Movie Review: That Christmas

December 15, 2025 By Leave a Comment


That Christmas
Writers: Richard Curtis and Peter Souter
Director: Simon Otto
Starring: Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, and Bill Nighy
Publisher: Netflix
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Holiday, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars (8 Stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by Astilbe

It’s an unforgettable Christmas for the townsfolk of Wellington-on-Sea when the worst snowstorm in history alters everyone’s plans, including Santa’s.

Anything is possible when Santa comes to visit.

Wellington-on-Sea was such the perfect setting for this tale that I wished it were a real town. I loved the friendly relationships between many of the members of this small town as well as the many inside jokes about their community and lives that they shared with viewers. Their playful senses of humor worked beautifully for the Christmas season, especially when not everything necessarily went according to plan. Viewers who are already at least somewhat familiar with British culture will also find some great cultural references here, although understanding them is not required in order to understand the plot.

This movie would have been stronger if it had focused on a smaller number of storylines, and I’m saying this as someone who enjoyed all of the subplots. There simply wasn’t enough time to develop all of them fully, so I wasn’t quite satisfied with any of them in the end. A few plot lines were left dangling, and others were only able to briefly hold the audience’s attention as their most important moments were resolved.

I liked the modern spin on the holiday season that was shown here. It included characters from many different types of families as well as an exploration of who should and shouldn’t be counted as naughty for Santa’s purposes. That meant that a wide range of perspectives were included, from kids who knew they deserved to be on the good list to those who really struggled with the holidays and everything in-between.

That Christmas was a jolly ride.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Movie Review Tagged With: , , , , ,

Acceptance – A Self-Guided Approach to Trauma Recovery by Tiberius Ryuu

December 12, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Acceptance – A Self-Guided Approach to Trauma Recovery by Tiberius Ryuu
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

What if healing didn’t mean forgetting what happened, but learning how to live freely with it?

In Acceptance, former addictions counselor and trauma recovery guide Tiberius Ryuu invites readers on a deeply personal and practical journey toward reclaiming their lives after trauma. This book isn’t about quick fixes or spiritual bypassing—it’s about learning to meet yourself honestly, with courage, compassion, and integrity.

Through grounded self-reflection and gentle structure, Acceptance helps readers navigate the inner terrain of trauma with clarity and self-trust. Each chapter blends education, storytelling, and guided exercises designed to nurture awareness, rebuild safety, and cultivate the capacity to live with greater peace and authenticity.

This self-guided approach offers:

Foundational understanding of trauma’s psychological and physiological impact.
Tools for self-evaluation that foster awareness without judgment or blame.
Reflective exercises and prompts to help process emotions and patterns.
Encouragement for personal responsibility and rebuilding self-reliance.
Pathways toward forgiveness, meaning, and growth.
Written in a warm, conversational tone, Acceptance speaks to survivors who are ready to stop identifying solely with their pain and begin living from a place of strength and choice. It also serves as a compassionate companion for counselors, healers, and loved ones supporting others on their path to wholeness.

At its core, Acceptance is not a manual for “fixing” yourself—it’s an invitation to come home to yourself. To face the truth of what’s been, to grieve what was lost, and to recognize that healing is not the end of the story, but the beginning of belonging to your life again.

Whether you’re taking your first steps toward recovery or continuing a lifelong journey of self-discovery, this book offers a steady hand and a sacred reminder: you are not broken—you are becoming.

Healing is a journey.

Many self-help books seem to assume that their readers already have some basic knowledge of the topic they’re about to explore, so I was intrigued to find out how Mr. Ryuu was going to explain trauma recovery without doing this. I thought he did a nice job of starting at the beginning and making sure that everyone had the same basic understanding of what the plan was. It was a unique spin on this genre that made me curious to read more from him in the future.

I would have liked to see more time spent explaining the various techniques that people can use to heal from trauma, however. Yes, this was intended to be a brief overview of a wide variety of options as I mentioned earlier, but readers who aren’t already familiar with some of them might not be aware of what terms to search for or what to expect while doing a deeper dive into those topics. Just because I was familiar with all of them already doesn’t mean that everyone who picks up this book will have that same advantage, and I think it would have been stronger if it had given readers some of those context clues for further study.

One of the things I did like about all of the coping mechanisms mentioned was how varied they were. Everything from dietary changes to exercise to thought experiments were included. This meant that there were multiple opportunities for readers to notice something that appealed to them immediately which can be really helpful when one is experiencing this sort of mental health challenge and might not have the time or energy to leap into a treatment they’re unsure about at the moment. Making that first step as easy as possible is so important in order to encourage people who have experienced trauma to eventually consider branching out to other options as they continue to improve.

