Sheffield Meadowhall Waterstones and Haul

 

Hi Folks

Hope you are all well.

Today I went to Sheffield Meadowhall for the first time ever!  

One of the main reasons for visiting was to expand my tour of Waterstones stores, and I aim to visit more new Waterstones this year.

Meadowhall is huge and on the outside it looked like this Waterstones would be too.  Sadly it isn't as big as I thought, although is a decent size.

The Fantasy, Sci-fi and Horror section isn't too bad but I've seen more selection at smaller Waterstones, and a few favourite authors were missing.  I did manage to find Salem's Lot by Stephen King, which I've been after for a while.

I also looked at the prices on the books on sale.  In particular I looked at a John Gwynne book I've recently read and shocked to see it has gone up in price.  It is now priced at £10:99.  I bought it about 5 years ago at £8:99.

After visiting the WH Smiths in Meadowhall, I found the same books I had bought in Waterstones.  Plus there seemed to be as many books there.

Overall - Didn't seem as big as I first thought and less selection than I wanted. Plus no cafe or different floor. 

Score -  6/10

Below is my book haul. The new CJ Tudor book for Mum, which is signed.  Salem's Lot by Stephen King, which I'd been looking for, for a while and a new Aliens book. Well Aliens Vs Predator book.

Happy Reading!

Neil x

Megan - Film Review

 

Hi Folks 

Hope all are enjoying 2023!

It's already going too fast.  One slight highlight is going to see the new horror film from Blumhouse - the creators of the Paranormal Activity films and the recent Halloween remake.

The trailer looked really good yet the film was a slight let down.  It should have been R Rated with more kills and gore and is low on both.

The film starts with Cady, a lonely girl who is obsessed with her Furby type toy.  She is  going on a skiing trip with her parents. Until they have a Jeremy Renner style run in with a snow plow.

Her Aunt Gemma played by the gorgeous Allison Williams ends up with full custody of Cady, who is the sole survivor of the crash.  As luck would have it Gemma is a genius and part creator of the Furby type creature and has been working on a revolutionary interactive doll called Megan.  Gemma uses Cady to test out the creepy doll which links to its user and promises to protect Cady.

That's when the doll starts becoming more than it should be and going on a killer spree.

Overall - the film is quite good at building suspense, but sometimes the outcome can be too flat.  As I mentioned earlier there isn't enough kills or gore.  The acting from all involved is very good though.  It also seems to be a satire and warning of how we, as parents interact with our children and how we allow them too much time online or interacting with AI technology.

The film also seemed to have a few scenes similar to old films including near the beginning when we see through Megan's vision as she looks at a pen.  It reminded me of the classic tracking scene from the original Robocop film.

There is already a Megan sequel planned, which I'll be interested in seeing. Hopefully more gore though.

Score  -   6.8/10

My 2023 Books TBR

 Hi Readers 

Last year was the worst reading year in a long while.  Having only read three books and started a forth, which I'm carrying over into this year.

Last year I had twenty books down to read.  This year I've chosen more - twenty-five - which I've also added on Goodreads, hoping it will get me reading my books and out of my slump.

I will put the pictures of the books I intend to read below.  They are in no particular order, but the first two John Gwynne books will be read first.

The next set of books weren't on last year's TBR, but needed to make the numbers to twenty-five.  I have chosen shorter books.

The below were featured last year and I intend to read them this year.

Wish me luck and happy reading!

Neil x

2023 Happy New Year and Resolutions

 

Happy New Year Peeps 

Hope you've had a good holiday.  It's gone too quickly.

Just a few standard resolutions for this year.

Health - this year I definitely need to lose weight.  This will include cutting out bad food and sugar and exercising more.  This includes walking more and going back to the gym.

Work - will stay in the call centre job as long as I can but need another career - will keep you posted.

Writing - 2023 is my comeback year for writing.  This includes cancelling my Microsoft account as I haven't been using the £59 a year account for 3 years.  I am looking at a free/cheaper alternative.  I hope to sort memory out on laptop this weekend.

Reading - 2022 was a disaster reading wise and I'm still on book 4 of the year.  I only read 3 books.  For 2023 I've set myself the challenge on Goodreads to read 25 books.  Wish me luck.

Other - in 2023 I'm going to try and spend as much time with family and friends.  I also want to worry and stress less and travel more including going to Edge-lit in July in Derby.

A list of my proposed 25 books to read in 2023 will be my next post. 

Neil x