Watching - December 2021

Christmas on 5th Avenue (2021)

Slightly above average Hallmark (or similar) Christmas TV movie. Entirely predictable but kind of fun. C said she'd read the book on which it is based, so I ordered that from the library and read that too.

Nostalgic Christmas (2019)

Formulaic stuff, with two leads who look way too airbrushed to be real, but the story is sweet and wholesome.

Love Actually (2003)

Probably my favourite Christmas film, despite being the usual, frustrating Richard Curtis mix of terrible, single-use-only jokes and genuinely moving scenes. And in fairness, some of the humour does stand up to repetition - which is probably more than can be said about the fat jibes. There's some great performances, but overall it's probably Emma Thompson who stands out (although in fairness her role has more emotional depth than, say, Hugh Grant's). And great choice of "God Only Knows" as the outro music.

Abominable (2019)

This was on the telly so we watched it, despite having never heard of it before. It's cute but not deserving of the level of critical praise it seemed to get (82% on Rotten Tomatoes): the animation is the same as all DreamWorks films, with no real improvement noticeable over earlier films (unlike Pixar and Disney, whose animation get better each time), the plot is pretty predictable and the deus ex machina of the Yeti's magical powers is over-used. My guess this was aimed at the Chinese market, as it's set in Shanghai and when challenged over the use of a controversial map boundary, Universal refused to remove it - which nails their colours firmly to the mast on this issue.

Encanto (2021)

Disney's big holiday release doesn't disappoint. The story runs on fairly well-worn rails but reliably delivers top quality entertainment - laughs and sighs and a few tears - while the animation is so impressive, not just for the level of detail but for the expressiveness: I don't think I've seen such human faces before. The songs, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, are very musical theatre (and have inevitable shades of Moana) and not really my thing, but the sequences during the musical items are stunning. Family fun, enjoyed by our family.

Frozen II (2019)

Family's suggestion for Boxing Day family viewing. Meh.

The Beatles: Get Back (2021)

I've been listening to The Beatles since before I can remember, I've read plenty of books about them and I've even met and chatted with Mark Lewisohn (at a wedding). I'd consider myself a fan. Yet this was a struggle - a really odd mix of fascinating and really dull. Watching it is a bit like panning for gold: hours and hours (literally) of low-grade musical farting around and then, suddenly, everything coalesces into "Let It Be" or "The Long and Winding Road", and suddenly we're seeing alchemy in action. I think it's important that this material is preserved, but if this is the "Director's Cut", then I wish there'd be a "Studio Cut" that's about a third of the length. Yes, anyone who's been in a band will recognise the interminable tediousness of trying to get everyone to play the same thing (watching this gives me a new respect for Ringo, who waits patiently and then just calmly plays perfectly each time), but I'm not sure I needed to see another band, even The Beatles, doing it in such detail. That said, the last episode, with the concert on the roof, is much better, and it's good to see the songs come together (to coin a phrase). So overall, I'm pleased I made the effort to watch it. But can we have a shorter version please? (Here's an interesting piece that discusses similar points.)

Cruella (2021)

Origin stories are all the rage these days (thanks, Marvel) and why should Disney villains be any different? This is a bit of a hodge-podge of film types but is mostly a heist movie, I think (going by Mark Kermode's masterly analysis). Emma Stone (one of my favourite current actors) is very good in bringing a little depth to a role that doesn't have an awful lot. There's plenty going on to keep our attention but overall the film is a bit unengaging.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Excessive, funny, but soulless and morally suspect.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

New Year's Eve family viewing - a mini-HtTYD-marathon (we don't have the third one for some reason). They're good films, enjoyable and involving, but to anyone familiar with the books - which is all of us in this family, since we have them on audiobook and listened to them in the car a lot when the kids were younger - it's a constant source of puzzlement why the plot was changed so much for the film. Oh well!

Reading - December 2021

Guitar Magazine (December 2021 / Issue 399)

Guitar Magazine (January 2022 / Issue 400)

I've been subscribing to magazines since the early 1990s - blimey, almost thirty years! The titles have changed - Q, Select, Vox, Uncut, The Word, Private Eye, Top Gear, Guitarist, just off the top of my head - but there was always something arriving on my door mat once a month, sometimes several somethings. I think it started with Q, but it's ended here: Guitar is the only magazine I subscribe to now, and it is stopping its print edition and moving entirely online. The final edition isn't anything special, which unfortunately highlights how expensive it is for what it is, given that I can get the same content now for free via a browser. Still, I'm a bit sad that I won't be getting a shiny new magazine through the door any more.