Acceptance – A Self-Guided Approach to Trauma Recovery was a thought-provoking introduction to some tools that can help one heal.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Miller and Kelby Major Case Squad Files A Collection of Short Stories by Maxine Flam

December 9, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Miller and Kelby Major Case Squad Files A Collection of Short Stories by Maxine Flam
Publisher: Chapeltown Books
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Two Detectives, One City

The time: the late 1970sThe place: Los Angeles, California

Joseph (Joe) Miller and William (Bill) Kelby are detectives with the Major Case Squad. They get the hard-to-solve cases. And they solve them the old fashioned way with grit and determination, forensics, and help from the department psychologist.

Miller and Kelby are a dedicated detective team that Los Angeles turns to when there are unsolved murders in the city. And solving murders is their speciality. They put their lives on the line every day for the citizens of Los Angeles, a city that rarely sleeps.

Intuition is an underrated skill.

This was a varied look at life before the Internet existed. Everyone from nuns to serial killers to prostitutes were included, although the emphasis was on people on the margins of society for a variety of reasons. Joe and Bill needed to rely on their training and gut feelings about cases as doing any sort of research on the victims or suspects could be tedious and might not turn up anything new about them at all. Hunches aren’t proof, of course, but it was interesting to see how these characters found themselves proven right – or sometimes maybe not so right – once they’d gathered more facts.

While genre fiction is bound to have a certain amount of repetition of themes and plot twists, I did find myself wishing that this collection had branched out a little more from what typically happens in historical mysteries. The short lengths of these tales only highlighted those moments even more. This is something I’m saying as a reader who enjoys mysteries quite a bit and really wanted to choose a higher rating.

With that being said, the way these cases tended to blur into each other did mean that I was able to spend more time exploring Joe and Bill’s personalities as well as their relationship with one another as colleagues. They shared so much in common that it was refreshing to take note of the differences that existed between them and what each officer thought of their partner.

Miller and Kelby Major Case Squad Files A Collection of Short Stories made me feel as though I’d travelled back in time fifty years or so.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Movie Review: Meet Me Next Christmas

December 8, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Meet Me Next Christmas
Writers: Camilla Rubis and Molly Haldeman
Director: Rusty Cundieff
Starring: Christina Milian, Devale Ellis, and Kofi Siriboe
Publisher: Netflix
Genre: Romance, Holiday, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars (6 Stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by Astilbe

In pursuit of a fairytale romance with the man of her dreams, Layla must race through New York City to get her hands on the hottest ticket in town: the sold out Pentatonix Christmas Eve Concert.

True love makes everything a little better.

I adored the chemistry between Layla and her romantic interest. They shared similar playful personalities and were both incredibly kind and generous people as well. It was nice that they both had so many opportunities to shine as this film progressed as they weren’t the sort of people who would generally draw attention to themselves on purpose. They needed a little more time to open up to the viewers, but it was well worth the wait.

There was a plot hole involving Layla’s desperate need for a ticket to a Pentatonix concert that I did wish had been explored in greater depth. Couldn’t she have gone to the venue without the ticket and still looked for James in the lobby or left a message for him with the employees at the box office there? That’s what I would have done in her shoes, and I was a little puzzled by why this never came up as an option even though I otherwise enjoyed the storyline.

With that being said, this was still entertaining. As a fellow fan of Pentatonix’s music, I loved seeing Layla gush about their songs and try to use that as a way to connect with other people. She was so earnest about her interests that it only made me like her even more. There is definitely something to be said for characters who are this deeply invested in something that matters so much to them.

Meet Me Next Christmas was sweet and heartwarming.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Movie Review, Television Show Tagged With: , , , , ,

We Will Speak Again of the Red Tower by Author Joelle Killian, Carson Winter, Jack Klausner, Joe Koch, Rhiannon Rasmussen, C.J. Subko, TJ Price, and RSL

December 4, 2025 By Leave a Comment


We Will Speak Again of the Red Tower by Joelle Killian, Carson Winter, Jack Klausner, Joe Koch, Rhiannon Rasmussen, C.J. Subko, TJ Price, and RSL
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

“The ruined factory stood three stories high in an otherwise featureless landscape…”

With these words, Thomas Ligotti begins one of the most influential short stories in the canon of horror and weird fiction. “The Red Tower” is a singular work, extraordinary even within Ligotti’s exemplary oeuvre, and has long been admired by scholars and enthusiasts alike. It is unlike any other story you’ve ever read.

