My Media Picks of the Decade!

I was finding it tricky to come up with a list of anything 'Of The Decade.' Part of the problem was that I can't remember what I was doing last year, let alone ten years ago. I also would keep choosing things that came out at the very tail end of the last decade. Eventually, I decided to narrow it down to one pick for each category I would focus on, so I could choose what stood out most strongly in my memory. I also said that if something came out the previous decade, but has had lasting cultural impacts into this decade, I would count it. It would also have to be something I enjoyed personally myself, so that I could form some coherent thoughts on it. And so, without further ado:

Video Games: Right off the bat, this was a tricky category. I could make a reasonable argument for anything from Minecraft to Pokémon Go. However, considering I was going for things I personally enjoyed, I ended up giving it to Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Video games are also effecting how we tell stories in more traditional media. BioWare has been at the helm of choice-based narratives in video games since very much the early part of the last decade. Indeed, the first Dragon Age game came out in the 2009, and Mass Effect came out in 2007. I won't say there weren't a few missteps within these series, but that's part of how things grow. They've also very much pioneered romance sidequests, a mechanic in video games which I enjoy. Choice-based dialogue is showing up more commonly, even in games now where you wouldn't expect it, and I can only hope that companies continue to come up with ways to make players feel involved with the story.

Books: This is the one place where I really feel like I have cheated slightly. I have chosen The Hunger Games, with only Mockingjay coming out in this decade. However, the first film came out in 2012, so you can easily make the argument that the bulk of their popularity came out this year. And their huge effect on Young Adult literature has definitely been felt this decade. YA is having a bit of a renaissance right now, and many titles taken on would have been done in part due to the influence of this series. I will also credit it with a wider resurgence of dystopian fiction, which is at it's best a way to view the issues facing our world with a different lens.

Films: I hope everyone will understand if I choose the Marvel movies as a whole. This decade in film will be very much remembered as the decade of superhero movies. They're all a fun way to spend 2-and-a-bit hours, even the ones with lower critical ratings. In fact, if all they provided was an escape from reality, that would be enough reason to keep making them. But they also encourage me to be a better person. We can't all be superheroes, but we can all do a little kindness. I really hope that in the next decade, they continue to push the boundaries of what kind of stories they can tell.

TV Show: Did any entertainment from any media define the decade so greatly as Game of Thrones? It has monopolised conversations with workmates and friends ever since it first appeared on screens. It has changed what we can expect from TV shows in terms of production values. It's become the show all other shows will be compared to. In terms of special effects, number of characters, costuming, scope and scale of the sets, there wasn't anything like it before, and I don't think there will be for quite some time.

Musical: Yeah, this had to go to Hamilton. Hamilton has pushed boundaries in so many ways. It influences how musical songs can sound. It allowed people to challenge their preconceptions of who can tell stories from history. It has encouraged an interest in musicals with those who may not have experienced them much. It has made the history of the Founding Fathers more relevant to those who may have found it a dry topic at school, or would have had no cause to study it previously. It has given much new life to a form of media that was struggling to find it's place in this decade.

Berlin, Day 6 -19/11/19 - Mall of Berlin and Flight Home

Today was my last day in Berlin. I didn't want to do too much with today, so I went to Mall of Berlin at Potsdamerplatz, because that way I knew I'd stay close to a train station. I had a small bite to eat and picked up a few little items along the way. I just get worried about not being able to make my flight, and to be fair I always find there's enough to do in airports that I can kill time.

Berlin, Day 5 - 18/11/19 - Jewish Museum and into the Bundestag

Today was my last full day in Berlin, so it was time to make one of my last stops. I went to the Jewish Museum, into Markthalle Neun for lunch and I also went up into the Bundestag into the glass dome. This I had to book in advance online, and it was lucky that I did look it up a few days prior, as it was sold out up to now.

Berlin, Day 4 - 17/11/19 - Checkpoint Charlie and the East Side Gallery

Today, I went to Checkpoint Charlie, which is someone I've wanted to see for a while, and I went around the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. The fall of the Berlin Wall is my answer to the question "What moment in history would you most like to witness?" After a brief stop back at my hotel room for a rest, which was honestly much needed, I went out again for dinner and drinks.

Berlin, Day 3 - 16/11/19 - TV Tower, DDR Museum and Berlin Cathedral

Today, I went around the Alexanderplatz area. One thing to remember is that this area of Berlin was on the eastern side of the wall. However, it's now a thriving, if touristy and commercial, area of Berlin. I went up the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), the DDR (Deutsches Demokratische Republik/German Democratic Republic) Museum and the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)

Berlin, Day 2 - 15/11/19 - Schloss Charlottenburg and Potsdamer Platz

On day two, I decided to venture out a little further. I went to the Schloss Charlottenburg, as I really like looking around stately homes. They make me feel like I've gone back in time. After that, I had less plans, so I ended up taking a bus to the Bundestag, which has many of Berlin's historical sites around, and isn't far from Potsdamer Platz.

