Rosie with Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers by Sady Doyle
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers – Sady Doyle
An interesting read on the tropes and different ways women have been portrayed in popular culture. The theory on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is fascinating.
Border Line – Mishell Baker
A book with a disabled, mentally ill protagonist is a rare find indeed. I just wish the ending was better.
A Room Of One’s Own – Adrian Mourby
A romp through the different places most identified with particular writers
Final Chapters – Jim Bernhard
How writers lived their last days – with the interesting addition of the individual writers’ thoughts on death.
WATCHED
Madam Secretary
4×10 Women Transform the World
4×11 Mitya – Here we go, Stevie’s parents are wrong, again. She’s adult and can date who she likes.
4×12 Sound and Fury
4×13 Reading the Signs
4×14 Refuge
Elementary
1×02 While You Were Sleeping – First Marcus episode
The Originals
2×21 Fire With Fire – Figured Klaus was going to be cranky
2×22 Ashes to Ashes – Great episode all around
3×01 For the Next Millennium – Don’t like Lucien. They were confused over why Aurora was in the Buddhist Temple
3×02 You Hung the Moon – Well we agree Davina’s making bad choices. Were surprised at Lucien’s little werewolf venom cure and agree that Aurora and Tristan are creepy
3×03 I’ll See You In Hell or New Orleans
3×04 A Walk on the Wild Side – They loved Freya punching Alexis
The Blacklist
5×02 Greyson Blaise (No 37).-Better than 5×01 but still lacking…something
The Flash
3×21 Cause and Effect – One of the funniest episodes we’ve had in a while.
Hawaii 5-0
Kapu – Look at little Andy Lawrence all grown up!
Inspector Rex
2×1 – Silent Screams – love Rex helping the little girl
Arrow
5×21 Honor Thy Fathers – Not as good as the last episode – clearly what happens when there is not enough focus on Felicity
Fascinating look at migration and how it affects the world.
National Geographic – September 2019
This was a really interesting issue not he Arctic, and how it is melting during climate change. It also had a fascinating article on the dangers of the permafrost melting.
WATCHED
Madam Secretary
4×06 Loophole
4×07 North to the Future – Kat Sandoval looks so smart in her suit.
4×08 The Fourth Estate
4×09 Minefield – I think Stevie would be an awesome President. Kat Sandoval is awesome.
The Team
2×02
2×03 – Is it really necessary for Gregor to hit on every woman he encounters? Also, I hope Helle did kill Morten because he is a creepy psycho Nazi
2×04 – So sad. Psycho Nazi lived.
The Originals
2×16 Save My Soul – Mum and Dad’s reaction to Vincent saying Eva was his ex-wife was hilarious
2×17 Exquisite Corpse – So huge grins and thumbs up when Freya breaks out of the magic binding chains and snaps Klaus’ neck. They also enjoyed her killing Esther, too.
2×18 Night Has a Thousand Eyes – They thought Dahlia was great fun and they were both glad to see the end of Mikael.
2×19 When the Levee Breaks – They weren’t particularly pleased with Dahlia when Aiden died, but boy did they get a huge shock when Klaus got daggered!
2×20 City Beneath the Sea – They both agreed that now that Klaus is awake, he’s going to be a tad cranky.
Inspector Rex
1×15 Under the Streets of Vienna
Arrow
5×20 Underneath – One of the best episodes they’ve done in a while! See, Arrow, this is what happens when you focus on the ladies.
NCIS
16×01 Destiny’s Child – Kayla Vance is awesome. And Jack laughing as Hakim ranted was hilarious.
Shorter one this week, because I’ll be on a plane tomorrow.
READ
National Geographic History September/October 2019: I really enjoyed the article on Boudica.
Rosie with “Writing Tools” by Roy Peter Clark
Writer’s Tools – Roy Peter Clark – This was an interesting book that contained 55 different rules to help writers, which were expanded on in about two or three pages each. Having the expanded explanation, plus examples of how the tools can be used, was really informative.
WATCHED
Elementary
1×01 Pilot: Watching this show from the start again because I absolutely love it. I had actually forgotten that Marcus wasn’t in the pilot.
The Originals
5×02 One Wrong Turn on Bourbon – So wonderful seeing Freya and Keelin reunite, and then, as this show is very good at, they ripped them apart again. I wish they’d included the deleted scene with Vincent comforting Freya.
5×03 Ne Me Quitte Pas – Oh Elijah, I don’t even know where to start with you.
5×04 Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea – I like Ivy. And I feel sorry for Freya.
