first met back in the late 20-aughts, early 2010s who I really didn't care for. Then 2023 rolls around, and not only did I come to love him in this adaptation, but I've ended up going on an Agatha Christie bender because of it. Burn made me... well love would be too strong a word, but I definitely rank Blore as "a poor little meow meow."

Major Edmund Hewlett, TURN

How could this list be at all complete without including my beloved major? (Just picking a gif for this made me realise how badly I've missed him. 🥺) Edmund is... How do I explain how much I adore this guy? How do I possibly pin down the levels of pride I have in his journey, in his growth, explain the way my heart aches at the twists and turns that will tear him apart and build him back even stronger? How do I possibly do justice in conveying how damn aspirational he is, how merciful, how delightful? I can't, really. He's a force of nature that one must experience for themselves. (And I need to resume my rewatch methinks~)

Runner-Ups

(or the characters who have been spinning in my brain nonstop like rotisserie chickens and absolutely deserve mention)

Ben Jarvis, Cheat

I... I have entire essays I want to write about this guy. I have theories I want to discuss, but as most of them are... I can't. Yet. Maybe soon? I- Anyway. Ben was a huge surprise, and definitely nowhere close to what I was expecting when I finally got around to watching this show. I would be lying to say it wasn't a pleasant surprise, and I absolutely love how Burn was able to do a lot of solo work this series, with a lot of focus on body language and his uncanny knack for killer expressions.

Jacko Argyle, Ordeal By Innocence

This... This beautiful little shit ♡ One of the first Burn movies I actively chose to seek out, my second in his Agatha Christie adaptations, and my first dive into gif making. And Jacko-! Oh, Jacko... You stole my heart then broke it in only a few, few precious moments of screentime and backstory. He haunts the entire film, he haunts me still, and I'm so glad I had the chance to meet him.

Martin, Up There

(Oh look yet another one of my gifs 😅)

Martin is absolutely one of my favourite characters, especially for his absolute growth during the film. He crawls out of his downward spiral, he finds himself again, and ultimately discovers that there can be life after death. He just- He's grumpy, he's beautifully sarcastic, he's depressed, he's loved, and he just- Seriously I love him. Martin feels like a friend who I haven't seen in an age, and it's always a good day to bump into him again.

Reverend Benedict Marley, Lark Rise to Candleford

I almost forgot my favourite clergyman??? D:

Benedict Marley came into my life just to shake my very foundations, send me on an existential journey of self discovery, and waited for me at the end of it all with a soft smile and encouraging words. He only had one episode in the show, but his story was so easily woven and understood, his humility humbled me, and in ways that make me almost afraid to admit aloud- I felt seen in a way that I ever so rarely am. I connected to him; I understand him. He has depths that I could hardly explain in a single paragraph, but I can say that- out of all these characters- my feelings are birthed more out of a very deep respect and admiration.

I can't say this list will stay the same- I'm far from through with Burn's portfolio- but for his on-screen roles, these guys firmly remain top-tier for me. :)

(If you'd like to hear about his voice work instead, please let me know; I could go on for Hours about some of those lads. ♡)

Thanks for the ask Anon, and if you haven't seen any of these yet, I definitely recommend them!

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sora-of-uranus · 2 months

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I've been thinking about seer powers and just what it all includes cuss the show kinda died before we could properly learn. Obviously Ethan can see the future, and I think the past? But what else, what more is there?

In fiction and older mythologys 'seer's or other prophetic people normally invoke a god of some kind so I think it would be intresting if Ethan found a spirit of a god from the old religion. I'm not saying he becomes religious, more aware of supernatrual forces that we might perceive as gods. I think the forces he'd most likely worship are 'life' 'death' and 'nature'. Obvious and a bit lame I know, but life and death are a cycle and are essentially the withered the past and the ever growing future. With nature, its a mixture of the two and connects him to his friends.

Another thing is (at least in western mythologys) A LOT of phrophetic people end up having problems with their eyes, either becoming blind or loosing them. It's obvious Irony, but I do think it would be intresting that Ethans normal vision changes the longer he's awakened his powers. Maybe its to the extent of needing glasses and eventually going fully blind, although I think a more intresting take would be for Ethan to be more aware of supernatrual elements with either a 'aura' arround non-humans and magic artifacts. Another option would be to see 'fate striken objects' or things like the red strings of fate. Just small bits of the future that he KNOWS exist and he can't change, but play no obvious goal to himself.

The more he uses his visions the stronger they can get. Things like being able to walk arround them, letting them stay for longer, maybe even hearing peoples thoughts whilst in the vision. I think an intresting idea would be that he could 'retrigger' a vision if he really forces it, but it leaves him with a migrane as it takes a lot of mental energy. Maybe even physical. The gang starts carrying sweets on them so he can atleast get a small sugar rush so that he doesn't collapse or get to shakey.

One last thing that I think would be sick, though holds no purpose to his powers, is whilst he's dreaming he has 'visions'. BUT these visions arn't always focused on him or his life. Sometimes they arn't even happening during his life time. This leads to him writing multiple note books of his preminitions like Nostradamus or the good omens Agnes Nutter. He predicts all sorts of things and eventually his books become marveled for their 99% accuracy. I think it would be cool to see a reverse of this where he has flashback visisons and he's in history class and the teachers all "and we will never know what Agatha Christie did for those 11 days she vanished" and he has to physicall fight the urge to shout that HE knows because HE saw her in his dreams. His history essays are always exciting to read because he pulls a LOT of facts outa his arse by accident.

#my babysitters a vampire #mbav #ethan morgan

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sumire-no-nikki · 6 months

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To Be Here

October. My beloved October. The kotatsu blanket is back on, the indoor plants don't need as much watering, the fallen leaves in the backyard need sweeping and the Summer clothes have been put away. Funny how many friends I've recently chatted with about the bliss that comes with October. It's a burst of orange ochre and apple red in my head. When the season turned, the sun who has since made herself scarce is a warm embrace whenever she pokes her head out. The wind and clouds are constant companions. The evening is perfect for mysterious reads under candlelight. What a splendid month.

As I am typing this, however, October is nearly done. Something this good always leaves too soon, doesn't it? I love the first taste of cold after the pesky Summer heat and September’s false promises of colder days. October is where it really gets going. But it's always nearly done before I feel like I can properly savor it. How melancholy!! But isn’t that how it always goes? Love is more deeply felt after only the crater it left is the one thing you’ve got to remember it by? Love defined by the lack, the absence, the loss? There will never be enough Octobers for me. I’m a creature of want in this way, yearning is an instinct for me. I watch the days go by and the thought that there won’t be another October until next year is like quicksand for my mind.

