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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2387 KP) rated Singing in the Dark in Books
Feb 25, 2022 (Updated Feb 25, 2022)
Speaking, and Singing, Hope into the Darkness
Christian recording artist Ginny Owens presents ten chapters that take us to Scripture to look at the songs we can sing to God no matter what our circumstances are. No, these aren’t all taken from Psalms. Yes, she does stretch the definition of song a bit (which she acknowledges). But as we look at songs of praise and victory, laments, and a song for the plodding path, you will be encouraged and challenged a time or two.
Each chapter focuses on the person and story behind the passage we are studying, but Ginny makes these familiar elements fresh and brings out new insights. She also shares openly about her own struggles, including what she still struggles with.
The chapters around 15 to 20 pages each, and could be done as devotionals. I read the book over a couple of days, and I still found it encouraging. I plan to go back and revisit it at a slower pace soon. There is a lot to unpack here.
If you need encouragement in your life, you’ll be glad you picked up this book.
Each chapter focuses on the person and story behind the passage we are studying, but Ginny makes these familiar elements fresh and brings out new insights. She also shares openly about her own struggles, including what she still struggles with.
The chapters around 15 to 20 pages each, and could be done as devotionals. I read the book over a couple of days, and I still found it encouraging. I plan to go back and revisit it at a slower pace soon. There is a lot to unpack here.
If you need encouragement in your life, you’ll be glad you picked up this book.
Silver to the Heart (Light of Adua #1) by Brien Feathers
Book
— So begins the apocalypse, with death and a story of love — An old soul (several centuries...
Dark Fantasy Urban Fantasy Adult
ClareR (5916 KP) rated The Illusions in Books
Aug 21, 2023
The Illusions was completely and utterly riveting - I couldn’t put it down!
It’s the late 1890’s and The Greatest Magician is ready to hand over his mantle (wand?) to George Perris. George meets Eadie Carlton, a photographer and pioneering film-maker, and decides that he wants to try and incorporate her work into his show.
Cecily Marsden finds herself alone again when her con artist master dies suddenly, and she gets a job in the house of his nephew. But the nephew has some secrets of his own. Luckily, Cec meets a kind gentleman who only wants to help her and take her away from her employer.
Cec, George and Eadie soon find themselves working together on the greatest magic show, and Cec has to try and save the performance from sabotage.
I loved this: there’s stage magic, a bit of ‘real’ magic and the excitement of the modern age and film. It’s exciting (will the show go on?), romantic (will they EVER get together?) and frankly magical (of course!).
I’m so glad I read this, it really did start my summer holidays on a high!
It’s the late 1890’s and The Greatest Magician is ready to hand over his mantle (wand?) to George Perris. George meets Eadie Carlton, a photographer and pioneering film-maker, and decides that he wants to try and incorporate her work into his show.
Cecily Marsden finds herself alone again when her con artist master dies suddenly, and she gets a job in the house of his nephew. But the nephew has some secrets of his own. Luckily, Cec meets a kind gentleman who only wants to help her and take her away from her employer.
Cec, George and Eadie soon find themselves working together on the greatest magic show, and Cec has to try and save the performance from sabotage.
I loved this: there’s stage magic, a bit of ‘real’ magic and the excitement of the modern age and film. It’s exciting (will the show go on?), romantic (will they EVER get together?) and frankly magical (of course!).
I’m so glad I read this, it really did start my summer holidays on a high!
Small Eden
Book
A boy with his head in the clouds. A man with a head full of dreams. 1884. The symptoms of...
Historical Fiction 1864-1910
Hello Beautiful
10.0
Rate It
Book
A rich, compassionate tale of four sisters and the love affair that fractures their family Best...
Family
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2387 KP) rated Engaged to Die in Books
Jul 30, 2025
Announcement Postponed by Murder
This book opens in January, and it involves a family that owns an art gallery on the island of Broward’s Rock. They are gearing up for an opening for a well-respected artist, but Virginia, the owner, is also going to use it to announce her engagement to a much younger man, much to her step children’s dismay. Naturally, Annie Darling is going to be there with her husband, Max. But when the time comes for the announcement, it gets postponed, and soon after, a dead body is discovered. Will Annie solve the latest mystery?
