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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2412 KP) rated Life on the Mississippi in Books

Feb 22, 2023 (Updated Feb 22, 2023)  
Life on the Mississippi
Life on the Mississippi
Rinker Buck | 2022 | History & Politics
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Book Wanders Like a River – Not Always for the Best
Journalist Rinker Buck decided to take his love for the flat boats of the 1800’s and make that his next trip into America’s past. He has one built for himself and sets out to sail it down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Along the way, he studies up on this part of American history. How will his journey go?

The idea of a trip like this appealed to me, so I sat down to read this with high hopes. Sadly, it wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped it would be, mostly thanks for things the author put in he didn’t need to. There was more history than I was expecting; I was expecting more of a travelogue. That’s on me, although I did find much of this interesting if a little too long. However, I didn’t need all the biographical sketches about Rinker. I feel like some of that was his grieving process over having recently lost his mother. It would make for good reading, but in a different book. He also seemed to want to inject politics into the book where it didn’t need to be, and his attitude was very smug when this came up, even condescending at times. However, when he was actually describing the river and talking about what it took to navigate it, I was enthralled. I never thought about what it would take. The stories about some of the people he met along the way were good as well. The end result was a mixed bag.
  
The Sun is Also a Star
The Sun is Also a Star
Nicola Yoon | 2016 | Children
10
8.5 (16 Ratings)
Book Rating
SPOILER FREE!

Young love...Who would have thought that I would actually fall in love with this story? I'm not really into romance stories it would have to really get me and I thought this story was pretty cute from the beginning to the very end. 

This book has been in my TBR jar and I selected the title surprised to find out that the movie comes out next month so It was meant to be. I knew it was going to be a romance story and I had my fingers crossed it was going to be worth the read and sure enough it was. It's different, unique, and beautiful...a love story I have not read before so it has originality for me to keep reading.

Our story starts out in New York City. We get to meet Natasha, a young girl who is originally born in Jamaica along with her younger brother and parents. Natasha and her family are being deported back to Jamaica, Natasha is doing everything she can for her and her family to be able to stay in America. Natasha is all about facts and what's in front of her type of person.

We also get to meet Daniel, who is a Korean - American whose family is from South Korea. Daniels family have high expectations for him to be a doctor and has a very important interview to get into Yale. Daniel is all about fate and destiny and true love.

I definitely feel like the love tension between the two went really fast but in a really good way. We have two completely different people and one who truly believes in fate and tries to show the other to follow your heart and what it says. 

You know its a good book when you really can't put the book down and you want to know what's going to happen and I mean I had to know what the fate was between these two young couples and where they were going to end up. So many questions running thru my head... Are they going to end up being together? Are they getting married on the same day they meet? Do Natasha and her family have to go back to Jamaica? The ending gave me goosebumps! I love endings of stories, it's everything for me and it ended perfectly for me.

Get your popcorn and candies! The movie comes out next month and I'm very stoked to have a "Me-Time" to watch this! 
  
Aftermath 2017 (2017)
Aftermath 2017 (2017)
2017 | Drama, History, Thriller
Story: Aftermath starts as construction worker Roman (Schwarzenegger) is looking forward to the arrival of his wife and pregnant daughter from Kiev for Christmas. Making himself extra smart with flowers at hand he arrives at the airport to find the flight delayed but there is no good news, the plane was involved in a tragic accident killing both his wife and daughter.

On the other side of the story flight controller Jake Bonaos (McNairy) leaves his wife and son to arrive at work that very same day, on a night shift where he finds the himself distracted trying to fix a phoneline as two planes collided mid-air, the same flights that had Roman’s family on.

Both men’s lives are completely shattered, Roman broken, alone and spending days and nights at the cemetery. While Jake is branded a murderer by the public finding it impossible to function or being the husband and father he needs to be.

With the airline company waving money in Roman’s face to stop them being sued and Jake on the verge of suicide brings us to one year later where both are still living in the tragedy but both are attempting to move on.

 

Thoughts on Aftermath

 

Characters/Performance – Roman is a hard-working construction worker, he has work long hours to make sure his family can move to live with him in America, when he loses them his life is shattered but all he wants is an apologise not the airlines money. Jake is a flight controller who makes an honest mistake that cost the lives of everyone on the flights, his life is ruined, he loses his family, his job and must change his name and start again, living the rest of his life with regret.

Performance wise, Schwarzenegger is brilliant in this role where is he no action hero, he is an everyday man that loses everything, this is by far one of his best acting performances of his career. Scoot McNairy is also fantastic in this role showing just how capable of an actor he is.

Story – The story is based on a real incident that followed a mid-air collision but turned into an American story for it to unfold in. This story is very powerful because you are now left to wonder just what would happen if you were in either of these men’s shoes. The story also isn’t just a revenge film it follows these two men trying to rebuild their lives after what happened and mostly just wanting a human response from somebody involved.

Thriller – From the moment this film starts you are left to wonder from the edge of your seat to where this film will go.

Settings – The settings used through the film focus on making both our main characters feel like everyday people whose lives have been ruined by the events which is all you need from the film.

Final Thoughts – This is one of the best and most intense slow burning stories you will see this year. The performances are fantastic as well as being one of the most interesting stories out there.

 

Overall: One of the most powerful stories you will see this year.

https://moviesreview101.com/2017/04/10/aftermath-2017/