Skip to content

SparklyPrettyBriiiight

Andrew's wonderful world of pop culture

Books

Book review: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Posted on November 4, 2023November 2, 2023 by aussiemoose

(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) We live in a perilously binary world, one that separates everything into stark Os or 1s and refused to entertain the idea of halves, gradients or places in-between. Armed with that dangerously blinkered mindset, people then begin to assign worth and blame to those that either Continue Reading

Posted In Books

Book review: The Death of John Lacey by Ben Hobson

Posted on November 1, 2023November 16, 2023 by aussiemoose

Humanity loves its motherhood statements. There’s something comforting about referring to brotherhood, mercy and justice because they sound full of virtue and goodness and the assumption is made, somewhat erroneously, that everyone knows exactly what’s meant by them. But, like the word “love” itself, there’s often little examination of what Continue Reading

Posted In Books

#Halloween book review: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

Posted on October 31, 2023October 26, 2023 by aussiemoose

If you are an inveterate reader, the odds are good, better than good actually, that fellow readers or close friends (sometimes, happily, they are both) that at some point they will recommend a book to you. A book, they will assure you with a mix of solemnity and enthusiasm, is Continue Reading

Posted In BooksTagged In Halloween 2023

Book review: The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff  

Posted on October 27, 2023October 27, 2023 by aussiemoose

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) We live in a grievously unbalanced world. No surprises there you say; one look at the 24/7 news cycle or at the place we work or the society in which we live and it becomes clear that fairness very rarely rules the day and Continue Reading

Posted In Books

Book review: Bound to Happen by Jonathon Shannon

Posted on October 25, 2023October 24, 2023 by aussiemoose

(courtesy Ultimo Press) When it comes to Sliding Doors territory, that exciting or maddening place, depending on your perspective, where possibilities are endless and change, incremental or large is a constant, there are always a multitude of ways things can either come together or go spinning far apart. At least, Continue Reading

Posted In Books

Short film review: The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar

Posted on October 24, 2023October 23, 2023 by aussiemoose

(courtesy IMDb (c) Netflix) Talk about a marriage made in storytelling heaven. The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar brings together the Roald Dahl story which is part of a 1977 short story collection by the author entitled The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar and Six More – the book also Continue Reading

Posted In Books, Movies, Short film

Book review: The Scourge Between the Stars by Ness Brown

Posted on October 24, 2023October 20, 2023 by aussiemoose

(courtesy Pan Macmillan Australia) Accomplished horror preys, and yes that word is wholly intentional, as much on our fear of what will happen, of what lurks in the dark or unseen realms just out of perception as it does on what actually comes to pass. It’s the dread, the sickening Continue Reading

Posted In Books

#Christmas preview book review: The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary

Posted on October 21, 2023November 18, 2023 by aussiemoose

(courtesy Hachette Australia) This will come as a news to absolutely no one but the world is not exactly full of moments which end neatly and perfectly and with everything tied in a bright red bow. It’s also not fantastically good at giving people the happy endings they deserve, and Continue Reading

Posted In BooksTagged In Christmas 2023

Book review: Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane

Posted on October 20, 2023October 18, 2023 by aussiemoose

(courtesy Macmillan Publishers) Fiction is, strictly speaking, the stuff of make believe and imagination, of dreamt up people and not even a shred of coincidence between people living and those who have most certainly shuffled off this mortal coil. But the truth is, and any writer will tell you, that Continue Reading

Posted In Books

Retro book review: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Posted on October 17, 2023October 16, 2023 by aussiemoose

Classic books are hailed as classic for a reason. It’s not simply that they’ve been around for a while; plenty of tiles have and people struggle to remember titles, plots or even that they exist at all. The ones that really imprint themselves on peoples’ minds, or that really cement Continue Reading

Posted In Books

Posts pagination

Previous 1 … 32 33 34 … 123 Next

Recent Posts

  • Festive movie review: Jingle Bell Heist
  • Festive book review: The Christmas Tree that Loved to Dance (A Tall Tale) by Miranda Hart (illustrations by Lucy Claire Dunbar)
  • A whole new world: Thoughts on Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
  • Festive book review: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Beth Moran
  • It’s beginning to look a lot like the festive season … Christmas ads 2025 round-up

Recent Comments

  • aussiemoose on Book review: The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk
  • Sean Lusk on Book review: The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley by Sean Lusk
  • aussiemoose on Movie review: Thor – Love and Thunder
  • Carla Krae on Movie review: Thor – Love and Thunder
  • Daryl Devore on On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain? Thoughts on Baymax!