5×05 Don’t It Just Break Your Heart – I love Jaime Murray, but Antoinette is just annoying. It’s so weird to see Elijah this way, although it is an interesting technique by the writers because you wonder if he would have been like this without his family.
5×06 What, Will, I, Have, Left – Well that episode was painful. I cried. Again.
5×07 God’s Gonna Trouble the Water – And I kept crying. Honestly, what is this show doing to me? The one bright spark was Keelin returning to be with Freya.
5×08 The Kindness of Strangers – Well, Elijah just broke my heart. Also poor Freya. She’s really getting dumped on.
5×09 We Have Not Long To Love – Now that was a proposal. Freelin are adorable. Also, Josh is totally right about Marcel and Emmett. That being said, I’d really like someone to kill Emmett now.
5×10There In The Disappearing Light – And my wish is granted! Thank you, Hope.
5×11 Till the Day I Die – That wedding was perfect. Kind of mad at Vincent though – if Elijah was able to make it effort, Vincent should have done it too. Freya’s face when they both disappointed her was heartbreaking. As was the scene with Rebekah when she was afraid of being a danger to her own child. But the wedding was perfect. And I loved that Elijah gave Keelin and Freya the lake house that he and Hayley would have bought.
5×12 The Tale of Two Wolves – I love that Hayley told Hope to remind Elijah of their dance. It made my Helijah heart sing. And Hope is a beautiful wolf. Not ashamed to say I cried in that episode – Klaus looked so proud.
5×13 When The Saints Go Marching In – Oh wow. Well I was just in constant tears. Great finish to a great show. One of the few shows that as soon as you finish an episode, you HAVE to watch the next one.
Parents Watching The Originals
Mum and Dad have started watching The Originals and I’m enjoying their reactions. So far it’s been “When’s Rebekah getting back into her own body?” and “when does (insert character here) die?” Last night’s episode was:
2×12 Sanctuary: They both love Freya – especially when she killed the Kindred, Cassie and then told Rebekah to tell their brothers they better be on their best behaviour.
2×13 The Devil Is Damned Mum and Dad really enjoyed Finn getting blown up. I haven’t told them yet that Freya brings him back to life.
Madam Secretary
4×02 Off the Record
4×03 The Essentials – I will miss Nadine. Bebe Neuwirth is a class act.
4×04 Shutdown – Good, no more Jareth. He was getting on my nerves
4×05 Persona Non Grata – Confirmed no more Jareth. Hallelujah!
The Blacklist
5×01 Smokey Putnam (No.30) – Yes to Samar and Aram. No to the rest.
The Team
1×07 – ALICIA CHECK YOUR PHONE!!!
1×08 – How appropriate that they find Marius hiding with the trash.
The Flash
3×20 I Know Who You Are – Sometimes I just want to hug Cisco. Also Anne Dudek will forever be Cut Throat Bitch (House) to me.
Hawaii 5-0
3×11 Kahu – Loved Catherine kicking that guy’s ass!
Kommisar (Inspector) Rex
1×12 The Old Lady Murders – Man I love Rex. He’s adorable.
Interesting look at one of what is probably many untold stories about the Mikaelson’s through the years.
The Loss – The Originals Novel
Frankly, they just needed Freya alive in this one. This would have solved all the problems.
Wordslut – Amanda Montell
Rosie with Wordslut by Amanda Montell
I really loved this book and the way it looks at language. It follows the traits of language that are more commonly ascribed to women, including uptalk and valley girl talking. I also like the way it investigates words that are often used to denigrate women and it is interesting to see that many of them started out as meaning quite different things.
WATCHED
Madam Secretary
3×02 The Linchpin
3×03 South China Sea
3×04 The Dissent Memo
3×05 The French Revolution
3×06 The Statement
3×07 Tectonic Shift
3×08 Breakout Capacity
3×09 Snap Back
3×10 The Race
Mindhunter
2×3 – Love the new character of Jim Barney. He’s great at interviews. And Olivia’s going on a date!
2×4
2×5 – Not 100% sure about Kaye… I hope she’s not going to hurt Wendy.
The Originals
2×15 They All Asked For You – Freya! And Rebekah is apparently going nuts…
2×16 Save My Soul – Still love Freya. Still dislike Jackson
2×17 Exquisite Corpse – Go Freya!
2×18 Night has a Thousand Eyes – Dahlia is terrifying, but Claudia Black is so fabulous at this role. I felt sorry for Freya at the end of the episode. Her last connection with someone who knew her before Dahlia took her is gone.