While I was reading this book, I was enjoying it. But as I thought about it later, I started to have issues. The subplot was front loaded, giving us more time before the mystery really got started. The ending felt rushed, with no explanation of how Annie fingered the killer, which means I’m struggling a little to see how it all makes sense. And one relationship had to devolved for us to get the usual antagonist relationship Annie has with the local police. Fans will still enjoy this visit with the characters even if it isn’t the strongest.
While I was reading this book, I was enjoying it. But as I thought about it later, I started to have issues. The subplot was front loaded, giving us more time before the mystery really got started. The ending felt rushed, with no explanation of how Annie fingered the killer, which means I’m struggling a little to see how it all makes sense. And one relationship had to devolved for us to get the usual antagonist relationship Annie has with the local police. Fans will still enjoy this visit with the characters even if it isn’t the strongest.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2387 KP) rated Murder at Rough Point in Books
Jul 30, 2025
Murder Makes a Retreat Rough
It is September of 1896 and Emma cross has been asked to cover an artist retreat happening at Rough Point, a mansion owned by Frederick Vanderbilt. When she arrives, Emma is surprised by some of the people included in the retreat. But even more surprising is the death of one of the artists at the base of the cliffs. It looks like it could be an accident, or even suicide. But something about the incident doesn’t sit right with Emma. Could it be murder?
This is the first time a book in the series is set off season, and I found I missed the real-life characters we’d gotten to know, although we did get updates on them. Due to that, the focus is on the cast of new characters and the mystery. I liked the clues and red herrings, although another subplot or two to break things up would have been nice. The one we did get allowed Emma to grow, which was nice. And an ongoing storyline got more complicated here. Overall, I enjoyed this and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.
This is the first time a book in the series is set off season, and I found I missed the real-life characters we’d gotten to know, although we did get updates on them. Due to that, the focus is on the cast of new characters and the mystery. I liked the clues and red herrings, although another subplot or two to break things up would have been nice. The one we did get allowed Emma to grow, which was nice. And an ongoing storyline got more complicated here. Overall, I enjoyed this and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.
Jamie (131 KP) rated The Ready-Made Thief in Books
Aug 15, 2017
Narrative flow (2 more)
Wonderful ode to Duchamp
Intense story premise makes it hard to put down
Plot felt a little weak with many aspects that are just plain illogical (1 more)
Science conspiracy was quite frankly boring
A love letter to Marcel Duchamp
Well this book is certainly interesting, so much so that I still don’t fully know what to make of it. The Readymade Thief is a love letter to Marcel Duchamp, a French-American artist that became famous in the early twentieth century for his influence on conceptual art. He is most famous for his readymades, manufactured pieces that he turned into art. His stance on what constituted art is an idea that could be applied to the novel.
“An ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist.”
It’s art if the artist says that it is art. There are connections if that’s what you want to see. Duchamp’s life and work are threaded throughout the story, even some very small references that are easy to miss, and this was actually pretty awesome. The study of Duchamp’s work I think made for an interesting aspect of the story, and I liked the ideas about the fanatical secret society and the dark sort of humor to the plot.
I have to commend Augustus Rose for his skill in creating a narrative flow that was so easy to take in. For the first half of the book Lee appears lost, like she’s treading water. It had a dream-like feel to it as Lee drifts in and out of different events. As the story goes on and the mystery starts to unravel Lee finds herself completely immersed. This steady shift in tone is reflected beautifully in both the pacing and the prose, from a drug-fueled haze to cold sobriety.
So why do I feel so undecided about this book? The devil is in the plot itself, which to me felt like it had too many holes and not well developed enough at points. Most of the Crystal Castle plot feels like it was thrown out of the window and I found it underwhelming. Then there was Tomi, the hacker. If there is one thing that is difficult to write about hackers and the deep web. I won’t go into many details about it due to spoilers, but there were a lot of pieces of this portion of the plot that was just plain illogical and almost pointless. I even checked with a friend of mine that is a student in cyber security to be sure. Frankly the deep web is almost romanticized in the book when it really shouldn’t be.