“We are all talking and thinking about the Red Tower in our own degenerate way…”

The eight artists of these pages have come together, if not as representatives of the Tower itself, as adherents of its twisted, creative force. Each of them have seen the blasted factory, been touched by its encrimsoning, and have produced for your consideration these novelties from its ruddy depths. Perhaps once you have read them, you too

“…will be able to speak again of The Red Tower.”

Few things are scarier than not having any idea what’s happening in a strange situation.

The plot twists in “Jar of Arms” kept me guessing. I never would have thought that glass jars could be so scary or be used in such interesting ways. I also enjoyed the different reactions that children had to what was happening in this tale as compared to the adults around them. Various age groups can experience the same phenomenon in discordant ways in real life, too, so of course the same can be true in fiction.

As much as I appreciated the scary vibes of this universe, there were times when I wished more attention had been paid to plot development and explaining what was going on with the Red Tower. “[_]he [__]a[__]r[_] of th[_] [_]e[_] [___]r [__] [__]o[___] [_____]t[_]”, the second to last instalment, was a good example of this. The main character found an abandoned child and only then realized that he or she had never met a child before and, what’s more, couldn’t even remember that portion of their own life. This was the sort of detail that I would have loved to see expanded upon as it’s not something I’ve seen before in the speculative fiction genre from what I can recall and there were so many possibilities that could have been explored after that revelation.

All of the tales in this collection had dreamlike qualities about them, and this was especially noticeable in “Tolerance” which began with a nightmarish description of how the Red Tower mysteriously changed shape, color, and size so regularly that no map or chart of it could ever be accurate. It reminded me of nightmares I’ve had about trying to escape buildings that never seem to have any way to exit them even if they do appear to have windows or doors at first glance. Focusing on the logistical problems related to not knowing how this tower works was a smart way to not only describe it in more detail but to also help the rest of this book make more sense.

We Will Speak Again of the Red Tower was a wild ride.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Wrapped in Tinsel by Sarah Stein

December 2, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Wrapped in Tinsel by Sarah Stein
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Romance, Holiday, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

IVY CANE TINSEL
He’s bad news.
But I can’t help staring.
His eyes pick me apart every time we’re in the same room together.
He’s drop-dead gorgeous, and my body reacts in a way that surprises me.
I thought his job was complete, but it was just the beginning.
He’s taken residence in my mind and refuses to leave.

ASHER BOYD
I was hired to do one job, and that was it.
Unfortunately, things never happen as expected.
It takes longer than expected, only because of her.
Just as I finish, another request pops up.
I’ve never played Santa before.
My only thought is whether Ivy will take the opportunity to sit on my lap and reveal her Christmas wishes.

The holidays are the perfect time for a little romance, whether for a few nights or maybe for much longer than that.

Ivy and Asher were a good match for each other. Not only did they have similar personalities and interests, they had nice chemistry as well. All of these things were important to establish early on in order to help explain why their relationship heated up rapidly, so I was glad to see so much proof that these two were compatible right away.

I did find myself wishing that a few plot holes involving the protagonists’ places of employment had been filled in better. Given how busy both of their jobs seemed to be, especially in a store during the holiday season, I would have loved to have a more thorough explanation as to why they seemed to have so much free time to do things other than work. There were hints that Ivy had some truly caring and fantastic bosses and Asher was the boss at his workplace, so this could have been easily explained with a few more details added to show why there were so many lulls in activity.

There was a fun Christmas-themed plot twist involving Bells & Whistles, the store Ivy worked at, that made me smile. Obviously, I can’t go into detail about what it was without sharing spoilers, but I appreciated the humor it injected into the storyline and thought it fit the mood of this piece nicely.

Wrapped in Tinsel was playful and festive.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Movie Review: Dear Santa

December 1, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Dear Santa
Writers: Ricky Blitt, Peter Farrelly, and Dan Ewen
Director: Bobby Farrelly
Starring: Jack Black, Robert Timothy Smith, and Keegan-Michael Key
Publisher: Paramount+
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Holiday, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars (6 Stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by Astilbe

When a young boy mails his Christmas wish list to Santa with one crucial spelling error, a devilish Jack Black arrives to wreak havoc on the holidays.

A little miscommunication goes a long way.

