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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Oh Dear Silvia in Books
Jun 7, 2018
I received this book for free through the Goodreads Firstreads program.
(This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I love Dawn French! I think she is such a funny woman!! I was so happy to have won a copy of her fiction book entitled Oh Dear Silvia from Goodreads. However, once I started reading the book, it became apparent that I wasn't going to enjoy it.
Silvia is in a coma after falling from a balcony and hitting her head. Throughout her time in hospital, she is visited by family, her best friend, her ex-husband, her nurse, and her cleaner. Each has their own story to tell however odd it may be. Throughout this book, we will find out about who Silvia is.
The title of this book really works. After reading the book, I would say it definitely fits well with the story.
The cover of this book is quite bland. The tree on the cover of the book does have significance, but it's just rather boring. It wouldn't entice me to pick up this book to see what it's about. Surely, the cover could've been a bit more decorative.
The setting takes place mostly in suite 5 which is Silvia's room in hospital. The world building is alright. The memories of each visitor help set the story.
I found the pacing of Oh Dear Silvia to be extremely and painfully slow. At some points, I found myself skim reading the especially boring parts. I couldn't wait for this book to be over. There's not even one bit in this book where the pacing picks up. There's no real plot in this book, so there's definitely no plot twists. The pacing definitely lets this book down.
The dialogue is comedic at times which I found to be a small reprieve from the slowness of this book. Ed's dialogue really bored me.
The characters are well-developed which I found to be a relief. Each chapter of the book is told by someone who knows Silvia. The main characters that have their own chapters being Ed, Cat, Jo, Cassie, Winnie, and Tia. Ed is by far the most boring character that could ever be in a book. All he mostly talks about is his boring trees. Whilst I did find him to be a well-developed character, I found him extremely dull and found myself wishing that he'd just stop talking. Winnie and Tia were my favourite characters. Winnie has a big heart, and it really comes across in this book. Tia is from Indonesia so has a hard time pronouncing Silvia's surname which always made me laugh!! I found Tia and Jo to be the characters that brought the humour, and they delivered! Cat is the high strung character, and Cassie is the angry daughter. Each character has a unique personality. Well done to Dawn French for making each character unique! Through each of the characters' stories, we learn more and more about Silvia.
Even with the strong character personalities and comedic timing, this book still fell flat. I felt that this book was missing a plot. Oh Dear Silvia comes across more as a memoir about Silvia then anything else.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except those who need help falling asleep. Dawn French is great, but this book just didn't do it for me.
(This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I love Dawn French! I think she is such a funny woman!! I was so happy to have won a copy of her fiction book entitled Oh Dear Silvia from Goodreads. However, once I started reading the book, it became apparent that I wasn't going to enjoy it.
Silvia is in a coma after falling from a balcony and hitting her head. Throughout her time in hospital, she is visited by family, her best friend, her ex-husband, her nurse, and her cleaner. Each has their own story to tell however odd it may be. Throughout this book, we will find out about who Silvia is.
The title of this book really works. After reading the book, I would say it definitely fits well with the story.
The cover of this book is quite bland. The tree on the cover of the book does have significance, but it's just rather boring. It wouldn't entice me to pick up this book to see what it's about. Surely, the cover could've been a bit more decorative.
The setting takes place mostly in suite 5 which is Silvia's room in hospital. The world building is alright. The memories of each visitor help set the story.
I found the pacing of Oh Dear Silvia to be extremely and painfully slow. At some points, I found myself skim reading the especially boring parts. I couldn't wait for this book to be over. There's not even one bit in this book where the pacing picks up. There's no real plot in this book, so there's definitely no plot twists. The pacing definitely lets this book down.
The dialogue is comedic at times which I found to be a small reprieve from the slowness of this book. Ed's dialogue really bored me.
