Best Book Review

I wouldn't go to this extreme because I don't have the tools nor the knowledge. 

This guy made a nice work of art out of a book he deems trash. From trash to a beautiful trash bin. 😄

Best book review IMHO. 

My Demon

tags: fantasy, Kdrama, Netflix, romance, supernatural 

16 episodes, Friday and Saturday

A demon Jeong Gu-won is superior to humans in every way, but when he loses his powers, he will have to work with a chaebol heiress Do Do-hee to recover them, and romance begins to bloom in this process.

Song Kang and Kim You-Jung. They are both pretty. Kim You-Jung is not only beautiful, she is also one of the best acting actresses in KDramaland.

Song Kang's Sweet Home Season 2, a horror fantasy series is coming on December 1, 2023 on Netflix. Can't wait.

Adjustment Team

tags: Philip K Dick, science fiction, short story

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

After getting held up on his way to work, Ed Fletcher worries about the repercussions he will face when he reaches his office. Little does he know that his late arrival will give him a glimpse behind the very fabric of human existence and put him at odds with powers he cannot comprehend.

"Adjustment Team" is a science fiction tale of Ed Fletcher, a real estate salesman who leads a normal life, until one day, when he leaves the house for work a few minutes later than he should have. A man called the Clerk approaches a talking dog, and explains in businesslike manner that "Sector T137" is scheduled for "adjustment" at 9 o'clock. He instructs the dog to bark at exactly 8:15, which the Clerk explains will summon "A Friend with a Car", which will take Ed Fletcher to work before 9, but while the Clerk is preoccupied, the dog falls asleep and as a result barks a minute too late. Inside Ed's house, while he is getting ready for work, Ed is accosted by a door-to-door insurance salesman and doesn't leave for work until 9:30. Ed arrives at his office building, but upon stepping onto the curb, finds himself in a sunless version of the world where everything and everyone is immobile, ash-grey, and crumbles at his touch. Ed is accosted by white-robed men, who talk about "de-energizing" him with a hose-like piece of equipment, but he flees outside and across the street, back to the everyday world, fearing he's had a psychotic episode.

I'm again on a Philip K. Dick binge-reading. It started when I watched The Adjustment Bureau on Netflix streaming which is based on PKD's short story, Adjustment Team.

The movie IMHO is a great adaptation of the story adding a love story to explain further the short story. I liked it very much regardless of the female lead, Emily Blunt. Matt Damon is very good with his boyish looks and natural acting. I also liked the script, mysterious and philosophical yet full of humor, just like the short story.

Back to the short story which feels dreamlike, maybe nightmarish. It has a "happy ending". It is equally funny and serious while imparting a relevant or maybe debatable message. I like PKD's simple writing style, no flowery language, just straight story telling.

Highly recommended.

The Nine Tailors

tags: Lord Wimsey, mystery

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

While ringing in the New Year, Lord Peter stumbles into an ominous country mystery.

Lord Peter Wimsey and his manservant Bunter are halfway across the wild flatlands of East Anglia when they make a wrong turn, straight into a ditch. They scramble over the rough country to the nearest church, where they find hospitality, dinner, and an invitation to go bell-ringing.

This ancient art is steeped in mathematical complexities, and tonight the rector and his friends plan to embark on a nine-hour marathon session to welcome the New Year.

Lord Peter joins them, taking a step into a society whose cheerful exterior hides a dark, deadly past. During their stay in this unfamiliar countryside, Lord Peter and Bunter encounter murder, a mutilated corpse, and a decades-old jewel theft for which locals continue to die.

In this land where bells toll for the dead, the ancient chimes never seem to stop.

Lord Wimsey and his valet Bunter were visiting the Fen country when they had a car mishap. They walked to look for help and Bunter guessed they were near Fenchurch St. Paul. The church clock chimed at the same time and Lord Peter uttered "Thank God! Where there is a church, there is civilization." How true! 

They walked on to the church where they met the rector and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Venables. The rector was eccentric but lovable and his wife was smart and efficient. I love the setting and numerous characters, specially Mrs. Venables. 

There is mystery alright, a dead body with an unlikely "murderer", but the story is centered on the bell-ringing called change ringing. I had to stop reading and watched it on YouTube. Very interesting. 

I have just voted it my favorite Lord Peter novel. Dorothy L. Sayers wrote a very engaging novel with her usual sense of humor. It was hard to put down once I started reading.

Highly recommended for Dorothy L. Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey fans.

Burn The House Down

 

tags: Japanese dorama, Mei Nagano, mystery, Netflix streaming, revenge

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anzu (Mei Nagano, charming and enigmatic) watched her family home go up in flames when she was young. Her mother, Satsuki, apparently left the stove on. All her material possessions were lost and, soon afterward, her family broke apart.

Satsuki developed generalized amnesia, and her husband, Osamu, married her former best friend Makiko. The two of them now live in the same house, which has been restored.

