(via Shutterstock) Author: Michelle Spear, Professor of Anatomy, University of Bristol (article via The Conversation) At busy times, I find I simply cannot read as much as I would like to. Life has a habit of filling every available hour with work, meetings, emails, chores, errands and deadlines. Standing in Continue Reading
Timing is everything … thoughts on Two Years Later
(courtesy IMDb (c) Paramount+) There is a trick, a gloriously clever and grounded trick, that sits at the heart of all the very best romantic comedies or romcoms. On the surface, and this is true of any story which looks flawlessly simple and easy but which is anything but when Continue Reading
A triple movie trailers treat: Momo and the Time Thieves, Love Me Tender + & SONS
( via Shutterstock) I am a man of many and varied cinematic tastes. If fact, the more the merrier as far as genres go, with the exception of horror which frankly involves far too much hiding under blankets and peering through fingers for my tastes. There is real joy for Continue Reading
Christmas in July short story review: A Very Merry Christmas by Holly Martin
(courtesy official Holly Martin site) Full disclosure upfront – I am not a fan of short stories. It’s not how they are written or the characters or the narrative ideas contained within; in a great many cases, these are all superbly presented and you have to admire how the various Continue Reading
Christmas in July redux: The festive stress of finding love on a timetable in Home For Christmas
This review was originally published on 11 December 2019. Families can be wonderful things. They can be warm, nurturing and safe, a haven from the outside world where people can be more than a little unknowing of your true self and inadvertently cruel as a result. But much as Hallmark Continue Reading
Christmas in July book review: The Christmas Wish by Lindsey Kelk
(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) Ever since 1993’s Groundhog Day made time loops a popular mainstream storytelling device, busting it out of the realm of sci-fi where it had been happily resident for some time, they have become a great way of someone being forced to confront the stagnant state Continue Reading
I decorated my 2026 Christmas in July tree with the Tenth Doctor Who, Bluey, Home Alone, Scooby-Doo and Snagglepuss … and more!
(via Shutterstock) When you love Christmas, it’s hard having it pop just once a year. Rather happily, some inventive soul somewhere decided that Christmas in July would work quite nicely, especially in the Southern Hemisphere where it’s cold and wintery and just right for a traditional festive celebration (though we Continue Reading
Christmas in July book review: Merrily Ever After by Cathy Bramley
(courtesy Hachette Australia) If you are a faithful reader of the warm and cosy romcoms written by Cathy Bramley, you will likely have read 2022’s The Christmas Project a whole year before you got anywhere near the festive joy of Merrily Ever After. But should you have dropped your Cathy Continue Reading
Graphic novel review: “hi, I love u forever” Heartstopper says goodbye with volume 6
(courtesy Hachette Australia) I am not a huge fan of saying goodbye. Oh, I will always front up and do because I am far too sentimental not to, and I will fully lean into the feelings which usually intensely heartbreaking (if you love the person, how can they not be?), Continue Reading
Christmas in July book review: Christmas at Lobster Bay by Annie Robertson
Like many readers, I buy more far more books than I will likely ever be able to read in a lifetime (and that’s even taking into account impending retirement in the next couple of years when all the time in the world will be a glorious default). I buy them Continue Reading