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Murder on the Orient Express
Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
5
8.4 (65 Ratings)
Book Rating
As a general rule, I'm not really big into murder mystery whodunnits, generally finding them boring, (sometimes) obvious and just, well, generally a little bit stale.

That may be why I'd never read perhaps Agatha Christie's most famous murder story before, or even had any interest in which any of the (numerous) films, TV series or plays based around the same.

Which is a long way of saying that I came into this 'cold', as it were, knowing little beyond the fact that it was a Hercule Poirot mystery (thanks to the 2017 Kenneth Branagh movie, which I hadn't seen), and that the murder was on a train (d'uh!) just as it ran into snow whilst on a journey.

Now that I've read it, I have to say: I found little to cause me to revise my opinion of murder mysteries in general.

That's not to say that it is bad, per se, just that it never really hooked me all that much: indeed, at times it felt more like a chore to read than something enjoyable. Indeed, I'm sorry to say, the reveal of just who carried out the crime also completely failed to elicit any form of surprise or emotion at all from me: not that I saw it coming but just that, well, it almost felt like a relief when it did.

All I can say is: sorry, any Poirot fans!
  
Fawn by The Sea and Cake
Fawn by The Sea and Cake
1997 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is another one our former drummer Davy introduced me to; he’s a DJ and has the most amazing collection. He pointed me towards Sea and Cake back when I was 19. To this day, that song never gets old, ever. I can and have listened to this over and over again on repeat. It’s just the prettiest song, and this is such a good record overall. Sea and Cake have been around for a long time and have a lot of albums; they’re kinda mellow but there’s some – I don’t want to say prog – but at times they can be a little mathy and kind of jazzy. Just beautiful. I haven’t seen them live. I only found out a couple of years ago while we were on tour that the drummer John McEntire also plays for Tortoise. I love ‘em both! Exciting trivia!"

Source
  
Everything, Everything
Everything, Everything
Nicola Yoon | 2015 | Children
10
8.3 (49 Ratings)
Book Rating
OMG, I almost didn't want this book to end it was that good. I love reading books like this, books that take you away from your life and really emerge you in someone else's. It made me happy and sad and angry all at once. And in the end, I felt satisfied that Madeline finally was able to truly experience and enjoy life.

In regards to her mom, I just want to say without giving too much away, I don't know what it feels to lose both your husband and your son in one sitting and still have to go on living to raise your daughter. I can only imagine how difficult it was for her to pick up the pieces of her life and keep going. And even though I think what she did was wrong, as Madeline said, love makes you do crazy things. And fear of losing those we love can sometimes drive us to madness.
  
Snowed In: Dane and Heath
Snowed In: Dane and Heath
Rafe Jadison | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dane needed a say!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Dane is a good boss, until he makes Heath stay late and they get caught in a snow storm of epic proportions. But after a few beers and some secrets, Dane and Heath find they have more in common that they thought, and neither can deny it any longer.

CUTE!! My first thoughts on finishing this book was, needs to go on the "too stinking cute" shelf!

It's rather sweet, with a little bit of sexy time, some secrets exposed, not overly emotional, but enough emotion comes across in the right places. All the descriptions of the weather, what's happening outside, when the car nearly crashes into the tree, they all came across beautifully, and I reacted verbally to some parts. I don't usually, when reading, but do when listening. But when the car went skidding?? I was like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Phew, when it stopped!

Only Heath has a say, though, and I think that's why I gave it 4 stars and not 5. Even for such a short book, some 48 pages, if Dane had had a say, if we had gotten into his mind, I think this might have been a 5 star read. Dane has a lot to say here, and not all of it is voiced.

I have one teeny tiny comment about the editing though. In one particular place, Dane's is transposed for Heath's name. I carried on reading, not really noticing UNTIL something happen that DANE did to HEATH, which had happened where the names got mixed up. Just a comment, is all.

Really REALLY cute read, and the first I have read of this author. I'd like to read more, something longer with more bite, a bit more in depth.

4 solid stars (but really only cos Dane doesn't have his say)

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
TF
The Fall Up (The Fall Up, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh the many words i can say about The Fall Up.

As serious as the topic was in this book , it had me laughing and awing in the best possible way. This was a one day read for me.

This does have mature material, to be quite honest could have done without. But this book really had phenomenal lead characters that took you a wild ride.
  
The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
2017 | Action, Comedy
Samuel l jackson (2 more)
Ryan reyolds
Elodie yung
If the sequel is as funny as the first movie next week could be in for a good Thursday afternoon the movie was funny Reynolds and jackson have great chemistry and it shows the stunts amazing everything about kept me glued to my bed the whole way thru the sequel had better be good that's all I can say
  
The New Mutants (2020)
The New Mutants (2020)
2020 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
good action hot ladies nice plot (0 more)
kinda slow in spots (0 more)
hard hitting action picture
okay well ill start by saying this WILL NOT win any oscars globes or any of that b s but its a really good day at the cinema none the less good action adventure plot mostly moves right along and i can honestly say that its one of the best of the year
  
40x40

Thundercat recommended Musical Massage by Leon Ware in Music (curated)

 
Musical Massage by Leon Ware
Musical Massage by Leon Ware
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Leon Ware is one of those people, if not the main person, that taught me what it was to be a songwriter. I'm very happy and fortunate to say that I got a chance to tour with him at a very early age. He was my first experience with songwriting. When you go listen to Musical Massage, you can hear the spirit behind most of the things people were doing in the 70s; everybody that we know that Leon used to write with, like Minnie Riperton and Quincy Jones and Marvin Gaye, just to name the ones that are easily pinpointable out the gate. You can see his spirit through the music. Musical Massage is, I think, the perfect soul album. I'm not lying to you. In my opinion there's only a few that exist in that space. Leon Ware's album was the actual definition of soul. And you can hear songs that were copied from it; you can hear like 'oh, this is where this person did this' and 'This is where this person took this'. That's where I learned how to be a songwriter; Leon Ware taught me everything about songwriting. He taught me the emotion behind it, he taught me how to get to those emotions, he showed me what it was to not to ever quit, no matter what is getting thrown at you. One of my favourite songs that brings tears to my eyes, like to this day is 'Got To Be Loved' on Rockin' You Eternally – I know that's a big jumped from 1976 to 81, but let me say, every time I hear that song I can feel that whatever he was feeling when he wrote it, and I think it hit me at different points in life too. So this is all about Leon Ware's prowess as a songwriter and why he was the hit maker that he was. I get to spend some time with some quality time with him growing up, and I'm really grateful for that. So Musical Massage is a journey, man, it's a real journey. I remember telling Tyler, The Creator about Leon Ware, and Tyler's very much to himself, but you can see every now and again Tyler will say something about how important Leon Ware's music is, and I think even Tyler even went so far as to try to write some stuff with Leon. God rest his soul because he passed a few years ago; that was very difficult. He left me and us with a lot of music, and to this day when I think about my own songs like 'Them Changes' or 'The Turn Down' it's always was a reminder to say how you feel."

Source
  
TM
The Man Who Watched Women
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I must admit to not having read many so-called Scandi-Noir - in fact, I am ashamed to say that I have only ever read one by a highly successful author who shall remain nameless and, to be honest, it put me off as I just couldn't get into it at all … ok, I only read ½ of it so feel free to berate me as I probably deserve it! When I was invited to receive a free copy of The Man Who Watched Women from the publisher, Random House UK / Cornerstone Digital via NetGalley, I decided to put my previous experience aside and give it a go and I am quite pleased I did.

My full review can be found on my blog - http://readingstuffnthings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-man-who-watched-women-by-hjorth.html - feel free to drop by :)