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St Peter's, Cardross: Birth, Death and Renewal
Diane Watters and Angus Farquhar
Book
The ruin of St Peter's College has sat on a wooded hilltop above the village of Cardross for more...
Rooftop Garden Design
Book
This richly illustrated book provides a comprehensive guide to contemporary trends in rooftop garden...
The Inner Runner: Running to a More Successful, Creative, and Confident You
Book
Why are so many people drawn to running? Why is running the most common physical activity? What is...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2336 KP) rated Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation in Books
Oct 9, 2019
Can Charlie Be as Smart as Einstein?
Meet Charlie Thorne. She is highly intelligent, a great athlete – and twelve-years-old. She is attending college, if you can call only showing up on test days to be attending college, just biding her time until she is legally an adult. Until the day the CIA shows up and strong arms her into helping them on a mission of critical importance. It is believed that Albert Einstein developed an equation in the 1930’s that rivals his theory of relativity in importance, but he hid it to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. While people all over the world have been looking for it for decades, the race to find it has heated up, with the fate of the world potentially in the balance. Because Charlie is so smart, they think she can more easily decode the clues that Einstein left behind. Will Charlie be able to follow the clues to find it?
I was excited to dive into a new series from middle grade author Stuart Gibbs. It takes a little time to set up the characters and the story in the first half, but the second half is packed with action. When I got here, it was nearly impossible to put down. The main characters got some nice character growth over the course of the book. The rest of the characters aren’t quite as sharp, but they are developed enough to keep us engaged in the book. This doesn’t have quite as much humor as some of Stuart Gibbs’s other books, although I did laugh some. The more serious tone is reflected in the more serious nature of the story. There isn’t anything that isn’t appropriate for the intended audience, but there is more violence off the page than in his previous books. Only the most sensitive kids will be bothered by what happens here, however. The ending of this book will leave you ready for Charlie’s next adventure. I know I’m anxious for it.
I was excited to dive into a new series from middle grade author Stuart Gibbs. It takes a little time to set up the characters and the story in the first half, but the second half is packed with action. When I got here, it was nearly impossible to put down. The main characters got some nice character growth over the course of the book. The rest of the characters aren’t quite as sharp, but they are developed enough to keep us engaged in the book. This doesn’t have quite as much humor as some of Stuart Gibbs’s other books, although I did laugh some. The more serious tone is reflected in the more serious nature of the story. There isn’t anything that isn’t appropriate for the intended audience, but there is more violence off the page than in his previous books. Only the most sensitive kids will be bothered by what happens here, however. The ending of this book will leave you ready for Charlie’s next adventure. I know I’m anxious for it.
Running to the Edge
Book
Visionary American running coach Bob Larsen assembled a mismatched team of elite California runners...
David McK (3557 KP) rated Quantum Leap: Too Close for Comfort in Books
Sep 22, 2024 (Updated Sep 22, 2024)
"Theorising that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished... He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home…”
That's the intro from the original, 1990s, show (as opposed to the more modern 2020 reincarnation).
Why am I posting the above?
Because this novel itself is from the 90s, long before Dr Raymond Song or any of the newer bunch, and so focuses on the original Leaper Sam, and his hologrammatic observer Al.
It was also obviously written whilst the show was still on air (or, at the very least, not long after it ended), and very much could have been a episode of that original show, which was far more episodic in nature than the newer version.
Here, Sam finds himself in the body of a college graduate in what-I-believe-to-be the early 1990s, leasing a room from a college professor who is very much into the whole Men movement of the era, so much so that said professor does not even realize when his family life is falling down around him.
Being the early 1990s, this is far too close to the timeline from which Sam leaps (1999), with Al Calvacci also involved here both as Sam's hologram, and as an actual person who Sam encounters as a member of Dr Wales encounter group. Hence the title 'Too Close for Comfort', which can be construed in multiple different ways!
That's the intro from the original, 1990s, show (as opposed to the more modern 2020 reincarnation).
Why am I posting the above?
Because this novel itself is from the 90s, long before Dr Raymond Song or any of the newer bunch, and so focuses on the original Leaper Sam, and his hologrammatic observer Al.
It was also obviously written whilst the show was still on air (or, at the very least, not long after it ended), and very much could have been a episode of that original show, which was far more episodic in nature than the newer version.
Here, Sam finds himself in the body of a college graduate in what-I-believe-to-be the early 1990s, leasing a room from a college professor who is very much into the whole Men movement of the era, so much so that said professor does not even realize when his family life is falling down around him.
Being the early 1990s, this is far too close to the timeline from which Sam leaps (1999), with Al Calvacci also involved here both as Sam's hologram, and as an actual person who Sam encounters as a member of Dr Wales encounter group. Hence the title 'Too Close for Comfort', which can be construed in multiple different ways!
Clare Parrott (294 KP) rated Wrecked (Forever #4) in Books
Nov 9, 2017 (Updated Nov 9, 2017)
This started off so well.
Lorrie back at college after her mum is murdered by her step dad and her dad kills himself, shes trying to get back to normal when in a freak accident she ends up falling into a frozen lake. Trapped under the ice she thinks she'll surely die until shes rescued by the handsome Hunter Jensen.