That said I’ve spent the month working diligently and on the whole being rather productive in both work and personal matters. There’s this project I’ve started and making good progress on! Once completed I promised myself a trip where I can apply what I’ve learned and I’m so excited to reach that goal. I’ve also read a lot this month. I really surprised myself. I’ve read six books and the month isn’t over yet! I read two Agatha Christie books, all three of the Toshikazu Kawaguchi series (the fourth one is coming out next month!! And I’ll have to read the fifth one in Japanese because I don’t want to wait for the translation to come out!!!) I also read Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library as recommended by a friend and I'm so glad she brought it up! I've had a copy of it for ages but just never managed to pick it up due to associated memories (it was given to me by someone during a bad period in my life!!) I swear that book might've just saved my life. I also finished two manga volumes in Japanese this month. It's a series called Yotsuba&! which is just the most wholesome series. Maybe I'll talk about it someday on here. But that series is such a light in my life. I picked it up on one particularly tough day last week and it instantly revived hope in my heart that there's still good out there no matter what.

Other things I've been up to: I've been running a lot these days and I'm actually surprising myself with how much I enjoy it. Earlier today (I'm typing this before bed) I went on a run while it was drizzling. I felt like a kid playing in the rain. I couldn't stop smiling!

Also, the podcast show I mentioned some entries ago!! Case 63!! It has a season 2!! Actually, I found out it's originally by a Chilean writer, so the version I listened to is an English adaptation. Anyway, I'm so happy there's more of it. Season 3 is the final season in Spanish so I expect the English adaptation of that will also be made (since they went so far as to continue with season 2). Fingers crossed! I'm so intrigued as to how it will end!!

As for TV, I started and finished watching HBO's Barry in like a week. I was absorbed!! All four seasons! Mind you, each episode is only 30 mins so it wasn't really that long. It's such a funny and dark show I love it so much. I've heard good things about it through the years but I never found the time to get into it. Plus I have this terrible illness of "I-Can't-Get-Into-Things-When-It's-Super-Mainstream-I-Need-To-Wait-Until-The-Hype-Dies-Down-itis" lol. No, seriously I just didn't feel like getting into a new show until this month apparently. But I'm so glad I watched it. The show is a goldmine, the best Hollywood/LA culture satire I've seen in ages. The way it highlights the gender gap in the workplace, how a writer must compromise on truth in order to sell something, even the way a woman needs to be a "perfect victim" in order for her story to be worth anything! It's so witty!! And the central question of can people truly change--I'll be thinking about this show for a long time. It's so good. Watch it if you can.

Early this month I also managed to sneak a quick trip to Croatia and Slovenia which was so relaxing and peaceful. Trips can be quite stressful for me especially when it's a big city full of tourists due to my OCD (I'm looking at you Paris, and literally all of Italy smh... jk jk) But this trip was restorative and gave me a genuine sense of discovery and wonder, which is what I aim to travel for.

I've been listening to the new Mitski album and rethinking my home library's organisation system! I haven't decided yet but I mainly want my Classical Mythology books, both fiction and non-fiction in one area. Also wishing I bought two Caryatid statues in Athens last year instead of one! Would've been nice for her to have a buddy!!

Now, the title of this entry comes from a realisation I had this month--a very important one. As someone whose nature is to think and think and think, it's difficult to be in the present. I'm always in agony over the past, and anxious about the future. I can be quite dismissive of what's in front of me as a result. This is a chronic issue of mine. But while reading The Midnight Library, tucked in my reading chair, savoring the scent of a pumpkin pie candle, all the pieces of advice I've read both online and in person suddenly clicked.

When writing a first draft of a novel, it simply needs to exist.

When making art, it simply needs to be there.

When yearning to do something, I must attempt it

When wanting to exist, I simply am.

I just need to be here in the most literal sense. To be. Not in the past tense, not in the future tense. There's no need for qualifiers. There is no standard to fulfill. I know this is neither new nor revolutionary, but in the embrace of an October evening, digesting this advice and accepting it made me feel so brave.

It hit me like a sucker punch. I thought, I need to untangle my sense of self and my worth from anything external. I cannot keep on doing this to myself. Because the truth is if I don’t stop this constant self-flagellation, I have simply replaced my mother in adulthood. I will have been no different from her and her constant need to criticise me. This is something I've been actively trying to improve recently and I can feel myself getting better. I feel, somewhat ironically, that by being present, I'm regaining a sense of hope that I haven't felt since childhood. Like somehow my past is healed and my future is assured.

So despite how much I've gone on about loving October at the beginning of this entry, as much as I know I will miss it, I have to be where I am. That means accepting that all things end--good or bad. That means being in November when it comes. That means understanding that what I've lost, while dearly missed, is out of my grasp now. That means what will happen to me is tomorrow's business.

This entry's song I've repeated to death (which is a very good thing) this month. It's by an artist I really enjoy. I cannot wait for new material from her and this new single is a sign of really good things to come!

I leave you with a photo of a friend I made while out on a walk. What shall I name him?

Have a wunderbaaahhh rest of Octobaaaahhh! 🐑

#diary #sumire-no-nikki #Spotify

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kolbisneat · 29 days

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MONTHLY MEDIA: March 2024

……….FILM……….

Dune: Part Two (2024) Every piece of technology felt and looked so tangible. The baby worm too! Love the tactile nature of this whole production and I hope studios take note that CG can't be the only tool in your belt. So much bigger than I imagined and just enjoyed the whole thing.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) Ages surprisingly well and a script that lets the main quartet be both funny and layered.

……….TELEVISION……….

Columbo (1.01 to 1.03) Hey I'm starting Columbo! Love that each episode is feature-length and Columbo appears fully formed right out of the gate. The sets and costumes are all so glamorous and L.A. Very excited to keep going.

Succession (2.05 to 3.04) The Kendall play at the end of season 2 felt very much like the Kendall play at the end of season 1 and while I'm still a huge fan of this series, I just hope it's not the same going into season 3 and 4.

Delicious in Dungeon (Episode 1.09 to 1.13) Great adaptation that isn't just a straight recreation of the artwork in the manga. The more kinetic/frantic moments in the animation are a nice departure and while they don't pop up in each episode, now that I'm 13 eps deep I can appreciate how they're sprinkled throughout.

Love is Blind (Episode 6.02 to 6.13) It still amazes me that anyone goes on reality tv.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Twilight | ContraPoints by ContraPoints Yes I did watch a nearly 3-hour essay on Twilight, sexual expression, and all that comes with that. And you should too. VIDEO

Instagram fatigue and the rise of 'Resentment Reels' by Taylor Lorenz While I haven't noticed this specific phenomenon, I have noticed Instagram declining as an app (both as a user trying to see anything other than ads, and a creator trying to get my work seen in between those ads). It's a bummer. VIDEO

Saltburn: The Tumblr-ification of Cinema by Broey Deschanel Every since I saw Saltburn, I've been thinking about what wasn't quite sitting right with me. This unlocked a lot of what I couldn't describe and most of it stems from the writer/director's upper class upbringing. Saltburn isn't a "take down the rich" movie, it's a horror story from the perspective of a wealthy family. VIDEO

Why Is It So Hard To Cross The Street? (& What You Can Do To Help) by Strong Towns Accidents where drivers hit a pedestrian are going up in my area so this really hit home. And for those feeling like there's nothing you can do at ground level, consider taking their course (not a paid sponsorship I'm just in real support of community-lead initiatives). VIDEO

……….READING……….

Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock (Complete) After picking up the last book in this series (which I've yet to read) I figured I'd start at the beginning. Love the fast pace pulpy action and I can see how this influenced the creation of D&D.

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie (Complete) This one would lose me for stretches but the final quarter of the book is stronger. A lot less cozy and a lot more action than I was expecting but skimming other reviews it sounds like this was written during her more...adventure-focused era. Three books deep and I have to give Christie credit that each has been a completely different experience.

Adventures of a Japanese Business Man by Jose Domingo (Complete) Always love going back to this nearly wordless epic that follows the titular Japanese business man. I love the complexity of the earliest panels and wish that could carry throughout more of the book, but it's always such a treat to discover just where each new panel will go.

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 5 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) Enjoying rereading this with shorter breaks between volumes as I certainly missed/forgot details on my first read. It's here that the story and tone shifts from light romp to a more dramatic and dangerous affair but it never loses its spot-on humour. Love those dryad pumpkins.

Ultimate Spider-Man HC Volume 11 by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, David Lafuente, and more (Complete) Going from some of my other comics back to this, I'm struck by just how wordy it can get. Now knowing where the story goes, it was a great idea to prime readers to the idea of Peter Parker dying even if it's not from this event.

……….AUDIO……….

Blank Check with Griffin & David (Podcast) Late to the game on this but really enjoying burning through their back catalog. Obviously started with their episode on Speed Racer as it's a near perfect film that you should watch right now.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Tuesday group just killed a mayor! So the aftermath of that is going to play out over the next couple of sessions. And the Mof1 crew is investigating the aftermath of their own district-wide catastrophe and it's all looking rather suspicious!

Spot It (Blue Orange Games) I can't recommend this game enough. It's so easy to learn, rounds last maybe 5 minutes, it plays well with small or large groups of any age, and all it requires is pattern recognition and quick reflexes. Every time I've played this someone says they're going to buy a copy for themselves.

And that's it. See you in April!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

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siena-sevenwits · 9 months

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My June/July Reading Review

Not as excited to share this time, because I don't have as many books - or as much variety - despite being a double month. Life has been extremely busy, and I had to put my reading mostly on hold for a bit. This led to a reading slump even when things got more manageable, so I have been concentrating on getting out of the slump. I permitted myself to read lots of short, fun things in order to get back into the reading habit, as that has worked in the past and I know I'll be intentional about reading slightly more difficult works once the habit is re-established. But it does make me feel silly typing this up. On, then.

"Nicholas Nickleby" adapted by Tim Kelly (Play, literary adaptation) - FOUR STARS - As some may know, Dickens' novel is extremely close to my heart and figured into several important passages of my life. I was extremely keen to propose a Dickens adaptation for next years' school play, and was very impressed with this one. (Of course no adaptation will ever compare to the Royal Shakespeare Company's eight hour stage adaptation, which is possibly one of the best adaptations of anything ever, but if we're doing Nickleby in two hours, with students, Tim Kelly has done a pretty great job.) Alas, for financial reasons we need to go with a free script rather than one that requires licensing, so we're falling back on good old Shakespeare, but I am glad I got the chance to order this one in and read it.

Beren and Luthien by JRR Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien (epic poetry, fantasy, mythology, Tolkien legendarium,) - FOUR AND A HALF STARS - My appreciation of the tale truly benefited from reading this anthology. It's remarkable to see how Tolkien's imagination reinvented itself over time. The first version of Beren and Luthien feels like an Edwardian children's short story, with Luthien the fairy hiding behind a flower from the gnome Beren, and singing a song of long things like ladders and vines and the lives of cats to magically give herself Rapunzel hair! And of course the absolute delight of the Sauron character instead being "Tevildo, Prince of Cats" who loves napping in the sun! The later versions have cool variation too - the poetry really emphasizes different aspects than the prose tellings. I also love the dignity and equality of both Beren and Luthien, and how they are equally heroic. Luthien especially is wonderful to me.

The Whispering Skull; The Hollow Boy; The Creeping Shadow (Books 2-4 in the Lockwood & Co series) by Jonathan Stroud (MG, mystery, adventure, thriller, supernatural) For sheer enjoyment, I'd give the second book 2 1/2 stars, and the third and fourth books 5 stars. They are for the most part intelligently written, and just such a blast. (The fun is enhanced by the fact that my brother frequently asks me to narrate the story to him (as opposed to reading it,) and so I get to unleash my love of storytelling. Book 2 is okay, but has middle book syndrome in a way the others don't. Books three and four have better plots and characterization on the whole. I read the scene at the Rotwell Institute at 2 AM during a terrific storm, and though it did not creep me out, I did get a nice suspenseful shiver! (These books don't spook me at all - suspense is really the operative word here.)

"The Mousetrap" by Agatha Christie (play, mystery) - THREE STARS (and that might be rounding up) - My sister had read the entire Agatha Christie canon save this one, as they were kind of her thing in her teens. I have not read as many, but I've definitely read at least twenty-five of her books, plus a large number of short stories and plays. But for many years we had a pact that we would neither of us read this play, because we had an ambition to travel to London and see it on its original run (now more than seventy years running!) at St. Martin's Theatre. Now we're both adults and very much have our own lives, and I am about to embark to England without her, so we decided it was time to mutually break the pact. We had meant to see a community theatre production February, but that fell through, so we made tea and had a spot of reader's theatre. We had tremendous fun, even though the play itself was only so-so - certainly by Agatha Christie's standards. Maybe we just know her too well as an author. That being said, the reader's theatre session was a hoot. We watched this trailer first:

youtube

and predicted what all the characters' personalities and backstories were just from the trailer, as well as the murderer's identity. We were correct on almost everything. It also added to the fun because we based all our character voices on the appearances of this cast. My sister stole the show, as far as I was concerned, with her comedic performance as Christopher Wren (the guy in the sleeveless pullover.) I think we actually had more fun doing reader's theatre than we would've seeing it in person.

The Frugal Wizard's Guide to Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson (science fiction, historical fantasy, dimension-hopping) 3 STARS. Fun, but really not Sanderson's best. As always with Sanderson, read it aloud to my brother, and the connection with him is always a good thing.

Ongoing:

Five Children on the Western Front (I can't wait to do my writeup of this one - it's really good!)

An enormous collection of Medieval and Renaissance Italian short stories. For some months I've been reading through the first volume of a multivolume anthology series of the world's great stories, organized by time and country. The first half of this volume was all ancient tales (and, with the exception of Cupid and Psyche, all stories not included in your standard mythologies and such.) Now I am in the second half, and reading all the stories Shakespeare used as inspiration for his stories. The original ending to Romeo and Juliet is... something.

Epistle to the Romans - I continue my slow deep dive, working my way through it with copious notes, two commentaries, sundry articles, etc.

Iphigeneia in Tauris by Euripides - I do mean to keep liveblogging this.

