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Justin Hawkins recommended Pump by Aerosmith in Music (curated)

 
Pump by Aerosmith
Pump by Aerosmith
1989 | Rock
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This came out when I was 14 and had just started learning how to play guitar, so that’s kind of the album that coincided with me wanting to go into music. No coincidence. The first album I ever bought was Run DMC’s Raising Hell and that had Aerosmith on it, so I was always interested in Aerosmith. I think Pump sounds really special, it’s my favourite Aerosmith album – and I like a lot of Aerosmith. There must be a technical thing about it, because it doesn’t sound like other rock albums. You know how a lot of metal albums have scoops of the lower-middle absent, but there’s a lot of bass and a lot of trebly stuff so it’s like an assault? Well, it seems like the Pump album has got some lower-mid presence, so it sounds like it contains a real drum kit – it sounds like you’re in the room with them. I love the ballad ‘What It Takes’ at the end. It’s just awesome. I loved the way Aerosmith would arrange their albums. You would have about 10 songs and it’s all innuendo and riffs and sex music, and then the last song is the cuddle. I think that’s brilliant. I thought it was timing at first. Kevin Shirley produced Nine Lives for them, and I thought that was a brilliant album too, and I love Permanent Vacation, but I was a bit young for that. I think it’s just a really concise record and even when it has the interval bits between certain songs… you just can’t listen to one track, you have to listen to the whole thing to get the vibe."

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The Man in the White Suit (1951)
The Man in the White Suit (1951)
1951 | International, Classics, Comedy
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Alex Guinness, to me is — forget De Niro, forget Pacino — he’s the man. Alec Guinness is such a quintessential English actor, but he’s also a brilliant actor. He’s just the best. And The Man in the White Suit is just such a beautiful, charming movie. It’s about a man who invents a suit that you don’t have to wash. It’s a whole movie about it! It’s something that some of the more flamboyant directors should think about remaking. [Laughs] It’s about this guy who invents this material that keeps white all the time. It’s directed by Alexander Mackendrick, a fellow Scot, and the opening title sequence is amazing. Mackendrick is a brilliant director. I just enjoy his work; I enjoy the pace of his work. I think he’s really overlooked. He did The Ladykillers and Whisky Galore, and The Sweet Smell of Success. A lot of really cool movies. Alec Guinness, to me — forget Star Wars and all that — he’s just the best. And to work with someone like Alexander Mackendrick, who really understood what a story meant…it’s funny, because on IMDB the movie is listed as sci-fi. It’s not sci-fi, that’s ridiculous! It’s actually a very nice tale, about inventing the thing that nobody wants. Like a car that doesn’t need petrol. The thing that people don’t want because of the money [the auto industry] could make off of you. If you say hey great, I’ve invented this car that doesn’t need petrol, and then there’s a silence, and then there’s a gunshot, and you’re dead. It’s that kind of thing."

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Death Be Blue (Terra Vane #1)
Death Be Blue (Terra Vane #1)
Katie Epstein | 2019 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
She can glimpse visions of the past, present, and future but she doesn’t know when, how, or why. She only knows the outcome, and it doesn’t look good…

Being human is hard enough. Being human with psychic abilities is worse. It was for Terra Vane anyway, until she immigrated to Portiside. There she feels at home in the thriving city of the Fey, Shifters, Vampires, and other gifted humans.

Where there are many factions of creatures, however, crime and skirmishes are to be expected. With a stubbornness born out of years of being deemed a “freak,” Terra’s determination and unique ability serve her well as an Enforcer Field Agent for the Portiside City Agency.

Alongside her annoying wolf-shifting partner, Kaleb, there is no case that is too strange to solve. No case too dangerous—until there is, and the trail of bloodlust leads them to unravel a mystery that threatens Portiside as they know it.

Brilliant

This is the first book I've read of Katie Epstien and I couldn't put it down I was hooked from the start. Her style reminds me of Keri Arthur's and I love her books. It was full of action and sexual tension. It's refreshing to have a strong female lead that's kickass and not wingy. I love the relationship dynamics that she has put together. Terras friends are brilliant strong women helping each other along, then you have the two father figures in Dan and her step dad, her best friend and partner relationship with Kaleb. All this set in such a fantastic world. So ready for the next book.


⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  
Just One Night
Just One Night
Felice Stevens | 2022 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Absolutely brilliant from start to finish.
JUST ONE NIGHT is a standalone story in the Billionaire & Escort trope. Madden is the billionaire and Asher is the escort. Both of them are confident men, hiding their inner bruised selves from the world. However, both of them also have strong females in their lives. For Mads, it is his older sister; for Asher, his best friend. Both women know exactly what has gone on in the lives of their men and aren't prepared to stand by any longer.

I LOVED THIS STORY! And it's in a genre that usually doesn't do much for me - probably because I'm about as far away from being a billionaire as you can get! There are no unnecessary miscommunications or misunderstandings. Things happen, explanations and reasons given, BOOM, let's sort it out. I can't tell you how refreshing that was. Instead of all that angst, you get two adult men who know what they want, uniting in their feelings for each other, against those who seek to cause damage.

The pacing is smooth, the descriptions vivid, and the characters both lifelike and loveable. The steam is off the charts and I loved how their relationship grew. There is an epilogue that not only gives you everything you want but also left me wanting more from this pair. I did NOT want this book to finish!

Absolutely brilliant from start to finish. Highly recommended by me.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* 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!
  
The Wife: A Novel
The Wife: A Novel
Alafair Burke | 2018 | Mystery, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
186 of 230
Book
The Wife
By Alafair Burke
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

His Scandal - Her Secret

When Angela met Jason Powell while catering a dinner party in East Hampton, she assumed their romance would be a short-lived fling, like so many relationships between locals and summer visitors. To her surprise, Jason, a brilliant economics professor at NYU, had other plans, and they married the following summer. For Angela, the marriage turned out to be a chance to reboot her life. She and her son were finally able to move out of her mother’s home to Manhattan, where no one knew about her tragic past.

Six years later, thanks to a bestselling book and a growing media career, Jason has become a cultural lightning rod, placing Angela near the spotlight she worked so carefully to avoid. When a college intern makes an accusation against Jason, and another woman, Kerry Lynch, comes forward with an even more troubling allegation, their life begins to unravel. Jason insists he is innocent, and Angela believes him. But when Kerry disappears, Angela is forced to take a closer look—at both the man she married and the women she chose not to believe.

Well that was one hell of a book! From start to finish it was just brilliant. It had you questioning all the way through how far would you go to protect your family? And how much would you put up with as a wife? Even right to the end it’s not what I was expecting. It made you want to keep reading. Highly recommended!
  
Fractured Hearts
Fractured Hearts
S.J.D. Peterson | 2016 | Erotica, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Charlie has her heart broken at a young age and decided that it would never happen again. She threw herself into her studies and becomes a new resident vet. Whilst out one night with her friend, she sees a sexy cowboy who she would like to know more about. He seems to feel the same way and they dance together, feeling the sparks fly. However, when it appears that his friend is the one who broke her heart years previously, Charlie makes a run for it, unwilling to see the disgust in his eyes when he realises who she is.

Now, to be honest, that's the one part that confused me. I could understand her not wanting to see him, to be wary of his reaction, but I just don't know why he would have had disgust in his eyes. Anyway, that's a distraction from the story, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

The scenes between these three as they learn to have a relationship with each other, and how it changes, are very well-written. There is a lot to read and it is written in a way that draws you in, letting you see events from every perspective. The bedroom scenes are smokin' and will leave you wanting more.

With an intricate love story, action and suspense, this is a brilliant story that I would definitely recommend. Brilliant.

* 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!
Feb 25, 2016
  
Parks and Recreation  - Season 1
Parks and Recreation - Season 1
2009 | Comedy
Chris Pratt's dorkiness (2 more)
Amy Poehler is hilarious
Aziz Ansari is a D-bag but plays it well
Storyline drags on for more than one season (0 more)
A brilliant, comedic ensemble
There are plenty of well known faces in Parks and Recreation including Hollywood A-Lister Chris Pratt, who plays a lazy slob, and looks surprisingly different from his current heartthrob self.

But Amy Poehler steals the show in this, playing the deputy director of Parks and Recreation for local government in this small town called Pawnee. She's rather sweet and hugely optimistic in the face of everyone saying no to her as she tries to fill in a giant pit and turn it into a park.

 It is a hilarious take on local government and all the pitfalls of being a representative.