How to Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You by The Oatmeal/Matthew Inman (2012)

A very nice surprise Chanukah gift from the kids. I first read The Oatmeal ages ago and while the humour is always exactly my thing, it can be very funny. This is a collection of comics that have been published on the web site (e.g. Cat vs Internet) and some new comics, and comes complete with a big pull out poster of the title comic. (As an aside, why do they do this? Once it's folded up in order to go inside the book, it's useless as a decent poster because you'll never get the fold lines out!)

We Can't Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon (2021)

Most of the romantic novels I read feature characters who are adults, with jobs and sometimes families to look after - and the target audience is presumably also adult. "Young adult" romantic fiction is about and for teenagers. It's a while since I was a teenager, but I can still remember what it felt like (as I am sure most people can - apparently impressions and memories formed while your brain is still developing are more vivid), and it's nice to be reminded of the intensity of emotions around a first love or crush. This book evokes that very well, and the story is a sweet one of a girl finding her own wishes for the future as well as understanding her feelings for someone else. The fact that the main character is Jewish also appeals, as does the fact that it's never over-explained.

Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan (2016)

This was the source material for the slightly-above-average Christmas schlock movie Christmas on 5th Avenue that we watched earlier this month. The book has exactly the same story arc that any Silhouette/Harlequin/M&B novel does (in fact, it's on the Harlequin imprint MIRA) but at somewhat greater length, which made it feel like it was padded unnecessarily. The plot makes slightly more sense here than it does in the film, but it's still very predictable. That said, I enjoyed it!

No Time Like The Future by Michael J. Fox (2020)

I seem to have inadvertently missed out the third Fox life installment (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Future) but I suspect that it's fairly similar to this and to his other books: an engaging, readable mix of stories from his recent life and thoughts on what it means. He's consistently open about what is happening to him, but perhaps slightly less reflective on how privileged he is to have the world's best medical care available to him - the privilege afforded by both his fame and fortune.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (1934)

I caught a bit of the 1974 film on the tellybox over Christmas. I don't think much of Albert Finney's Poirot though, and Kenneth Branagh's 2017 version isn't on any service we have, so I thought I'd read the book again. The actual solution is very imaginative of course, but it's shorter than I remember, and Poirot basically solves it in about fifteen minutes. (And the book is nearly ninety years old! Not my copy, which dates from the 70s.)

The Wolf of Wall Street

Director: Martin Scorcese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie et al

2013

Excessive and funny, but soulless and morally suspect.

If I remember rightly, the first 18 film I saw was Personal Services (Harrow ABC, with my friend Vashti). I can't help thinking that it would barely scrape a 15 these days, so tame is it by modern standards.

The Wolf of Wall Street is not tame. In fact, it seems to be designed to see how far you can stretch the censor's limits. It's got multiple different drugs being consumed constantly, it set the world record for the most times "fuck" is said in a film, and has more full frontal nudity than any other film I've seen (not that I've done a lot of research into this).

I don't have a problem with any of this - except maybe the nudity, or specifically, the fact that it's nearly all female nudity. I get that the film is about a world of excess and no morals, and women being treated like inanimate playthings is (sadly) a realistic portrayal of this, but it seems very convenient for the film makers to be able to have so many very beautiful, very naked women throughout the film and still claim they're just being true to the source material.

As ever, there are a couple of questions that have to be asked. Firstly, could the story have been told as effectively without so much flesh on display? Yes - at least, the nudity could be implied with the same effect, I think. For example, Margot Robbie apparently refused the offer to film one of the most notorious scenes with a robe on, because she felt that the character would be naked. I think she's right, but it's easily possible to make the audience realise that the character is naked, with all that says about the character, without the actress actually being naked.

Secondly, are men being asked to do the same thing (as Caitlin Moran asks in How To Be A Woman)?Unsurprisingly, no; certainly not in this film and I don't believe generally. Sure, there's plenty of sex scenes, but apparently men don't often fuck naked - although, fair play to DiCaprio, we do see him "full back-al" (to quote Steven Moffat's fantastic Coupling) - and of course it would be completely unacceptable if there were any good-looking men showing their genitals. The one (in)famous scene where Jonah Hill (no offense, but not handsome) supposedly gets his cock out is so obviously done with a prosthetic that it's almost insulting, not just to all the women who are expected to really bare all, but to the audience, who presumably can't cope with the real thing. (If my memory serves, this is one thing that Personal Services does have in it at one point - an actual, real penis.)