Berlin, Day 1 - 14/11/19 - Flights and Hotel

Berlin is a place I've wanted to visit for a long time. I always found German an interesting language and Berlin has history like nowhere else. As this happened to be exactly 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, I decided to take the plunge and have a solo trip with some of my leftover holiday time from work.

A Treatise on why Blue Lions is my Favourite House in Fire Emblem: Three Houses

In this blog post, I will examine why Blue Lions is personally my favourite house in Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the Nintendo Switch. Note that I am not doing this as a ranked list, as each house has things that might appeal to different people. I also would not like to denigrate another house in my post, as each provide a unique perspective on the story, and an interesting band of characters to get to know. This is why I am using the term favourite as opposed to best.

First, a quick rundown of the story. You are Byleth, a mercenary. In this world, your status in society is normally linked to your Crest, with most of those who bear one being nobility. While on a mission with your father, you run into three students from the nearby Officer's Acadamy at Garreg Mach. Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude are also the three house leaders, and future rulers of their respective nations. You are taken on to be the new professor at the Officer's Acadamy, and need to select one of these three houses to lead. Edelgard leads the Black Eagles, Dimitri leads the Blue Lions and Claude the Golden Deer. Mostly, which house the students go into is decided by their country, so there's no personality traits that define them. Black Eagles students come from the Adrestian Empire, Blue Lions from the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and Golden Deer from the Leicester Alliance. But students can change houses if they desire, through the recruit students gameplay mechanic.

Blue Lions house feels like a combination of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and I don't just mean on their sigil design. Many members of the house are would-be knights upholding the ideals of chivalry, and are brave as they come. They also happen to contain a large number of smarter, bookish characters. There's Annette, who studies hard, Ashe, who's very into reading legends and Ingrid, who works to be a knight. Even Sylvain, a ladies man character, has been shown to have intelligence that goes beyond how he normally acts. Obviously, Gryffindors can be into reading, but it is my belief that most of them fall somewhere between the two, with a little of the Hufflepuff hard work and Slytherin ambition thrown in. Do not be misled by this paragraph, as none of the houses in this game have a direct counterpart to a Potter house, despite the colour schemes.

The houses in this game are more decided based on where a student originates from, one of the three nations of the setting. This leads to a mix of personalities, and you can also recruit students from different houses, too. The joy with a game like Fire Emblem is getting to see all these different people interact in what are known as 'Support Conversations.' If you've never played a video game, but are curious about them, I'd highly recommend Fire Emblem: Three Houses to people who like reading.

Characterisation:

Blue Lions is a very character-driven route, overall. In fact, I would easily say that it has some of my favourite characters in the game. A lot of this will be revealed in the smaller support conversations, one reason why I try and recruit as many characters as I can, to find out more about them.

Dimitri will likely be the first character many people think of when it comes to the well-written character development of this game, and to go too far into it will really spoil a lot of it for others. He starts off trying to present that image of the perfect prince, but there's something dark simmering beneath his surface. He likes combat, but doesn't like that likes it. He is also very motivated by revenge. He does manange to reconcile both parts of his personality later on, but not before a turn for the far worse.

Dedue is very loyal to Dimitri - Dimitri saved his life during a massacre of his countrymen when they were both boys. This is both a blessing and a curse, as Dedue will support Dimitri even when he isn't thinking rationally. Dedue also loves gardening and cooking, despite his threatening appearance. He can come off as terse, but a lot of that is just not knowing how to interact with others, as he comes from a country (Duscur) that deals with a lot of racism in-story. Before he comes to the Officer's Academy, he rarely interacts with anyone in a way that isn't hostile.

Felix begins the story by hating Dimitri. He also has spent much of in trying to live up to the example of his older brother, Glenn, who was a knight who died in service to the royal family. He is very much driven by a desire to be the best swordsman, but his supports show that he begins to question why this means so much to him. And while he acts very hard-hearted, he can show a softer side around some of the sweeter characters.

Sylvain is a ladies man - if you aren't on a Blue Lions route and try to recruit him as Female Byleth, he will join your house no questions asked. (It's nice to know where your loyalties lie, Sylvain!) But he doesn't think much of the girls he dates, believing them to be after his noble title or trying to bear his 'Crest Baby.' He does manage to take a good look at his attitude in some of his support conversations.

Mercedes has not had it easy in her life. She was actually born to a noble family in the Adrestian Empire, but then left and fled to Faerghus, where her mother married another noble, but then eventually she became the adopted daughter of a wealthy merchant. Since she bears a Crest, most of these families have been more interested in using her to up their position in society. But she herself remains a very kind young lady and one of the most devout characters in the game, with dreams of joining the Church of Seiros to help others like they have done for her. But she does find it rather easy to sway to others wishes.