The Empty Grave by Stroud (last Lockwood of them all)

Beowulf (reread)

Fellowship (reread)

#recovering reader #coreander's old books #Youtube

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literaticat · 1 month

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Hi Jenn! For books that change titles after publication, who makes the decision? Is it solely up to the publisher, or does the author have a say, 1) that it should happen (like if a title becomes problematic) and 2) what the new title should be? Or will the book just not get another printing? How would a change affect book sales, would it be treated as a brand new book, does anything special need to be done like with ISBNs or catalogs? Example: Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.

First of all, this doesn't happen often at all, so it's probably not something that will ever come up, if you are reading this like !!! -- pls, calm down, you don't need to add this to your brimming catalogue of concerns.

Occasionally -- RARELY!!! -- a title will change after the book is already published. It's rare because it's a bit of a pain in the ass. IF this were to happen, it would most likely be at one of two times, for one of two reasons:

First: IF the book truly did NOT do well in hardcover, but they still believe in it and want to publish it in paperback but totally reimagine the packaging and "rebrand" to get a fresh start. (It does OFTEN happen that a paperback will get a new cover look from the hardcover -- but that rarely extends to the title itself. As in, over 500+ books I've had published, this has happened to me once.) In that case, the publisher said, hey, we want to rebrand this and give it a new title what do you think? And we brainstormed new titles and cover directions together. It was a good thing, because whatever confusion that might have happened in the marketplace (wait -- did I read this book already? Is this the same book or...??) was fleeting -- after all, hardly anyone DID notice the book the first time around, so there weren't very many people to confuse, that was the whole point! And it did say on the book "previously published as [former title]" so people could figure it out. And there was no issue with ISBN, because the paperback had a new ISBN anyway.

Second: If the book has done very well over the course of years, but for some reason the title has become A Problem. The case you mention, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, is an example of this; the original UK title was offensive even for the US in the 1930's and I'm certainly not typing it, click the link if you don't know. We published it under another name here, and it has changed to be more offensive and then less offensive and changed back a couple more times over the course of decades. Obviously they didn't want to put a popular book by an extremely famous author out of print, so different publishers over the years have opted to tackle this in different ways, and Agatha is famous enough and the book popular enough that everyone just rolled with it. (I think everyone has finally settled on AND THEN THERE WERE NONE for the book, play, and new adaptations!) These changes might have been the idea of the estate itself, or might have come from the publisher, but either way, they'd both have to agree. Yes, a new edition with a new title would have a new ISBN and the updated version would be in catalogues and able to be ordered, the old version would just go out of print.

This has also happened to me once over the years with a book I repped, MELISSA by Alex Gino. It was originally published under a different title and won many awards and I don't think it's a stretch to call it a Modern Classic of MG fiction. It's about a trans kid (the titular MELISSA!) -- but the title of the first version was her "boy name." This made sense back in 2010 or whenever the author first conceived of writing the book, and we (author, agent, editor, publisher) didn't think much of it even when the book was published in 2015; that was what everyone called the protagonist, so it didn't feel weird at the time -- but after a while, Alex came to feel that this title felt inappropriate since Melissa IS Melissa throughout the whole book, even if other people call her by a different name; they wanted to change it. And times by then had changed quite a bit, people's understanding of how to talk about gender and such was just different, so while the publisher did balk at first (after all, changing that book meant potentially confusing A LOT of people, as well as changing the covers of ALL Alex's books that mentioned this award-winning first book), eventually the publisher decided that the benefits outweighed the risks and did change it. So a bunch of things happened: All Alex's other books had their covers changed in reprints, MELISSA's cover and ISBN changed and the old version went out of print, and new jackets that said MELISSA were created so people who already had the hardcover with the old title could swap it out if they wanted, and they did a lot of PR around the name change so people would hopefully understand why and what was happening and be excited about it rather than potentially annoyed.

As you can see, doing this with a popular book is quite an undertaking and not something a publisher would take lightly -- and while the decision might come from the author OR the publisher, at the end of the day, EVERYONE would have to be on board.

I strongly suspect that a book that had a "huh, is that kosher these days?" title that was NOT popular would just end up going out of print and fading into memory.

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claireelizabethsblog · 11 months

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~May's Books Reviewed~

May saw some highs and lows in my enjoyment of books! I largely was still making my way through some old books I hadn't had the opportunity to read, but I also read a couple of newer ones. I was also on holiday for a week in May which meant that I had a couple of easier books thrown into the mix too. All in all, I've been enjoying my reading, especially as the weather has been nice and I'm able to read outside more!

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

(369 pages)

I actually started this book at the end of April, but I finished it at the start of May so in this post it goes! I really really enjoyed this book! I picked it up at the book shop because I have an unapologetic love for heist films, but had never actually read a proper heist book that I could think of. This fulfilled everything u wanted it to be as a heist book though. It was light and fun and a fairly easy read. It completely held my attention and remained believable (bizarrely!) while being compelling. It brought about the same feelings of investment and fun that I get while watching heist films and I would highly recommend it to people.

I gave this book 4.5 stars ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗

The MouseTrap (70th anniversary edition) by Agatha Christie (arranged and introduced by Sophie Hannah)

(245 pages)

This is a bit of an odd one to include, however I saw the play (finally!) and absolutely loved it so felt I had to locate the book now that I was part of the secret! Obviously seeing it was indescribably better, however it is still a fun story and I enjoyed all the behind the scenes bits and history that this book went in to. I cannot recommend going to see the play enough and would in fact not recommend reading this until after you already know the story so that you can enjoy the plot twists and mystery in real time with the rest of the audience.

I gave this book 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗 (but as a play it was 5!)

The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

(546 pages - this was a hardback)

I had owned this book for several years, having got it when it first came out with every intention of reading it, only to never get around to it! I loved the His Dark Materials trilogy when I was younger which is why I was really wanting to read another book from the same universe. That being said, while I enjoyed this book, it did not quite live up to the original trilogy (at least not in my memory). This was probably mostly due to a lack of nostalgia and attachment to the characters considering it is set like a prequel to the original books. The world and the writing remains incredible so I would highly recommend all Philip Pullman books, including this one to anyone who is perhaps a younger reader and wanting to get into a good fantasy world.

I gave this book 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarré

(367 pages)

So I read this primarily for its reputation as this incredible espionage book.... I have to admit, I do not get the hype. I honestly could not tell you anything that happened in this book, it kept my interest that little that I have already forgotten genuinely everything. I found that there were too many characters and the plot and language was long winded, meandering and unnecessarily complex. It's supposedly a classic, but unfortunately I'm still not sure what I even actually read. I therefore did not exactly enjoy it. It's definitely not the worst book I've ever read, but I doubt I'll find myself reaching for any more LeCarré.