It was cool to have a protagonist who had a learning disability, especially since Liam’s struggles with reading and spelling played such an important role in where his letter to Santa ended up and what happened when the unintended recipient decided to reply anyway. This is something I’d love to see more of in the film industry in the future given how rare it is to explore the lives of people with these sorts of difficulties on the big screen.

I found the ending confusing and out of sync with what was going on in the beginning and middle of this film. The themes about grief, friendship, and Christmas magic that had been slowly building up to this point were suddenly switched out for a conclusion that sharply contradicted what had previously been established as the rules Liam must follow while making his three wishes.

It was interesting to see the wide variety of jokes. Some of them were the sorts of things elementary and middle school aged kids often find funny like bodily functions while others were definitely meant for adult viewers. In certain scenes, one of these jokes would be immediately followed by the other sort which made this feel like something that the whole family could enjoy.

With that being said, I do think this would have benefitted from having a clearer understanding of which audience it was written for. There were playful scenes I would wholeheartedly recommend to kids but others that were too dark, scary, and in one case even tragic for me to feel comfortable including them in the list of people who should see this. The ending played a big role in my discomfort here.

The dialogue felt natural and was often witty. Jack Black has played plenty of roles in other movies that I enjoyed in the past, and it was fun to see how he approached such a surprising character. He had a great sense of humor in this piece and provided plenty of laughs exactly when they were needed.

Dear Santa made me chuckle.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Musings, Movie Review, Television Show Tagged With: , , ,

The Great Hunter by Kel Paisley

November 25, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Great Hunter by Kel Paisley
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Romance, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Kel Paisley’s The Great Hunter takes us back ten thousand years, to Mesolithic Britain – a very different country from today. Not yet an island but a peninsula of Europe, with fast rising seas to the south, west and north-east. A peninsula covered mostly by forest or woodlands and home to tribes of hunters, fishers and gatherers, warriors and shamans.

Powerful spirits and other supernatural beings influence everything in the minds of these people, from the weather to illness, to childbirth and success in hunting or courtship.

Life is not without its challenges, but the real hardships of the Ice Age that ended over sixty generations before are becoming a distant memory. There is an abundance of game animals, fish and plant foods too, in season. Rich pickings for the numerous bands of hunter-gatherers. Yet the country is as hazardous as it is bountiful. Bears, wolves, aurochs and other wild animals that could kill a man roam the landscape. Floods, blizzards, wildfires and tree-felling storms may strike with little or no warning. Still more danger comes from the tribal wars that might suddenly flare up, with their brutal raids and counter-raids. Destruction may also come from enemies within.

Sometimes it takes more than love to make a relationship work.

This was a good example of crisp, clean writing. Some passages required detailed descriptions of what was happening since the vast majority of people living in the modern era do not need to go hunting or gathering in order to have something to eat for dinner, but these sections were balanced out by other moments when the audience was given free range to interpret certain emotional reactions and human impulses for ourselves. Having this delicate balance in an already 450-page novel meant that I never quite knew what to expect next, only that the narrator would share exactly what was necessary to understand the storyline and characters and not a single word more. It was exactly what I was hoping to read in that regard.

I struggled to keep track of the large cast of characters at first, especially since their names were often so similar that only a few letters separated them. While I appreciated the abbreviated list of characters that was shared before the first chapter began, it would have been nice to see more names listed there so that I could more easily keep track of who I had and hadn’t met before. What helped this issue to improve for me as a reader was how often the author reminded us of who certain characters were and how they were connected to one another. It was still a little confusing sometimes as I wandered deeper into the plot, but these reminders went a long way in prompting my memories about who was who. Speaking of lists, do take note of the Names & Author’s Notes section at the very end of this book as it does include some important cultural and historical context for this tale.

The immersive world building kept my attention levels high from the first scene to the final one. I especially enjoyed figuring out the aspects of Garetto’s society and environment that don’t translate well to life in the twenty-first century. For example, there was a description of strangers about a third of the way through this book that was quite frightening in context but also contained clues about their true identities that made me smile because of what we in modern times now know about those people that Garetto never would have guessed. Yes, I know this is a little vague, but figuring it out was a delight that I want other readers to experience for themselves.

The Great Hunter was an exciting peek back into the Mesolithic era.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , ,

Jack Shadow by Graeme Smith

November 19, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Jack Shadow by Graeme Smith
Shadow Dance #1
Publisher: BWL Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Jack Shadow. He’s heard them – every one of them. The jokes. They all start out the same. “See, this guy walks into a bar…” Well, that’s not him. That guy who walked into a bar. He’s the guy who walked out. It’s not amnesia. Near as anyone knows, he just doesn’t have a past. Near as anyone knows – or admits to. He doesn’t walk round a corner, and some guy from a car shoots at him because of something he did long ago.