2×19 When the Levee Breaks
2×20 City Beneath the Sea
2×21 Fire With Fire – Not sure Elijah will ever forgive Klaus for what he’s done to Gia and Hayley
2×22 Ashes to Ashes – Loved this episode. Still love Freya, and glad that Klaus trusts her now. That scene of Freya saving her siblings was great.
3×01 For the Next Millennium – Love Freya. I can already tell I’m going to hate Lucien
3×02 You Hung the Moon – Hayley! Let’s not hit Freya. She’s trying to help. Loved the moment with Elijah’s confession. His devotion to Hayley is beautiful. I also surprisingly enjoyed Elijah and Jackson working together against Lucien.
3×03 I’ll See You In Hell or New Orleans – And Tristan is just as bad as Lucien
3×04 A Walk on the Wild Side – Loved seeing Elijah and Hayley dancing together.
3×05 The Axeman’s Letter – Well, Aurora is completely nuts
3×06 Beautiful Mistake – Love Freya just astral projecting in and snapping the necks of the Strix. As you do.
Inspector Rex
1×10 Amok
1×11 Escape to Death
Hawaii 5-0
Huaka’i Kula: I love Melanie. Seriously, she’s fantastic.
Lucy – Well, that movie was a trip. Brought up a lot of interesting questions – particularly about what would happen about using 100% of our brain capacity, and would we really want to? I do wonder about the fact that you would be aware of the subconscious things your brain does – such as filtering out the sound of your eyeballs moving, and things like that.
Uncommon Grounds – Mark Pendergast Loved this book and the history of coffee. As well as the history of how coffee made its way around the world, it also includes the history of the advertising that accompanied it and it’s interesting to see it and how unacceptable some of it would be now.
Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies – Scarlett Curtis Great little book of essays from famous people on feminism. Particular favourite was Karen Gillan’s story of her mum protecting the little redhead with pale skin – been there!
Grimm: The Icy Touch – John Shirley Better than the last one, but still not up to the standards of the show.
The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu – Charlie English It was amazing to read about not only the people that saved the ancient manuscripts from destruction, but the history of traveling to the area.
Griffith Review 64 – The New Disruptors
Watched
The Originals
1×13 Crescent City
1×14 Long Way Back Home
1×15 Le Grand Guignol
1×16 Farewell to Storyville
1×17 Moon Over Bourbon Street
1×18 The Big Uneasy: I hate Genevieve. On so many different levels.
1×19 An Unblinking Death
1×20 A Closer Walk With Thee Helijah. Genevieve improved on me momentarily. Also, Oliver is evil.
1×21 The Battle of New Orleans More Helijah. I feel we’re being spoilt so something will stop this soon, I am sure of it.
1×22 From a Cradle to a Grave What a bloodbath! But so pleased Genevieve is gone. Not so pleased that Oliver still lives…but give it time.
2×01 Rebirth Finally got rid of Francesca. FINALLY. And I knew the Helijah was too good to last. I love that the actors ship this too.
2×02 Alive and Kicking Seriously, if everyone stopped keeping secrets (Hello, Elijah), half this stuff wouldn’t happen
Madam Secretary
2×08 Lights Out
2×09 Russian Roulette
2×10 The Greater Good
2×11 Unity Node
2×12 The Middle Way
2×13 Invasive Species
2×14 Left of the Boom
2×15 Right of the Boom
2×16 Hijriyyah A much better job for Henry. Honestly, does no one think of the children?
2×17 Higher Learning
Legends of Tomorrow
2×17 Aruba
Inspector Rex
1×8 Bring Me Beethoven’s Head: I cannot believe the number of people who want to steal Beethoven’s head!
Mindhunter
2×01 Olivia Dunham is back (yes, that is what we now call her in everything) and she’s eying a lady bartender. All is right with the world. As long as she and Tench can keep Holden in line.
The Killing Time – Tim Waggoner: This is one of the books based on the television show Grimm which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to the writing of the show.
Rosie with the book The Killer Across the Table
The Killer Across the Table – John Douglas and Mark Olshaker: I really love the books these two bring out because they are so interesting. This included a lot of cases I had never heard of but it involved a much more in-depth look at the way the behavioural science unit worked.
Once and Future – Amy Rose Capeton: A gender-bending LGBTQ take on the King Arthur tale.
Born Standing Up – Steve Martin: I found this very slim pickings about his life and how he got to where he is.