The characters are well-developed which I found to be a relief. Each chapter of the book is told by someone who knows Silvia. The main characters that have their own chapters being Ed, Cat, Jo, Cassie, Winnie, and Tia. Ed is by far the most boring character that could ever be in a book. All he mostly talks about is his boring trees. Whilst I did find him to be a well-developed character, I found him extremely dull and found myself wishing that he'd just stop talking. Winnie and Tia were my favourite characters. Winnie has a big heart, and it really comes across in this book. Tia is from Indonesia so has a hard time pronouncing Silvia's surname which always made me laugh!! I found Tia and Jo to be the characters that brought the humour, and they delivered! Cat is the high strung character, and Cassie is the angry daughter. Each character has a unique personality. Well done to Dawn French for making each character unique! Through each of the characters' stories, we learn more and more about Silvia.
Even with the strong character personalities and comedic timing, this book still fell flat. I felt that this book was missing a plot. Oh Dear Silvia comes across more as a memoir about Silvia then anything else.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except those who need help falling asleep. Dawn French is great, but this book just didn't do it for me.
Mastering Backbone.js
Book
Design and build scalable web applications using Backbone.js About This Book * Level up your...
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Berlin Calling in Books
Sep 24, 2020
I am quite a bit of a fan, when it comes to books about World War II, add women in it, and I’m intrigued. That was what drew me to this book, a woman figure in the context of war and not just woman, a foreigner. The description above, describes this novel quite well. It started with very romantic notes, how Maggie met Kurt, and how she ended up in Berlin, landing a job in Propaganda House. Maggie is very interesting character in this book, and I really loved her in this novel. She is beautiful, pleasant to be around, incredibly hard working and independent. I’m kind of used to these disturbed characters which are used in most of the books, and it was very refreshing to read about one, who is not mentally or emotionally messed up. Other characters were interesting to read about as well, and all of them where quite the personalities. I really enjoyed, that author did not make this book from one characters perspective, and included most of the characters by allowing them to speak. This made the book more pleasant to read, and more interesting.
The plot of this book was really absorbing, and different from most of the WWII books I read. Normally, I encountered the books, which used to describe the tragedy of war, such as concentration camps or Jew’s killings, and their fighting for survival. This book was softer on that part, it mentioned the cruelties’ which happened during the war, but never in so much detail to make it stomach turning. It was written more about the political aspects of it, and how German propaganda was used to influence people from other countries. It’s been a while since I studied history of WWII, and I studied from different countries’ perspective, so to see how it looked from Germany's perspective was quite appealing. I think that author was trying to show, how Germans thought about this war and why most of them supported what Hitler was doing.
I am a big fan of short chapters, and this book didn’t disappoint me with that. The chapters were divided into smaller parts, which made it more pleasant to read. Every chapter was quite detailed, but the meaning and the point of that chapter was very lovely opened, and concluded for the reader. The story was flowing nicely and smoothly. I believe Author has a great personal knowledge about war, and used it greatly in this book. There was a little bit of monotony while reading this book, and lack of twists and turns, that would’ve make it more exciting. The language used was not difficult and easy to read, but I had to look up some German terms used in this book, as I’m not familiar with the language. The ending of the book was really entertaining but not complete. I wished more conclusions, and to know what happened to Dieter. To conclude, it is a great book if you looking for World War II stories of war from German perspective, love, and survival.
The plot of this book was really absorbing, and different from most of the WWII books I read. Normally, I encountered the books, which used to describe the tragedy of war, such as concentration camps or Jew’s killings, and their fighting for survival. This book was softer on that part, it mentioned the cruelties’ which happened during the war, but never in so much detail to make it stomach turning. It was written more about the political aspects of it, and how German propaganda was used to influence people from other countries. It’s been a while since I studied history of WWII, and I studied from different countries’ perspective, so to see how it looked from Germany's perspective was quite appealing. I think that author was trying to show, how Germans thought about this war and why most of them supported what Hitler was doing.