I gave this book 2 stars ⭐️⭐️

The Help by Kathryn Stochett

(451 pages)

Very different from the other books that I rated this highly, but no less enjoyable. It took me a surprisingly long time to read for the number of pages it is, but this was in no correlation to the writing, which was simple and effective, but rather down to the content I think. The book deals with a lot of heavy themes around racism in particular, especially as it aims to by historically accurate and so it would have felt disrespectful almost to have read it much quicker. The writing and story were addictive and despite the heavy themes, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book and at no point felt weighed down by the responsibility of it. I would really recommend this book.

I gave this book 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌗

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

(434 pages)

This was the start of my holiday reading and it was indeed a total "airport book", ironically enough about an airport book author! I did strangely enjoy this book and was definitely desperate to finish it and find out what was going on the whole time. Although, that being said, the ending was a little anticlimactic and sudden in my opinion which did drag the rating down a little. I would also say that there does need to be a bit of a content warning here for eating disorders and very casual references and descriptions of them at that. It is set at a wellness retreat so a lot of the characters internal monologue does end up focusing a fair amount on body image and dieting.

I gave this book 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

(461 pages)

The second of my holiday books! I mean.... it's been read before, and it holds up as being exactly what it says on the tin - a classic teen coming of age book that while horribly cringy at points is still generally enjoyable. I loved this book when I first read it (almost 10 years ago!!) and I still loved it this time through, even if it was no longer quite as relatable! I have not much else to say about this one other than I would recommend it, but know that this is not the highbrow literature but simply fun and light and easy.

I gave this book 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Icebreaker by R.L. Graziadei

(314 pages)

The last of my holiday reads. My kindle recommended this one to me based off other books I have read I suppose and I have to admit that unfortunately I was a little disappointed, especially by the end.it felt like it was just beginning to pick up and get interesting, only for all the resolutions etc to happen and feel kinda rushed and kinda unrealistically unsatisfactory. That being said, it was still a mindless holiday read and I really did enjoy the representation, both of multiple sexualities and relationship types; and more so perhaps of various mental health struggles.

I gave this book 3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

(382 pages)

I really really enjoyed this book, was definitely a high to finish the month on! I found it highly engaging as I was so desperate to find out what had happened through out. The protagonist/speaker was incredibly unique and well written, with her trauma and experiences clearly affecting her thought patterns. This made it really interesting and cool to be reading from such a clearly unreliable narrators perspective, but also to watch with front row view as she herself slowly unpacks what has happened to her and come to terms with what other people see and how she could be living her life. The ending was perhaps a tiny bit too abrupt for my liking, but I really would recommend this book to people.

I gave this book 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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mzannthropy · 5 months

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So, Enola Holmes. How do I solve a problem like Enola Holmes?

I have liked Sherlock Holmes stories for years (albeit not to the extent I like Agatha Christie, nor am I the type of expert on Sherlock as I am on Agatha Christie; when it comes to adaptations I've seen some and mostly enjoyed them, some more, like the Granada series, some less, like the BBC Sherlock). I am also a fan of Sam Claflin. When I heard there was going to be a film centred on a young Holmes sister, with Sam as Mycroft, I was, naturally excited. It sounded right up my street, even though I'm not the target demographic. A period drama with a young heroine? As a lover of L.M. Montgomery I'd like that by default. A mystery set in Victorian London? It had all the ingredients. I was not thrilled about it being about a younger sister of Sherlock, but it wasn't a major issue. And Sam was going to be in it!

Then I saw the trailer and felt like someone stabbed me with a knife.

I'm saying this to make it clear that I did not go into it with the intention of hating it. I never do, bc I'm not like that. I give everything a chance, even when everyone else is being negative. "I can't wait to hate on this show", that's not me. Sure, I didn't have to watch it--but I also I had to bc of Sam. So I did and somehow got through it, while fast forwarding parts of the film and yeah, I would have liked it, bc there was a lot about it to like, except that one crucial thing--Sam as Mycroft. Or a character named Mycroft, bc he has nothing whatsoever in common with Mycroft of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. (Okay, neither have many adaptations, but at least they're not... like that.) Except for the working for the government, and I suspect they kept that bc it suited them, not out of any respect to the Sherlockian canon.

This Mycroft is a ridiculous cartoon villain, with a cartoon villain moustache, cartoon villain hairstyle and cartoon villain lines. Mycroft from the original books is smarter than Sherlock (Sherlock himself says so, read the beginning of Greek Interpreter if you don't believe me), he's just too lazy to actively solve crimes. He founded a club for antisocial men. He created his own position in the government, securing employment for the rest of his life. Enola!Mycroft is none of that. He possesses no skills of observation or deduction. He appears to be a conservative, old fashioned, sexist, all the bad things that the audience will hate him for. Enola, on the other hand, is smarter than both of her brothers. Bc of course she is. And people here ate it all up. So you can see why the film was so upsetting to me.

I like seeing Sam in different roles. I LIKE him playing villains. Heck, one of my most favourite performances of his is Oswald Mosley in Peaky Blinders, a real world fascist. In The Nightingale, he plays an absolute monster and that's one of his best films. I like to see him play three-dimensional, well rounded characters. I'm not interested in watching him in romcoms. You get my point. If Sam's character in Enola was the one she was after, like the culprit of the crime she was solving, I would have been fine with that. If he was, let's say, Moriarty, I would even have welcomed that. If Enola was a character in her own universe, not Sherlock pastiche, and Sam was, for example, her strict uncle, with the same characterisation as this Mycroft, I would have been okay with that. (He behaves more as an uncle than a brother in any case, these guys have no sibling dynamic. Source: I have siblings with a big age gap.) But even all that I could get through with gritted teeth, if if wasn't for another obstacle--Henry Cavill as Sherlock.

They really went all-in on Eye Candy Sherlock, with those pretty curls. Whereas Sam... well, you can see for yourselves what they did to him. The gross moustache, the idiot hairdo. Yet Sam has curls just as pretty as Henry's. (Funny thing is, that Sam and Henry are sort of similar looking, they can believably play brothers. But they did everything to make them look different.) So between peeps who loved Enola and the wokery of the film, and Henry's fans gushing over his cuteness, it was quite a hard place to be for me as a fan of Sam. It made me feel like a poor relation, something I have, let's say, a bit of a baggage with.

I understand that playing a cartoon villain was something Sam wanted to try his hand at, and I don't hold it against him. (Like, if I was an actress, I'd have liked to play a stepmother in Cinderella, I would get a kick out of that role.) But that doesn't mean I have to like the end result.

And now back to what I started with--how do I deal with all this, how do I reconcile my love for Sam Claflin with what he did to Mycroft, as also a fan of Sherlock Holmes?

The best explanation I can come up with is that, as the story is told from Enola's POV, she sees him as worse than he really is. Not that she's an unreliable narrator, or if she is, not on purpose. (Like you can do the same with e.g. Snape in Harry Potter.) He could have had good intentions with her, with regards to the boarding school. As for the scenes where she doesn't appear and he does, well, she cannot know what went on there anyway, so how do we know she's not making that up? I mean, him and Sherlock seemed to have got on well and Sherlock liked him, so he couldn't have been that horrible.