My point here is not that I dislike nudity in films - I don't mind it at all. I just think that in real life, men get naked just as much as women do, and films should reflect this. Maybe the film makers here would claim that the balance in The Wolf of Wall Street is correct, for this story - and maybe they're right. And of course there are societal double standards at play here, since if you showed as much male nudity as there is female nudity, it wouldn't get past the censors at all.

Anyway, that extended point aside - and I am fairly certain that The Wolf of Wall Street is far from being the only film guilty of exploiting this particularly cultural loophole - I enjoyed the film (yes, even the naked women). It's very well made, entertainingly told, and even if it didn't need to be three hours long, it doesn't drag. DiCaprio is superb, and you get a sense of how charismatic the real Jordan Belfort, whose story this is, was to achieve what he did (although bearing in mind that Belfort's book was the source, and he was involved in the making, I think it's fair to assume that some of this was exaggerated).

However, ultimately, despite the participants' strenuous claims to the contrary, this is a film that glamourizes excess. There's very little sense of any ramifications for their selfishness and unpleasantness: Belfort's jail sentence occupies only a couple of minutes of screen time and is mainly shown as a pleasant summer retreat, with added barbed wire. More importantly, there is no acknowledgement at all of the thousands of real people who got swindled by these jerkoffs. Meanwhile, Jordan Belfort gets a cameo in the film, publicity for his current real-life business (motivational speaking) and will be regarded by many more people now as a man who achieved the kind of success they aspire to. I'm pleased I watched the film, but it's morally suspect and it seems obvious to me that it was made in the same spirit as the story it tells - to make money, regardless.

Reading - November 2021

Borrowing Trouble by Stacy Finz (2016)

I have to admit, this series is getting under my skin. I suppose it's the same reason soaps are so popular: you get the familiarity of the same group of characters and each has their own story, so it's like a family. There's a suspense element to this because each of the main characters has something in their past that they are worried will catch up with them. It provides the main push for the romantic tension but detracts from the story a little because I was always waiting for something to happen and it didn't until almost the end. Still, another satisfying story from the Nugget series.

Heating Up by Stacy Finz (2016)

And so on to the next in the series, in which the brother of the main female character from the previous book arrived in the perfect little town of Nugget and instantly falls in love too. There's a slight thriller/whodunnit element that was pretty obvious from about a third of the way through the book (and if it's obvious to me, that means it's really obvious), but it doesn't detract from the main story, which is as engaging as always.

Greetings from Bury Park by Sarfraz Manzoor (2007)

This source material for Blinded by the Light doesn't seem an obvious choice to be made into a film, until you discover (as this later edition makes clear) that it was adapted by the author himself. I wouldn't have read this if I hadn't seen the film, as I didn't know who Manzoor is and have little interest in autobiographies (notwithstanding this month's choices). However, it's a very good read, if depressing in places, and the general theme seems to be about the head-on collision between two different cultures: British culture and Pakistani culture. It raises some interesting questions about integration into society and how to draw the line between tolerating tradition and denouncing it as abusive.

How Not To Be A Boy by Robert Webb (2017)

I read this because I'd enjoyed Come Again, rather than because I know or am interested in Robert Webb. In much the same way as the previous book - whose author I was also unfamiliar with - it seems to be about someone trying to escape their upbringing. It also feels like a sort of companion piece to Caitlin Moran's How To Be A Woman, or at least heavily inspired by it. The chapter titles are descriptions of masculine expectations ("Men Don't Cry", or something like that - I don't have the book in front of me), and his main point is that these expectations cause many problems for men, women and society. It's hard to disagree with this, but Webb seems to simultaneously want to accept responsibility for his misdeeds on the past and blame them on society. It's an interesting read, but it's patchy and a bit too self-flagellating for too long.

Riding High by Stacy Finz (2016)

This series of books is starting to seem a bit formulaic now, although in fairness it's a good formula that's kept me interested and I'm probably due a break. Again, there's a element of tension (a looming criminal charge in this case) that's never going to put the conclusion in doubt, so the interest is in seeing how it plays out, as much as anything else.

Beethoven: Piano Music Volume 1

Alfred Brendel (piano)

Turnabout – TV 34251DS (year unknown)

It's been a very lengthy break in my increasingly inaccurately named Vinyl Album "of the Week" project. This was because my record player was misbehaving and so eventually I took it back to Richer Sounds in Southampton, who couldn't have been more accommodating or helpful. We listened to it in the store and they claimed to be able to hear some sort of distortion in the left hand channel as well. If I am honest, it was barely audible in that environment, which makes me think it's probably something in my home setup, sadly. They still sent it off to the manufacturer for checking and eventually got it back to me with a clean bill of health. Or, to put it another way, with no changes, since they couldn't find anything wrong.