Working with her sister Yuzu, Anzu adopts the identity of Shizuka Yamauchi and gets a job as Makiko’s housekeeper.

Anzu: "That woman stole my home and my family…”

Lovely Mei Nagano as Anzu is all grown up and starring in a revenge family drama. I first saw her in Rurouni Kenshin when she just 13 years old. She's now 24!

Mei Nagano in 2016 Japanese high school dorama, Koe Koi

Highly recommended for Japanese manga live action drama series fans. I loved it!

A Room With A View

 

Beautiful music. Kiri Te Kanawa singing an aria, Chi il bel sogno di Doretta, from Puccini's opera La Rondine (The Swallow).

Julian Sands's death was all over the news feed last week. So sad. I've only seen 2 of his movies, A Room With A View and Warlock.

A Room With A View is one of my favorite movies of all time. I watched it a gazillion times since its release in 1986 or 87. I have 3 different copies. I first watched it on Betamax. Yup, Betamax which was what's available in the Philippines at the time. When we moved to Hong Kong the following year, I had to buy a VHS copy because Hong Kong didn't use Betamax and it had a different system too (PAL). After 3 years we moved to the US so I had to get another VHS copy because USA had a different system (NTSC). When DVDs arrived, of course I had to get it. Same with Sixteen Candles. The tapes of both movies are in a box somewhere in the basement.

A Room With A View is almost perfection with a superb cast. Helena Bonham Carter as Lucy Honeychurch - her luxuriant hair was to die for and I love her character getting peevish after playing a Beethoven piano sonata. Daniel Day-Lewis as Cecil Vyse - magnificent as a snobbish aesthete but accepting in his defeat, his acting was over the top funny. I think in his own way, he truly loved Lucy. Maggie Smith - great in her role as the uptight "poor" Aunt Charlotte with her defective boiler and all. Judy Dench - as Elinor Lavish, a gossipy writer of trashy romance novels. She included the kiss in Florence in one of her novels that Cecil mockingly read to Lucy. Rupert Graves was cute as Lucy's brother Freddy. Denholm Elliot as Mr. Emerson, Simon Callow as Reverend Beebe, and of course Julian Sands as dour George Emerson.

George Emerson and Jake Ryan (of Sixteen Candles) are the best male romantic characters in a movie but are almost impossible to find in real life. LOL

L'Arc-en-Ciel 30th Anniversary Concert

 

tags: Japanese, L'Arc-en-Ciel 30th anniversary concert, streaming on Amazon

Hyde is over 50 years old and he still looks young. I saw him in one movie together with Gackt, another Japanese musician. The movie is called Moon Child about vampires, if I remember correctly. Now I want to watch the movie again if I can find it.

Where Are The Children Now?

tags: mystery, sequel

⭐⭐

From Goodreads

The legacy of the “Queen of Suspense” continues with the highly anticipated follow-up to Mary Higgins Clark’s iconic novel Where Are The Children?, featuring the children of Nancy Harmon, facing peril once again as adults.

Of the fifty-six bestsellers the “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark published in her lifetime, Where Are the Children? was her biggest, selling millions of copies and forever transforming the genre of suspense fiction. In that story, a young California mother named Nancy Harmon was convicted of murdering her two children. Though released on a technicality, she was abandoned by her husband and became such a pariah in the media that she was forced to move across the country to Cape Cod, change her identity and appearance, and start a new life. Years later her two children from a second marriage, Mike and Melissa, would go missing, and Nancy yet again became the prime suspect—but this time, Nancy was able to confront the secrets buried in her past and rescue her kids from a dangerous predator.

Now, more than four decades since readers first met Nancy and her children, comes the thrilling sequel to the groundbreaking book that set the stage for future generations of psychological suspense novels. A lawyer turned successful podcaster, Melissa has recently married a man whose first wife died tragically, leaving him and their young daughter, Riley, behind. While Melissa and her brother, Mike, help their mom, Nancy, relocate from Cape Cod to the equally idyllic Hamptons, Melissa’s new stepdaughter goes missing. Drawing on the experience of their own abduction, Melissa and Mike race to find Riley to save her from the trauma they still struggle with—or worse.

Just like the original, Where Are the Children Now? keeps readers guessing and holding their breath until the very last page.

I can't remember when I read and what was the last book I read by Mary Higgins Clark. It was so long ago. Where Are The Children is the most memorable of Mary Higgins Clark's books. When a sequel popped up in the library's recommendations, I had to borrow it although I have stopped reading her books more than 15 years ago. 

Mary Higgins Clark's writing style was simple without using big words but she had the ability to create complex interesting characters, although sometimes the stories are too forced. What I liked was her great sense of humor which is lacking in new novelists.