I was gripped, this sounded like a must read ... and then it fizzled out.
I don't have any idea what Lorrie looks like, I can't remember if the author has actually described her and far to much time was wasted messing around with a box of abandoned kittens. The chemistry was just fine between Hunter and Lorrie there was no need for the kittens.
It was a struggle not to abandon this book at 76% but if I had I'd never have found out about Hunter, which I'm pleased I stuck with it but sadly its just not going to make me buy book 2 :(
Lorrie back at college after her mum is murdered by her step dad and her dad kills himself, shes trying to get back to normal when in a freak accident she ends up falling into a frozen lake. Trapped under the ice she thinks she'll surely die until shes rescued by the handsome Hunter Jensen.
I was gripped, this sounded like a must read ... and then it fizzled out.
I don't have any idea what Lorrie looks like, I can't remember if the author has actually described her and far to much time was wasted messing around with a box of abandoned kittens. The chemistry was just fine between Hunter and Lorrie there was no need for the kittens.
It was a struggle not to abandon this book at 76% but if I had I'd never have found out about Hunter, which I'm pleased I stuck with it but sadly its just not going to make me buy book 2 :(
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The Grace of Silence: A Family Memoir in Books
Jan 15, 2018
I won this book on Goodreads First Reads.
This book caught my eye because I'd taken a Civil Rights course one summer while in college at CMU. The class facinated me. I learned what I thought was a great deal about the civil rights movement...from freedom marches, to sit ins we talked about it all. Or so I thought!
Michelle Norris's book told me otherwise. The day to day struggles of real families from this era of American history goes largly unnoticed. This book looked at one family & how things that were considered taboo, & therefore never talked about, effected generations of her family. It took an in-depth look at how "normal" people were the cornerstone of the movement & to this day go largly unhearlded for their efforts.
The memoir was well written & read more like a novel than a true account of someone's family. This was an unexpectedly great book!
This book caught my eye because I'd taken a Civil Rights course one summer while in college at CMU. The class facinated me. I learned what I thought was a great deal about the civil rights movement...from freedom marches, to sit ins we talked about it all. Or so I thought!
Michelle Norris's book told me otherwise. The day to day struggles of real families from this era of American history goes largly unnoticed. This book looked at one family & how things that were considered taboo, & therefore never talked about, effected generations of her family. It took an in-depth look at how "normal" people were the cornerstone of the movement & to this day go largly unhearlded for their efforts.
The memoir was well written & read more like a novel than a true account of someone's family. This was an unexpectedly great book!
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Priestdaddy in Books
Sep 4, 2017
The eccentric and quirky life of a Catholic family
This is an intriguing memoir about the author's experiences of living in an unconventional, but highly religious family, with a Catholic gun-toting priest for a father. It is highly sarcastic, and hilarious at times, reading about Patricia Lockwood's family antics. When I first began this autobiography, I honestly believed it was set in the 1960s as her father disallows the sisters to go to college, instead spending money on guitars, and describing the effects of living next to a radioactive plant. But lo and behold, Lockwood is writing about only a decade ago.
She leads an eccentric lifestyle, following in her family's footsteps, writing poetry and travelling across the US after a marrying a man off the internet. But it also reveals her doubts about their customs and practices, and how she questions the function of the church - especially with claims of molestation. An interesting and enjoyable read.
She leads an eccentric lifestyle, following in her family's footsteps, writing poetry and travelling across the US after a marrying a man off the internet. But it also reveals her doubts about their customs and practices, and how she questions the function of the church - especially with claims of molestation. An interesting and enjoyable read.
Erika (17789 KP) rated Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) in Movies
May 25, 2019
Ever since I was born, I was dope.
After watching @The Lonely Island Presents: The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience (2019) , I was in the mood to re-watch one of my favorite movies. I was also aghast that I hadn't reviewed this yet.
I've loved The Lonely Island since Lazy Sunday, and I'm on a Boat was basically the anthem for my senior year of college (university). This is one of my favorite mockumentaries out of all of them. The songs are hilarious, and any movie that starts out with the line, 'Ever since I was born, I was dope', is going to be completely absurd. The crude nature of the songs always makes me laugh out loud, and I have the CD in my car. My favorites are 'Karate Guy', and 'Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song)', and they still make me snort-laugh whenever I hear them.
The humor isn't for everyone, most songs are explicit, with sometimes cringe-worthy detail, but it makes it funnier to me.
I've loved The Lonely Island since Lazy Sunday, and I'm on a Boat was basically the anthem for my senior year of college (university). This is one of my favorite mockumentaries out of all of them. The songs are hilarious, and any movie that starts out with the line, 'Ever since I was born, I was dope', is going to be completely absurd. The crude nature of the songs always makes me laugh out loud, and I have the CD in my car. My favorites are 'Karate Guy', and 'Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song)', and they still make me snort-laugh whenever I hear them.
The humor isn't for everyone, most songs are explicit, with sometimes cringe-worthy detail, but it makes it funnier to me.