Anyway, I got it back about a month ago and picked this album out, at random, for the next in the series. Unfortunately, it probably wasn't a great choice. Each of the several pieces on this album is a variation on a different theme by another composer. They feel a bit like academic studies, exercises for students or just a demonstration of the different ways a single theme can be changed, reharmonized or turned upside-down. I'm sure it's very sophisticated - this is Beethoven, after all - but it all goes completely over my head. As pieces of music, they seem meandering and aimless. The only bits I can remember are some particularly dissonant chords during the "Eroica Variations" (aka "15 Variations & Fugue On A Theme From ''Prometheus'' In E Flat Major, Op. 35" - catchy title!) that caught my ear because they stick out so much.

Watching - October 2021

Schumacher (2021)

Schumacher's dominance coincided with the period when I was most avidly following F1, and unlike some people, I didn't find this unappealing. To see an athlete at the top of his game - and, let's be clear, Schumacher was the best of his generation, by quite a margin - was a wonderful thing to watch. Obviously, in F1, it's not just about the driver and Ferrari used everything they could to obtain and maintain their advantage, but that doesn't take away from the man's brilliance. Oddly, the film doesn't emphasise this as much as I'd expected, although there's plenty about his driving. Instead, it tries to balance this with more about the man and his family. Given the extensive involvement of his wife and friends, this is perhaps unsurprising. And in fairness, it doesn't shy away from addressing some of his more notorious controversies, giving time to Damon Hill to say that he thinks Schumacher deliberately turned into him during the 1994 Japanese GP, and showing that just about everyone thinks he did the same to Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. An interesting film, but as an F1 fan I could have done with more driving and less schmaltzy background music. 

North by Northwest (1959)

I watched this after seeing Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema episode about spies. I can't remember the last time I saw it, although the iconic scenes are very familiar of course. It's surprisingly long at over two hours, and the romantic elements are about as believable as Dick Van Dyke's accent in Mary Poppins, but it's a great plot and a classic film of course. The train going into the tunnel at the end made me laugh - I can't believe that symbolism was ever actually used, but there it is!

Free Guy (2021)

For the last few months, YouTube, that reliable barometer of public opinion and taste (ahem) has been pushing Ryan Reynolds videos at me, specifically ones where he is being sarcastic on chat shows - which he is very good at. So I was primed for this I guess, and it popped up on Disney+ so it was a good one to watch with Z. I really liked it: a kind of cross between Ready Player One and The Lego Movie, with ideas not too dissimilar to Christopher Brookmyre's Bedlam. In fact, so good I watched it twice.

Soul (2020)

We watched this when it came available on Disney+ but the rest of the family seemed to be underwhelmed. I really liked it and rewatching it didn't change my opinion. I think there's a message there but I can't decide if it's "make the most of your life" or "play more music".

No Strings Attached (2011)

Oddly, this and Friends With Benefits came out at almost exactly the same time, with pretty much the same plot idea. This is the lesser of the two though, as Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher just don't go well together, and when you start comparing them with the sassiness of Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake ... well, there's a reason I only remembered that I'd actually seen this before when I was about half-way through. Still, ticks most of the right romcom boxes.

Friends With Benefits (2011)

And just to remind myself - I have seen it before, several times - I watched this again. Sure, you can quibble with a couple of bits and pieces but the whole thing just bursts with life.

Summer of Soul (2021)

Fascinating documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969 - something broadly concurrent with Woodstock, but not celebrated for some reason. Lots of great footage: Stevie Wonder about to enter his golden period; Nina Simone on imperious form and introducing "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" for the first time ever; Sly and the Family Stone, probably the only act to play both this and Woodstock and as awesome as always. Mixed in with all of this is background and context footage, topped of with some very touching interviews with people who were there but haven't seen it for fifty years. Essential viewing.

Martha - Meet Frank, Daniel & Laurence (1998)

Comfort viewing.

Pretty Woman (1990)

It's a classic, but I wonder how many people watching it really think about the realities of Vivian's life? The film attempts to deal with it, but overall it seems very much of its time. There's something very 80s about the way it glosses over the sordid realities of prostitution and presents it as just another lifestyle choice. Would the story have been any less enjoyable - or successful - if Vivian had been working any other low-rent job? Or was the frisson of illegality and sex required? If you can ignore these aspects of the film then it's a nice story.