I already had low expectations before reading so I don't get disappointed. Alafair Burke did her best but she is no Mary Higgins Clark. Her main character Melissa, the girl who was abducted in the previous book almost has 2 personalities, one was brilliant and the other was brainless. How can she marry a guy and not meet any of his family and friends. She hardly knew what he did for a living, never noticed his home office desk is almost empty. She only started looking at his past after the child disappeared. SMH. 

The police were incompetent and never bothered to investigate meticulously if Melissa was indeed guilty of child murder.  

Knowing Clark's usual suspects (hint: close friends and even family), I guessed correctly who was one of the culprits. Why was this sequel even written after more than 30 years and the original author already dead? 

Not recommended

Death Of A Kingfisher

tags: audiobook, Hamish Macbeth, mystery-crime, "reread"

⭐⭐

When Scotland is hit by the recession, Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices that the Highland people are forced to come up with inventive ways to lure tourists to their sleepy towns.

The quaint village of Braikie doesn't have much to offer, other than a place of rare beauty called Buchan's Wood, which was bequeathed to the town. The savvy local tourist director renames the woods "The Fairy Glen," and has brochures printed with a beautiful photograph of a kingfisher rising from a pond on the cover. It isn't long before coach tours begin to arrive.

But just as the town's luck starts to turn, a kingfisher is found hanging from a branch in the woods with a noose around its neck. As a wave of vandalism threatens to ruin Braikie forever, the town turns to Hamish Macbeth. And when violence strikes again, the lawman's investigation quickly turns from animal cruelty to murder.

I didn't particularly like Death of A Kingfisher when I read it 10 years ago and rated it only 3 stars. I listened to the audiobook as a "reread" and downgraded it to 2 stars.

The story is too twisty, convoluted, too forced and without the signature humor of M. C. Beaton. The latest Hamish books written by R. W. Green are very similar to this book. I suspect he probably wrote the last 8 Hamish Macbeth novels, from the 27th on. The presence of the regular village characters is almost non-existent which gave me the clue this is written by Mr. Green.

My beef with this novelette is the inclusion of a Russian thug, the 2 evil children spawned by Rhoda Penmark, and an unnecessary bloody chainsaw murder. The book also has the highest body count including the kingfisher, of any Hamish Macbeth books, 8 people and 1 bird.

Let's Get Divorced

tags: dramedy, Japanese dorama, Netflix streaming 

9 complete episodes

A politician and his actress wife have been married for five years... but their domestic bliss now faces a crisis, including a fling, an affair and potential divorce!

What should be an issue between just the two of them causes an uproar that sweeps up everyone in their orbit! Where will this dizzy divorce drama end up?

Laugh and cry along with this divorce comedy featuring a star-studded cast, including main co-stars Tori Matsuzaka and Riisa Naka, as well as Ryo Nishikido, Yuka Itaya, Koji Yamamoto and Arata Furuta.

 

Killing Moon

tags: crime, Harry Hole, mystery, Norway

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

Brilliant rogue police investigator Harry Hole is back, this time as an outsider assembling his own team to help find a serial killer who is murdering young women in Oslo in the next novel in the New York Times best-selling series.

THE HUNT IS ON AND THE POLICE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. Two young women are missing, their only connection a party they both attended, hosted by a notorious real-estate magnate. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again.

THEY’RE FACING A KILLER UNLIKE ANY OTHER. And exposing him calls for a detective like no other. But the legendary Harry Hole is gone—fired from the force, drinking himself to oblivion in Los Angeles. It seems that nothing can entice him back to Oslo. Until the woman who saved Harry’s life is put in grave danger, and he has no choice but to return to the city that haunts him and track down the murderer.

CATCHING HIM WILL PUSH HARRY TO THE LIMIT. He’ll need to bring together a misfit team of former operatives to accomplish what he can’t do alone: stop an unstoppable killer. But as the evidence mounts, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than meets the eye…

Harry Hole is in a bad bad shape and is in Los Angeles trying hard to drink himself to death. No one can blame him after his wife was murdered then getting fired from his job.

The opening chapter finds Harry drinking in a not too classy bar. It reminds me a little of Philip Marlowe specially Harry's opinion of Los Angeles, the reality of the movie industry, the homeless people occupying sidewalks. Overall a disgusting place in his eyes.

His credit card maxed out and his tab was paid by an aging former actress whom he had to rescue from bill collectors. He postponed his death wish by alcohol poisoning to help this lady by going back to Oslo to find a serial killer. He asked, as a free lance investigator, for a certain amount from the person police suspects as the killer to cover the lady's debt.

This is a very dark kinda twisty tale with hard to guess demented evil villain. One negative is too much red herrings and one story line was not necessary to the novel. The revenge of the Jeffrey Dahmer wannabe may be too much for some readers but I'm used to Jo Nesbø's bloody stories and his sense of humor makes the novel worthy of my time. I specially liked the parts when Harry and his odd group argue about musicians. (Jo Nesbø is a professional musician BTW)

advice to Harry regarding drinking and moderation

All you have to do is is decide beforehand where to draw the line, how many units, But, it goes without saying, you have to work at it.