Annette is Mercedes's best friend. Annette is a cheerful girl who is fond of singing songs to herself while she works. She's a hard worker, and got herself into the School of Sorcery through her studies. Many of her supports involves someone helping with her work, or imploring her to just take a break. She joined the Officer's Academy for a particular reason, searching for her father. She's also one of the first to try and cheer up characters when they have a bad time - she and Mercedes bake sweets for you, after a certain point in the story.

Ashe - I'd be remiss not to mention here that Ashe is my personal absolute favourite character in the whole game. He likes reading and cooking, so basically me in a medieval setting. He's a commoner feeling a little out-of-place in a place of nobles. His parents ran a restaurant, but when they died he was left to raise his brother and sister by himself. He stole to keep them fed. But when he was trying to steal from a noble one day, he was transfixed by a book, and the noble took him on as his adopted son, and taught him to read! Ashe still remains one of the kindest characters in the whole game, showing remorse over many deaths and insisting that petty criminals get a chance to improve their situation.

Ingrid is interesting, the daughter of an impoverished noble. Her father always made sure she got the best things to eat before he did. While he does love her, it's also in his best interests to keep her strength up, as she's been the only bearer of their family's Crest for generations. She was engaged to Felix's brother, and is still haunted over his death. Since the people of Duscur are thought to be behind this (although evidence in this game suggests that this is not the case) she holds contempt for the people of Duscur, which comes out in her supports with Dedue. However, this is never an issue in game, and by her later support conversations she appears to be changing her views.

Obviously, you can recruit and will gain other characters as the game goes on. But a full list would take forever, so these are the eight Blue Lions characters who are there from the start. And you can recruit most of these (all but Dimitri and Dedue) into another house, which is always a good way to see their take on a different side of the story.

Ties into the overall story:

Honestly, at first I thought the missions you get during the academy phrase of this game were unique to the Blue Lions. One of the earliest involves tracking down a Kingdom noble who is also Ashe's adopted father, likely earlier than most people would have recruited him out. This not only provides good dialogue during the fight for Ashe, but also Dimitri, who doesn't like attacking one of his own nobles. A little further on, one of them involves the brother of Sylvain. Annette's father and Mercedes's brother also play roles, too, and Mercedes's brother's isn't obvious at first.

In the second part of the game, the story does get much more personal, becoming the three distinct routes that this game is known for. You very much do get three games for the price of one, here. Even outside of their own route, if you don't recruit them, the Blue Lions get some pretty cool scenes and lines as enemies.

Gameplay thoughts:

I find that Blue Lions makes a very balanced house for battle purposes. We're meant to be slightly weaker on the magic side, but you still do have one black mage (Annette) and one white mage (Mercedes) given at the start. Mercedes learns a heal spell with a range that can heal your units from almost anywhere on the battlefield, and her ability heals her if she heals a friendly unit. She can also learn some more combat spells easily once you leave her Reason (black magic) skill.

Two of our members have a Budding Talent in Reason, and the main character can also learn black magic. You also get another white mage who can learn combat magic as the story progresses, and you can recruit from other houses to cover your weaknesses. I personally like Dorothea, as she is relatively easy to recruit from high charm skill, and gets some long-ranged black magic spells that the Blue Lions house does lack.

However, you might not need this so much, as physically this house is very strong. Dimitri has the highest attainable strength stat in the game, Felix wrecks things as a fast swordsman, meaning he can attack twice from very early on in the game. Ashe develops into an archer with a very high chance of a critical hit. Ingrid, once levelled, will become a badass Pegasus Knight who can fly to protect far locations on the battlefield. Sylvain became my first cavalry unit, giving him range at a point in the game where few others will have a range like this. Dedue comes in very handy in the early game to protect some of the units you need to level up, while they're still relatively weak.

While no house is obviously 'better' or makes for a Golden Ending, Blue Lions is the house where the highest number of main characters can be left alive at the end of it. This appeals as the way this game forces you to be attacking your friends is brutal, in the best way possible, showing how much the war really is taking it's toll on your allies. I even like to leave some of them as enemies and to support their main lord, for the story.

Criticisms:

One of the things that I will point out is that some of the hidden antagonists of this story don't come to the forefront. You don't learn the truth of the Church of Seiros, either. This does work as a way to encourage you to try out the other routes, however. There still feels like there is a lot of things left
unanswered on this route.

Oh, and you don't get Claude as a playable character.

Conclusion:

While Blue Lions appeals to me, playing into many character archetypes and storylines that I like, I can also see why people might prefer another house. Really, it's all down to personal preference.

