( 101 in 1001 list )
(Movie/Book List)
(The 5,000 Question Survey)
2/101

Consequences by James Moran

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is an interesting book, but it did take me the longest time to get into it. The Baby Farmers is based in Victorian times, which was dull to me, as it didn't include any of the characters I loved the most, so I found myself not caring. But the great thing is how all the stories link together to bring you to the eventual ending, where you realise that though these are all separate stories, they all play a part in a much larger one.

Virus was my favourite, and though I liked The Wrong Hands, I did find it a little obvious. Kaleidoscope was good too, but I found the ending irritating and unfinished.



View all my reviews

Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


If you have a spare quiet half an hour, and enjoy His Dark Materials, this is the perfect thing. It follows a day with Lyra when she saves the life of a witch's daemon. Not only is this an enjoyable short read, but the additions to it such as the map and the postcard are an interesting thing. Though I would've loved for it to have been longer, it was good for how short it was. In my opinion, it doesn't even require a great knowledge of the books - prior to reading, I've only seen the Golden Compass movie, and I could still hear the characters perfectly.



View all my reviews

Skins by Ali Cronin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


At the time of watching the series, I wasn't aware of this books presence, but then when purchasing Summer Holiday, this came up in the related titles, so I got it as well, deciding to read it first as it was the season that came first. And I have to say that on the whole, I enjoyed the book. It's a nice segway between season 3 and 4, and the characters voices could be clearly heard. I liked that even though it was in first person, even the grammar used by characters, Pandora especially, fitted them. It felt like you really were hearing them talk about what was going on. As a standalone book, if you weren't a fan I can't see you enjoying this, but it's definitely something for diehard fans.



View all my reviews

Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography by Elisabeth Sladen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In general I'm not one for biographies, but I was desperate to get my hands on this one, and I can happily say that it's not something I regret picking up. The little stories she had to tell were fascinating and amusing, and I liked that at the same time, she was respecting the privacy of some of the people who were mentioned, and didn't tell anything to embarrass anyone. Her great love and respect for Doctor Who and it's fans, despite not being a fan of sci-fi is beautiful, and the nearer I got to the inevitable end, the more it broke my heart to accept that she's no longer with us.



View all my reviews

Doctor Who: Dead of Winter by James Goss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Finally! A book that allows us to see Rory Williams in all his amazing glory! Not to give anything away, but I like that he's quite prominent in this book, with and without the circumstances that lead him to act the way he is. I like that each chapter was from a different character's point of view, because it gave you a real understanding of the story on the whole. It's one of the only books that I would have loved to have seen made into a television episode, though that may not be possible given the circumstances and confusion that occur in the book - it's something that would only work in the reader's imagination, and not on the screen. My second favourite part of this book was the little girl. Though once the monsters of the episode were discovered, the little girl's ending was quite predictable, I did still enjoy it, and admit that I shed a few tears by the time I reached the end. Amazing job!



View all my reviews

I'm sorry, I really don't post here as much as I should, or as much as I want to. I just don't have anywhere else to let my feelings out right now. To be honest, I just want Christmas over. I still can't bring myself to enjoy it without my nan (Even though I think this is the fifth Christmas without her). I've tried, and this year, I really have tried. I put up a tree, whereas the last two years I've refused to. I listen to the Christmas music, I've put up card holders and lights... But I still just can't get excited for it. Really, I want Sunday to come just so it can go away just as quickly. It's not about the presents, because my mum has got me plenty of those even though I told her not to. It's not about spending it with family, because how is it a holiday about family when my mum's side don't care less about us the rest of the year, and the other side? I very rarely see, and certainly not enough to get in touch with them for Christmas.

And all my efforts go wrong anyway. Got my tree out, the fiberoptics don't work. One of the baubles smashed glass all over my couch, the fairy won't stay up straight, and the cherry on top is the ONE thing I was excited about was putting Christmas lights in our front window so everyone could see them. Ten minutes after spending an hour putting them up? They overheated, and the lights blew. Or I guess that was what happened, one minute they were on, the next they weren't. Oh, and to add to that? My mum has just bought me a karaoke machine. Yes, I cried when she got me one a few years ago. But I still have THAT one. I never use it, it's been collecting dust in the back on my spare room. We only JUST talked about throwing it away. In fact, I have two back there collecting dust. So apparently if I have two of something that I don't use, it stands to reason that I need a THIRD to sit there and do nothing. I'm not ungrateful in the slightest, I'm just annoyed at her that she's spending money on something like that just because she "doesn't think I have enough presents" - I'm not ten years old anymore. We're long past the stage of me getting about 40 different presents. It's quality, not quantity, and really there isn't a lot of things that I want, so I don't expect a lot of things. And yet? I have a pile of presents sat by the tree when I know I've probably only asked for four or five of them.

The house is a mess, we have no heating, I have to miss a day of work so that can get fixed, my bosses are obviously pissed off at me for it, and all in all... I've just had enough. I just want to curl up under my covers and forget about literally everything right now. I've had enough, totally and utterly.

Doctor Who: Borrowed Time by Naomi Alderman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The plot of this story was certainly interesting - of course everyone wants extra time, but how willing are people to want it, without thinking of the consequences? It mirrors the very real reality of pay day loans with extortionate interest to pay. The characters all seem very true to the television counterparts, which is a rare find with some of these novels. It wasn't one of my favourites though, but it was definitely an interesting read.


View all my reviews