Archives

  • December 2025
  • November 2025
  • October 2025
  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010

RSS SparklyPrettyBriiiight

  • Festive movie review: Jingle Bell Heist
    (courtesy IMP Awards) OOOO netflix.com/tudum/articles/jingle-bell-heist-release-date-news OOOO
  • Festive book review: The Christmas Tree that Loved to Dance (A Tall Tale) by Miranda Hart (illustrations by Lucy Claire Dunbar)
    (courtesy Penguin Books Australia) Ever since I discovered her breakthrough sitcom Miranda, I have loved the whimsy and old-fashioned chatty cheerfulness of comedian/writer/actor Miranda Hart with the sort of enthusiasm that people much younger than me reserve for zeitgeist-heavy K-Pop bands. She embodies all of the fun and silliness of Continue Reading
  • A whole new world: Thoughts on Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
    (courtesy AppleTV) Losing yourself in a documentary is one of life’s great, often unsung, pleasures. If they’re done well, and many are, they are gateways to magical places of knowledge and experience, a chance to find yourself somewhere you’ve never been or to get lost in the rapture and wonder Continue Reading
  • Festive book review: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Beth Moran
    (courtesy NetGalley) Life is full to the brim with traumatic moments. Hardly a surprise there; while most of us head into life all wide-eyes, enthusiastic and bushy-tailed, believing no harm can befoul us and all we will have are sunshine and rainbows, we soon discover life, alas, has other ideas. Continue Reading
  • It’s beginning to look a lot like the festive season … Christmas ads 2025 round-up
    (via Shutterstock) I know there is a significant school of thought that rails against the materialism and rampant consumerism of Christmas. And yes, while I can see it, and it’s valid point as far as it goes, it leaves aside the fact that much of that drives this need to Continue Reading
  • Festive animated love? Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime’s Familiar Holiday Movie
    (courtesy IMP Awards) If you only watch one parody of a festive romcom movie this year, and let’s face it, much as I love many of them, the actual films are almost parodies of themselves, then make sure it’s Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime’s Familiar Holiday Movie. The Continue Reading
  • Festive movie review: A Merry Little Ex-Mas
    (courtesy IMP Awards) Christmas is the season where love is all around us, and you’ll be happy to know, it’s not just Love, Actually that thinks so. A Merry Little Ex-Mas is also a big believer in the power of the season to change hearts and minds and even wind Continue Reading
  • Festive book review: It Always Snows on Mistletoe Square by Ali McNamara
    (courtesy Hachette Australia) When you think about it, Christmas as a concept and an idea, as opposed to the reality of the season, is full to the tinsel-draped, eggnog-soaked brim with magical realism. It’s in the original Biblical tale – not a diss; I grew up in the church and Continue Reading
  • Why ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ almost didn’t air − and why it endures (curated article)
    (courtesy IMDb) In 2024, the beloved special is streaming on Apple TV+. Stephen Lind, University of Southern California It’s hard to imagine a holiday season without “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” The 1965 broadcast has become a staple – etched into traditions across generations like decorating the tree or sipping hot Continue Reading
  • Festive movie review: I watched Christmas Karma
    (courtesy IMDb) Charles Dickens lives again! Well, not so much the author who long shuffled off this mortal coil and who may yet be haunting people at Christmas to scare them into leading and more selfless lives; rather, in Christmas Karma, by Bend It Like Beckham‘s Gurinder Chadha, we are Continue Reading
Copyright All rights reserved. Theme: Flash Blog by Unitedtheme.