I am a big fan of short chapters, and this book didn’t disappoint me with that. The chapters were divided into smaller parts, which made it more pleasant to read. Every chapter was quite detailed, but the meaning and the point of that chapter was very lovely opened, and concluded for the reader. The story was flowing nicely and smoothly. I believe Author has a great personal knowledge about war, and used it greatly in this book. There was a little bit of monotony while reading this book, and lack of twists and turns, that would’ve make it more exciting. The language used was not difficult and easy to read, but I had to look up some German terms used in this book, as I’m not familiar with the language. The ending of the book was really entertaining but not complete. I wished more conclusions, and to know what happened to Dieter. To conclude, it is a great book if you looking for World War II stories of war from German perspective, love, and survival.
Introduction to the New Statistics: Estimation, Open Science, and Beyond
Geoff Cumming and Robert Calin-Jageman
Book
This is the first introductory statistics text to use an estimation approach from the start to help...
Little Ray Of Sunshine (41 KP) rated A Good Catch in Books
Jan 11, 2019 (Updated Feb 10, 2019)
Book Review | A Good Catch by Fern Britton
This book is written by TV presenter Fern Britton. She as wrote seven books go check them out. I have already read 'Hidden Treasures' once I read this book I went on the seach for more of her books they are that good.
I found this book 'A Good Catch' wow what a amazing book it grabbed me from the first chapter. I just didn't want to put down the book as this is a heartwarming and down-to-earth book.
I was drawn to the characters, the story involves four friends Jesse, Greer, Loveday and Mickey they all grew up in a little fishing village of Trevay. They all thought their lives where mapped out for them. Jesse would be working at hes father's fishing company, Greer will marry Jesse as Greer loved Jesse but he only liked her but their fathers wanted them to marry so they can merge their businesses into one. While Loveday loved Jesse and Jesse had feelings for her. Mickey is Jesse's best friend and is in love with Loveday but she aint got the same feelings. But not everything goes to plan like the night before Jesse and Greer get married Jesse gets drunk and sleeps with Loveday. So Loveday tells Jesse that he loves him and she tells him if he loves her back he shouldn't go through the wedding but that doesn't go to plan and Jesse get stuck in a loveless marriage and Loveday marries Mickey.
They keep the secret and lies from Greer and Mickey as it would wreck their relationship and friendship. So through the book you see them grow up and start a family but they still have this big secret will Jesse get Loveday and live happily ever after?
You will have to buy the book and read for yourself I wont give away spoilers but it's worth the read.
This review will automatically be on my blog xxlittlerayofsunshinexx.blogspot.co.uk (Please check it out)
I found this book 'A Good Catch' wow what a amazing book it grabbed me from the first chapter. I just didn't want to put down the book as this is a heartwarming and down-to-earth book.
I was drawn to the characters, the story involves four friends Jesse, Greer, Loveday and Mickey they all grew up in a little fishing village of Trevay. They all thought their lives where mapped out for them. Jesse would be working at hes father's fishing company, Greer will marry Jesse as Greer loved Jesse but he only liked her but their fathers wanted them to marry so they can merge their businesses into one. While Loveday loved Jesse and Jesse had feelings for her. Mickey is Jesse's best friend and is in love with Loveday but she aint got the same feelings. But not everything goes to plan like the night before Jesse and Greer get married Jesse gets drunk and sleeps with Loveday. So Loveday tells Jesse that he loves him and she tells him if he loves her back he shouldn't go through the wedding but that doesn't go to plan and Jesse get stuck in a loveless marriage and Loveday marries Mickey.
They keep the secret and lies from Greer and Mickey as it would wreck their relationship and friendship. So through the book you see them grow up and start a family but they still have this big secret will Jesse get Loveday and live happily ever after?
You will have to buy the book and read for yourself I wont give away spoilers but it's worth the read.