Black Widow (2021)

Fairly standard MCU fare. If you strip out the fight scenes, there'd be about twenty minutes of actual plot, and I can't say I followed it that closely anyway. One for the fans, I think (who, as I understand it, had been asking for the Black Widow back-story for a long time).

Reading - October 2021

Going Home by Stacy Finz (2014)

I chose this in our online library because I quite liked the cover and it's the first of a series that has about over ten books in it, so if I liked this then I knew I'd have more books to read. It's a pleasant enough romance, clearly intended as the first in a series as it introduces way too many characters and I often found it hard to remember who was who. The plot was involved enough to keep me reading but it resolved too quickly at the end. I'll probably try a couple of the others.

Finding Hope by Stacy Finz (2015)

When I'm not feeling well, I tend to retreat to the literary equivalents of comfort foods. Often this means books I am familiar with, but this time I'm happy reading books that I know will end well. This is a somewhat more complex modern romance novel than your classic Silhouette/Harlequin/M&B romance; there's multiple story-lines and subplots, all of which keep the interest well and in fact got me wondering whether at least one of them will be explored in more detail later. The characters are all a bit too good to be true but nevertheless Finz keeps you caring about them enough to want to know what's going to happen.

Second Chances by Stacy Finz (2015)

Judging by the publication dates, Ms. Finz has been cranking these out at a pretty impressive rate - something like two or three a year. Still, not as impressive as the rate I'm reading them at, eh? These books are a complete fantasy. The town - "Nugget", really? - is small but perfectly formed where no-one is really bad; all the heroines are kind, loving, forgiving, intelligent and of course drop-dead gorgeous; and all the heroes all have rockin' hot bods, along with important manly traits like the ability to arrest criminals, run farms, work with their hands and yet have a sensitive side (although not too much because that wouldn't be manly). Despite this, I have found them engaging and there's enough going on to give them more depth than a standard romance. The ending here was a bit abrupt: suddenly the hero conquers his fears and declares his love in a public place (very Richard Curtis) and they get engaged, all in the space of the last half a dozen pages. But I've already reserved the next one at the library!

The Plus-One Agreement by Charlotte Phillips (2014)

He's a playboy, afraid of commitment; she thinks she's dowdy and unworthy of love, but actually she's gorgeous. Remind you of anything? Only a million of these books. Killed time, but nicely.

Feels so Right by Isabel Sharpe (2012)

He's so focussed on his own problems that he doesn't realise he's missing out on life; she thinks she's dowdy and unworthy of love, but actually she's gorgeous. Wanna guess the ending? Actually this one is nicely judged and even though we all know how it's going to end, it doesn't feel like a given. Very easy to read.

All Over You by Sarah Mayberry (2009)

Despite being about the same length as the previous book (these things are not exactly formulaic, but they do have a pretty strict set of guidelines), this manages to fit a lot of character development and plot into the same space. I could have done with less emphasis on the heroine's "magnificent bust", so I can only imagine that some female readers might be very annoyed by this, but still, I enjoyed it. The book that is, not the bust.

Hot For Him by Sarah Mayberry (2009)

This is the last in a three-story arc, of which the previous book (All Over You) is the second. Nice to have the same characters, but I didn't get the same sense of development over the course of the book, just some slightly implausible changes and situations. I still wanted to know how it all sorted itself out though!

My Daring Seduction by Isabel Sharpe (2013)

The titles of these books are often so generic that they could probably be switched around randomly without any effect, but this one is just misplaced. The plot itself kind of has a brief, attempted seduction, but actually there's a more interesting thriller element involving blackmail. Also interesting to encounter a heroine who has a definite murky past, which makes her more interesting.

Guitar Magazine (Nov 2021 / Issue 398)

The usual array of interviews and reviews. Disappointed to see that the outdated, inept and meaningless (in the UK) music journalism cliché "sophomore album" has still not been excised, and saddened to see the naff industry jargon/marketroid speak "colourways" has started creeping in. What's wrong with saying "colours" or "finishes"? Or "second album", for that matter?

Feels Like the First Time by Tawny Weber (2011)

And so to the last of my self-isolation romance novels - at least, the last that has been deliberately chosen to be as easy to read as possible, while my brain was mush (thanks Covid). High school reunion with the person you always secretly - possibly even a secret to yourself - loved? Nice. Not sure about the smattering of bondage but that's a personal taste thing. And now my brain can deal with something a bit more substantial!