I was relieved to find out he wouldn't be in the second film (he was filming DJATS), I didn't watch it and never will. But now the third one has been announced and the old dread is creeping back. Another scheduling conflict would be too much luck, so all I can hope for is at least a tiny bit of character development. Please, gods of film and TV, please.

#enola holmes #sam claflin #mycroft holmes #samblogging #out of all the fucking sherlockian pastiche sam had to be in that... sigh #hard life of a fan #it is very much a fml for me sometimes #still i wouldn't trade sam for anyone #at least enola has 91% on rotten tomatoes so that's another film the 90s for sam!#mypost

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chanselysees · 9 months

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hi Clara 😊 would you tell us about your grandmother? (If you want to ofc)

oh! it's nice of you to inquire☺️

she was this willowy, mischievous woman born on a finca in andalucía right before the spanish civil war, and she always spoke of those days with a great deal of adoration. her family was stern and devout as most southerners were back then, but she always found a way to evade her grandmother whenever it was time to pray the rosary and hang out with the bulls in the fields, or dress up the house cats in her dolls' clothes (she put those poor cats through so much, but they were so patient, bless them). her mother didn't really love her, so she was mostly left to her own devices and i think that shaped her fiercely independent and avant-gardist spirit i've always adored—as well as explained her aloofness with her own daughters, and a certain level of generational trauma carried down decades. when the war broke out, they fled to a cousin's estate in southern france, where they remained trapped until 1945, but by the time ww2 was over they'd lost most of their money and franco had seized the finca, so they had to move to a small apartment in madrid. this is where I met her.

of course my memory of her is somewhat tarnished by her latter years—she had dementia and at the very end it seemed like the name Clara didn't ring any bells, which I tried not to break down at—but she will always remain one of the most exceptional people I've ever known. she was a little callous but loved me fiercely, in ways I never mistook as anything other than love as a little kid. we shared a room at christmas time (me, her, and the family dog. only I survive to this day) and in the evening, before we fell asleep, she'd tell me with much seriousness how her obsession with ancient egypt made her convinced she had been a pharaoh in a past life. she was an avid bookworm and practically taught me how to read; when she saw I inherited her passion, she started gifting me a new agatha christie book every time we met (they were her favorite). she was incredibly pretty, with that glamorous elegance pertaining to old hollywood stars; i carry 50s pictures of her in my phone and show them to anybody who asks, and when they say, "you guys look identical", i take it as the highest compliment ever, not because i think she was gorgeous, but because carrying the face of someone i love so much is a way to keep her close to me—close as can be. she had a sailor's mouth, which my mom really didn't like, but "ajo y agua" packed a singular punch when it was said by her. my brother and I would ask her, "me haces un sándwich, ¿porfa?" and she'd go, "y una mierda." but ten minutes later she was back with a sandwich for each on a platter. my mom and her bickered a lot, later on even full-on fought, and afterwards they'd both cry, and I would sit there with my heart ripped in two, not understanding why everybody couldn't just... get along. I'm pretty sure that at first, she played up her mental fogginess to fuck with the adults, and make the kids laugh—she was incredibly funny but her laugh was more wheeze than cackle, and we called it "su risa de Patán". one time, when I asked her what the happiest day of her life had been (expecting perhaps her wedding, or my mom's birth), she said, with manifest enthusiasm, "barack obama's election. because I thought I would die before i could see a black man become president of the united states."

i have many more anecdotes about her to share, but i'll leave it at this thing she'd tell me that really stuck with me: her motto, which has become somewhat of a mantra to myself; "la fe es saltar al vacío y esperar que unas manos te cojan".

#sandra 💗#thank you so much for asking - i didn't think i would write this much but it was truly liberating #i'm sorry if this was too sad - i tried to highlight her dazzling character and all the admiration i have for her #she strongly believed in heaven and life after death and she wasn't afraid to die #(in her last years shed jokingly say 'se habrán olvidado de mi allí arriba?')#so i really hope she is happy wherever she is <3 #long post

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stargazerinaboat · 9 months

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July Wrap-Up

my highlights of the month

Books: During July's restless and sleepless nights, I read Elena Ferrante's "The Days of Abandonment". Once again, I was reminded of her skill of picking apart her characters to rearrange them in a new way, and how we, as readers, undergo this process along them. Side note - you can borrow this book via archive.org Poetry: In my poetry reading club, each member searched and read poems about summer. I read "August" by Louise Glück. This poem describes a summer memory the poet shared with her sister. Even though I don't have a sister, this poem brought me back to my childhood, to the summer noons I spent with my best friend doing nothing much, just waiting for the heat to pass and go out and play once more. TV & Movies: I' ve been streaming non stop "Poirot". It is based on Agatha Christie's stories, and the actors and the plot of each episode are so amazing. Nothing like a murder mystery to fill the summer nights. Music: I've been listening to the etheral music of Cocteau Twins. Elizabeth Frazer's vocals are out of this world. A favorite song of mine is "Cherry-coloured Funk".

I'd love to hear your July highlights!

#monthly wrap up #july #highlights #books #poetry #movies

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ikyw-t · 1 year

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hey! it's been a while since my last proper life update so it's about time for another! 🌸

Soo I started a new job on sunday and it's going rly rly well! I work at a bagel store, and I used to work at a different location for a few months right before covid and while it was by far the least stressful and least bad job I'd had overall, after working here for three days I realize that at the other store we had been understaffed like 99% of the time and that this job is actually a lot less stressful when there's a reasonable number of people working. so I'm glad that I'm working here now! everyone I've met so far has been very nice and it's just overall a very nice and chill atmosphere, I am genuinely so pleased :)

alsooo i started learning "je te veux" on piano a few days ago and according to the sheet music it's supposed to be played at 176bpm and so far I've learned half the song at 120bpm and honestly it still sounds delightful. 176 seems unnecessarily fast. like maybe I'll get it up to 150 but idrc about getting it that fast rly lol. it's been fun tho! the last song i rly took the time to learn all the way thru was "the very last night" over this summer and that was also fun but je te veux is like an actual song lol and it's very festive and jolly so im having a good time with that!

also I've been doing a lot of reading lately! here's some brief reviews!

- the world cannot give, tara isabella burton; fun read, cool vibes. i read another book by her called "social creature" which i also read in two days and was pretty compelling

- when we were young, richard roper; also a fun quick read! definitely had some laugh out loud moments. it was enjoyable although i think his other book "how not to die" had a more developed story and characters and i liked more in general.

- family of liars, e. lockhart; a pretty good sequel for "we were liars" which i read a year ago or more, but i feel like this had a similar vibe and voice to the first book, and overall the story didn't feel like a forced prequel, but held up just fine on its own.