You're smirking Harry, but I'm serous. It's about a sense of achievement. I can offer the world's best substance abuser as living proof.

Hm, I presume you are talking about that overrated guitarist you like so much.

Hey, have some respect for Keith Richards! Read his biography. He gives you the formula. Survival is about two things. Only the purest, best dope. It's the stuff mixed in that kills you. And moderation...

babysitting his 3 year-old son

Harry doesn't know any lullaby so he sang The Rolling Stone's Wild Horses and Hank William's Your Cheating Heart, and a blues song about cocaine...

after the murderer (wrong one) was caught they didn't have any reason to get together anymore

We can argue about other things, like who is the most underrated drummer in the world...that's Ringo Starr; the most overrated - Keith Moon; and the best - John Bonham of Led Zeppelin...

Highly recommended for Harry Hole and Jo Nesbø fans.

See You In My 19th Life

tags: fantasy, KDrama, Netflix streaming, reincarnation, romance

16 episodes, Saturday and Sunday starting June 17, 2023

It stars my number one favorite Korean actress, Shin Hye-sun.

Her dramas currently streaming on Netflix

Stranger, second lead

Mr. Queen, lead

Hymn of Death, lead

Sound Of Freedom

Get Your Tickets At: https://www.angel.com/sof

Exclusively in theaters July 4th, 2023.

Sound of Freedom, based on the incredible true story, shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.

The film stars Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, The Count of Monte Cristo) who plays the lead role of Tim Ballard. Academy Award Winner Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) plays Katherine Ballard and Bill Camp (Lincoln, 12 Years a Slave) plays “Batman”—Ballard’s right-hand man.

The film is produced by Eduardo Verástegui and directed by Alejandro Monteverde.

Share this film with the world by Paying it Forward at https://www.angel.com/pay-it-forward/sound-of-freedom

Tiger And Dragon

tags: dorama, Japanese series, Netflix streaming

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From IMDB

The show revolves around Rakugo, a traditional Japanese comedy that can look back on a 400 year long history. It tells about a Yakuza who goes to a Rakugo performer to collect debts, and a talented comedian who tries to change his destiny.

This 2005 Japanese series is streaming on Netflix. It is goofy and hilarious, a true dramedy with bursts of comedy and heavy drama. I love the over-the-top acting and contrived personal stories that only the Japanese can do without the viewers rolling their eyes.

Highly recommended. 

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling

tags: 18th century, adventure, humor, romance, satire

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squire—though he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. When Tom is banished to make his own fortune and Sophia follows him to London to escape an arranged marriage, the adventure begins. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, Tom Jones is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature.

The novel is loooong (my copy has over 1 thousand pages), naughty, satirical, and very very funny. I loved it. 

Highly recommended.

Are You Hungry Tonight?

Felix Holt The Radical

tags: classics, politics, romantic triangle

⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

When the young nobleman Harold Transome returns to England from the colonies with a self-made fortune, he scandalizes the town of Treby Magna with his decision to stand for Parliament as a Radical. But after the idealistic Felix Holt also returns to the town, the difference between Harold's opportunistic values and Holt's profound beliefs becomes apparent. Forthright, brusque and driven by a firm desire to educate the working-class, Felix is at first viewed with suspicion by many, including the elegant but vain Esther Lyon, the daughter of the local clergyman. As she discovers, however, his blunt words conceal both passion and deep integrity. Soon the romantic and over-refined Esther finds herself overwhelmed by a heart-wrenching decision: whether to choose the wealthy Transome as a husband, or the impoverished but honest Felix Holt.

This is the last George Eliot novel I have read, completing all 7 novels and one collection of 3 short stories. This is my least favorite but still rates 3 stars IMHO. Middlemarch is still number 1 on my list of George Eliot novels.

The story is a tad convoluted with the story of Esther and also of Harold regarding their parentage. The storytelling is fine but with almost all characters being antiheroes, it is hard to like the book. I guess not everybody is into reading about vexing characters dominating a book. This is probably the reason it is the least popular of all her novels regardless of the interesting Radicalism politics. 

Love Village

tags: Becky, Japanese reality dating show, Netflix streaming

4 episodes every Tuesday, 30 - 35 minutes, total of 18 episodes

Becky has a new dating reality show to comment on. The dating show is for more mature unmarried people and those who have been married before looking for  a second or a third chance at love. The participants are all older than the usual romance seekers on reality TV, a version/mash-up of Terrace House and the Korean dating show Single's Inferno. The youngest is almost 40 and the oldest is 60.

The show is definitely different from other romance oriented reality shows. They help in renovating the old rundown house and grow vegetables in the garden to supplement their food allowance. The group is more open to sexual discussions because they are old and had more experience than shows with much younger people. The 2 oldest men had an argument early on which I've never seen in any Japanese reality shows. Japanese people are usually not prone to arguments.