This review will automatically be on my blog xxlittlerayofsunshinexx.blogspot.co.uk (Please check it out)
Debbiereadsbook (1611 KP) rated Escape You (Cole Brothers #3) in Books
Jan 14, 2020
good but myabe not for me
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Tyler finds out his amazing one night stand is the mark for the next ATF raid. Then he finds himself on the opposite side of the fence, as her fiancee. Mia knows she has no choice to this union of Mafia branches, but she doesn't have to like it. Finding out there really IS a way out of it, is great, just not who Tyler really is. Can they really be together when it all goes down?
This is book 3 in the Cole Brothers series, and I have not read the others. I don't feel I missed out on anything by not doing, but this book gives me enough hints to THOSE books, that I would LIKE to go back and read them, because I want to, not because I need to.
And I really am NOT sure how I feel about THIS book! And ya'll know I'm ALL about my book feelings. Its just I don't seem to have any about this book and I cannot for the life of me, figure out what doesn't work for me.
I liked that both Mia and Tyler have a say, it is in the first person, but each change is headed as the chapter changes. I liked that Tyler's deception discovered late in the day, not by Mia, cos Tyler tells her, but by the other major players.
I liked that there is a much bigger picture here, with ALL the Cole brothers involved, and that picture is what makes me want to go back and read the other books. Maybe THIS one will fit in better then, I don't know.
A *for a Mafia book* Nice book, and as much I as hate using that word for a book, it's the ONLY one I can muster.
3 solid GOOD stars, just maybe not for me.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Tyler finds out his amazing one night stand is the mark for the next ATF raid. Then he finds himself on the opposite side of the fence, as her fiancee. Mia knows she has no choice to this union of Mafia branches, but she doesn't have to like it. Finding out there really IS a way out of it, is great, just not who Tyler really is. Can they really be together when it all goes down?
This is book 3 in the Cole Brothers series, and I have not read the others. I don't feel I missed out on anything by not doing, but this book gives me enough hints to THOSE books, that I would LIKE to go back and read them, because I want to, not because I need to.
And I really am NOT sure how I feel about THIS book! And ya'll know I'm ALL about my book feelings. Its just I don't seem to have any about this book and I cannot for the life of me, figure out what doesn't work for me.
I liked that both Mia and Tyler have a say, it is in the first person, but each change is headed as the chapter changes. I liked that Tyler's deception discovered late in the day, not by Mia, cos Tyler tells her, but by the other major players.
I liked that there is a much bigger picture here, with ALL the Cole brothers involved, and that picture is what makes me want to go back and read the other books. Maybe THIS one will fit in better then, I don't know.
A *for a Mafia book* Nice book, and as much I as hate using that word for a book, it's the ONLY one I can muster.
3 solid GOOD stars, just maybe not for me.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
TravelersWife4Life (31 KP) rated The Blue Cloak (True Colors) in Books
Feb 24, 2021
Where to start on a book that sucks you in and doesn’t let go…
The Blue Cloak by Shannon McNear summed up in one word is: STUNNING. When I started reading this book I could not stop thinking about the characters and their plights, Shannon McNear brought their thoughts and feeling to life in an almost tangible way that made me feel like I was right there experiencing the haunting twists and realizations with the characters. She weaved in such a thread of hope and light amidst all that happened for her characters that were a true reflection of the hope we need to pray for in our fallen world.
I was captivated from the first chapter of this true-crime story in a way that I do not think I have ever been by a book before. The historical detail and research that went into the writing of this book were phenomenal, it made the story even more eye-opening for me. I loved how Shannon McNear took the time at the end (in the author’s note) to explain several different aspects of the story and the historical documentation to back them up.
I truly loved the setting, the plot, and the three main characters in this book. When combined I think they made a truly stunning and captivating story that weaves a tale of faith, perseverance, trust, and hope amid unknowable tragedy. Shannon McNear did a great job portraying the darkness in our world but expressing the hope that we have in Jesus’ name.
I give this book a resounding 5 out of 5 stars for the amazing storyline, the historical details, and the great characters. I highly recommend reading this book and I am personally ordering a physical copy for my book collection.
