Best of 2018 - Books and Movies

I managed a good solid 106 books read in 2018, and these are the outstanding ones, the ones I will remember.  The Last Girl by Nadia Murad,  Nadia won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for telling her story about being kidnapped from her home by Islamic State and the abuse she endured.  Harrowing, and hard to read, but an amazing story that is hard to believer this occurred in our modern world. 

Circe - just amazing story of a witch Circe, who is banished to a remote island in Greece in the time of heroes, gods and nymphs.  Easy to read and like one long poem.  It made me want to learn about classical Greek stories.  Almost.

Every Note Played is one of Lisa Anthonys finest books.  Richard Evans is a concert player whose world changes drastically with the diagnosis of  ALS.  I cried at the end and could still tear up thinking about the story.

With the End In Mind.  If like me you are a mega fan of Atul Gawandes Being Mortal, this is the companion piece to that.  Everyone should read it. 

The Tattooist of Auschwitz -  although this is a fiction book, the saddest part is that it is based on truth and my heart just broke to read this story.  As the distance from WWll increases, I find these stories more and more compelling.  The hardships that these people endured are truly almost impossible for us to comprehend in our lazy lifestyles. 


2018 was the year of the flu for me, and post viral coughing has excluded me from the cinema from August.  I have got rid of my cough and then my bestie has been snuffling away from October.  The ones that have stuck with me are A Quiet Place - a scary movie about monsters who track you down if you make any noise.  Science Fair was one I saw at the Film Festival and follows a group of international high school students who attend the International Science Fair.  I was blown away by their brilliance and work ethics and it makes me less scared of the future.  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri - just when I was getting a bit bored with dramas, I thought this one was a stunner. 

So Happy New Years to you all and wishing you a healthy and happy New Years and all the best for 2019!!!

Dark Sacred Night - Michael Connelly

This feels like the handing over of the torch.  From Detective  Harry Bosch, who after a lifetime in police he is now entering a forced retirement to Renee Ballard, who has been banished to the graveyard shift after complaining about harassment by her boss.  In this new book, they meet up to work a cold case of a young girl killed in strange circumstances years earlier.

Michael Connelly is one of those authors who shows up and delivers in his books with good pacing and quick and believable banter, and somehow manages to suck me into a story within a page or two.  A good way to end 2018. 4/5

Middle Aged Lady Movie Night - Blockers

I went into this one thinking it was the typical American comedy that started with two funny jokes, then tried to turn serious and just got boring.  It surprised me by actually being pretty consistent throughout and one that both teenagers and parents would be amused with.  It is basically the story of three parents who try and stop their three daughters losing their virginity on prom night.

In a modern day of texts and cell phones, it modernizes an age old comedy scenario and I did laugh out loud at a couple of scenes.   4/5

Best Foot Forward - Adam Hills

Adam Hills is an Aussie comedian that always makes me smile when I capture his routine on the television, and on a few chat shows that I have seen him on.  Based in the UK, he pops up on Live at the Apollo and other shows that are broadcast here.  I saw him interviewed on tv about his book, and was pleased to see it sitting on the library shelves.

He writes mainly about growing up in Australia, a quiet life as he felt a bit isolated due to his prosthetic foot.  Working in Radio and on tv his dream was to be a comedian like the comics he heard with his dad.  His experiences meeting Billy Connelly were pure gold. 4/5

Becoming The Supervet - Noel Fitzpatrick

It is always interesting to read a book like this, about someone who has had a lifelong passion for what they do.  Noel Fitzpatrick was a bit of a lonely boy growing up on a rural Irish farm, who develops an persona of Vetman - someone who protects and looks after all animals.  He has gone on to specialize in Neuro and Ortho cases, to develop new procedures and new prosthetics for animals, lecture in the UK and Us and open his own hospital, as well as appearing in The Supervet on television.

As I've got older I can't watch many shows about animals being in pain, but have watched a couple of his shows and you have to admire his dedication to trying to do the best for the dogs and cats and people he looks after.   I didn't realize until I had read the book that he is trying to integrate the sharing of information and techniques between human and animal medicine.  4/5

Music Monday The Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

Well it is finally Christmas Eve here in the city.  Lucky old me has to work right through this week, and after coming off of night shift last week, I have only had about 3 hours of overnight sleep at the weekend, so will be fast asleep by the time Santa arrives.  I love this song and enjoy that it has become such a classic over the years. I was lucky that  I got to sing along to The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl singing it live in London in the 90s at a music festival I went to.  Lucky old me.

Merry Christmas Everybody!!

Coming Soon - Well Maybe Next Year

It's looking like there will be a good collection of movies to see in 2019.  Or wait for them to come out and watch them at home.  Hopefully 2019 will not follow 2018 - the year of the 3 month cough which put me into quarantine and restricted me from going to see movies, lest I disturb the other customers.

Middle Aged Lady Night At the Movies - Breathe

Ahh a Saturday night on the couch again.  I got this one on itunes and had 12 hours left before I lost my money (99 cents), so thought I had better watch it.  I had wanted to see it at the cinema when it was out, but for a variety of reasons I missed it. 

Breathe is based on the true life story of Robin Cavendish, a disability campaigner who sort to make life better for so many, who were restricted to living in hospitals due to their needs for respiratory support.  After an attack of Polio, Robin has to rely on a ventilator to breathe for his, and this tells of his story, his life with a loving wife and son, and the support of many friends.