- currently i'm reading cards on the table by agatha christie, which is the 15th book in the hercule poirot series lol. i started the series earlier this year and altho it's not always very riveting they are pretty quick and fun reads, and it gives me something to read when i don't feel like im the mood for anything else, ya know? also it's kinda interesting to read about domestic life (and death! Lol) in early 20th century england. this book is called cards on the table cause it took place during a game of bridge, and i think if i knew anything about bridge id probably appreciate it a little more though it's been a solid book regardless.

also i read the play "who's afraid of virginia woolf" a couple weeks ago and i finished it cause it was pretty short but it was meh. like. just meh.

anyway! that's my once in a blue moon life update dump lol. would have to say im currently not doing too bad! the rest of the year has been pretty stressful and just miserable but at least the last couple months of 2021 are turning out ok!

#i decided i would be extra with the formatting today lol #bc why not right 😂#also i started rewatching modern family from s2 when i got covid in early november #and im now halfway thru s8. and each season is 22 episodes. so. ive also been doing that lmao #OHHH and i made plans to attend a concert with one of my mutuals/friends in april so thats very exciting!!#i love having something to look forward but also im excited that we'll get to hang out again! yeehaw!#anyway thats meeeee lol #trish life update #lmao idk if ive made a tag for that before but there is one now

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bookgeekgrrl · 2 years

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My media this week (16-22 Oct 2022)

ᵛᵃᶜᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿ ʷᵉᵉᵏ ʷʰᵉᵉᵉᵉᵉ

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

😍Dishonor On Your Cow (mandarou) - 111K, shrunkyclunks - this fic is just fucking hilarious and so, so good - I had forgotten just all the great moments AFTER the initial meet-ugly, like bucky (sort of) becoming a cat and a multiverse Steve and repeated guest appearances by deadpool

🙂👂‍Curtain (Hercule Poirot #44) (Agatha Christie, author; Hugh Fraser, narrator) - though published last, it was written right after WW2 which made it interesting to read after later written novels. I've always thought this was a solid end to HP though.

🥰👂‍A Thief in the Night (Gentle Art World) (KJ Charles, author; James Joseph & Ryan Laughton, narrator) - delightful - KJC is an autobuy and never disappoints

🥰👂‍The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting (Gentle Art World) (KJ Charles, author; Cornell Collins, narrator) - reading Toby's story (A Thief In The Night) made me want to revisit Robin & Hart - I forgot just how GOOD this was in terms of exploring different power differences and communication styles and how everyone is always bringing their own baggage/interpretations to what one thinks is a straightforward communication - fascinating and complex

🥰Whatever here that's left of me is yours (rainbow_nerds) - 41K, stucky AU - I'm a sucker for a ghost romance with a happy ending (esp if it gives me ghost sex first!)

😊Okay, so he can play… (pretty's got nothing to do with it) (darter_blue) - 50K, stucky college hockey AU (mildly a Check Please AU)

😍World Enough And Time (laiqualaurelote) - 51K, brilliantly done MFMM/Doctor Who AU

🥰👂‍The Spare Man (Mary Robinette Kowal, author & narrator) - MRK's self-stated mission was 'The Thin Man but in space' and she succeeded brilliantly. Loved ALL the characters and the plotty sometimes tortuous plot (very reminiscent of all the AC I've been reading). Gimlet (space Asta) is of course the biggest star. [There were one or two places where i had a flash of annoyance? irritation? at the plot/characters but I actually think this might have been because of the audiobook format? Like, if I had been textually reading i would have maybe rolled my eyes but it would have moved on more quickly. It was DEFINITELY a me thing, not truly a book thing.]

😊Murder on Board (Miss Underhay #10) (Helena Dixon) - Kitty & Co continue to be quick, light, cozy mystery fun. I do absolutely love the absurdly high body count this series is accumulating in such a short time.

🥰Clean Slated State (Justkeeptrekkin) - 42K, BlackBonnet AU with newly divorced/dating Stede & bartender Ed - fantastic characterizations, so enjoyable

😍by the moonlight side (wearing_tearing) - 92K, Steddie, werewolf!Steve - stayed up way, way too late for my old woman body reading this! SO. GOOD. Full of found family pack feels and wolfy goodness, tender and hot and emotional.

💖💖 +102K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

How we rolled up the carpet so we could dance (rohkeutta, SulaSafeRoom) - MCU: Stucky, 7K - featuring Cap!Bucky and the tag "Tired Old Men In Need Of A Break"

Feeling I'll Forget, I'm In Love Now (smithsonianstucky (thelarenttrap)) - MCU: Stucky, 8K - great WS recovery fic - Bucky's touch starved but also traumatized so they get a cat

Apes Debemus Imitari (We Should Imitate the Bees) (buckysbees) - MCU: Stucky, 15K - semi-annual reread of this wonderful The Little Shop Around the Corner AU set in a farmers' market with beekeeper!Bucky. I love this fic so much. Basically any time someone mentions it I immediately have to reread it.

✨✨ also this absolutely marvelous essay ✨✨

‘Family Means No One Gets Left Behind’: An oral history of Lilo & Stitch, the Disney movie that almost brought hand-drawn animation back

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Ghosts (US) - s1, e15-18; s2, e1-3

Columbo - s1, e6-7

ParaNorman

The Forgotten Disaster of the SS Eastland

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Ologies with Alie Ward - FIELD TRIP: I Go France and Learn Weird French Stuff

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Louie Mattar’s Fabulous Car

Switched on Pop - Steve Lacy brings bedroom pop to the Billboard top

Shedunnit Book Club - The Kidnap of Elizabeth Canning

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Meramec Caverns

99% Invisible #512 - Walk of Fame

Vibe Check - It's the Gayest Candy

Twenty Thousand Hertz+ - A Thousand Words

Song Exploder - Santigold "Ushers of the New World"

Into It - A Portrait of the Artist as Taylor Swift

Ologies with Alie Ward - Metropolitan Tombology (PARIS CATACOMBS) with Erin-Marie Legacey

One Year - 1942: The Most Hated Man in America

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Times Square Hum

Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster - Ep 155: Taron Egerton - where you will learn that Taron loooooooves mayonnaise and does occasionally like to just...spread it over a slice of pizza 'like a crumpet'. [if i have to have that knowledge you do too]

Strong Songs - "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" by "Weird Al" Yankovic

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

'80s Rock

Journey

Presenting Iron Maiden

Presenting Joni Mitchell

Presenting Taylor Swift

The Loneliest Time [Carly Rae Jepsen]

Presenting Carly Rae Jepsen

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ijustkindalikebooks · 1 year

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Ahh, finally Spring is here (you can't tell here in England, but it is Spring).

And this month has been a really good and very fun month of reading, where I finally got to the end of my Agatha Christie-thon and I finished all the Shakespeare's - Love Labour's Lost is an apt play to finish this marathon on reading on (I read and listened to the plays and I highly recommend you do the same, just for a greater understanding of tone).

Here are my favourite books for March 2023 - feel free to share what your favourite books you've been reading lately!

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond - 96 pages of pure charm, A Bear Called Paddington I read with a little one I was babysitting and honestly, it was such a joy to read. The story of how Paddington ends up with The Brown's and his first adventures in London and well, it's as good as the movie, I promise.

