Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

Today's blog post is something a little different.

As the we sink into 2026 I want to ponder on some the books that we can expect to get this year. Books make great presents and sometimes can be pre-ordered. I think books are great presents to give, especially when someone loves books as much as me.

For today's blog post I am highlighting another bookshop that I have recently visited.

This time I am reviewing the 2021 version of Jekyll and Hyde.

For my post today let us examine good vs bad, right vs wrong.

For today's blog post I am giving you a review.

Welcome back to my blog people. For today's post I am going to look at some of the favourite books that I read last year.

For today's blog post I am reviewing the film of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island  (1999) directed by Peter Rowe. This film was action packed and at times scary. But it was also confusing. Now in the novel, the protagonist Jim Hawkins ends up back with those on the good side. However in the film, it seems he's against both the good people and the bad people? I am lost... Another thing to point out, Ben appeared earlier than I expected. I understand that film adaptations of works of fiction do not have to be exactly the same, though sometimes if things are different it does not always make sense. This film at times, did not make sense. That is not to say I disliked it completely. When it started I thought The Admiral Benbow was a farm and someone's house. Then I realised where we were and the film grew to be interesting. The film just grew to confuse me a little. I must say that at least it contained the vital dramatic adventurous elements of the novel. A lot of ...

Apologies for not posting on Friday but as I had been unwell over the festive period, I was away gifting presents to people I had not seen. Anyway, I have been doing better and have been enjoying reading Robert Louis Stevenson's wicked adventure tale of mischief, mayhem, terror and treasure. Starting in the Admiral Benbow with young Jim Hawkins, the novel follows what happens when Jim uncovers the belongings of one Billy Bones. This man had been staying at the inn, owned by his parents when he was struck down dead, much to the unsurprise of the local Dr Livesey. Off Jim goes with DR Livesey and an array of ship crewman to find some hidden treasure. This includes Arrow, Gray and Long John Silver. But once they arrive at treasure island, Jim and the doctor are dealt with double-crossing deceit, struggling to work out what to do and who to trust! I struggled to work out who to trust in the story. It ended up being a novel that I liked because of how it played out with all the death an...

Hello all. As January is upon us, I realised that also means Burns Night is on the way... But what is Burns Night and why do people in the United Kingdom? Well... Burns Night is a celebration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Usually, people celebrate Robert Burns on the 25th of January because that was Robert Burns' birthday. It was five years after his death in 1801 that people first started celebrating Robert Burns. Fast forward over two hundred years later and people still celebrate him. I know that some pubs have some special menu items to coincide with Burns Night, having seen relevant signage of this. One thing that people often eat to celebrate Burns Night is the Scottish delicacy haggis. This is because Robert Burns himself liked haggis, even writing a poem entitled 'Address to a haggis'. The poem is in Scottish which was uncommon when the poem came out. A lot of poems would have been in English but Burns deviated. This was evident by him writing a poem in Scottis...

Apologies for my absence people. I spent most of last month being unwell, first with a cold which I thought had gone away. Then I developed a chest infection which complicated by the fact that I was reacting to the medication I was put on, making me feel worse. I feeling better now and am mostly over it. I hope everyone had a good December and a Happy New Year. Here's to 2026. As we move into January, I am going to kickstarting this new month and new year with a new theme. To tie in with Burns Night, the theme of the month for January and February will be Scottish authors. Now I will not be celebrating Robert Burns personally but I have two others to be author of the month. For January, the author of the month will be Robert Louis Stevenson, famed for The Strange Case of  Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (1886). Hopefully this month, I can be healthy and hopefully this month is the start to a wonderful year for all of us. Have a great 2026 everyone. Until next time, Thomas.