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S-Town
S-Town
Society & Culture
8
8.5 (21 Ratings)
Podcast Rating
The pacing, the editing, the music, the writing , the story, the "characters", the meesage (0 more)
Prepare to laugh and cry at this real life mystery unveil in real time....
I can't think of any other podcast like S-Town, but after I binged the entire first season on it's release date, I expected to find a plethora of the type in the next few months on account of it's success. But unlike Serial - a true crime podcast that broke the internet and introduced 90% of the world to our amazing little corner - S-Town is hard to even identify it's genre , let alone duplicate something that's good because it is unique , so to my dismay, I still hold S-TOWN up there as my top 5 and am always on the lookout for the next diamond in the rough.


Unfortunately, telling you too much of any of this podcast is not fair because you deserve the chance to listen with unabashed views or predetermined ideas so you too will have no idea of what's coming...that's the best way to go into this one!


Oh, since I didn't tell you ABYTHJNG about it, just know that of all the podcasts I've tried to get my husband to listen all the way thru to - this, S-TOWN, was the only one he's ever listened to from the first to last episode. And he is hard to entertain with podcasts or audiobooks , so if he was asking me to "play the next one" after the first, you're sure to enjoy it just as much as we did. And that's all ya need to know!
  
Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)
Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)
2017 | Comedy
Singing (0 more)
Ridiculous plot (0 more)
Sometimes there just shouldn’t be a 3rd one
Contains spoilers, click to show
Back with the Bellas after college to find their lives just aren’t all that great in the “real world”. They’re all in jobs that they seem to hate and miss singing together. They’re thrilled when they’re invited to a performance by the current Barton Bellas only to end up disappointed that they’re not performing themselves. Then it just gets crazy. They end up on tour with other artists who are (unsurprisingly) a lot more talented than the Bellas. Some very well done “riff offs” ensue and of course when the Bellas stop taking themselves seriously they get a lot more popular. This storyline was a bit of fun if not completely predictable and as a Pitch Perfect fan I wasn’t really complaining - I’m mostly there for the music at the end of the day. It was after this though that the movie lost me completely. Turning into an espionage movie where they do indeed sing to get out of trouble. The Bellas are luckily rescued by the military and Beca is encouraged to take an offer from DJ Khaled to sing alone. Then in the final seen Beca opens for DJ Khaled alone but invites the Bellas onstage to sing Freedom! ‘90 with her creating a touching scene that Pitch Perfect always manages to do - especially as this seems to be the end of the road for the group. I loved the song choices in the movie and that the competition was higher stakes but between the convoluted plot line and sometimes forced comedic moments this definitely wasn’t my favourite Pitch Perfect installment.
  
A Hamiton Christmas (HIS #9)
A Hamiton Christmas (HIS #9)
Sheila Kell | 2018 | Contemporary
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
a very fitting end!!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book direct from the author, and I thank Ms Kell for that.

This book takes place a year after His Fantasy, Brad's story, and is like a catch up on what all the brothers and their wives have been up to. And they are been doing a LOT of baby making! So it was great to catch up with everyone, all in one place.

It's a bit different that the other HIS books, in that the story is told from Jesse's ten year old daughter, Reagan and her Poppy, Blake Hamilton's points of view. Reading such polar opposites was amusing at times: Reagan is determined to follow in her father's footsteps, even if she has to go against him to do it, and Blake is still a little in the dog house as far as I'm concerned! Oh, he redeemed himself in His Family, but maybe not as much as I thought he had!

There is a lot of love here, with every member of the Hamilton clan, their partners and babies all here along with a new member of the family that is introduced here. Reagan and her new cousin are a well matched pair and they pull their sleuthing off extremely well!

It was so lovely to catch up with everyone, it's always sad to say goodbye and this was a great little catch up, a little time after the main books ended.

Very well done, Ms Kell, I'm just not a great fan of holiday stories!

