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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
2019 | Drama
It was a beautiful night in the theater, a beautiful night in the theater, would ya go see, could ya go see, won't you go see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. No shame in saying I cried throughout this whole movie. Tom Hanks is amazing as always, but the entire cast is great. I wrote a poem after watching the documentary last year and felt like it would be fitting on this review as well.

It's always a beautiful day in the neighborhood,
For in the worst of times you always made me see the good.
You would walk in with a smile on your face,
I knew that I was welcome at your place.
And no matter the weather,
You would put on your sweater.
Then you would sit down to put on more comfortable shoes,
Making me comfortable knowing I had a neighbor like you.
Together we would feed the fish,
Sometimes go to the kitchen and make a dish.
It was always my brain and heart that you were feeding,
As a kid you knew exactly what I was needing.
Messages would come from Mr. McFeely,
Who would show up with a speedy delivery.
When I'd hear the bell of the trolley,
I'd get excited and feel jolly.
For I knew we were off to visit our puppetry friends,
On the other side of the tunnel in make believe land.
You taught me what to do with my mad,
And that it was okay to be sad.
You helped in dealing with the bad and serious issues of the world,
But at the end of everyday in me the good you had restored.
In our daily meetings on television with me there is so much that you left,
I am special, amazing the way I am, and in the scary to be the one that helps.
It was in your words that I did find,
The key to success is being kind.
In many ways you were a savior whose love will always be savored,
Mister Rogers I will be forever grateful that you were my neighbor.
  
More Than Words
More Than Words
Jill Santopolo | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the thirteenth book in my #atozchallenge! I'm challenging myself to read a book from my shelves that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Let's clear those shelves and delve into that backlist!

Nina Gregory has always been a loyal daughter. After her mother's death, she was raised by her father, the owner of the Gregory Hotels, a renowned chain in New York City. She knows she will take over the family business someday. And her father has always taught her that family (and reputation) come before everything. But when Nina's father dies, she finds herself adrift. Not even her boyfriend, Tim, whom she's been raised with since childhood (his parents work with her father) can provide comfort. When Nina finds out something about her father that causes her to question everything, she finds herself turning to her boss, mayoral candidate Rafael. Nina's always been cautious and proper. But now, she's not so sure what to believe.

"Not only was she going to lose her father, she was going to lose the life she'd imagined for herself. The future she'd expected would be hers."

This was a good read about love, loss, and politics. I think parts of it might have annoyed me more, but I read it at a good time. Nina honestly came across as self-centered at moments, but she was certainly going through a lot, trying to find herself in the wake of her father's death. With her family legacy, she was under a lot of pressure. The book did a good job of capturing grief and loss. I also really liked Rafael--he was a character I could root for. The story seemed to meander a little and could be heartbreaking, but it was a book centered around death, after all.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It's sad, but hopeful too. A good read if you go in with the right mindset. 3.5 stars.
  
The Book Club
The Book Club
C.J. Cooper | 2019 | Reference
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A really good book that kept me guessing throughout.
The story follows Lucy who has moved to a cottage in the Cotswolds after an affair with her boss. She moved for a fresh start and has found her feet with a group of friends who all seem relatively close. That is until a newcomer, Alice, moves in next door to Lucy and turns her world upside down. Lucy always knows there’s something she doesn’t trust about Alice, but she can’t seem to quite put her finger on it. Alice finds out secrets about everyone in the friendship group and, after suggesting a book club for them all, manages to suggest or manipulate other people into suggesting books similar to each of the secrets they have hidden from each other.

Alice is out for revenge, and it took me until the last few chapters, just before it was revealed, to work out what exactly she wanted revenge for.

I found the book quite confusing at times, one chapter was from Lucy’s point of view and then the next was always focused on other character or multiple character’s but always in the third person. Because of this, sometimes I had to reread paragraphs because I was confused who it was about. But once I got used to this style, I really did enjoy the book.

Each of the character’s secrets were interesting, and it was easy to see that they didn’t trust their friends completely as they mostly dealt with the secrets they were keeping by themselves. It was also interesting to see just how easy the odd comment from an outsider caused a rift in the friendships and it made me wonder were they really that close in the first place?

This book really did live up the the hype for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns that were present throughout. I’m looking forward to reading C.J. Cooper’s next book!
  
When thirteen-year-old Savannah Hopkins doesn’t come straight home from school, as she always does, her mother Jane immediately raises the alarm.
Leading the investigation is Detective Natalie Ward whose daughter Leigh is the same age as Savannah. Soon Natalie’s worst fears are confirmed when the teenager’s broken body is found in nearby shrubland.
Evidence points towards a local recluse, but just as the net is closing around him, one of Savannah’s friends, Harriet, is reported missing.
As Natalie delves into the lives of both girls, she soon discovers a sinister video on their phones, daring the girls to disappear from their families for 48 hours.
But Natalie isn’t quick enough for this killer, and she is devastated to find Harriet’s body on a fly tip a day later.
Caught up in the case, she takes her eye off her own daughter and when Leigh goes missing after school she knows she must be in terrible danger. The clock is ticking for Natalie. Can she catch this killer before her little girl becomes the next victim?

This is the third book in Carol Wyer’s British 'Detective Natalie Ward' series.
‘The Dare’ opens with the disappearance of thirteen year-old Savannah Hopkins. She recently moved to this new town with her mother Jane. Savannah simply doesn’t return home after school one day. The next day her body is found, and the thriller is off and running. Other seemingly random teen-aged girls disappear after Savannah. Detective Ward and her team is frustratingly one step behind the killer as the body count increases. But it’s certainly not for lack of trying on their part.
The plot, as always, was plausible, as we don’t always know what our children are doing when not at home. We don’t know what they are doing on their mobile devices, or who their friends are. It is a scary time for parents. Carol Wyer incorporated those fears into this book, and she did a great job!
I liked the additional perspective of the killer occasionally being thrown in. Definitely made it interesting to know his thoughts.
I highly recommend this book, I can't wait for book 4..

Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Bookouture; and the author, Carol Wyer; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book.
  
    Bomb Hunters

    Bomb Hunters

    Games and Stickers

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    Get your brown pants. It's boom-bang bomb-hunting time! Grab a pair of pliers and keep your cool....

    Vogue Magazine

    Vogue Magazine

    Entertainment and Magazines & Newspapers

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    Every image, every word—download this month’s issue of Vogue for the iPad for digital access ...

Public Image: First Issue by Public Image Ltd
Public Image: First Issue by Public Image Ltd
1978 | Punk
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I prefer Metal Box, but this is a wonderful album and it just shows you where Lydon was culturally at that point in time. And he was obviously a bright fella. In interviews he was always talking about bands like Hawkwind and Can, so you always knew he was going to come from the left field, but the album didn't sound like anything else. I mean, Wobble's bass, Donut [Jim Walker]'s drumming, Keith Levene's guitar. I saw them play and Keith Levene had that metal guitar and he broke string after string during every song, Wobble was just sat down, and the whole thing just captured the bedlam but it just wasn't delivering what people were expecting. If you listen to 'Religion', it is just so cutting and stark and amazing; he channelled all of the anger that he had in a way that he couldn't with the Pistols because he wasn't being manipulated. He was cynical by this point because of the way he'd been treated and all the bullshit, and it all came out on this album. It was a game changer, this album."

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