The Forward Book Of Poetry 2023 by Various - A fantastic collection of exceptional talent from across the UK, The Forward Book Of Poetry is never a let-down, but this one really did feel exceptional, with choices of poems that really worked so well together that it made for a five star read. It's definitely made me want to look up so many people, I am definitely going to read more of Molly Naylor for example!

Natsume's Book Of Friend's Vol. 4 by Yuki Midorikowa - A series I've been slowly getting into, Natsume's Book Of Friends is a manga about Natsume, who has inherited a book from his grandmother of spirits she trapped and is doing his best to free them again with stories that are really beautifully written and artwork that works with these stories so beautifully. Highly recommend this series.

Against White Feminism by Rafia Zakaria - A short but insightful book, I think that this is a must-read for anyone who wants to ensure their feminism is intersectional and how systems that are meant to help women in developing countries are often created by western women with little connection to the communities they are meant to help. I really appreciated this book and it definitely changed my perspective on alot, and it made me realise I have more to learn.

What did you read this month? Please feel free to reply!

See you next month!

Vee xo

#books #booklr #bookblr #fiction #poetry #non fiction #paddington #natsume's book of friends #against white feminism #manga #forward poetry prize #forward #booklover #reading #reads

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watching-pictures-move · 2 years

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Movie Review | Death on the Nile (Guillermin, 1978)

This was a movie we owned on VHS as I was growing up, so I'd seen it a number of times, even though I remembered very little little outside of a magnificently mustachioed Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot and the sweltering Egyptian atmosphere. I also wouldn't call myself a great Agatha Christie fan, although I did inherit some secondhand appreciation thanks to my dad. When I was volunteering at my high school library (in my province they make you do a certain number of hours of community service in order to graduate from high school; I think the idea is to instill in our youth an appreciation for public service, although in my less charitable moments I sympathized with the annoying Marxist in this movie and thought they should have just paid somebody to do these things), my dad insisted that I bring home all of the old Christie novels they were going to throw out. So I did end up reading a number of her books in my teenage years. (My favourite as I recall was The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, for reasons that will be readily evident to anyone who's actually read it. I wouldn't dare spoil it myself.)

All of this is to say I felt a certain pang of nostalgia when I revisited this, even though (as I indicated above), I remembered next to nothing about the story and observe it playing out as if I was figuring it out along with Poirot, nodding along as he noticed clues and confided his observations to his friend played by David Niven. Yes, yes, I was thinking that too. Now, as a kid, my familiarity with the movie's stars probably didn't line up with most people of my generation, and was also the result of my dad's taste. Which is to say, I recognized Ustinov from Blackbeard's Ghost, Niven from The Guns of Navarone, and pretty much nobody else. I had no idea who people like Mia Farrow, Bette Davis, George Kennedy or Angela Lansbury were. Now I've grown to be easily dazzled by the presence of actual movie stars, so when the camera panned across a number of them in one of the introductory scenes, I felt a little awestruck, especially as this wasn't even half of the principal cast.

This was made a few years after Sidney Lumet's adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, which featured Albert Finney as Poirot. There might be some childhood nostalgia playing a role here, but I much prefer Ustinov in the role. For one, Finney looks like he had a mustache pasted over his lip, while Ustinov looks to have been born with one. But I think Finney had a certain gruffness in his portrayal, whereas Ustinov seems gentler, more gleeful and a little paternal. You can hear the disappointment in his voice when he tries to warn a jilted Mia Farrow away from the path she's chosen.

"I know how you feel. We all feel like that at times. However, I must warn you, mademoiselle: Do not allow evil into your heart, it will make a home there."

"If love can't live there, evil will do just as well."

"How sad, mademoiselle."

Or notice the discreet smiles he affords himself as he twirls his mustache or notices something that no one else does. Or how carefully he times his pauses, especially when he reveals the culprit. I am not a smart man and won't pretend I can solve these whodunits faster than their genius detective heroes, but I appreciate a flamboyant reveal as much as the next person, and like when the person doing the revealing relishes it as much as I do. This is a guy who loves his job.

This was directed by John Guillermin, of whose work I'd only seen his jaded, extremely '70s take on King Kong. (That movie co-starred Charles Grodin, who would have killed it in this movie. Imagine him as the sleazy lawyer played by George Kennedy and lament the missed opportunity.) Guillermin is likely not as good a director as Lumet, but he understands the assignment, and is able to juggle the extremely impressive cast and let them all have their moments. (The best bit of casting is likely Lois Chiles as the wealthy murder victim. I think back to watching the film version of The Great Gatsby during high school English and hearing my teacher wax rhapsodic about her aura of old money, a quality that serves her well in this role.) And it helps that the production design is impeccable, there's a Nino Rota score, and the movie is shot by the great Jack Cardiff, who captures the proceedings with effortlessly handsome cinematography and every once in a while produces a bit of that old Powell Pressburger lighting magic. And while the movie arguably runs a little long at almost two and a half hours, it's a nice excuse to hang out on this set with this colourful cast.

#film #movie review #death on the nile #john guillermin

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siena-sevenwits · 11 months

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Bookish asks: 2, 7, 18, 20

2. Most nostalgic book you’ve read?

Mmm... The Hobbit? It's there among my early memories (apparently throughout my tiniest years my dad kept asking my mom, "Do you think she's ready for me to read it to her?" He made a point of reading it to me by candlelight. I still remember those sessions and how for some reason I was under the impression that Gollum was a blob of bright pink ooze with snail eyes.) I had read it eleven times by the time I was nine or ten. It formed a very important part of our shared family culture. It has about a million association with it so - yeah, The Hobbit is very dear indeed.

7. Character you’ve connected to the most?

Um... Don't throw your boots at me, but can I say Jo March? I know everyone projects on her, and often in a way that reduces her to less than she is, and perhaps I did that too. But I'm going to say Jo because she went off my radar for maybe fifteen years, and then, about four years ago i hit a really low point, and in the midst of it I ran into Jo again and had a very soppy, very encouraging revival where it felt like I found a part of myself I'd forgotten. Like,"'Of course I'm Jo. I've always been Jo - somehow this makes me more able to forge on." Sometimes projecting on characters helps, notwithstanding.

18. What are you reading right now? Any good?

May is not a good month at all for me and reading. I am in the trenches of end of term, and in the final stretch preparing for the play. I am trucking on with some light reading very slowly - Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie (good thus far) and The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud (good I think, but it's not hitting quite the same way the first book did. Maybe because this one focuses more on the investigation and less on the general Portland Row-ness.) I have a bunch of other, more solidly lauded reads on hold till after end of term.

20. The one book you would pass on to your grandchildren?

Assuming they are provided for in their faith needs and other essentials? Eh, would it be too egotistical of me to say my own novel, assuming I can finish it? I mean, hopefully they can get their hands on any other book, but this is the one work where it's really up to me whether it gets into anyone's hands or not?

Or can I work this question for the good of mankind - give them a lost work by Aristotle or something? ;-)

Original questions for this tag found here.

#Thank you for asking!#Recovering reader #tag game

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