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A Silly Symphony Review - The Ugly Duckling (1939)

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 I'm loving the Silly Symphonies. So much emotion in such a short cartoon. This one was The Ugly Duckling, which is exactly the story that you think it is. Let's dive in.  Courtesy of Pinterest Silly Symphony storylines are usually expressed without words (and in this case, no intelligible words). All you have is a duck quacking, bird sounds, and a swan crying. This is the tale of a little swan that got hatched by a duck, left by the duck mother, and picked up by a swan mother. It's incredibly sweet. There isn't too much to say.  After the little duck wanders off, it gets in another nest. After being chased out of the other nest, it finds a duck decoy and gets bonked on the head by it. This makes the ugly duckling (swan) a little traumatized and sad. It sobs its little eyes out until a swan mother and her little ones hear it. Once he finds a loving home, he never returns to the duck who hatched him. Our little swan swims off with the loving adopted mother and her hatchl...
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Clock Cleaners (1937) - Cartoon Review

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 Today I watched Clock Cleaners (from 1937), a Disney cartoon featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Let's talk about it.  Courtesy of D23 As I research cartoons, I find that Disney can be hard to find in some cases (at least the full version, anyway). I don't have Disney Plus and don't intend to get it. It's true that Disney doesn't play around with pirated media. Even so, I found this one from 1937 on YouTube. The older the media, the higher the chance you can get it in a full version.  This cartoon is about Mickey, Donald, and Goofy cleaning a clock. That's it, that's all. Mickey encounters a sleepy stork while Donald fights with a spring. Goofy has the longest adventure and the fewest lines of dialogue as he cleans a bell and does it when the clock hits noon. Two statues hit the bell several times while he's in it, then hit him. Mickey then tries to help Goofy not fall off the clock tower. By the last moment, they are all sprawled on the floor together...
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The Woman In Cabin 10 - a book review

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 Not only did I get this book suggestion from a friend, but I already had it when they mentioned it. Today I review The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware.  Book cover courtesy of Simon and Schuster The main plot of this book is a woman reporter, known by the nickname Lo, reporting on a cruise boat. She's already had a rough time by the point she's on the boat. She's having panic attacks, was burgled a day or so before the cruise ship reporting gig, and is clearly drinking to avoid some mental image you (the reader) don't fully understand. This is when she hears a murder on the boat - in cabin 10 - only there is no one in cabin 10. From here on out, you have to read it yourself. The ending is just too good. I tried to Agatha Christie solve this one and, well, I got it dead wrong.  Overall Thoughts This book starts with an unsettling mental image of a body washing up on shore in someone's nightmares. Not only that, but you get the feeling your main perspective is definit...
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Silly Symphony review (1932) - Flowers and Trees

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 I'm back to researching after the holiday season ended. Here's another Silly Symphony. This was made in 1932 and features two trees having a romance.  Courtesy of Pinterest.com The Silly Symphony cartoons seem to have less dialogue than I expect. What this one excelled at was telling a story of two trees romancing, with no words at all. It is all visual with an orchestra behind it. I loved it. Let's count the ways.  What I loved about it This was a feast for the eyes. While The Old Mill was better, this was still amazing. You see the whole story portrayed in visuals alone, with the musical support behind it to reflect the scene. The conflict between dead evil tree and nice tree is laid out before you in a way that everyone can understand.  A toddler could watch this and understand it. This makes it family friendly. While I do think some media doesn't have to be family friendly (example, Lonesome Dove), cartoons of the 1930s were aimed at the whole family. The parent...
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Midnight In Death - A JD Robb Review

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 I love the In Death series of suspense novels (written by JD Robb). I collect them. This is one of the smaller books. Let's talk about a return serial killer and a Christmas spent solving crime.  Eve Dallas is having a Christmas of love and new traditions with her husband Roarke, until a serial killer named Dave - specializing in torturing people for long periods of time - gets out of the mental health facility to get back at the people who put him away. He leaves the judge of his trial in a public area and kicks off an investigation that interrupts Eve's Christmas celebration.  Thoughts This was a shorter read, a ten-chapter read that reminded me how much I loved this series. I don't have anything negative to say. I won't spoil it. These do have a formula if I remember the series correctly. Eve is in some sort of danger, as always. In this case, she's on Dave's hit list.  It was only ten chapters. This one was compelling and short. If you need a quick suspense...
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On Her Majesty's Secret Service - A Book Review

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 Here's to the only Bond novel that made me cry. Let's talk about On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Blofeld's personal attack against James Bond.  This was a five star read. Yes, Fleming fantasized some dialogue from Tracy, but otherwise it was one of the best Ian Fleming Bond novels. I expect some sexist moments from him because every book has proved to have one or two. He wrote this in 1963 and grew up in the 1950s, a sexist era if I ever had to name one.  The plot of this one is James Bond meeting a woman named Tracy at a familiar casino (the one from Casino Royale). He then makes a deal with her father (after a surprise meeting) for information on Blofeld. After finding out that Blofeld sought a high title, he pretends to investigate such things as someone from that office, meeting Blofeld at a ski resort of Blofeld's making. He finds out Blofeld's researching allergies in some rural young women and escapes the place (after someone accidentally blew his co...
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TBR Overview 2025 - How It Went

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 This year's TBR was mostly rolled over from last year's list. I have learned that DNF-ing (Do Not Finish) a book is not a crime. Instead, it opens you up to more books you'll enjoy. Let's look at how the TBR went.  This year I knocked out about half the TBR, opting to not follow it after I was in a reading flow. In my reading flow, I decided I had no trouble deciding on what to read next and didn't need the guidance. Surprisingly, most of the books I read were picked up on a whim. I threw some challenges in this year, as usual.  Challenges The library challenge is when a book must come from a physical or digital library. Easy challenge, especially if you are not sure of some books and want to test-drive them before you buy them. It pays to see if your local library has a copy.  The One-Shelf challenge is picking a shelf, then limiting your reading options to what is on that shelf. It means you read what you have. It's an easy way to attempt reading only what yo...
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