Watched
Madam Secretary
1×19 Spartan Figures
1×20 The Necessary Art
1×21 The Kill List
1×22 There But For The Grace of God
2×01 The Show Must Go On
2×02 The Doability Doctrine: I love that Madeline Albright and the other secretaries of state do lunch. I’d love to be a guest at one of those lunches! Also, I would personally have quit after the President went back on his word. I could never trust someone who did that.
2×03 The Rusalka: Some dodgy behaviour on behalf of Dr McCord here
2×04 Waiting for Taleju: I KNEW we’d get a slutshaming storyline at some point, and here it is.
2×05 The Long Shot
2×06 Catch and Release
2×07 You Say You Want a Revolution
Inspector Rex
1×5 Deadly Teddies
1×6 Dance on the Volcano
1×7 First Prize
The Originals
1×01 Always and Forever
1×02 House of the Rising Son
1×03 Tangled Up in Blue
1×04 Girl in New Orleans
1×05 Sinners and Saints
1×06 Fruit of the Poisoned Tree
1×07 Bloodletting
1×08 The River in Reverse
1×09 Reigning Pain in New Orleans
1×10 The Casket Girls: Helijah love.
1×11 Apres Moi, Le Deluge: I seriously thought that Harvest would work. But now Celeste is on a rampage. Can’t wait till she comes face to face with Elijah
1×12 Dance Back from the Grave: Papa Tunde is creepy and as much as I don’t like snakes, throwing one on a bonfire while it is alive is rude
Carlo and Malik
1×04 Una Notte Senza Stelle
1×05 Sorelle
1×06 Per Amore: Not going to watch this show anymore. It’s really getting a little melodramatic
Arrow
5×19 Dangerous Liaisons: Oh Felicity, I feel you have made a grave error with Helix. I don’t trust these hackers. Especially Alena. She’s shifty
This is a really interesting look at getting your life streamlined and everything in a manageable way so that you can perform at your best. I found quite a few useful tips in it, as well as some ideas I had not thought of before.
Rosie with An Edited Life by Anna Newton
Watched
Madam Secretary
1×05 Blame Canada
1×06 The Call
1×07 Passage
1×08 Need to Know
1×09 So It Goes
1×10 Collateral Damage
Arrow 5×18 Disbanded
Shazam!
I love this movie. Not just for the concept of found family, which is something I love seeing in popular culture, but because one of the leading characters has a disability. A double whammy of awesome!
Wynonna Earp: 2×12 I Hope You Dance
Legends of Tomorrow: 2×16 Doomworld
Rizzoli and Isles: 7×12 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
The Blacklist
4×21 Mr Kaplan (No.4)
4×21 Mr Kaplan (No.4) Conclusion: Holy cow, Ressler killed Laurel Hitchens! I did not see that coming. Also, the Samar and Aram scenes were very cute and they are adorable together.
Black Lightening 2×03 – The Book of Consequences: Chapter Three: Master Lowry
Kommisar (Inspector) Rex
1×04 A Perfect Murder: I absolutely loved this episode. Rex taking Moser to the pet shop and choosing out all the things he needs, including a lot of toys and naturally a giant bone to chew on.
Wordsmith’s and Warriors – David and Hilary Crystal
This book was a travel through Great Britain looking at how the English language formed and the famous (and not so famous) places that are associated with this formation.
1,234 QI Facts to Leave You Speechless
More facts! I love random facts.
Notes on a Nervous Planet – Matt Haig
This is a book about living with anxiety in the modern age.
Dinner with Churchill – Cita Steltzer
Churchill did his best negotiating and dealmaking over food, and this is a great look at some of the important meals he had and the favourite foods and drinks he liked.
Watched
Grimm
5×07 – Eve of Destruction – No joke, she is far more interesting and fun as Eve than she ever was as Juliette
5×08 – A Reptile Dysfunction
5×09 – Star-Crossed
5×10 – Map of the Seven Knights
5×11 – Key Move
5×12 Into the Schwarzwald
5×13 Silence of the Slams
5×14 Lycanthropia
Hawaii 5-0
3×1 La O Na Makuhine
3×2 Kanalua
Wynonna Earp – 2×07 Everybody Knows
Arrow – 5×15 Fighting Fire With Fire
Legends of Tomorrow – 2×13 Land of the Lost
Rizzoli and Isles – 7×09 65 Hours
Kommisar Rex (Inspector Rex)
1×1 Pilot – We are watching this show from the start again because we really love it. Only the seasons in Austria – we tried the seasons in Italy and didn’t like them – they killed a dog so that was it for us.
