Search
Search results
Carma (21 KP) rated It Takes Two (Just Everyday Heroes: Night Shift, #2) in Books
Jun 17, 2019
It takes Two is the first book Ive read by Erin Nicholas. It was also the first I read in the Counting on Love series, and I hate when I read a series out of order. The good news is that these books can stand on their own with minimal carrying over and lots of explanation to previous happenings.
Isabelle Dixon thought she could have a wild and crazy night before she has to settle herself into a new lifestyle because of a medical issue. She thinks Shane Kelley is the perfect candidate for the job. 6 months later she cant believe she is still seeking him out and cant seem to let go.
Shane Kelley has fallen fast and hard for Isabelle Dixon. He has asked her to move in with him multiple times and wont take no for an answer. He thought their biggest obstacle was her brother Connor but it seems like they cant get past something bigger. He wont give up even when she seems to be keeping something really big from him.
Isabelle and Shane take a humorous road trip to find out if they can truly make it work between them. Each stop, on their way to a vacation house, has humor, angst, trials and truths. There may also be a little fun game included in their adventure, not known to all the parties involved.
I love the dynamic between the Dixon sisters, each with their own strengths and issues. Isabelle seems like a good mix of a party girl with a stay at home girl. She has to make some big choices with an unexpected health issue that hits her. She wants to hide herself away from the world but also loves being with Shane. Can she have it both ways and have them both happy?
Shane is the over the top, romantic boyfriend we all crave in life. Well maybe. He does go a little over the top sometimes but hey props for creativity. He loves Isabelle and wants to be with her all day every day. He knows she is hiding something from him but can he overcome the issues to make her happy for forever?
If you havent read anything by Erin Nicholas, what are you thinking? The Counting on Love series, which apparently is a semi continuation of the Bradfords series with brief appearances by some Bradford characters, is the perfect place to start. I havent read the Bradford series yet but Im anxious to now since completing the Counting on Love series.
Isabelle Dixon thought she could have a wild and crazy night before she has to settle herself into a new lifestyle because of a medical issue. She thinks Shane Kelley is the perfect candidate for the job. 6 months later she cant believe she is still seeking him out and cant seem to let go.
Shane Kelley has fallen fast and hard for Isabelle Dixon. He has asked her to move in with him multiple times and wont take no for an answer. He thought their biggest obstacle was her brother Connor but it seems like they cant get past something bigger. He wont give up even when she seems to be keeping something really big from him.
Isabelle and Shane take a humorous road trip to find out if they can truly make it work between them. Each stop, on their way to a vacation house, has humor, angst, trials and truths. There may also be a little fun game included in their adventure, not known to all the parties involved.
I love the dynamic between the Dixon sisters, each with their own strengths and issues. Isabelle seems like a good mix of a party girl with a stay at home girl. She has to make some big choices with an unexpected health issue that hits her. She wants to hide herself away from the world but also loves being with Shane. Can she have it both ways and have them both happy?
Shane is the over the top, romantic boyfriend we all crave in life. Well maybe. He does go a little over the top sometimes but hey props for creativity. He loves Isabelle and wants to be with her all day every day. He knows she is hiding something from him but can he overcome the issues to make her happy for forever?
If you havent read anything by Erin Nicholas, what are you thinking? The Counting on Love series, which apparently is a semi continuation of the Bradfords series with brief appearances by some Bradford characters, is the perfect place to start. I havent read the Bradford series yet but Im anxious to now since completing the Counting on Love series.
Frank Turner recommended American IV: The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash in Music (curated)
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Dark Currents (The Emperor's Edge, #2) in Books
Jan 11, 2021
I love this series like crazy! In fact, I love all the authors work that I've read. 5 books so far and counting!
Then I have to answer Lindsay's question featured in her FAQ section. My answer is YES! I do want Amaranthe and Sicarius to get together eventually! It isn't enough for me to read him telling her "he cares"! I want romance! Please let there be romance in the next 5 books!
And back to the review. Well, if I'm honest, I cant really remember the first one. I remember it involved Sespian and that he quite liked Amaranthe but I remember very little about her gang, otherwise known as "The Emperor's Edge", or the rest of the plot. It was nice getting to know them all again.
I cant recommend this series enough!
Then I have to answer Lindsay's question featured in her FAQ section. My answer is YES! I do want Amaranthe and Sicarius to get together eventually! It isn't enough for me to read him telling her "he cares"! I want romance! Please let there be romance in the next 5 books!
And back to the review. Well, if I'm honest, I cant really remember the first one. I remember it involved Sespian and that he quite liked Amaranthe but I remember very little about her gang, otherwise known as "The Emperor's Edge", or the rest of the plot. It was nice getting to know them all again.
