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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Deadly in Books
Jan 15, 2018
This book tells a fictional account of real life events that center around Typhoid Mary. It is based on the actual life of Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant living in New York City in the early 1900s. Mary worked as a cook for a number of wealthy families in the area while she was a healthy carrier of the typhoid bacteria. She would spread the disease to the families she worked for, even killing some of them. The thing is Mary didn't know she carried the disease...she had never even had symptoms.
The main character, Pruedence, is a 17 year old girl who leaves school to accept a job with the Dept of Health & Sanitation. It is written as a series of journal writings she makes & tells the story through her musings. She gets swept into the case & it ignites in her a passion for medicine & figuring out how the body works. Prudence makes the story. Without her character struggles this book would be forgettable. It's redeeming quality is the fact that you want to see her reach her dream.
The main character, Pruedence, is a 17 year old girl who leaves school to accept a job with the Dept of Health & Sanitation. It is written as a series of journal writings she makes & tells the story through her musings. She gets swept into the case & it ignites in her a passion for medicine & figuring out how the body works. Prudence makes the story. Without her character struggles this book would be forgettable. It's redeeming quality is the fact that you want to see her reach her dream.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Finishing School: A Master Class for Knitters in Books
Apr 27, 2018
This book is awesome! There is so much in here for finishing every project, fixing every type of problem you could have, and techniques for making your handknits above the norm. I've learned so much just from flipping through it quickly. I refuse to part with it: It's a permanent addition to my knitting bookshelf.
Images and layout are very visually appealing, and the patterns are beautiful. There are lots of inspiring photographs and referenced projects that can be looked up. There aren't a whole lot of patterns in the book itself, because it's really all about techniques to finish your handknits.
My only complaint is very small and irrelevant to almost everyone: I'm trying to figure out why the whole book is formatted backwards, with a sans serif body text, and serif headers… maybe it's the technical writer/editor inside me, but it irritates me and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
But that's a pretty minor complaint when you think about it.
Recommended for knitters of all levels!
Images and layout are very visually appealing, and the patterns are beautiful. There are lots of inspiring photographs and referenced projects that can be looked up. There aren't a whole lot of patterns in the book itself, because it's really all about techniques to finish your handknits.
My only complaint is very small and irrelevant to almost everyone: I'm trying to figure out why the whole book is formatted backwards, with a sans serif body text, and serif headers… maybe it's the technical writer/editor inside me, but it irritates me and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
But that's a pretty minor complaint when you think about it.
Recommended for knitters of all levels!
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Warlords and Wastrels (The Duellists Trilogy #3) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
This series was a great start that kind of had a dead point in the middle, then got really good again with this third book, then the last little bit was kind of a let-down. The book itself, the plot, the twists and surprises, the murder, it was all great. But the ending and how it finished was very unsatisfactory. It felt like it came out of nowhere. It made some big changes to the characters lives. I feel like if you’re going to make a big change, you need to hint at it, leave some little for-shadowing clues in the body of the work, etc. Don’t just throw someting at me at the last page. That was the only part of the book I didn’t like.
All in all it was a good conclusion and a nice finish to a fun and exciting story. Not a Joe Abercrombie or a James Patterson or a Gail Carriger, but still fun and lots of swordfights. And we all know swordfights are really the only reason I listen to audiobooks.
All in all it was a good conclusion and a nice finish to a fun and exciting story. Not a Joe Abercrombie or a James Patterson or a Gail Carriger, but still fun and lots of swordfights. And we all know swordfights are really the only reason I listen to audiobooks.
Sue (5 KP) rated Death al Fresco in Books
Apr 23, 2018
Sally Solari is working very hard to make a name for herself at her recently inherited restaurant, but her father has different plans. He doesn’t seem to remember that she no longer works at the family restaurant Solaris’ and keeps pulling her in. While taking an open-air painting class of the Monterey Bay coastline, Sally’s dog Buster finds a corpse tangled up in the kelp.
The body is identified as Gino, a local fisherman and regular patron at Solaris’. Is it true what everyone is saying? Is Sally’s dad negligent for allowing an inebriated customer to leave the restaurant alone at night? Witnesses claim that Gino was drunk when he left the restaurant, but his waitress swears that she only served him to beers with a full meal. Can she find out the truth before her father’s reputation and that on his restaurant goes down the drain?
