#AmReading + #AmWatching - February 28th 2019 #Reviews

Unless you're new here, and haven't read about it, you'll already know I missed doing reviews over the past two weeks, because I'd scheduled something else to go up instead, since I didn't know if I'd be recovered enough from surgery to be out of hospital in time to sort reviews, though I was pretty sure I'd be doing plenty of reading, even if no movie or TV show watching happened, since I'd planned to take my Kindle in to hospital with me. This means I now have three weeks worth of reviews to catch you up on. Although, with how I was feeling, that's not as many reviews as it might have been. Yeah. I was feeling so bad I wasn't even reading much. It's only the past couple of days I've started feeling a little better. Anyway, it's time to take a look at what I've been reading and watching during the past three weeks.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Don't forget: I read and watch things across multiple genres, as well as for different age ranges, so you should always check before reading or viewing, to make certain something is suitable for the intended audience, especially when children are involved.

OK...

Here's what I read over the past couple of weeks:

The Gemini Connection by Teri Polen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a gripping read, filled with plenty of action and suspense. It is well written in general, the plot moves at a nice pace, The world building is fantastic, and the characters are well rounded and believable.

Wideacre by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have loved everything I have previously read by this author, and happened to think that she has truly fantastic writing skills. However, The main character of the story was a horrid and despicable person, and the things she did for disgusting and terrible, so that I hated her, and often found the book difficult to continue reading. It was only the author's skill, combined with my determination to finish any book I begin, which made it possible for me to read the entire book with anything close to enjoyment.

The Favored Child by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
You often find the middle book in a trilogy isn't as good as the first. In this case it's the other way around, and I enjoyed this one better. Some of the things that happen in the story are disgusting and disturbing - especially where Richard is involved - but at least Julia is a decent character, who might have managed to actually do the right thing had she not been so naive. Still, for the times, and her social standing, her naivety is at least understandable, and you can't help but feel sorry for her, since there's no doubt she's one of Richard's victims (whether she realizes it or not). It's a hard one to read because of the subject matter, but a beautifully woven tale despite that.

As for what I've been watching:

I've not been watching anything - New to me or otherwise.  It was still too painful to sit up for very long until very recently (as in, the past day or so) and lying on our sofa is not an option right now... How I would need to get up from it would pull on my stomach muscles too much.  This made watching TV shows and movies rather difficult, because I prefer to watch them on the TV in the living room, and that would mean either sitting in my chair, or lying on the sofa.  Hopefully I can make up for not watching any of my DVDs now I'm not quite so sore, so can actually sit up long enough that I might get through at least a TV show episode before I have to take a break. Although, I am still quite sore, so don't be too surprised if I don't end up watching anything for a while yet. I'll have to make up for it with some serious DVD watching when I'm better.