Music Monday - The Decemberists

I really like the Decemberists, and enjoy this acoustic performance with just three of their songs.

Zero Dark Thirty

I hadn't seen this one before and thought I would give it a watch.  It basically givers the tracking down and capture of Osama Bin Laden in 2011.  Not a cheery watch, I somehow felt very unmoved by this drama, and thought it boring and overly long.  I am not a fan of torture scenes and so struggled to watch the beginning of the movie.  A 2/5.

The Hippopotamus

The Hippopotamus is based on the same named 1994 novel written by Stephen Fry.  Ted Wallace is a poet who hasn't written any poems since 1984, and now has been fired from his critics job.  A fan of a good whiskey, he escapes to the country to visit his godsons family after he is given a task to seek the truth behind some rumors.

Although there is an eccentric group of characters and a smattering is witty jokes, this movie was a bit of  a let down.  Both myself and the friend I went with managed to nod off in the warm cinema, so that may have contributed to our difficulty in following the story.  Sadly only a 2/5.

Guardians of the Galaxy

I know that I am about three decades too old for this silliness, but it was sitting on my DVR and I felt like something mindless on Friday night.

You all know the drill - a bunch of misfits have to save the universe.  There is lots of running around, fights and flying before a big fight scenes at the end.  Chris Platt makes a likeable muscly good guy with some good dance steps.  Of course at its heart it is a tale of friendship.

I do know that the next movie is out at the cinema right now.   I couldn't bear to sit in the midst of 500 teenagers so am quite happy to wait until it comes out on my apple TV.   3/5

The Missing Series 2

The Missing series 2 centers around Alice Webster, who disappears from a British garrison based in Germany in 2003.  Her parents Gemma and Sam struggle to carry on with life and are shopping ked when a young girl turns up and collapses in town, claiming to be their lost daughter.

Meanwhile French  detective Julien Baptiste is still on the trail of missing French girl Sophie Giroux, who disappeared at the same time.  Unwell and retired from the police he is convinced there is a connection, and travels to Iraq and Germany to find clues to what happened to her.

So a bunch of great actors - I like David Morrissey and Keely Hawes who play the parents and a good story.   There were a lot of characters though and the shifting timeliness did get me a bit muddled at times.  I also felt a bit flat after the series, it's all a bit grim with little joy.  I like my UK dramas with a little bit of humor or fun to balance it out.  3/5

#Girlboss - Sophia Amoruso

Well I don't know about this one.  The author says it is not a memoir or a how to book, but then proceeds to tell you about her life and how she set up her business.

Always being a bit of a rebel, she sets herself up selling vintage clothes on ebay making it into a multi million dollar business before she is thirty.  With no college education or business background she was motivated and worked really hard to look after her customers and increase sales.

You have to admire someone who can build this big a business without any debt.  She does also offer some good advice about how to do a good interview, how to succeed as an employee.

I wasn't so hot on the chapters when she talked about how she ripped people off and shoplifter to get money.  And somehow I was left with the impression like I was getting shouted at while I was reading. 3/5

The Lost Book Of The Grail - Charlie Lovett

Arthur is in his forties teaching English at Barchester University.   In his spare time he attends church even though he has lost his belief in God and searches through the libraries manuscripts to find clues about the Grail.

His life is changed when Bethany Davis arrives.  A young American, she has arrived with a mission to digitize the library manuscripts.  With a pent for computers and modernization will she be able to bring Arthur into the 21st century?

I really enjoyed this book, Charlie Lovett can tell a good story and the combination of history, antique books, Arthurian lore and Grail hunting is particularly compelling.   4/5

The Lion In The Living Room - Abigail Tucker

Abigail Tucker takes us on a journey in this book, to discover how cats have taken over living rooms and houses round the world.   It was interesting to read about how cats were mainly brought inside to catch rats, but in reality have little interest in them.  She discusses how cats are creatures of habit and want their meals at set times which explains why my cat will be ready for her dinner each day at 4pm.

There was a fair amount about shelters and the amount of cats killed each year, staggering numbers and hugely sad to think about.  I think that I wanted a little more from this book, somehow there was very little about the benefits of having cats as pets and the reasons why so many people world wide love their furry companions. 3/5

The Scent of You - Maggie Alderson

This for me was a nice middle aged chick lit read.  Instead of having a twenty or thirty year old main character, our protagonist Polly is a grown up girl with grown children.

A perfume blogger who also teaches yoga, Polly is forced into deciding what she wants her future wants to look like when her husband David leaves her for a research trip.

Although the book was a bit filled with cliches - the model mother, the nosy best friend and the horsey double barreled named handsome ex from college, there was enough of a story to keep me entertained throughout.   3/5

The Bone Field - Simon Kernick

A young girl goes missing 21 years ago on a holiday in Thailand, but there are secrets about her fate just waiting to be revealed in this fast paced thriller by Simon Kernick.

Without giving the plot away there is lots of baddies, an earnest but flawed cop (are there any other kinds of police?), a tough heroic private eye, tough street guys, scared woman, guns, knives, chasing and gangs.

This book reminded me of early Lee Childs and Peter James and look forward to the next one, especially as this ended on a cliffhanger.  4/5

Walks With My Dog

Being on a tight budget I cannot afford such fripperies as Sky tv, so have to search the channels that free TV offers to find some quality shows, where documentaries are hidden at odd hours.  Anyways I have found this BBC one Walks With My Dog.  On each show a couple of UK celebs take you on a little walk round a part of the UK.  The scenery is delicious and they talk to some interesting folks on their journey.

It is relaxing watching and makes me feel zen and with a deep yearning for a little scruffy dog and a worn khaki jacket. 5/5

Where She Went - B.E.Jones

Melanie Black wakes up in a strange bed next to a new man and wonders how she got there and so begins this unique take on the old murder mystery.  It kept me guessing most of the way through and I couldn't wait to sit down and read each new chapter. 4/5

Monday Night Laughs - Zoe Lyons Live at the Apollo

After a week of being sick and the first day back at work I could do with a laugh before bedtime.  Zoe Lyons - Live at the Apollo.