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Prairie Song (Hearts Seeking Home, #1)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book is really good. I loved it from the beginning. You will be reminded of a book from the other series that you may think that it connected to it. It was really intruding. You will learn how to deal with some really serious issues.

The issues are a various of different things. One person in this book can show how they deal with geif and it not all good. You get to experience some things going on Trail as well. I would recommend this book to any one that likes historical fiction, a bit of civil war era, romance.

Though I am not going to make you decide I will let you decide for yourself if you want to read it or not and rate for yourself.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Harriet (2019) in Movies

Nov 26, 2019 (Updated Nov 27, 2019)  
Harriet (2019)
Harriet (2019)
2019 | Biography, Drama, History
Earnestly worthy (or possibly worthily earnest) bio-pic. Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery, helps many others do the same, makes many stirring speeches while music swells behind her, and receives the odd vision courtesy of God (or may just have seizures as a consequence of brain damage).

A powerful performance from Erivo, and the film initially manages to bring the horrors of slavery to vivid life in a way that even 12 Years a Slave didn't quite manage, as well as presenting a more complex view of life in the slave states before the American civil war. But the story soon becomes a bit disjointed and repetitive, and by the end it has turned into a rather clunky melodrama only partly redeemed by reasonable performances and production values.
  
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Caitlin Moran recommended Gone with the Wind in Books (curated)

 
Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind
Margaret Mitchell | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
7.2 (23 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Once you put aside the matter of OH MY GOD THE SLAVERY JESUS LOOK AT ALL THE FREAKING SLAVERY STOP WITH THE SLAVERY, MAN, the core conceit of this book is amazing. It the most famous teen literature ever-Scarlett is 16 when the Civil War kicks off, and what keeps her going through the complete destruction of her family, status and life is her unrequited love for Ashley Wilkes. The idea of that kind of demented fantasy-let's face it, Ashley's a drip-keeping you going through awful years is such a key Teenage Girl Thing. The fuel is mad unrequited love, keeping you going. It inspired both the "Fantasy Love Affairs" chapter in How To Be A Woman, and most of the plot of How To Build A Girl, hahaha."

Source
  
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
1939 | Drama, Romance, War

"For me a favorite movie is a movie that you can watch at any time, and so I would say Gone With the Wind. I think the cool thing about Gone With the Wind… Well, this is what I decided, as I get older and more intelligent, why I like the film — because as a little kid I just loved the love story, and the Civil War was an interesting thing to me — but now it’s that I think it’s really cool to have the heroine of a film be someone that you really just don’t wanna like. You struggle liking her and I think that’s awesome. It is not a happy film. When it ends it’s just so heartbreaking, and I know it’s happening but I just can’t handle it every time."

Source
  
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Emily Mortimer recommended Hons and Rebels in Books (curated)

 
Hons and Rebels
Hons and Rebels
Jessica Mitford | 1999 | Biography, History & Politics
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Jessica Mitford was part of the legendary English aristocratic Mitford family. Her sisters included the novelist Nancy, Diana, who was imprisoned with her husband Sir Oswald Mosley for being a fascist, Unity, who fell in love with Hitler, and Deborah, who became the Duchess of Devonshire. Jessica was the family communist and eloped with Esmond Romilly, Churchill's nephew, to go and fight in the Spanish Civil War. Some of the best bits of the book are her descriptions of her childhood. Their poor mother, desperate to knock some sense into her unruly girls, would make them sit down each week and write out how they would economize for a family on an income of 200 pounds a year. Every week without fail Nancy would write at the top of her paper, “199 pounds : flowers.”"

Source
  
How the West Was Won (1963)
How the West Was Won (1963)
1963 | Action, Western
Sprawling account of fifty years of American history, as encountered by various members of one pioneer family. Starts with the initial settlement of the west, takes in the Civil War, the coming of the railroads, and concludes with the triumph of law and order (well, sort of).

At least partly sold on the sheer number of stars involved, but in the end there's hardly any John Wayne, not much more Jimmy Stewart, and probably a bit more George Peppard than you'd honestly care for. It's quite naive, sentimental stuff, in many ways, and the technical side-effects of it being shot in VistaVision are very obvious. There's some magnificent photography, the odd effective cameo, and very occasionally a moving moment - but too often this is stodgy and episodic rather than a stirring saga.
  
Black Widow (2021)
Black Widow (2021)
2021 | Action
Good actors (1 more)
Plenty of action
Great to have a Marvel film back
Great to have Marvel back on the big screen. While not quite an origin story, we do get to see the Black Widows early years as a child at the start. Most of the film is set around the Civil war film in the time line. While on the run her past catches up with her.
The cast is very good and David Harbour is good as the Red Guardian. Russia's answer to Captain America. He generally has most of the funny moments in the film as well.
The action scenes are great and Sfx look great. Nice to have a blockbuster film to enjoy in the cinema again.
The credits are about 6 minutes long and there is a scene after them.
  
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Blazing Minds (92 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies

Nov 1, 2021 (Updated Nov 3, 2021)  
Black Panther (2018)
Black Panther (2018)
2018 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
The last time we saw Black Panther was in Captain America: Civil War, when we were introduced to the character and now we finally have the character-based movie that brings us more about the new King of Wakanda and his families history, we also get to see Wakanda and it is pretty stunning in RealD 3D.

It seems that Marvel has certainly found the key to making superhero movies that just look so great and Black Panther is no exception to their continued success, the movie looks great, it has a superb cast, the soundtrack is superb and the action is all in the places it needs to be, oh and the 3D is done in such a way that it has depth without any of those in your face moments.
  
The Fires of Vengeance
The Fires of Vengeance
Evan Winter | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Second entry in Evan Winter's 'The Burning' series, and - like the previous (The Rage of Dragons) - this definitely falls into the umbrella term of (here, African inspired) fantasy.

And I don't mean that pejoratively - I like me a bit of fantasy every now and then!

Anyway, this follows on almost directly from the ending of the previous novel, with Tau Solarin now having risen to the rank of Queen's Campion, still out for revenge against the Royal noble who killed his father, and now wit the added, umm ... shall we say complications? ... that arise from his feelings towards the Omehian Queen Tsiora who is facing a civil war over her actions (including elevating a Common like Tau to be her champion).

For some reason, however, I didn't connect with this one so much as with the previous - I'm not sure whether that was because this seemingly focused more on the grand sweep of the ongoing war than on the personal stakes involved?

Anyway, it also ends with a definite cliff-hanger setup for book #3 - I'll probably continue reading the series when that comes out.
  
W(
Windfall (Weather Warden, #4)
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
112 of 220
Book
windfall ( Weather Wardens 4)
By Rachel Caine
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Joanne is all-out exhausted. When not donning a rain slicker and camping it up for the camera as a TV weather girl, she has to contend with a vengeful cop on her tail, her newly divorced sister moving in—with a charming but mysterious British beau in tow—and getting caught in the middle of a supernatural civil war. Worst of all, her boyfriend in a bottle can't stop draining her powers and is fast morphing from the Djinn of her dreams to the Ifrit of her nightmares.

As the agreement between the Wardens and the Djinn starts to self-destruct, Joanne finds herself forced to choose between saving her lover, saving her Warden abilities...and saving humanity.

For anyone following this series I think this is so heartbreaking for Jo. She is back to being human and fighting to keep David while the wardens and Djinn are on the verge of war. She’s being pulled in all directions. It took me a while to go back to this series but I’m so glad I did. I miss Rachel Caine.