This is not your average cozy mystery full of cuteness. Sally is a smart and multifaceted character that has you cheering for her to find the bad guys.
The body is identified as Gino, a local fisherman and regular patron at Solaris’. Is it true what everyone is saying? Is Sally’s dad negligent for allowing an inebriated customer to leave the restaurant alone at night? Witnesses claim that Gino was drunk when he left the restaurant, but his waitress swears that she only served him to beers with a full meal. Can she find out the truth before her father’s reputation and that on his restaurant goes down the drain?
This is not your average cozy mystery full of cuteness. Sally is a smart and multifaceted character that has you cheering for her to find the bad guys.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2332 KP) rated Turning the Tide in Books
Apr 11, 2018
Who Killed the Suffragist?
While the country is gearing up for the Presidential election of 1888, Rose Carroll and others in her town in Massachusetts are gearing up for a peaceful protest in support of women’s suffrage. Days before the election, Rose finds the body of Rowena Felch, the local leader of the movement, dead outside her home. Could it be that someone hates the idea of women voting that much? Or is there another motive?
While women’s suffrage is a strong theme in the book, Rose quickly finds other motives for murder. I did feel the plot slowed down a time or two, but that never lasted for very long. In fact, the author was able to work in development in the mystery in the middle of some of the scenes about the suffrage movement. I especially appreciated the fact that some of the males in this book supported the movement, too. The characters are great as always, and a couple of sub-plots advance series storylines well. All told, this is another great book.
While women’s suffrage is a strong theme in the book, Rose quickly finds other motives for murder. I did feel the plot slowed down a time or two, but that never lasted for very long. In fact, the author was able to work in development in the mystery in the middle of some of the scenes about the suffrage movement. I especially appreciated the fact that some of the males in this book supported the movement, too. The characters are great as always, and a couple of sub-plots advance series storylines well. All told, this is another great book.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Blindspot - Season 3 in TV
May 23, 2018
This season should have been titled "really do we still have to bother with those tattoos?!". The series once again follows the FBI team, and Jane Doe in trying to solve mysterious tattoos on Jane's body, averting terrorist attacks as they go. Only this time, it is a whole new series of tattoos which have been ridiculously put on her in UV or something so were not obvious.
The tattoos are no longer solved in interesting manners, now there is 30 seconds devoted to that, the rest being rushing around with guns.
Some of the puzzles appear to have been solved by something like "so I took these numbers, rearranged them at random, converted each one to the letter of the alphabet, translated that into Dutch, then back into numbers and tried this as an IP address and found that a ship has just docked with the same name as your mother-in-law's maiden name, get over there pronto".
The overarching plot was fine and reasonably exciting, but there was so much deus ex machina that I just got really annoyed.
The tattoos are no longer solved in interesting manners, now there is 30 seconds devoted to that, the rest being rushing around with guns.
Some of the puzzles appear to have been solved by something like "so I took these numbers, rearranged them at random, converted each one to the letter of the alphabet, translated that into Dutch, then back into numbers and tried this as an IP address and found that a ship has just docked with the same name as your mother-in-law's maiden name, get over there pronto".
The overarching plot was fine and reasonably exciting, but there was so much deus ex machina that I just got really annoyed.
tanuki (2 KP) rated Fitbit Alta HR Fitness Wristband in Tech
Feb 6, 2019
Stylish and full of features
The Alta manages to be both stylish, light and sleek as well as containing all the desired features of a fitness band and smartwatch in one go. This slimline band fits on the wrist and will track any heart-rate-raising activity - it excels at detection, being able to determine road cycling from mountain biking (but it cannot detect weight lifting, as the heart rate isn't consistently high enough. It will detect a cardio class like Body Pump though.) It will monitor sleep cycles, your active minutes and calories burned. You can set all manner of goals in the app - fitness, diet or sleep goals, for example - and data is displayed in easy-to-read formats. Honestly I wouldn't be without it: it makes controlling your fitness a breeze, which is vital when you have goals to hit and stats to crunch. It will also, as a bonus, hook up to your phone and display the first line of any text or whatsapp messages, and you can set a silent alarm too.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Birth (2004) in Movies
Feb 10, 2019
Interesting but disappointing
The director of Under the Skin shows us an interesting dynamic play out when a ten year old boy enters the scene while a wealthy man is engaged to a woman who had lost her husband 10 years earlier.