How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy (2020)

I've been trudging my way through Jimmy Webb's Tunesmith, his epic and definitive (apparently) guide to songwriting, for several months, possibly years. As you can probably gather, it's not engaging me. This, on the other hand, is a much more lightweight prospect, and deliberately so, I hope (or at least I hope Tweedy wouldn't be offended by the comparison). It's a simple book with some simple suggestions about how to approach song-writing and the central idea that you only have to write one song at a time, and it doesn't have to be good - you just need to have done it. He doesn't say anything as clichéd as "every journey starts with a single step" but that's kind of the idea. Interesting, easy to read and (as a side effect) has propelled me to Wilco's music.

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson (2015)

A sequel to the wonderful Notes from a Small Island, and as readable as Bryson ever is, but possibly a little same-y. There seems to be more grumbling about the idiocies of people and government - although in fairness, the grumbles seem entirely justified to me. Amused to note that since the Brysons now live in "rural Hampshire", they can't be too far from me, and in fact he did his UK citizenship in Eastleigh (which gets a very unflattering write up).

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (1913)

I was surprised how short this is, and how much isn't shown in the play. Maybe I'm remembering My Fair Lady, and of course it's a play so it's written to be performed, not read. I read the original version, which is the one on Project Gutenberg, which apparently is missing a number of well-known, later revisions. What strikes me is the lack of character development on the page: obviously, it's in the hands of the actors to achieve. I guess I don't read plays much!

Nick Drake by Patrick Humphries (1997)

Nick Drake is well-known now but I am quite proud to date my fandom back to the late eighties, probably during my first year at university. My friends were going on about Roy Harper, but I think we know who won that particular discussion in the end. Despite having loved Drake's music for decades now, I've never been inclined to learn more about his life before, and this book illustrates why: there's not much to say. Drake's story is brief and sad, and he produced three short, nearly perfectly-formed albums, but if you strip out the myth and hyperbole, what's left is a gifted young man who made superb music but suffered from depression and died, probably accidentally, from an overdose of prescription medication. As a result, this book has a lot of repetition but no real insight into where the music came from, and I can't say it really adds anything to my understanding or enjoyment of the music. If you've not heard Nick Drake, just go and find the albums - now!

Come Again by Robert Webb (2020)

I wasn't quite sure what to expect of this, but I was concerned it would be "literature" which usually (in my experience) means depressing stories and a vague, or depressing ending. Thankfully, this is none of those things. Instead, it's a joyful and incredibly readable mash-up of time travel fantasy and (for the last few chapters) improbable thriller. The time travel aspect is about as well-thought-through as Richard Curtis's About Time (for clarity: not much) but it matters not a jot because it's a feel-good story and ending. Did I mention I like happy endings?

Starting Over by Stacy Finz (2015)

Book four of the Nugget series is still a good read, but the romance isn't developed very consistently. I like how it involves characters that were introduced in the previous book - and the way this one introduces more who will later have their own story - but the man and woman at the centre of this story dance around each other and their own assumptions for ages before suddenly jumping into bed and deciding they love each other. Obviously the ending was never in doubt but I found myself becoming a little impatient with the blocks in the way.

Getting Lucky by Stacy Finz (2015)

On the other hand, this is a much better balance. There's a thriller aspect to the plot, a definite villain and a femme fatale, and the way the romance develops feels a lot more realistic. That said, this is a variant on a classic romance plot: man and woman have a brief affair, split up, leaving woman pregnant but man doesn't know, then they meet again years later and man discovers he has a child. It's not my favourite type - it seems a bit icky. But this is handled well and, once again, is an absorbing read.

Playing Doctor by Kate Allure (2015)

Although classified as romance by the library, I think this would more properly be classed as "erotica". Unlike romances, here it's all about the sex and of the three short stories here, only one has the traditional arc of a romance with a long-term relationship as a likely end. It's quite hot in places and one of the stories involves a threesome, which is a bit different, but ultimately the stories are a bit one-dimensional. Not quite what I expected but an interesting diversion!

Zippy and Me by Ronnie Le Drew with Duncan Barret & Nuala Calvi (2019)

One More Kiss by Samantha Chase (2017)

An excellent, gentle romance, with a lot of emphasis on the characters, which have a lot more depth than usual, yet all fitted into the normal sort of length of these books. Not much sex, which I have to be honest and say I was a little disappointed about, but not disappointed enough to stop me enjoying the book. And that rounds out an epic month for reading! I feel my brain needs something a little more substantial than romance novels for a while though.