A Review of the Out Of The Hitler Time Series

Out of the Hitler Time is a series by Judith Kerr, semi-autobiographically based on her own life as a Jewish refugee from Germany and coming to Britain. The three books are When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, Bombs on Aunt Dainty and A Small Person Far Away. Anna's Jewish father has been writing anti-Nazi articles before Hitler came to power, and along with Anna's mother and her brother Max, they have to flee the country in 1933. The first book accounts their journey to Switzerland and France before taking up residence in Britain. Bombs on Aunt Dainty looks at the effects of the Blitz in London and the issues faced by the refugees from Europe. A Small Person Far Away has Anna return to Germany, now divided into sections after the war.

These books are the best books I've read about the Second World War. The first book especially can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. These are the books I needed as a child, learning about the Blitz and evacuees. Children have a different perception of time, and history can feel like events that took place a long time ago to people you don't know at that age, and historical fiction demolishes that barrier.

They also have a different perspective on Nazi Germany from that which is normally seen. Anna and her family fled in 1933. That is very early in terms of Hitler's power, before the Second World War even started, towards the end of the decade. As such, you see the fear and uncertainty hanging over them but also optimism at the beginning, as they think they'll be back home in six months.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is a great introduction to the horrors of Nazi Germany, and while the horrors of the Holocaust aren't discussed in detail, they aren't glossed over, either. The book has a remarkably light-hearted touch to it's subject matter, though. Much of this comes from the family's closeness, keeping each others spirits up. Happy-go-lucky Anna sees most of their travels as an adventure, like her hopelessly impractical father. But the difficulties of going from being an upper-middle class German family to penniless refugees are a driving force of the book, with Anna's mother being the one most often bearing the brunt of it.

Bombs on Aunt Dainty is most definitely more YA, focusing much more on Anna's personal relationships. She's at loggerheads with her parents more often than not. This book also deals with her relationship with a much older man. Sex is discussed. She's a teenager in this one, and it shows. She starts to get more in touch with her passion for drawing, while working to help her family. Many of the refugees from Europe in Britain at the time did not find it easy, with many of the public viewing them as the enemy. This book may not be suitable for children to read straight after reading When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, but that can depend on the individual.

A Small Person Far Away feels older still. Anna is an adult, visiting her mother in hospital in Berlin. Discussions on the ethics of assisted suicide even without an underlying medical issue are frequent in the book, and it has an air of nostalgia and longing for home that adults in particular will identify with. It hasn't quite got the tension of the first two that is inherent with being set during the war and is more of a quiet family story. It's also a vital look at how depression and suicide was misunderstood back then. Anna's mother's illness (explicitly named as depression in the narrative) wasn't caught or treated in the same way it might be now.

The question of ethical treatment of refugees is perhaps more relevant now than it has been at any point in the last 70 years. These books need to be pressed into the hands of everyone you know.

Top 5 Marvel Movies

(Up to and including Endgame, but spoiler free!)

These movies have become a cultural phenomenon and defined my 20's almost as much as Harry Potter defined my childhood. In fact, it wasn't until recently that I realised they would have been a Harry Potter-like experience for many people, who started watching them at 10 would easily be 20 now.

I like positivity, so I don't rank all movies from worst to best. Instead, I like to pick my top five, the ones that stood out to me in some way over the rest. There are some movies in the MCU that I don't like as much as the others, but the fact that they all come together to make a cohesive universe is something to behold.

Also... this is my personal opinion on them! I shouldn't really need to say this, but if you think I left out a movie, write your own list. We all have different preferences, and that's okay, because that's what keeps life interesting!

5. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2.
Surprised to see Vol. 2 on this list but not Vol. 1? I actually prefer it. I think that as we knew the characters better in this one, they could get right on with doing what they do best - cracking jokes and snarking at each other. I love the soundtrack for both of these movies, too. And the bright colour palette, too. Proof that not all sci-fi needs to be in muted tones. I love movies that use a lot of colours in every shot, I think it makes them a real visual treat. And speaking of...

4. Black Panther
Every shot in this movie looks amazing. Many are shot in the daylight, and the night scenes are well-lit. I really like when movies show cities lit by several tiny lights. There's so much colour, too, in the clothing, the jungles of Wakanda, and even the Seoul scene. To add to that, this was the movie that gave us (Disney Princess) Shuri, Nakia and Okoye. And it does what sci-fi does best - becomes a way for us to reflect on our own world and the reality we live in.

3. Captain America: The First Avenger
I love historical fiction, and this is almost a WW2 movie with a little alternate history thrown in. Also a catchy musical number. I love Peggy, and Cap is my favourite Avenger, so maybe this is slightly biased. But you can also see a lot of thought and detail put into things like the fashions of the time (Victory Rolls!) and it also introduced us to one of the overarching plot points of the whole MCU, the Tesseract. And there's a World Fair in it!

