Category: books

Happy Sunday everyone. I’ve got another film for you this week and I’ve picked it for today because Bette Midler is 80 tomorrow (December 1) but obviously Diane Keaton died back in October.

Firstly, I apologise for the rubbish print of that trailer video, but it does give you the sort of vibe that (most of) the movie has going on. The First Wives Club is based on a book of the same name, and is the story of three college friends and new divorcées who are seeking revenge on their husbands who have left them for younger women. I remember the first time I saw the movie I actually didn’t see the start of it, so when I watched it again – in full for the first time – I was surprised that it has quite a bleak start where a fourth friend commits suicide because of her ex-husband has just remarried a much younger woman and that the three protagonists had lost touch and only reconnected at her funeral. But given that part of the plot needs the ex-husbands to not know the other husbands, it does make sense even if it is a bit bleak. But lets skip over that because the joy of this movie is the comedy of the women working together to get their revenge.

As well as Bette Midler and Diane Keaton it’s got Goldie Hawn completing the trio but also Maggie Smith, Sarah Jessica Parker, Victor Garber and a whole host faces that you’ll have seen in loads of other things too. Because I’m the age I am, and I first saw this so long ago (we’re talking more than 20 years) it’s kind of hard for me to work out how it will land now with with a first time viewer, but it’s a total comfort movie for me. I have been known to record it anytime I see it on the TV so that I can watch it again. I don’t have it handy at the moment – but that’s only because we had an “upgrade” on the TiVo box a few weeks back and it deleted everything that was on there and I’m still rebuilding the collection (don’t get me started).

Anyway it’s currently available on streaming service but I’m hoping it will pop up on TV again soon. And because clips of it are in the trailer, I feel like it’s ok for me to leave you today with the end sequence of the film – the performance of Leslie Gore’s You Don’t Own Me by the trio – it doesn’t spoil any of plot for you and it’s just wonderful. Although there are a few continuity errors in there if you know where to look but for me that’s just part of the fun!

Happy Sunday – and happy birthday to Ms Midler tomorrow!

Just a quick post today to say that the National Theatre’s new version of Ballet Shoes is back from tomorrow (17 November). I saw it back in February and loved it, and I’m so pleased they’ve decided to bring it back for Christmas. I’ve been recommending it to people as a family show that’s not a panto for the holidays. And of course if you haven’t read the original book, I re-read it after seeing the show and it’s still a joy.

Happy Friday everyone, this week I’m back with a Sarah Morgan series that feels like it has some great winter and festive books in it if you’re looking to snuggle up on the sofa out of the cold weather or even get in the mood for Christmas.

There are six books in this series (and also a couple of novellas) and the first of this series was actually the first Sarah Morgan I ever read nearly a decade ago now. The first three in the series centre on a group of friends who start an events company and who find love while being good at their jobs (competency porn!) and the second three expand to their wider circle. What really like about Sarah Morgan is that if people have problems in her books, they work them out for themselves – they are not solved by falling in love or by the person that they fall in love with.

The romance genre is constantly evolving and changing – historical romances are being replaced with romantasy and the trends in contemporary romance at the moment is much more towards younger heroines and first person narrative, but for me these fall really squarely into what I really enjoy the most in romance novels – a satisfying romance but with a couple who are more than just cipers falling in insta love for a reason you don’t quite understand as a reader. And I know that makes me old and unfashionable at the moment, and I’m ok with that!

These are easy to get hold of on Kindle and Kobo, but I don’t know how easy they’ll be in physical copies – I used to get my Sarah Morgans from The Works, but they only do recent releases, and of course it’s eight years since the last of these came out now so you may be more in the second hand/charity shop/library areas if you want a paperback. They’ve certainly had a cover refresh since I first read them!

Legends and Lattes is one of my favourite reads this year, and the third book in the series is out today. Brigands and Breadknives features Fern the Bookseller, who has moved to Thune to set up shop next door to a certain coffeeshop as an attempt to deal with her ennui with life. But it may not be as simple as a new place and a new start as various ne’er do wells emerge to cause problems. I’m looking forward to reading this one so much I may even buy it in paperback rather than waiting for the Kindle price to drop! If you haven’t read Legends and Lattes, it’s in Kindle Unlimited at the moment and I thoroughly recommend it.