At the end of the fourth episode the 2 oldest men left and were replaced by 2 40 year old men and one woman. There will be 5 women and 4 men next week. Interesting and addicting series, just like Terrace House and Love Wagon. Next 4 episodes will air on May 9.

BTW, Becky looks prettier and doesn't seem to age.

Pork Pie Pandemonium

Tags: British, mystery

⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

Baking. It can get a guy killed.

When a retired detective superintendent chooses to take a culinary tour of the British Isles, he hopes to find tasty treats and delicious bakes … … what he finds is a clue to a crime in the ingredients for his pork pie.

His dog, Rex Harrison, an ex-police dog fired for having a bad attitude, cannot understand why the humans are struggling to solve the mystery. He can already smell the answer – it’s right before their noses. He’ll pitch in to help his human and the shop owner’s teenage daughter as the trio set out to save the shop from closure.

Is the rival pork pie shop across the street to blame? Or is there something far more sinister going on? One thing is for sure, what started out as a bit of fun, is getting deadlier by the hour, and they’d better work out what the dog knows soon or it could be curtains for them all. 

It is a short easy read and I enjoyed reading about a dog with attitude as a partner in detecting. The reason I cannot give it a 4 star rating is the ever present drugs as the main reason for the murders and crime. Why do modern day British authors dwell so much on drug crimes? It is getting boring. 

The recipe for Pork Pie at the end of the novel saved it from getting a low 2-star rating. I will still read the second installment because Rex Harrison, the dog, is interesting.

Democrats Hate Women

This speaks VOLUMES ! pic.twitter.com/ud8xqoY4d6

— Alex (Sasha) Krainer (@NakedHedgie) April 28, 2023

Blacks will soon find out dems will protect queers against them. Just you wait and see.

Cover The Beatles

In 2021, Leo Sayer released an album of Beatles song covers. Most people made fun of the whole album. I downloaded one song from Freegal and deleted it after listening to it once. IMHO, it is bad. Really bad. Poor guy. Ahh Ah-ha Ahh Ah-ha. He didn't "make me feel like dancing listening" to his covers. 😝

I never liked second hand Beatles songs but there are a few exceptions. 

Jimi Hendrix, the original Idol, playing live just 2 days after the release of the album.

Peter Frampton making his guitar gently weep.

Sandy Farina in the movie Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Billy Preston's more than A-okay.

 

From the movie I Am Sam (I never saw it)

The Prisoner of Zenda

tags: fantasy, historical fiction, satire

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

Best known for his political fairy tale, The Prisoner of Zenda, which saw four major screen adaptations, including the acclaimed 1937 incarnation starring Ronald Colman, Anthony Hope was one of the few novelists to achieve wide popular and critical admiration during his lifetime. Regarded by many critics as the finest adventure story ever written -- and certainly one of the most popular -- The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) tells the story of Rudolf Rassendyl, a dashing English gentleman who bears an uncanny resemblance to the ruler of the fictional kingdom of Ruritania. Rassendyl masquerades as the king in order to save the country from a treacherous plot and secures the release of the wronged prisoner. In the process he wins the heart of the beautiful princess Flavia, but ultimately surrenders the crown and the hand of his beloved princess to the rightful ruler. Full of swash-buckling feats of heroism as well as witty irony, these adventure tales are also wonderfully executed satires on late nineteenth-century European politics.

I liked the novelette's swashbuckling with plenty of dead men, evil half brother, and a bit of romance. Highly recommended. 

I'm currently watching the 1987 series available on Amazon streaming and it looks accurate to the book.

Death Of A Green Eyed Monster

tags: Hamish Macbeth, mystery, Scottish Highland series

⭐⭐

From Goodreads

Sergeant Hamish Macbeth , Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman is back and may have finally met the woman of his dreams in this new mystery in M.C. Beaton's beloved, 'New York Times' bestselling series.

Hamish's new constable, Dorothy McIver, may be the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Completely bewitched by her sparkling blue eyes, Hamish spends the summer traveling with her up and down Sutherland until finally, he can take it no longer. He gets down on one knee beside the Land Rover and begs her to marry him—and to his amazement and delight, she says yes.

But just as the town of Lochdubh gets ready to celebrate, Hamish finds himself with a new murder on his hands. If he doesn't find the killer fast, Hamish's dream wedding could become a nightmare.

Sigh. I loved Hamish through all 33 books until M C Beaton's death a few years ago. She authorized writer R W Green to finish this last book she wrote before her passing. Hamish doesn't act like Hamish. He is prone to losing his temper more often despite his giddiness towards his new-found love. The other characters also don't feel the same. Something is amiss, that's for sure. I was hoping Hamish will finally have a happy ending with a woman he truly cares for but alas, it was not to be. Way to go Mr. Green.😒 

The author then continues on with a new book in the series, Death Of A Traitor, probably as requested by M C Beaton. I'm sad to say I won't continue reading. Hamish and Agatha need not continue, IMHO. They should have died with the author. 