2. Avengers: Endgame
To be fair, I think focusing on a smaller group of people benefited this movie compared to it's predecessor, not needing to have 3,000 plot threads going at once. But it tied up the franchise amazingly well, taking risks I wasn't expecting it to. While there are a few minor quibbles, I think it was my favourite Marvel movie since 2012's Avengers. It certainly felt more like it, and showing a few scenes from that movie was a treat. There were some epic moments in the final battle, and even with the bleak premise, they managed to keep humour going throughout. This rank may be liable to change as time goes on, since it's still fresh in my memory at this point, but as of right now, this is where it stands for me.

1. Avengers (2012)
I think this movie is an absolute masterpiece of a team movie, and is the one I will rewatch more than any other. It's one of my favourite movies of all time. We get to see the Avengers come together, with help from Nick Fury and Agent Coulson. After a rocky start, they really gel. The chemistry between the original six just clicks. And the humour is bang-on, hitting just the right notes at the right points. New York is a very personal place to see attacked for a lot of people (I get the same way in Thor: The Dark World) which just drives home how terrifying a threat like this would be in real life. The movie was epic in scope, but it wasn't trying to top anything else. It did that on it's own, and set the standard for the other movies in the MCU. What a movie, what a franchise, what a cinematic experience.

Honorable mentions to Captain America: Civil War, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Iron Man 2. (Yes, 2. Yes I know. This is my list.)

Now, if you need me, I'll be working out how soon tickets for Spider Man: Far From Home will be on sale.

A Review of The Princess and the Fangirl

The Princess and the Fangirl is a book by Ashley Poston, and the sort-of companion/sequel novel to Geekerella. Imogen Lovelace is a fan of Starfield, and campaigning hard to save her favourite character, Amara. Jessica Stone, the actress playing Amara, is just hoping she can put the blockbuster sci-fi flick behind her. As luck would have it, they sort of look like each other, and a chance meeting and a case of mistaken identity later leaves Imogen and Jessica swapping lives for the duration of ExcelsiCon.

I've never made any secrets about how much I love Geekerella, have I? However, if Geekerella was Poston testing the waters, this one is her cramming as much nerd culture in as she can, and it is glorious. One of the big reasons this works is because Poston knows her stuff, and her references are both varied and rather obscure, at times. I love seeing my favourite fictional things represented that normally never get mentioned in popular culture!

I'm starting to call this series my comfort read, like you get comfort foods. Seriously, it feels like friends. And I mean literally, I have a group of nerd friends who will debate sci-fi shows and quote memes at each other. Semi-ironically. This book feels like them.

Imogen and Jessica are two very different girls, which lets Poston get in two opinions and sides of the story. Imogen's experience with fandoms and conventions is very different from Jessica's experience with them. Imogen grew up in conventions but Jessica has only ever seen them as a work obligation that she dislikes. Imogen is impulsive, and Jessica can be aloof, coming across as mean. But they are both sympathetic individuals (the joys of a duel POV!) and with a great supporting cast around them. I would have sold my soul for more time with Imogen's family.

Poston doesn't shy away from representing the worst aspects of fan culture, too. If I could take one message away from both these books, it would be "love your nerdy fandoms with your whole heart, but be respectful about them." The big one that sticks out here is Jasper. He sticks out as an asshole from the first time we see him with Imogen, but he cements it when he meet-and-greets with Imogen-as-Jess. But it's also obvious that many of Jessica's cast and crew, the director especially, have little respect for her. Arranging a publicity stunt when it's her turn to speak is trash behaviour.

Vance Reigns is also asshole extraordinaire, cutting off Imogen opening up to him to tell her she is pretty, then proceeds to repeat synonyms for pretty during the rest of the conversation, since that's the only thing that he can ever imagine girls being, and the only part of her speech that he paid any attention to. However, Imogen is still on the naïve side, and doesn't notice the inherent condescension in how he brings it up, just her happiness about being called pretty. This is a realistic response for her situation, as girls are taught that being attractive to men is the most important thing they can be.

"Are you one of those girls who think girls who wear make-up are vapid?"
Yes. "No."
I'd like to talk about this response, from Imogen. And again, it is realistic! There are teenage girls who feel this way, I was one! To be fair, it was hugely hypocritical in my case, too, because it wasn't like I didn't wear some on occasion. And it is an attitude that needs calling out. Jessica points out that she wears her make-up as armour, and a lot of other women in the book are described as wearing it.

Elle's cameos were good to have. She's basically my literary best friend, so it was nice to see her. But there are a lot of cameos from other characters from Geekerella, and they did feel slightly gratuitous. This novel could have been a vaguely related standalone, but I would honestly have to say that you'll get more out of this one if you read Geekerella first, especially as this book spoils the first one slightly. To the extent that you can spoil a Cinderella retelling, anyway.