It was a sweet story and better than I had expected, and I must admit to a tear in my eye at the end.  4/5

I'll Be There For You - Kelsey Miller

Look, I'm not sure if this is the definitive book about the history about the TV show Friends, and the cultural phenomenon that it became.  I think, that is the authors experience of it, a woman now in her thirties that grew up with it on tele, but rediscovered it more in reruns.  I sort of feel my own experience is a bit more relevant, as I watched them all weekly, the old school way when we had to wait a whole year after a cliff hanger for the new series, and was the same age as the actresses on screen, wishing that I had their fab New York apartment and life style and haircuts and clothes, and boyfriends.

I think we all fell a bit in love with Friends, and even after years of reruns it still makes me smile, at its silliness and innocence.  I didn't learn a whole lot from the book, most of which I knew already, but it was a quick read. 3/5

The Switch - Joseph Finder

Michael Tanner is having a bit of a tough time.  His wife has moved out and his coffee business is struggling to bring in new clients, and the bills are building up.  After returning from a work trip, he ends up picking up the wrong laptop at the airport and his troubles are about to get serious. 

Often I find that my enjoyment of a book is linked to being able to visualize the story in my head, and in this one I couldn't help but think it was more like a  movie turned into a novel, with fast paced action scenes.  I am not sure that I fully believed the story and the twists and turns seemed a bit unrealistic to me, but it would make a good movie with a good everyman type of actor in the main role. 4/5

Notes On A Nervous Planet - Matt Haig

Matt Haig has had his own issues dealing with anxiety and depression which he has written about in previous books.  In this book he looks at why rates are rising and affecting so many people around the world and what changes we can all do in our own lives to make things a bit more peaceful.  It is not all yoga and meditation, but doing things that make you happy, putting the phone down, switching the news off, going outside, visiting friends and spending time with pets.  It might all seem sensible stuff, but sometimes we need to be reminded about the importance of taking time for ourselves, and just to breathe and relax.  4/5

Home Body - Joanna Gaines

I could live in every house in this lovely book.  I have only recently discovered Fixer Upper on our local television, and I have to admire both Joanna and Chip Gaines for their enthusiasm and love for each other and their children.  Like all shows of its like, I am sure there is a big team helping out on each renovation, and although led by them it is not something that they do alone.  Joanna Gaines styling though is on point for each and every home I have seen, with a farmhouse rustic touch combined with a modern clean style and I could just step in and happily live in each one.

A book I would happily have on my own shelves and it would make a lovely gift for my friends.  5/5

Music Monday - Little Drummer Boy - David Bowie and Bing Crosby

Christmas Carols are beginning to be played everywhere you go at the moment.  I could do without Snoopys Christmas being played 10 times a day, but do enjoy some of the more traditional songs.  I hadn't seen this one before and enjoyed the combination of both singers.

Becoming - Michelle Obama

Like most of my favorite biographies, Michelle Obamas focuses mainly on her childhood and growing up in a small flat in Chicago, where her father and mother work hard to provide for Michelle and her older brother Craig.  Her eloquence and humor shine through in this book,  and all parts of it were interesting to read, especially as I knew so little of her back story.  From living with a father who had MS, but never took a day off work sick, to piano lessons with the foreboding aunt who lived downstairs, to the young law student who one day had to mentor a young first year law student, to the White House where she tried to raise her two young daughters in as normal a family unit as was possible.  You have to admire her for stepping up and for trying to be as normal as possible, when all eyes were on her, when many were waiting for her to fail.  For trying to make the lives of children better, to get them to eat better, to move more and to work with families of service men and women. 

A great read, that felt like it was written by a friend telling you about their life.  One of my favorite reads of 2018. 5/5

Middle Aged Lady Movie Night - Skyscraper

A Saturday night at home means once the chores are done and dinner served up, it is time to plonk myself down on the couch and watch a cheap movie on the Apple TV while drinking some cold  beverage and chewing on some cheap sweets.

 Not looking for any high brow viewing tonight, I was happy to watch The Rock Dwayne Johnson fling himself round this super high rise that is burning with his family in it.   Being neither a fan of high rises or fire , but an admirer of Dwayne Johnson and disaster movies I felt that this might be one that I might enjoy.  However I found it a bit dull and slightly too formulaic.  It was like the producers had sat in a room and ticked off too many boxes- Asian setting, fit and toned baddies with an accent, injured war hero, super cute kids, action sequences tick, tick, tick.  However  like most modern action movies, they somehow forgot to write a compelling story.  Still watching Dwayne Johnson is always a pleasure.  3/5

Survivor - Harry Borden

A deceptively powerful and moving book, it is primarily a book of portraits that the author took over a period of five years.  Each is a photo of a Holocaust survivor, and each is accompanied by a simple statement from each sitter.  At the back, there is a description of each person - where they grew up, and what they experience during the war, and their life other.  Haunting small stories that made me quite teary, especially the stories from those survivors who were children at the time. 

It is especially poignant as the years go by, as more survivors die and so many of their stories will be lost to read such a book. 5/5

Music Monday - Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry

I stepped into a taxi at midnight the other night after a long and busy shift, and this song started up.  I hadn't heard it in years but it got my toes tapping and I desperately wanted to sing along.  I think I've reached that turning point of enjoying the golden oldies radio station.