Mr. Green's Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin are not the same characters that M C Beaton created. Very disappointing. I guess I have to say goodbye to my favorite policeman with flaming red hair and politically incorrect man-hungry female sleuth. 

Sturgill Simpson Playlist

Cover of Nirvana's In Bloom. I like the changes he made to a line of the lyrics.

The Engine House

tags: mystery-crime, Welsh

⭐

From Goodreads

You can bury the bodies, but you can’t hide the truth.

When a landslip on Pembrokeshire’s stunning coastal path reveals the harrowing remains of two bodies, ex-DCI Evan Warlow’s quiet retirement is shattered. As the original investigator for the two missing persons eight years before, Evan is recalled to help with what is now a murder inquiry. But as the killer scrambles to cover up the truth, the body count rises.

Working with a new young team, Warlow peels away the layers to reveal the dark and rotten heart that beats beneath the chocolate box tranquility of an area renowned for its quiet beauty. But does he still have what it takes to root out the monstrous truth before all hell lets loose? The Engine House is the gripping debut crime thriller set in the heart of wild Wales from author Rhys Dylan.

Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, JD Kirk. JM Dalgliesh and Simon McCleave. Celtic noir with a spatter of dark humour.

I was excited to start a new series from a British author because all the mystery authors whose books I liked have sadly passed and the ones I still read are good but not great (Wilkie Martin) and some are mediocre.

I'm disappointed in this Welsh detective series. The writing is okay although I cannot understand why the author wrote third person in the past tense on Chapter I then switched to present tense on Chapter 2 all the way to the end. It's jarring and there's no good reason to do that. And I didn't detect any dark humor. Nada. 

The story started fine with possibly a little gothic mystery then the author ruined it by making the story about same old same old...drugs! I thought he couldn't make the story any worse but he did by adding illegal immigrants and totally destroyed the gothic feel of the engine house. What a dumb ending and a let down. I guess my search for a good British author is still on. 

Not recommended. 

Way Of The Cross

tags: Amazon streaming, Filipino movie, murder mystery

goose egg 0

A faithless Filipino-American FBI agent comes to the Philippines to bury his estranged father but gets tangled in a case where a serial killer murders people according to the Stations of the Cross.

The movie is terrible. The acting, the script, the story are not convincing. The NBI and the American FBI agents all look stupid and almost like waiting for their cue from the director.

Everybody speaks English. Huh! Where in the Philippines does everyone speak pure English including very small children? Taglish maybe but not English. Everyone got on my nerves calling the parish priest "padre". I was scratching my head because nowhere is padre used in the Philippines, regardless of their preferred language - Tagalog, English, Chavacano, Spanish, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Hokkien, Bicolano, Waray, etc. One guy slipped and called the priest Father. heheh. Force of habit, I guess, that he forgot to follow the stupid script. 

The actress playing the vengeful character is over the top and the reason for her revenge is unbelievably stupid. Avoid this terrible movie made specifically for anti-Catholic Church haters.

Top Gun: Maverick

tags: awesome sequel, free streaming for Amazon Prime members

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The New Confessions

tags: British, favorites, historical fiction

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd.

From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman. When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau's Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten. Ambitious and entertaining, Boyd has invented a most irresistible hero.

William Boyd is a great story-teller and has again written an unforgettable character in John James Todd who is maybe a genius but is also clueless half of the time, resulting in his many failures. I love it and is worth a reread. 

Highly recommended. I also recommend The Blue Afternoon.  

The 10th Victim

tags: comedy, fantasy, farce, sci-fi 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 From IMDB

In the 21st Century, where a human vs. human "Big Hunt" is used as an alternative to war, a veteran huntress agrees to kill a "victim" to get a major TV sponsorship deal, but romantic entanglements between the two complicate matters.

Before The Running Man, The Hunger Games, and Battle Royale, there is the 1960s Italian movie, The 10th Victim, with Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress as prey and hunter. It is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. 

The movie is funny and satirical. The opening scene with Ursula wearing a shiny silver bikini while dancing and slapping men inside a masochists club is specially hilarious and ending in her triumphant elimination of the "hunter". 

The movie is also rather prescient with regard to current reality shows where contestants are being filmed in real time. I liked the costumes, jazz music, the witty dialogue, and specially the beautiful Ursula. I enjoy watching these types of old movies with cheap gadgets and sets but with beautiful leads unlike the latest Hollyweird drecks filled with fat ugly unfunny people like Melissa McCarthy, Whoopie Goldberg et al. Bring back the beauties, Hollywood!

Mystery Of The Blue Train

tags: Hercule Poirot, murder mystery, romance 🙄

⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

From Goodreads

Robbery and brutal murder aboard a luxury transport ensnares the ever-attentive Hercule Poirot in The Mystery of the Blue Train, from Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie. When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again—for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are missing. The prime suspect is Ruth’s estranged husband, Derek. Yet Hercule Poirot is not convinced, so he stages an eerie reenactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board.

