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The Forever Home
The Forever Home
Sue Watson | 2021
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Sue Watson, the author of "First Date" and "Our Little Lies," which I have previously reviewed, induces a "happily" married couple in her latest novel, The Forever Home.

Carly and Mark have the perfect family. The perfect marriage. The perfect house. She is a stay-at-home mom who helped her husband become the television DYI celebrity that he is today. After 25 years of marriage, everything is perfect, or so Carly thought. Mark fell in love with someone. Someone that is not Carly. After this revelation, the cracks in their marriage and house begin to show. Carly is determined to stay in the house she grew up in. Someone is determined that she does not. Or is someone? Is Carly imagining it? Is someone trying to force her out of her forever home?

Sue Watson offers a quick page-turner that shows everything is not always as it seems. She builds Carly's world well and invokes a range of emotions - happiness, sadness, anger, etc. She delves into marriage, family, and friendship and how people interact during family events. Watson is clever at character development and forcing her characters out of the cozy comfort zones.

Wason's books just keep getting better and better.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila
  
Best of 1980-1990 by U2
Best of 1980-1990 by U2
1998 | Rock
8.4 (10 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Forever when I hear this song it moves me. I think it’s relatable to anyone really, whether they’re out there looking for themselves or someone else, or what’s after this life - I find it very moving. The Joshua Tree is my favourite U2 album - they just did an anniversary tour and I was heartbroken that I wasn’t able to go. “A few years ago I was filming in Toronto and I received an invite from Bono to see U2’s show. So I go along with my friend and I roll my eyes because the invite came through his PR and I thought, ‘Oh this invite isn’t actually from him, he doesn’t actually want me to come.’ But the show was just spiritual and magical - I was hypnotised. “The PR had also invited me to his after party, and again I was thinking, ‘is this really coming from him?’ I had to work the next day at 6am and it was already midnight, but I thought ‘you know what, this is a once in a lifetime experience.’ So we go, we wait for an hour and my friend tells me, ‘let’s just wait for 30 minutes more,’ And just then in strolls Bono - he walks over and sits with me and my friend for about three hours and we just chatted about everything - music, politics, family, spirituality. It was a really special experience. He’s always been a lead singer that I have looked up to and I had so much respect for him for doing that."

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After the War is Over
After the War is Over
Maureen Lee | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
204
Book
After the war is over
By Maureen Lee

Liverpool, 1945.Three women, strong friends, return home from the war trying to fit back into their old lives after they've been demobbed.They've been thrown together by the war and shared all sorts of good and bad times. Now their old lives seem dull in comparison, but not for long... The younger women, Maggie and Nell, are both twenty-one and are full of hope and excitement; Iris, on the other hand, is feeling apprehensive about returning to civilian life. At the age of thirty her only wish in life is to have a baby, but sadly this wish has yet to come true. When one of the women falls pregnant, there begins a dramatic sequence of events so wide-reaching that the three friends' lives will become more intricately interwoven than they could ever have imagined. Over the next quarter of a century this story of three remarkable - and very different - women unfolds into an uplifting tale of how three ordinary families become extraordinary.


This is not normally a book I’d pick up from a shop or the library this was passed on by a friend and I always like to try different books. I really enjoyed it! It’s a gentle well told story of 3 women who’s lives take so many different twists and turns. You find yourself immersed into each of their lives. I will certainly be trying more of her books sometimes a girl needs a break from supernatural and crimes!
  
Clan of the Jersey Boys (Fangsters #1)
Clan of the Jersey Boys (Fangsters #1)
Ryan Field | 2013
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
DNF

I hate DNF’s. I always feel bad for not finishing them but sometimes I just cant get into a story. I stopped at 38%.

Right. Well, I expected this to be better–that sounds bad I know–but I was expecting them to be these tough vampires who kicked arse while running an illegal empire. In a way it was, but it didn’t seem bad-arse enough for me. Sure there were a few scenes with retribution/warnings handed out to people but I didn’t feel it.

Another thing that got me was all the mention of family and it’s many members. Yeah I know families are important in Italian/Sicilian cultures but more people kept getting mentioned and I found myself getting confused. What with Anton and someone else being turned by one person and his dad and uncle turned by someone else and this guy turned by the brother of that guy making them cousins…I got lost. It was a little too much for me to keep up with.

The relationship between Anton and Leo happened a little too fast for me to believe. Not the sex–he’s an attractive guy after all–but the “love you’s” and how strong their feelings were after the one night they spent together. Or maybe I just missed something?

It’s not a bad story, it was just a little different to what I normally read; the mobster/gangster bit anyway. If you like vampires, mobsters and m/m stories then you will probably like this.
  
    PJ Masks: Super City Run

    PJ Masks: Super City Run

    Entertainment and Games

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    Those pesky villains have been up to mischief again and have stolen lots of things from around the...

Bad News Travels Fast
Bad News Travels Fast
Gar Anthony Haywood | 2013 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Capital Crimes
When Joe and Dottie Loudermilk sold everything to enjoy their retirement on the road, one advantage was that it would make it hard for their kids to drag them into difficult situations. However, when they arrive in Washington DC, Dottie arranges for them to have dinner with their son Eddie. The next morning, Eddie is arrested for killing his former roommate. The murder weapon is Eddie’s knife, and the victim was killed after Eddie had a very public fight with him. Despite all of this, Joe and Dottie believe Eddie when he claims to be innocent. But can they prove it?

I’m glad I got to revisit these characters this year because this was a delightful mystery. It was a fast read, but there wasn’t a wasted word as Joe and Dottie track down one lead after another. The twists and turns kept me engaged the entire way through. Joe’s temper is toned down a bit from the first book, and Dottie is a strong narrator of the events. The rest of the cast is just as sharp. While travel is a theme of the series, the little bit of sightseeing that Joe and Dottie do always also serves the plot. I could have done without the smattering of foul language scattered throughout the book, but that is worth nothing mainly in passing. Everything is mixed together with a dash of humor that I enjoyed. If you’ve missed this book, I’ve got great news – you’ll enjoy it.