#AmReading + #AmWatching - August 15th 2019 #Reviews

You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing.
~Unknown

It's time to take a look at what I've been reading and watching during this past week.

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 this week:

Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years by Sue Townsend
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a great addition to this series, which fans of the earlier books will love. The main character is relatable, and the events of the plot are often entertaining - even when they aren't to him.

Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
For the most part this was another exceelent addition to this series. However, it was spoiled for me a little by the way a blind character was handled. I appreciate that most people haven't had much contact with visually impaired people, so the main character's initial behaviour towards him is understandable. I have to say though, speaking as a blind person who went through sight loss as an adult myself, if my friends continued to act that way to me - doing things like leading me by the front of my t-shirt so I hit things all the time, just to use one example - I wouldn't stay their friend. It wouldn't have been so bad if the author had used those experiences as learning experiences for the main character, and shown him improving in his interaction with the blind character. But there was no improvement in the behaviour towards the blind character, or even evidence that the blind character was showing he was more than just a disabled person who needed others to do things for him. Either the main character is even less observant than I thought, or the author should have spoken to a few blind people before writing her blind character.

As for what I've been watching:

I mostly just caught some random episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Futurama" when they were on TV, plus parts of episodes of "NCIS" and a few other shows too. But I also watched a movie this week. Not one I have on DVD though... It just happened to be starting when I was looking for something to watch, but couldn't be bothered to mess about with a DVD. Since it was one I've never seen before, and I did watch it all, I actually have a movie review for you this week. So...

Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018 movie):
I haven't seen "Wreck It Ralph" yet, but ended up catching this one over the weekend. There were a few amusing scenes, and some sweet and touching scenes too (the latter mostly near the end). But I didn't love it. It was good, but not great. My official rating is 3.5 stars, but... Since I don't give half stars in my ratings... I'll be rounding up, so I give this movie four out of five stars.