And, uh... didn't the first book confirm that Elle's father started ExcelsiCon when she was, like, 7? So how is this the 25th annual ExcelsiCon? Minor, but it bothered me. (Also, I picked Geekerella up to check this fact, and happened to spot that the Amara's original actress in that book was called Ellen North, not Natalia Ford. I'm sorry! I know this is such a picky complaint.) (And in looking it up, I did realise that my original memory was wrong, and the ExcelsiCon when Elle was 7 was just the first one she could remember. Maybe I just need to reread Geekerella!

Recommended for everyone who loves fandom and nerdy things. And please, give me a short story where Harper introduces Jessica to the original Starfield series.

A Little Bit of Love for The Babysitter's Club

These book series, with many volumes, probably did more for literacy than people give them credit for. Getting teenagers to read and keep reading is a common topic, but these volumes were one in which teenagers could pick up voluntarily and read for themselves. My series of choice for this was The Babysitter's Club, facilitated by easy access to a large rotating shelf of them in my local library. I begged Mum if we could go into other libraries, just so I could see if they had any ones I hadn't read. I do remember reading at least one Sweet Valley book, and loving Nancy Drew when I could get my hands on them.

The Babysitter's Club showed a group of distinct, different girls being close friends, leaving aside a few books showing the sort of arguments you would expect from early-teens. Plus, they also ran a business requiring a huge amount of responsibility, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think these had some influence on my work ethic now. Put aside whether this is realistic for 13-year-olds, and see them more as role models.

Each of the girls were so different that you could distinguish between them in writing. A Claudia book sounded nothing like a Dawn book sounded nothing like a Mary-Anne book. My favourite, the character I reached for primarily, was Stacey. I loved the descriptions of her clothes, and I also loved how they showed someone can be both fashion conscious and smart. I can also credit these books with teaching me that diabetes wasn't just "something fat people have."

Another big thing this series showed was different types of families. From divorces, remarriages and one of the earliest good portrayals of step-families that I can remember, all were represented. This was true for the Babysitters, and their charges, too. It also had it's fair share of issue books, some of them dealing with family issues like these.

The diversity in these books can be considered tokenist, but I wouldn't like to comment on it, personally. I have read comments from Asian-Americans who really identified with Claudia as a Japanese-American who wasn't a nerdy stereotype, and I wouldn't like to invalidate anyone's experiences there. I will say that it was more so than other series within the same time period, but 'better than the rest' doesn't necessarily mean good.

If you haven't read them for a while, pick up a few and spend a nice afternoon getting reacquainted with old friends. Most libraries still have several copies! If you have someone in your family at just the right age, why not introduce her?

A Review of the Firebird Trilogy

The Firebird Trilogy is a series by Claudia Grey, containing A Thousand Pieces of You, Ten Thousand Skies Above You and A Million Worlds with You. Marguerite Caine is the daughter of two genius scientists who have come up with the most important invention of recent times. The Firebird, a device which allows people to jump into other dimensions, will revolutionise the world. But when Paul Markov, her parents' protegee, kills her father and runs off with the information, Marguerite gives chase with him into other universes, her parents' other student Theo Beck at her side. But she quickly learns that everything was not as it seems...

This trilogy had no right to be as enjoyable as it was. I loved that much of the plot revolves around Marguerite being the one to save her 6 foot 2, genius boyfriend. And I loved her parents being good parents (in most universes) and the fact that it was her father who gave up his career to support her genius mother. And her sister Josie is an thrill-seeking adrenaline junkie with a science brain, and I'm sad that we didn't see more of her, and I would have loved to spend more time with her Russian brothers and sister too.

Grey rather quickly sets her limits on what her technology can do - the need for reminders and the need to have a version of yourself in the universe where you are going too. It's body-swapping alternate dimensions, so worlds where Marguerite has never been born or has died young can't be visited by her.

So it's sci-fi, but seems to take place in a universe not far off our own - many of the brands are the same as ours, for instance. This does work, because I've never seen why our brands would be completely forgotten about in the future - with how the world is, I feel that some will survive. But this world is also not quite ours - instead of iPhones, they have tPhones. Marguerite's time line is pretty much an alternate version of our exact world, but our world is one of her alternate dimensions, too.

Another thing that I don't seem to find as much in sci-fi is characters having passions. Here, Marguerite, and most of her alternate universe selves, are artists. She's looking into going to college for art restoration, but would love to study fine art and make a living drawing portraits. And it's such as small detail to see characters in sci-fi having the same concerns we would, but of course they would. This may just be in comparison with the rest of the characters, but Marguerite's not the most book-smart character, (and say it with me - not everyone in books has to be) although she does read and uses books to quickly get her bearings in her new universes. She's intuitive, though, good at picking up on small clues from other characters about who they are to her alternative universe self and how to interact with them. This may come from her artist background, observing people in order to paint them. And apart from a few little places where her personality is described, this is mostly shown to us rather than told.