Also while I know that convenience was important for creating the dreamy flow that I mentioned earlier, a lot of things seemed a little bit too convenient to be believable a lot of the time. A good portion of the plot was easy to predict, but I was still compelled to read because I wanted to know more of the why than the what.
This book was a pretty cool read overall if you can get over the hangups that I had. It is the type of book that will leave you feeling confused right along with the main character throughout the entire book. All in all it was a mixed bag of mostly good things. It’s definitely an experience and worth the read in the very least to appreciate the tone and the feel of the writing which was really great. It’s the type of story I could easily see adapted to a television drama that I would watch in a heartbeat.
“An ordinary object elevated to the dignity of a work of art by the mere choice of an artist.”
It’s art if the artist says that it is art. There are connections if that’s what you want to see. Duchamp’s life and work are threaded throughout the story, even some very small references that are easy to miss, and this was actually pretty awesome. The study of Duchamp’s work I think made for an interesting aspect of the story, and I liked the ideas about the fanatical secret society and the dark sort of humor to the plot.
I have to commend Augustus Rose for his skill in creating a narrative flow that was so easy to take in. For the first half of the book Lee appears lost, like she’s treading water. It had a dream-like feel to it as Lee drifts in and out of different events. As the story goes on and the mystery starts to unravel Lee finds herself completely immersed. This steady shift in tone is reflected beautifully in both the pacing and the prose, from a drug-fueled haze to cold sobriety.
So why do I feel so undecided about this book? The devil is in the plot itself, which to me felt like it had too many holes and not well developed enough at points. Most of the Crystal Castle plot feels like it was thrown out of the window and I found it underwhelming. Then there was Tomi, the hacker. If there is one thing that is difficult to write about hackers and the deep web. I won’t go into many details about it due to spoilers, but there were a lot of pieces of this portion of the plot that was just plain illogical and almost pointless. I even checked with a friend of mine that is a student in cyber security to be sure. Frankly the deep web is almost romanticized in the book when it really shouldn’t be.
Also while I know that convenience was important for creating the dreamy flow that I mentioned earlier, a lot of things seemed a little bit too convenient to be believable a lot of the time. A good portion of the plot was easy to predict, but I was still compelled to read because I wanted to know more of the why than the what.
This book was a pretty cool read overall if you can get over the hangups that I had. It is the type of book that will leave you feeling confused right along with the main character throughout the entire book. All in all it was a mixed bag of mostly good things. It’s definitely an experience and worth the read in the very least to appreciate the tone and the feel of the writing which was really great. It’s the type of story I could easily see adapted to a television drama that I would watch in a heartbeat.
Darren (1599 KP) rated The Night Sitter (2019) in Movies
Jul 25, 2019
Story: The Night Sitter starts when a con-artist Amber (Dufour) poses as a babysitter for her latest job, she finds a wealthy occult enthusiast child Kevin (Champion) to babysit for the night, along with his father’s new girlfriend son Ronnie (Campbell).
With Amber setting up her plan with her partners in crime Rod (Rivers), Lindsey (Neukum) and her over-protective stalker who thinks he is her boyfriend Martin (Larmore), the boys enter the relic room and unwittingly release three witches upon the household.
Thoughts on The Night Sitter
Characters – Amber is a con-artist that poses as a babysitter for her latest job, she has the experience to trick the adult into believing she is qualified for the job and keeps the kids occupied enough to prepare for her robbery. She remains calm however many obstacles get thrown in her way including her partner bring his girlfriend, her stalker boyfriend and obsessed man from across the road. Kevin is the son from the house, he isn’t willing to get overly involved in searching around the house, he doesn’t want to be friends with Ronnie and spends time trying to prove the witches are real. Rod is the criminal partner, he brings his girlfriend on the latest job which shows him being a slacker when it comes to the jobs. Lindsey is the girlfriend of Rod’s she comes dressed like a cat burglar getting into the role of criminal thief, willing to get involved in everything going on.
