Challenge Update - October 2015

My 2015 challenges are:-

1) Read one book each month.

1a) Read Agatha Christie books in chronological order.

2) Watch films from IMDb's top 100 movies of all time.

3) Support charities.

I'm still exceeding my target of reading one book each month, this month I've read two in addition to the Agatha Christie book I've read.

I watched one of Caroline's 'Current Favourites' vlogs on her Mrs M's Meanderings blog where she reviewed The New Woman by Charity Norman. It sounded very good so this was my first read of October. The book is about a middle aged man, Luke Livingstone, who has hidden a secret all his life and has now got to the stage where he feels he can't carry on living unless he tells his family, however, he knows that if he does tell his family it will tear them apart. I think the author handled the subject very sensitively, it was interesting reading about the family's reactions to the secret as well as how Luke handled it himself. It was a book I thoroughly enjoyed and I'd recommend it.

Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates by Kerry Greenwood was sent to me by Lisa from Jumble and Jelly. Lisa thought I'd enjoy this book and she was right, I did. It's not a book I'd have chosen to read myself but it just goes to show that old saying is right, you should never judge a book by its cover. Phryne Fisher is a bored socialite who leaves London and travels to Australia in search of adventure. It doesn't take her long to become involved in illegal abortions and drug smuggling rings and there's a few steamy episodes in the Turkish bath thrown in for good measure.


The Murder At The Vicarage is the first Agatha Christie book featuring Miss Marple. I think I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that I can never guess who the murderer is in Agatha Christie books and this one was no exception, there's always so many red herrings that I always latch on to the wrong person. Another excellent read.


I've managed to watch three films this month, though now the clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in, I'm aiming for more next month.

I remember Guy Pearce when he played Mike Young in Neighbours, goodness, that was a lot of years ago now, I was in my teens. The first film I watched this month, Memento, saw him playing Leonard, an ex insurance investigator who lost his short term memory in an assault where his wife was murdered. Now he's trying to track down the killer, however, the fact that he's unable to make new memories makes this already difficult task even harder. There's two storylines, one moving forward in time with the other working backwards revealing more each time. I found it quite complicated to keep track at first but it was worth persevering with as it was a good film.

I'm really not in to superheroes, however, the second film I watched this month was The Dark Knight, a Batman film. I actually quite enjoyed it and I think Heath Ledger was fantastic as The Joker. Christopher Nolan directed, produced and co-wrote the film and he has dedicated it in part to Ledger's memory.

Gladiator is my favourite film this month. It's another one I've never really fancied but it turned out to be totally different to what I expected it to be. I didn't like all the fight scenes but it did have a very good story and it's a film I could watch again.

I've cut down on the amount of Christmas cards I send each year, however, I still like to send to those people I don't see very often or elderly relatives so I like to support charities with the cards that I do buy. I couldn't resist these cute doggy cards which were being sold on behalf of Guide Dogs.

There were some old quilts and pillows lurking in the cupboards upstairs which I've finally got round to sorting out. We took these earlier this month to Dogs Trust, I'm sure the dogs there will be pleased to have something comfy to sleep on.

 

This box of sweets has turned up in the office at Mick's work. He bought a packet of wine gums and in doing so, supported Mencap, a very worthwhile charity who work in partnership with people with a learning disability.


The clocks have gone back now, the weather's changed, lots of soggy days just lately and we're definitely heading in to winter now, though I have to admit that I'm still wearing sandals and the anorak only comes out to walk Archie in if it's raining. I don't know whether to mention this or not, it may set you all off in a panic but it's now only eight weeks to Christmas Day. Eeeek. Where's this year gone?