The young boy claims to be her dead husband come back to life in this small body. The young man wants to reenter the woman's life and wants her not to marry her current beau. The woman starts to struggle with her feelings, especially the ones she thought she had put behind her and she has to make some difficult choices.
The film is interesting and well acted by Nicole Kidman, but I feel the payoff was not that fulfilling and some scenes were sort of scrapped together with no real point.
There were a few awkward scenes between Nicole Kidman and the young boy which made me cringe in my seat a little which were kind of hard to watch.
A little disappointed.
The young boy claims to be her dead husband come back to life in this small body. The young man wants to reenter the woman's life and wants her not to marry her current beau. The woman starts to struggle with her feelings, especially the ones she thought she had put behind her and she has to make some difficult choices.
The film is interesting and well acted by Nicole Kidman, but I feel the payoff was not that fulfilling and some scenes were sort of scrapped together with no real point.
There were a few awkward scenes between Nicole Kidman and the young boy which made me cringe in my seat a little which were kind of hard to watch.
A little disappointed.
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Someone You Know in Books
Mar 15, 2019
When Tess sister Edie disappeared 20 years ago, the case went cold. Now her body has at last been discovered and Tess travels back to her hometown to find out what really happened to her. Who can she really trust from her past?
If you are looking for a thriller with a difference, you will not be disappointed by this. This is a fantastic story with an ending you won't see coming. This debut thriller has red herrings and twists to keep you guessing to the very end. Fabulous fast paced read and the author has a way of drip feeding you little bits at a time and you won't want to stop til you have reached the end.
You have here a thick plot with loads of suspense, well structured characters. The story is done in two timelines that keeps you held in utter suspense. This story is dark, twisted, creepy and very atmospheric; you won't be able to put this one down!
Make this one of your must reads....Highly recommend!!!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy.
If you are looking for a thriller with a difference, you will not be disappointed by this. This is a fantastic story with an ending you won't see coming. This debut thriller has red herrings and twists to keep you guessing to the very end. Fabulous fast paced read and the author has a way of drip feeding you little bits at a time and you won't want to stop til you have reached the end.
You have here a thick plot with loads of suspense, well structured characters. The story is done in two timelines that keeps you held in utter suspense. This story is dark, twisted, creepy and very atmospheric; you won't be able to put this one down!
Make this one of your must reads....Highly recommend!!!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy.
Nick Hosmer (2 KP) rated Kindle E-Reader in Tech
Apr 24, 2019
Backlight (2 more)
Being able to read in sunlight without glare
Battery life
Slow menus (1 more)
Lagging text
Love this E-Reader
I have the kindle paperwhite 7th gen.
I carry this thing with me everywhere! I absolutely love this device. I enjoy being able to read it everywhere without having to worry about an internet connection, or having to contort my body to avoid screen glare. I have anywhere between 3-10 books downloaded at one time and that didn't make a large impact on its internal memory. The battery life on this is great, I usually read 1-2 hours a day and I go a week between charges, longer if I haven't used the device quite as often.
For as much as I enjoyed this device there are some shortcomings. There have been times that I have to turn the backlight off then back on again for it to work. All the menus lag when loading and while reading the pages occasionally take a moment to turn.
Overall I do recommend the kindle paperwhite or any kindle e-reader.
I carry this thing with me everywhere! I absolutely love this device. I enjoy being able to read it everywhere without having to worry about an internet connection, or having to contort my body to avoid screen glare. I have anywhere between 3-10 books downloaded at one time and that didn't make a large impact on its internal memory. The battery life on this is great, I usually read 1-2 hours a day and I go a week between charges, longer if I haven't used the device quite as often.
For as much as I enjoyed this device there are some shortcomings. There have been times that I have to turn the backlight off then back on again for it to work. All the menus lag when loading and while reading the pages occasionally take a moment to turn.
Overall I do recommend the kindle paperwhite or any kindle e-reader.