This is the only book of Christie's where I guessed right away the murderer but it didn't affect my enjoyment reading and it still deserves a 4 stars out of 5 IMHO.

The only thing I noticed and didn't like is her excessive use of adverbs in the early chapters but they disappeared as the book progressed. There is a bit of romance at the end which is not necessary. Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels so it's okay if romance suddenly sneaks in her mystery novels.

Recommended for die hard Agatha Christie readers.

Stuck In The 80s

Death Of A Gentle Lady

tags: Hamish Macbeth, mystery, Scottish highland

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

Gentle by name, gentle by nature. Everyone in the sleepy Scottish town of Lochdubh adores elderly Mrs. Gentle - everyone but Hamish Macbeth, that is. Hamish thinks the gentle lady is quite sly and vicious, and the citizens of Lochdubh think he is overly cranky. Perhaps it's time for him to get married, they say.

But who has time for marriage when there's a murder to be solved? When Mrs. Gentle dies under mysterious circumstances, the town is shocked and outraged. Detective Inspector Blair suspects members of her family, but Hamish Macbeth thinks there's more to the story, and begins investigating the truth behind this lady's gentle exterior.

I thought I have read all of the Hamish Macbeth mystery books and found out I missed reading this one. The last book was completed by another author after M.C. Beaton's passing.

Hamish didn't like Mrs. Gentle at their first meeting and vice versa. Hamish who has been wishy washy with regards to marrying either Priscilla or Elspeth, suddenly proposed to marry the "Turkish" maid of Mrs. Gentle to save her from being deported. The woman, named Ayesha is very tall, beautiful, and has blonde hair. She says some Turks are very fair. On the day of the wedding, Ayesha didn't show up and disappeared. 

Divorce Attorney Shin

16 episodes, Saturday and Sunday

tags: dramedy, Korean, Netflix streaming

From Asianwiki

Shin Sung-Han majored in piano and became a professor at a music university in Germany. One day, Shin Sung-Han hears shocking news. To find out the truth, he travels back to South Korea and works on becoming a lawyer. He eventually begins to work as a lawyer, specializing in divorce. He made the choice to specialize in divorce, due to reasons from his childhood. Shin Sung-Han faces his clients, with various unfortunate stories, and stands up for them. While doing this, he approaches the truth that he has been seeking.

I like it already with just 2 episodes. Cho Seung-Woo playing the title character is not the best looking guy in Kdramaland and is very short in stature but he is excellent in all the Korean dramas I've seen him in. He can also do comedy and credible as a sci-fi action hero.

Elle King Does Country

I wasn't aware Elle King has a new album and it's country. Country!!! Try Jesus is in the album Come Get Your Wife which came out in January 2023. The album is available to download from Freegal. It is a good country pop rock album. I like it.

BTW, playing a guy with short hair, she looks so much like her dad. 😀

Punishment Of A Hunter

tags: historical fiction, mystery, Russia

⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

1930s Leningrad. As a mood of fear cloaks the city, Investigator Vasily Zaitsev is called on to investigate a series of bizarre and seemingly motiveless murders. In each case, the victim is curiously dressed and posed in extravagantly arranged settings. At the same time, one by one precious old master paintings are going missing from the Hermitage collection. As Zaitsev sets about his investigations, he meets with suspicion at practically every turn, and potential witnesses are reluctant to provide information. Soon Zaitsev himself comes under suspicion from the Soviet secret police. The embittered detective must battle increasingly complex political machinations in his dogged quest to uncover the truth.

The novel is good but I didn't enjoy the style of the author constantly dropping parts of the story and left hanging after building tension. The continuation is revealed later on but what was her intention because I lost interest. I also was able to guess the who and the why. I think this will be a series and I'm not sure if I will read the sequel.

It's The 90s

The American Senator

tags: British classics, romance, satire, Victorian era

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Goodreads

Arabella Trefoil, the beautiful anti-heroine of this novel, inspired Trollope to write of her, "I wished to express the depth of my scorn for women who run down husbands." Arabella's determination to find a rich husband is at the heart of this story and her character, though often maligned, is one of Trollope's most famous and vivid creations.

Having read all of Jane Austen's Regency novels, I can't help but compare them with the works of Anthony Trollope written during the Victorian period. Trollope's are infinitely better, IMHO. For a male author, he wrote good novels about family relationships. romance, and politics.

This novel has numerous characters to keep track of and the American senator has less presence in the book but scathing criticism of English country life and politics makes him an obnoxious fellow but he has a point in all his observations. For example, he asks the reason for keeping 200 hounds to chase 1 fox because in America maybe half a dozen in a large estate will do. He tends to question almost every aspect of British way of life.