4 solid stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
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Merissa (13585 KP) rated All Boy in Books

Jul 15, 2019  
All Boy
All Boy
Mia Kerick | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
All Boy by Mia Kerick
All Boy is about two teenagers who both have issues and pasts to deal with. Callie wanted to start anew after an experience at her school. She is not very keen on giving her trust, and also allows herself to fall back into old habits, just to make life easier. Jayden is living on a knife's edge, always afraid that someone will find out his secret.

These two were excellent characters, so rich and full of emotion. They were absolutely perfect for each other, and I loved how they balanced each other out. For Callie and Jayden, they had the best back-up team ever invented in Lauren and Willy. What a cast of characters! Of course, not every character is likeable, and there is one in particular who I took a dislike to (just as I was meant to). For me though, it was Lauren's words of wisdom that made me appreciate her more than I had done up to that point.

For all this is fiction, I am sure it only scratches the surface of what trans-men actually go through. It is a raw, heart-rending story, that will break you down, and build you up again. An eye-opener in so many ways, this is a gritty story filled with hope. I was gripped from the very beginning, and I hope for a HEA for Callie and Jayden. After all, #LoveIsLove.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Legendary: Caraval Book 2
Legendary: Caraval Book 2
Stephanie Garber | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.4 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
104 of 200
Book
Legendary ( Caraval book 2)
By Stephanie Garber

A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister's. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice. But now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval...the games have only just begun.




Another great book from Stephanie Garber! This time game became real and it brought with it so much more than the first one. Think most people would have guessed who legend was half way through the book. We are also playing from Tella’s perspective instead of Scarlets. The fates are so intriguing I love their stories and can’t wait to see them and legend develop! Also how with their mother be after being stuck in a card for so long.
  
Mortal Kombat (2021)
Mortal Kombat (2021)
2021 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
You know when you watch a movie, and you're completely entertained during it, but afterwards, all you remember is the action portions, and none of the plot? That's me right now, after watching this movie just a little less than three hours ago.
I'll get this out of the way, the plot was obviously forgettable. Now, if this was a dramatic film, this would be a huge issue, but, this is a movie based on the first insanely violent video game ever produced. I was there for the fighting, and not the plot. The main focus was Cole, and sorry, but he was kind of a yawn until he got his stuff together.
Now, let's get into why I saw this movie. The action, the fighting, the gore. This earned its R-rating. The fighting choreography was great, and I loved that they used the some of the same moves from the video games. Also - the fact that some of the characters quipped with the closing fight messages was hilarious. The best placed one was 'Flawless Victory', after a kill.
Sub-Zero has always been one of my favorite characters, so I was glad he got the most screen time, out of the villain squad.. I have to say, as the movie was nearing the end, I was wondering when Scorpion would make his grand entrance. Finally, the pay dirt came at the very end, and yes, the 'Get Over Here' line did make an appearance.
They obviously left it open-ended for a sequel, which has been green-lit already. You can bet I'll be there on opening day for some big, dumb, gory fun.
  
Last Splash by The Breeders
Last Splash by The Breeders
1993 | Rock
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I wasn't sure if I could pick Pixies as well as The Breeders, but fuck it! They're two different bands. I wanted to put this in here because seeing as this is the story of The Big Moon, as a band we have quite a broad range of music tastes. We all love bands and guitar music generally, but there are so many styles and it can go so many different ways. We all like a lot of the same bands but there aren't that many songs where we have that special cross-over moment and we find a song that we all adore. In the van, whoever’s driving gets to play whatever they want. Quite soon after we formed as a band we went round to Fern's house to try and think of a band name. We had this great night where we got really drunk and danced to Tom Jones. I seem to remember making quite a lot of mess, spilling drinks and stuff. It was just four girls getting very drunk together. We all realised that we loved this song and someone put it on the playlist. We were thinking about calling our band No Aloha after that, for about a week. We even wrote it in big letters on Fern's bedroom wall. We thought it'd be a really cool name, but then in the end we thought it'd be a bit of a mouthful to say on stage - "Hi, We're No Aloha!" - and we didn't want a lifetime of spelling it to people. But whenever it comes on in the van we're always like "yaaaay"!"

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