Sure. Guys shoot at him. Hell, women too. But not for long ago. Mostly for last week. Where ‘last week’ is any week you choose. No, he just walked out of a bar. Were there piles of dead bodies behind him? A stacked deck he was dealing, or one he was dealt? He doesn’t know. Or care. But they were waiting, and they took him. The Dragon. Took him to make a difference. To wait for the time a beat of a gnat’s wing could change tomorrow. And Jack’s the gnat. Jack walked out of a bar.

The rest – the rest will be history. Some day. Not that he’ll be in it. Nobody remembers the gnats. Not if they did their job right. And Jack’s the best there is. Jack Shadow. Because some days – the last thing you need is a good guy.

Danger is the spice of life when one is in certain lines of work.

Jack had a well-rounded, intriguing personality that made me want to learn more about him. I appreciated his wry sense of humor and how intelligently and cautiously he approached every aspect of his work. He was the sort of character I’d want to hang out with during an emergency due to how closely he paid attention to small details in his environment as well as how prepared he was for a wide variety of possible outcomes in life, both positive and negative.

This was one of those tales that tossed the reader into the action and asked us to figure out what was happening as the protagonist attempted to stay alive and well. As much as I enjoy the challenge of this style of writing in general, I did find myself wishing for a little more exposition in the beginning in this case. Even a few more paragraphs worth of it would have catapulted this to a five-star rating for me as I enjoyed everything else about it and thought Jack was definitely someone worth getting to know better.

The time travel aspects of the storyline were handled nicely. It can be a complicated topic, especially when more than one trip is involved or when multiple characters are involved, so I was glad to see Mr. Smith spend some time digging into the risks involved and what the characters hoped to earn from their hard work.

Jack Shadow was fast-paced and adventurous.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Pits: Life Literally Bit Me in the Ass (a memoir) by Cheryl Edwards

November 17, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Pits: Life Literally Bit Me in the Ass (a memoir) by Cheryl Edwards
Publisher: Huber House Press LLC
Genre: Non-Fiction, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Cheryl Edwards’s life takes a terrifying turn when she is viciously attacked by three pit bulls, and nothing goes according to plan when it comes to escaping, finding help, and recovering.

Once a happy dog-loving gym rat who swam with sharks and skydived, she’s now afraid of skiing, snakes, and senior schnauzers. With her life in the pits, she copes like any other Gen Xer and the only way she knows how: with pigheaded determination, sarcasm, and humor. Needless to say, the results vary.

Cheryl wants nothing more than to be normal again, but after therapist number three informs her that she hadn’t been normal to begin with, she’s forced to confront her past in order to make the most of her future.

This gripping memoir isn’t just a cautionary tale for dog owners and pet sitters; it’s a thank-you letter to her husband, a guide to treating victims, and a testament to friendship.

Courage comes in many forms.

Ms. Edward’s conversational writing style was the perfect fit for this memoir. Even though I’ve never actually met her, in some ways it still felt like I was sitting down with an old friend to get a detailed update on her life as I read. Her warm and easy-going narrative was occasionally punctuated by funny moments that I never would have expected to read in a book about a vicious, unprovoked attack by three dogs.

My favourite passages were the ones that described the parts of recovery that might not be the first thing to cross someone’s mind when they think about the practicalities of healing from so many bites. For example, the author had a terrible time convincing her insurance company to cover many of the bills that resulted not only from her attack but also from the physical therapy and other medical costs in the weeks, months, and years to follow. Her mental health was negatively affected in completely understandable ways as well as she dealt with the horrific trauma of that day. These sections were an excellent reminder of just how long healing can take as well as how much of it involves things that outsiders might not understand. Compassion is key whether someone is the victim of such an attack or a friend or loved one who is trying to help. I’ll leave it up to other readers to absorb the rest of the lessons she learned as a result of these experiences, but there was plenty of material here to work with for people from every walk of life.

The author’s reactions to the dogs who attacked her was what ultimately encouraged me to give this a glowing five-star read. That is to say, I was impressed with how she responded to the thought of discussing their future once the danger was finished and she’d received appropriate medical care for her many injuries. That isn’t a topic I can go into great detail about without sharing spoilers, but it was what solidified this into a must-read for me.

The Pits: Life Literally Bit Me in the Ass overflowed with hope, forgiveness, and kindness. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,
Next Page »