The 2 women, the young and admirable Mary Masters and on the opposite end, the extremely manipulative and liar Arabella Trefoil are very well defined and unforgettable characters. The novel is engaging with plenty of Trollope's brand of wit and humor.

Highly recommended for British classics readers.

Physical: 100

tags: Korean, Netflix, reality show

One hundred contestants in top physical shape compete in a series of grueling challenges to claim the honor - and cash reward - as the last one standing. The reality show has 100 athletes, special forces soldiers, fitness influencers, MMA fighters, firefighters, mountain rescuers, cross fit trainers, models, dancers - all strong men and women compete against each other.

The first elimination of 50 contestants, one on one rugby-like fight for a round ball with mud wrestling and physical agility. I like that some women chose a man to challenge and so far 1 woman has already won against her male opponent. She's a real athlete unlike some sissy male American athletes using the transgender insanity to compete with women because they know they cannot win against a man. 

 

List of participants here.

The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals

Tags: Netflix, The Great British Bake Off, reality show, spin off

⭐

Disappointing spin off of the bake off show. My main complaint is the 2 male hosts. They have awful high pitched voices that hurt the ears. The Asian woman judge sounds the same although not as bad. She and the French guy are also annoying and kinda rude.

Not recommended.

JUNG_E

 

tags: Korean movie, Netflix, sci-fi

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Set in the year 2194, JUNG_E portrays a desolated Earth in the 22nd century that is no longer habitable due to climate change where humans are forced to live in a man-made shelter built for survival. Amid the chaos, an internal war breaks out in the shelter.

Victory – meaning the end of the war – now hinges on finding a way to clone the legendary mercenary Jung_E into a scalable robot.

The Korean movie shot up to #1 on Neflix in USA after just 1 day of streaming. I'm going to watch it again. I love it for the visuals specially the scary robots that can walk, skate, and leap to kill their prey. The emotional sequence between mother (JUNG_E) and daughter makes this AI movie a little different from other sci-fi movies and I like it. The ending reminds me of one of my favorite AI movies, Alex Garland's Ex Machina.

Highly recommended for sci-fi fans.

A Death In Tokyo

tags: Japanese, mystery, police procedural 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo an unusual statue of a Japanese mythic beast - a kirin - stands guard over the district from the classic Nihonbashi bridge. In the evening, a man who appears to be very drunk staggers onto the bridge and collapses right under the statue of the winged beast. The patrolman who sees this scene unfold, goes to rouse the man, only to discover that the man was not passed out, he was dead; that he was not drunk, he was stabbed in the chest. However, where he died was not where the crime was committed - the key to solving the crime is to find out where he was attacked and why he made such a super human effort to carry himself to the Nihonbashi Bridge.

That same night, a young man named Yashima is injured in a car accident while attempting to flee from the police. Found on him is the wallet of the murdered man. Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is assigned to the team investigating the murder - and must bring his skills to bear to uncover what actually happened that night on the Nihonbashi bridge. What, if any, connection is there between the murdered man and Yashima, the young man caught with his wallet? Kaga's investigation takes him down dark roads and into the unknown past to uncover what really happened and why.

Keigo Higashino never disappoints. This recently translated from Japanese to English, the third featuring Inspector Kaga, has numerous characters, and many twists and turns that only Higashino can write without readers getting bored or frustrated. 

Highly recommended.

Kirin is a Japanese mythical creature, Qilin in Chinese literature.

The Pale Blue Eye

tags: gothic, historical fiction, mystery 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart.

Augustus Landor—who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective—is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally—a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The strange and haunted Southern poet for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.

This book was recommended to me when it came out many years ago but I didn't read it because I was disappointed in some books with fictional version of real people *cough* The Alienist*cough*.  After watching the Netflix movie based on this book, I immediately borrowed and devoured the book in 2 days. 

The movie is mostly accurate and some of the dialogue are lifted from the book almost word for word. My only regret is I should have read the book first to know if I would miss the early clues scattered here and there, beginning at around page 50. Maybe I noticed them because I already know the outcome. 

Knowing the ending did not lessen my enjoyment of the book because the parts with Edgar Allan Poe are the highlights of the novel as well as the movie. The book is so much better IMHO and there are many parts from the book that are altered for the movie. Both are highly recommended.

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Bob Dylan Playlist

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I'm a late bloomer with Bob Dylan music, never listened to his songs until he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. His songs are familiar to my ears but I never paid attention to them. Only three songs he wrote are in my music library and all 3 are covers - Jimi Hendrix [All Along the Watchtower], Waylon Jennings [It's Alright] with title and lyrics altered, Guns N' Roses [Knockin' On Heaven's Door]. I started downloading his earliest songs from Freegal and we have a few CDs too. My Bob Dylan playlist has grown.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just finished reading The Philosophy of Modern Song written by Bob Dylan. He wrote essays on 66 songs and I know at least 85% of them. He is a good writer and has a great sense of humor. I laughed out loud often at his candid observations. 

Highly recommended.