I found I read the first book super quick, but the second one dragged in the middle - there's more romance and love-triangle stuff in that one, and less of the Russiaverse, which I loved. But then the second book throws so many twists and turns at you in the ending. The third book, however, pulls out all the stops, with some real gems of a scene. The Conclave of the Marguerites will go down in my mind as one of the most amusing scenes in any work of fiction ever.

I will put in a love triangle warning, however I felt like there was never any question of Marguerite's feelings towards Paul, and Theo is an interesting way to show how you can love someone without them loving you. I do wish he'd dropped his friendzoned attitude, though. If you truly love someone, you never try and make them feel guilty about not loving someone else. I felt like maybe the series would still have worked if her partner had just been her best friend, platonic male or female.

And we've finally got an American author who did her research - Marguerite winds up in Cambridge, and everything from the Bridge of Sighs to Marguerite riding a bike was familiar. Grey even bought up British brand names, such as Boots. It's almost enough for me to forgive Marguerite laughing at the funny accent in the first book.

I would give up my soul for a book like this which doesn't just handwave the language issue, however. Language acquisition is subject to much debate about the innateness of it, and there's no reason surely why Marguerite should be able to speak Russian just because a version of her can when inhabiting that body. This also features in the third book, where a version of Marguerite is deaf, likely from a bout of meningitis as a child, and our Marguerite innately knows sign language while in that body.

Highly recommended for those after a fun, enjoyable, quick book in the combined sci-fi/romance genre.

London 17/02/19 - God's Own Junkyard and the Florence Nightingale Museum

A friend of mine from the USA came to London for a visit, so we had to find time to meet up! Since the meet-up wasn't until dinnertime, I of course decided to go in early to London and make a day of it. I went to God's Own Junkyard, a neon sign art gallery, the Florence Nightingale Museum, which is very much about the history of nursing and ate at HipChips and Maxwell's!

A Review of On The Come Up

On the Come Up is the second novel by Angie Thomas, the author of The Hate U Give. Brianna Jackson is the daughter of a hip-hop artist killed before he made it big. She wants to make it on her own, but his shadow hangs over her every time she performs. With her Mom and brother in financial trouble, Bri sees rap as her way out.

Second novels are often full of pressure, particularly when coming after a book that was as hyped as The Hate U Give. I sometimes feel like books that get delayed, like this one did, aren't going well to being with, so an author just slaps an ending on the book to get it over with. But this book is the one which really defies both trends. You can really feel where Thomas has applied everything she's learnt over the past two years to this lovingly crafted book, and where they delay may well have lead a better story because of it.

In my eyes, this book is a masterpiece in showing, not telling. You can't rely on what you're told in this book - for example, Bri is often labelled as aggressive. But there's nowhere that I can point where I'd call her aggressive. She's impulsive, reckless and always speaks her mind. The fact of the matter is, that if a white boy called people out for the same things she does, he would be recommended for the debate team and receiving advice on a career in politics.

I also find it is hard to show a character with performing skills in books. You need to be told that someone is good at singing, for example. But rap is as much about the rhymes as the rhythms. It's poetry, and poetry can find a home on page. We see all of Bri's thought processes while she writes her lyrics, and I found myself saying her lyrics out loud under my breath to hear them with a beat and make me feel like I was there. Thomas shows us her skills.

Parents seem to be the glue which holds Thomas's books together. In this one, Bri's Mom Jay is a recovering heroin addict who would do anything for her children. She stands up for herself and for them and will make you cheer along with her. Bri's father Law, although we never meet him, is also influential on the plot. Bri is trying to get away from his shadow, but she can't deny that he's more present in her life than she'd like to admit.

My experience with rap is limited - it's mostly Hamilton, and what they play on the radio. But Thomas's books have inspired me to seek it out more!

Thomas's books should be required reading. Well, not required reading as I know the very concept can put people off, but people all over the world from all walks of life need to read these books. Americans should read them, of course, but it's also important for us from other countries to keep ourselves informed of life of people abroad. Especially in a country like America, which does in many ways influence the rest of the world.

Roaming through Rome, Day 7&8 - 29/12/18&30/12/18 - A Quiet Day and the Flight Home

I'm combining two days into one again, since after the Vatican we both wanted a bit more relaxed. There were a few small places I still wanted to check out, so I spent one day using the rest of my underground pass to get around. There was also a last few souvenirs and of course, food to eat!

Roaming through Rome, Day 6 - 28/12/18 - Vatican City and Eataly

Today, we went to see the Vatican. It is one of those things in Rome that you can't miss, but I found it too crowded. It was hard to find space to take a picture of some things. After that, I went to Eataly, another place in Rome I had read about online and wanted to check out!

