Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend

Budo is Max's imaginary friend. But though only Max can see him, he is real. He and the other imaginary friends watch over their children until the day comes that the child stops imagining them. And then they're gone. Budo has lasted a lot longer than most imaginary friends - four years - because Max needs him more. His parents argue about sending him to a special school. But Max is perfectly happy if everything is just kept the way it is, and nothing out of the ordinary happens. Unfortunately, something out of the ordinary is going to happen - and then he'll need Budo more than ever...

So much for the Goodreads blurb of Memoirs Of An Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks. While the premise in itself is original and intriguing, the blurb fails to capture the beauty, quirkiness and heart of the novel. I loved it.

Valentine's Day And Chocolate

Because it's almost Valentine's Day, Here is a give-away from Eve Summers: a box of chocolates to a lucky reader (or two, or three). Simply buy an e-copy of "Not Complicated" and send the invoice number to bestseller at xtra dot co dot nz (email subject: Love Romance!).

For every 10 emails, 1 lucky winner will get chocolates. So your chance to win is 1 in 10 (or 1 in 5, or 1 in 2, depending how many entries I get). Plus the book you buy. Not bad for 99c, huh?

Top 5 Movies 2012

What are your top 5 movies for 2012? Without using Mr Google to prod my memory banks, I can thing of... one... come on, come on, I spent thousands of dollars in the cinemas last year... Life Of Pi can't be the only great movie I got for my money... I remember Wimpy Kid and the latest James Bond, neither of which deserves the Top Five slot... And now that I think of it, Life Of Pi was made in 2012, but it was released in New Zealand in 2013....

OK, I give up.



Right. It's all coming back to me now.

1. Safety Not Guaranteed
2. The Hunger Games
3. Madagascar 3 (what is it with the children's movies?)
4. The Pirates - Band Of Misfits (ditto)
5. Ruby Sparks - I haven't actually seen it yet, because when it was on I had too many deadlines to go out, but I've no doubt that it would have been awesome

Not a great year. What am I missing?

ParaNorman, Wreck It Ralph and The Guardians

ParaNorman, Wreck It Ralph and The Guardians... if Big Brother is really checking what movie tickets I buy, he will by now have realised it's summer school holidays here in New Zealand and that I've given up on entertaining my kids in quality educational ways like making our own soap.

And so, off to the movies we went. Three times. None of the three movies were hidden gems like Kung Fu Panda, but they were all immensely watchable.

Wreck It Ralph will appeal to most parents because of its arcade-game look. Its story line is sound, the plot twists believable... if only it didn't have so many Pahntom-Menace-like races around the track!

The Guardians is prettier, if a little less original. If I had to go into stereotypes, I'd say this one is more of a girl movie than Wreck It Ralph.

ParaNorman... not for little kids. Some 8-year olds may be ok with it, some 10-year olds might cry over the ghost of the pet dog. I hesitated for a long time before taking my son to see it, read all the reviews, went yuck to the zombies. In the end, I had fun. The scary bits are all delivered with a wink and a pinch of salt, but you have to appreciate black humour to enjoy them.

Can't wait to see The Croods!

The Other Shade Of Yvonne Walus

Hi, meet Eve Summers, the other shade of Yvonne Walus. Read an interview about her (and how she once went skinny dipping) here, at A Passion For Romance.

The tragedy of life

The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.

~ Benjamin E Mays

Tom Cruise Rules!

And so, I was right. All you need to play Jack Reacher is an exceptional acting talent. Tom Cruise has that in spades. When he's on the screen, you believe he's Reacher.

I mean, yes, the fight scenes would have been more impressive with Lawrance Dallaglio. Question is, can Lawrance Dallaglio act? Tom Cruise can, to labour the point. 

Go see the movie. It's good.

Dallaglio