Performances – Elyse Dufour in the leading role is the strongest of the cast, she shows the calm required while keeping her character in control through the night. Jack Champion is the young actor playing one of the children, he brings the nervous innocence needed for this film. Jermain Rivers does get a lot of the comedy to do with his character being the dumb one in the criminal act. Each actor does give their character enough to be a standout.
Story – The story here follows a con-artist working on her latest job which turns into a nightmare when three witches are released into the house searching for their latest victims. This is a story with plenty going on, in other films this hasn’t worked, for this one it does, the kids are troublesome like you would imagine, the criminal characters bring the laughs, which has moments that feel like we are watching the Home Alone thieves and once we add the witches into the mix, everything ties together effortlessly. If you have seen Annabelle Comes Home, you can see certain similarities, though this movie was made first before anyone thinks I am calling it a copy, having the household needing to deal with hauntings from a secret room, shows that this could be compared.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy in the film comes from criminals for the most part, with them not having everything going to plan, the horror comes from witches that have started to haunt the members of the household for the night.
Settings – The film is set in the one location of the house that has the occult material inside, they become trapped which plays into the idea of what the horror is coming for them.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are great, we get to see the blood covered moments that the witches put on their victims.
Scene of the Movie – Heading down to the basement.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Martin the character, mostly because he changes through the whole film, starting nervous, turning into the ass by the end.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun horror comedy that will get a couple of laughs, while giving us the blood needing for the witches getting the blood needed.
Overall: Three Witches, One Solution, Enjoy.
With Amber setting up her plan with her partners in crime Rod (Rivers), Lindsey (Neukum) and her over-protective stalker who thinks he is her boyfriend Martin (Larmore), the boys enter the relic room and unwittingly release three witches upon the household.
Thoughts on The Night Sitter
Characters – Amber is a con-artist that poses as a babysitter for her latest job, she has the experience to trick the adult into believing she is qualified for the job and keeps the kids occupied enough to prepare for her robbery. She remains calm however many obstacles get thrown in her way including her partner bring his girlfriend, her stalker boyfriend and obsessed man from across the road. Kevin is the son from the house, he isn’t willing to get overly involved in searching around the house, he doesn’t want to be friends with Ronnie and spends time trying to prove the witches are real. Rod is the criminal partner, he brings his girlfriend on the latest job which shows him being a slacker when it comes to the jobs. Lindsey is the girlfriend of Rod’s she comes dressed like a cat burglar getting into the role of criminal thief, willing to get involved in everything going on.
Performances – Elyse Dufour in the leading role is the strongest of the cast, she shows the calm required while keeping her character in control through the night. Jack Champion is the young actor playing one of the children, he brings the nervous innocence needed for this film. Jermain Rivers does get a lot of the comedy to do with his character being the dumb one in the criminal act. Each actor does give their character enough to be a standout.
Story – The story here follows a con-artist working on her latest job which turns into a nightmare when three witches are released into the house searching for their latest victims. This is a story with plenty going on, in other films this hasn’t worked, for this one it does, the kids are troublesome like you would imagine, the criminal characters bring the laughs, which has moments that feel like we are watching the Home Alone thieves and once we add the witches into the mix, everything ties together effortlessly. If you have seen Annabelle Comes Home, you can see certain similarities, though this movie was made first before anyone thinks I am calling it a copy, having the household needing to deal with hauntings from a secret room, shows that this could be compared.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy in the film comes from criminals for the most part, with them not having everything going to plan, the horror comes from witches that have started to haunt the members of the household for the night.
Settings – The film is set in the one location of the house that has the occult material inside, they become trapped which plays into the idea of what the horror is coming for them.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are great, we get to see the blood covered moments that the witches put on their victims.
Scene of the Movie – Heading down to the basement.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Martin the character, mostly because he changes through the whole film, starting nervous, turning into the ass by the end.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun horror comedy that will get a couple of laughs, while giving us the blood needing for the witches getting the blood needed.
Overall: Three Witches, One Solution, Enjoy.