Rae of Light

For several years I’ve set myself the challenge of reading a certain amount of books per year. The idea first came to me when I joined Goodreads as an author in 2016 and noticed they had a facility for logging reads and reviews as well as calculating your reads annually. I initially thought of using it as a teaching aid since I had a great deal of reluctant readers in my tutoring rota. How great it would be for them to chart their reading progress and also instil the practice of writing reviews as it was a required part of KS3 learning. Kill 2 things with wings and all that. I decided to follow the maxim: do as I do. Besides, I feel that children need role models for the good things in life as well as the bad.   Following the success of this first calculated reading venture , the Goodreads challenge became an annual thing and nothing difficult for me to accomplish since I read voraciously and had always done so. After my dad died it did however become a serious challenge. His dea...

Take 3: The Birthday Collection It’s February, my birthday month. As such, my selection of films consists of the ones I consider to be all time favourites I’m happy to rewatch over and over again; even when it’s not my birthday. It’s an eclectic list so keep equal amounts of tissues, thirst quenching drinks and suitable snacks close at hand. Once Upon a Time in the West - it's a western. No, don't tut or raise your eyes to heaven. Just trust me. Dune - the original 1984 film starring the likes of Kyle Maclachlan, Sean Young & Sting. Yes, you read that right. Chalet Girl - because I can't resist a bit of snow, romance & a comeback The Bourne Identity - it features an anti-hero so there's no more to be said Eastern Promises - Set in London & starring Viggo Mortensen - serious story with the bonus of eye candy for the ladies or anyone else in need of a bit of something to look at. Baby Driver - a very stylish film about car chases with a kill...