*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest opinion. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
The Blue Cloak by Shannon McNear summed up in one word is: STUNNING. When I started reading this book I could not stop thinking about the characters and their plights, Shannon McNear brought their thoughts and feeling to life in an almost tangible way that made me feel like I was right there experiencing the haunting twists and realizations with the characters. She weaved in such a thread of hope and light amidst all that happened for her characters that were a true reflection of the hope we need to pray for in our fallen world.
I was captivated from the first chapter of this true-crime story in a way that I do not think I have ever been by a book before. The historical detail and research that went into the writing of this book were phenomenal, it made the story even more eye-opening for me. I loved how Shannon McNear took the time at the end (in the author’s note) to explain several different aspects of the story and the historical documentation to back them up.
I truly loved the setting, the plot, and the three main characters in this book. When combined I think they made a truly stunning and captivating story that weaves a tale of faith, perseverance, trust, and hope amid unknowable tragedy. Shannon McNear did a great job portraying the darkness in our world but expressing the hope that we have in Jesus’ name.
I give this book a resounding 5 out of 5 stars for the amazing storyline, the historical details, and the great characters. I highly recommend reading this book and I am personally ordering a physical copy for my book collection.
*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest opinion. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Trust Me in Books
Jul 1, 2021
The protagonist in this book is Ellen, but this book is told from multiple perspectives. Even though she is a civilian, she has seen a lot in her life, which made her brave, compassionate and very determined to solve this case. I really liked all the characters chosen for this novel, some of them were very mysterious and scary, others sweet but misleading. They all created a very thrilling, fast-paced atmosphere, that I enjoyed.
The narrative of this book was a true spiders web. There were so many questions from the first chapter, and the suspense was unbearable. 😀 I really liked Ellen’s and other character’s journeys, investigation and all the twists and turns that this book had to offer. The mystery was very well kept throughout the pages, and the author’s mind manipulations were brilliant. I was soooo confused about what agenda all the characters had, and could not wait to find out all of it. The topics discussed in this book were infertility, PTSD, shady police work, kidnapping, the social media footprint we leave, and many more. This book has a lot of violence and murder, so might not be suitable for sensitive readers.
I absolutely loved the writing style of this book. The author really knows how to keep amazing suspense and deliver great characters. The atmosphere is constantly changing, and because of that all this book is kind of “on the go”. The chapters are pretty short and the multiple perspectives kept me glued and did not allow me to put this book down. I really liked the culmination and the ending of this novel as well, it rounded up this story perfectly.
So, to conclude, I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced thriller, filled with mysterious and absorbing characters as well as the plot that is filled with mystery, questions and the wish to find out what is actually going on there.
The narrative of this book was a true spiders web. There were so many questions from the first chapter, and the suspense was unbearable. 😀 I really liked Ellen’s and other character’s journeys, investigation and all the twists and turns that this book had to offer. The mystery was very well kept throughout the pages, and the author’s mind manipulations were brilliant. I was soooo confused about what agenda all the characters had, and could not wait to find out all of it. The topics discussed in this book were infertility, PTSD, shady police work, kidnapping, the social media footprint we leave, and many more. This book has a lot of violence and murder, so might not be suitable for sensitive readers.
I absolutely loved the writing style of this book. The author really knows how to keep amazing suspense and deliver great characters. The atmosphere is constantly changing, and because of that all this book is kind of “on the go”. The chapters are pretty short and the multiple perspectives kept me glued and did not allow me to put this book down. I really liked the culmination and the ending of this novel as well, it rounded up this story perfectly.
So, to conclude, I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced thriller, filled with mysterious and absorbing characters as well as the plot that is filled with mystery, questions and the wish to find out what is actually going on there.
The Adobe Photoshop CS6 Book for Digital Photographers
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ARE YOU READY FOR AN AMAZING NEW VERSION OF THE PHOTOSHOP BOOK THAT BREAKS ALL THE RULES? Scott...
New York, Portrait of a City
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This book presents the epic story of New York in photographs, photo-portraits, maps, and aerial...