Roaming Through Rome, Day 5 - 27/12/18 - Jewish Museum of Rome and the Cat Sanctuary of Rome

Today, we went around Rome's Jewish Museum. This was something I wanted to see, as I feel that it is vital to learn about Jewish historical events to stop them from being repeated. The Jewish Quarter is also one of the most architecturally interesting of Rome. I also stumbled on a cat sanctuary of Rome, and found myself looking for books.

Roaming Through Rome, Day 3&4 - 25/12/18&26/12/18 - Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain

As today was Christmas Day and Dad and I weren't sure what places would be open, we decided to walk to some of the sights we could reach on foot. This meant we made it to the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, saw the outside of the Pantheon, and ate much gelato.

Roaming through Rome, Day 2 - 24/12/18 - Bus Tour Through Rome

Today was officially Christmas Eve. It felt different, but still had a definite air of Christmas about it. Today, we paid for a bus tour of Rome. These have never been my favourite way to see a city, but they can be good for getting to grips with a city for the first time! I also had my first Italian pizza, and a look at the Spanish Steps at night!

Roaming through Rome, Day 1 - 23/12/18 - Flights, Hotel and the Local Area

Over Christmas, I ended up going to Rome! With my job, I have to take some of my holiday time over Christmas. I wound up thinking to myself, why not go on holiday during that period? But I didn't want to leave Dad on his own over Christmas. So then I thought, why don't I invite him along as his Christmas present? Christmas last year wasn't the best time of year for us, so the best thing to do is to do something completely different.

Christmas Book Haul!

I always like to post my Christmas book haul! I pick up more books this month than any other. Below are the reasons why I've chose these books!

The first three I bought for myself from Waterstones!

1. Circe - I've heard a lot of good things about this book, and it's interesting and beautiful cover compelled me to give it a try.
2. Vox - Vox is a Handmaid's Tale-esque misogynist dystopia. In this one, all woman have been given a limit of exactly 100 words per day to use to speak.

3. Listening to the Animals - I love animals, and I like Professor Noel Fitzpatrick's series, The Supervet. His science and ethics are very interesting!

The next seven were my Christmas presents from Dad (which is mostly I let him know which books I want)

4. Anne of Green Gables - I've never read this one, but I recently started watching Anne with an E, and I had to pick up the book! This is the Seven Seas edition, as are the next two, which has all the original text, but uses manga-style illustrations throughout. 

5. The Secret Garden - This was one of my Mum's favourites, and I had a child's version with pared-down text when I was younger. I also remember watching the movie!
6. A Little Princess - Another one I've never read, and unlike The Secret Garden, I can't even remember having a child's edition or watching the movie. I remember being interested in an advert for the movie that played before another VHS I had, though.
7, 8 &9. The Firebird Trilogy - A Thousand Pieces of You, Ten Thousand Skies Above You and A Million Worlds with You - I like this sort of YA sci-fi/romance mix, so these sounded good, and they all have beautiful covers! Sidenote - I wish YA publishers would display part of a beautiful cover on the spine more often. These spines look so plain compared to the covers. As always, I love buying a series all at once.
10. The Way You Make Me Feel - I really liked Maureen Goo's book I Believe in a Thing Called Love so I had to pick this one up as well.
11. Oogy: The Dog Only A Family Could Love - I didn't know about this one, but Dad bought it for me as a surprise because he knows I like dogs.

There comes a time while on holiday anywhere where I run out of reading material, and have to quickly search for the nearest English Language bookshop to pick up some more. The next two were bought for this very reason, while in Rome.
12. Wildcard - I enjoyed Warcross and I'd been wanting to pick up Wildcard for a while.
13. The Underground Railroad - It was a book that I'd heard about, and I knew it was a serious historical fiction book.

The next three I bought with Waterstones vouchers I received for Christmas!
14. Becoming - It's by Michelle Obama, end of reasoning.
15. The Night Circus - I'd heard a bit about this in comparison to Caravel when the latter book hit shelves. I thought it was fantasy but I'm not sure now as it was on the general fiction shelf in Waterstones.
16. The Long Song - This book was adapted into a BBC TV series that I've been watching on iPlayer, and I have to read the book as well. BBC literary adapted series are one of the best things about Christmas.

The last three I bought with an Amazon voucher, again given as a Christmas gift.
17. Rich People Problems - When I start a series, I like to finish it, too. But... I haven't even read China Rich Girlfriend yet!
18. Summer Bird Blue - I loved Akemi Dawn Bowman's Starfish and I had to pick this one up, too. Another one in the pretty cover column, and the description sounds a little like The Sky is Everywhere.
19. The Towering Sky - Another one to finish off a previous series, and this series's Gossip Girl/sci-fi vibe is great, while taking place mostly in one location, The Tower.