I cant recommend this series enough!
Awix (3310 KP) rated Faust (1926) in Movies
Oct 28, 2019
You can't really judge a film this old (93 years and counting) by modern standards, as it is the product of an entirely different sensibility and is in a mode we rarely see nowadays - it's not naturalistic and doesn't want to be, instead presenting an almost impressionistic series of images as it tells its story.
You might expect it to be slow and heavy, but for the first hour and a bit this rattles along at a tremendous pace - the Devil makes a bet with an Archangel for the soul of the alchemist Faust, granting him eternal youth, wealth, worldly pleasures, and so on. It's still visually impressive and often unexpectedly funny (Emil Jannings as the Devil gives a great comic performance)- a bit earnest and melodramatic in places, but you kind of expect that. Very watchable - I hope I look this good when I'm 93.
You might expect it to be slow and heavy, but for the first hour and a bit this rattles along at a tremendous pace - the Devil makes a bet with an Archangel for the soul of the alchemist Faust, granting him eternal youth, wealth, worldly pleasures, and so on. It's still visually impressive and often unexpectedly funny (Emil Jannings as the Devil gives a great comic performance)- a bit earnest and melodramatic in places, but you kind of expect that. Very watchable - I hope I look this good when I'm 93.
Entertainment Editor (1988 KP) rated Terraforming Mars in Tabletop Games
Mar 7, 2018
Terraforming Mars review: Turn the “Red Planet” green with this amazing board game
But to find the fun, you have to give Terraforming Mars a chance—and the game does itself few favors when it comes to table appeal.
The game's icons look like vector clip art from the early 2000s, all glittering gold surfaces and apparent depth. The player mats are thin cardboard that provide just enough space to track the game's essential production levels using cubes; because they have no linen finish, the mats are also smooth. Even tiny bumps can dislodge these core gameplay elements, so you need to be extremely careful while playing. Speaking of cubes, those used for counting resources come coated in metallic paint, which has already begun to chip off some of the corners, giving them a slightly sad faux-luxury look.
Critic: Nate Anderson
Read the full review here: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/10/terraforming-mars-review/
The game's icons look like vector clip art from the early 2000s, all glittering gold surfaces and apparent depth. The player mats are thin cardboard that provide just enough space to track the game's essential production levels using cubes; because they have no linen finish, the mats are also smooth. Even tiny bumps can dislodge these core gameplay elements, so you need to be extremely careful while playing. Speaking of cubes, those used for counting resources come coated in metallic paint, which has already begun to chip off some of the corners, giving them a slightly sad faux-luxury look.
Critic: Nate Anderson
Read the full review here: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/10/terraforming-mars-review/
Awix (3310 KP) rated Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) in Movies
Feb 22, 2018
Planet X marks the Spot
Sixth Godzilla movie, third for Rodan, second for Ghidorah, if anyone's counting. Not really a proper monster movie, if we're honest, more a sort of Japanese take on a flying-saucer B-picture. Aliens from Planet X ask to borrow Godzilla and Rodan to help deal with their local monster problem (King Ghidorah); evil plans are naturally afoot.
Almost wholly mad; still quite entertaining, but the lack of actual monster action (the three big beasts get very little screen-time) is inevitably quite disappointing. Rattling pace makes up for a lot of the film's flaws, and the basic idea - aliens try to conquer the world using monsters - would be endlessly recycled in future proper Godzilla films. Easy to dismiss this movie as quaintly dated 60s tosh, but surely a film where the forces of evil are driven off by the power of rape alarms has something to say to the #time's up generation.
Almost wholly mad; still quite entertaining, but the lack of actual monster action (the three big beasts get very little screen-time) is inevitably quite disappointing. Rattling pace makes up for a lot of the film's flaws, and the basic idea - aliens try to conquer the world using monsters - would be endlessly recycled in future proper Godzilla films. Easy to dismiss this movie as quaintly dated 60s tosh, but surely a film where the forces of evil are driven off by the power of rape alarms has something to say to the #time's up generation.
David McK (3245 KP) rated The Warlord of Mars (Barsoom, #3) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Entry #3 in Edgar Ruce Burroughs <I>Barsoom</I> series, <I>The Warlord of Mars</I> follows on from the previous entry (<I>The Gods of Mars</I>), with John Carter counting down the days until the release of Dejah Thoris from the prison in which she was trapped at the end of that book. Of course, and quite early in this, she is released and captured by some of Carters enemies from that previous entry, tying the events of this directly into the events of that novel.
Unlike the previous entry (which started on Earth), the entirety of this novel takes place on Mars itself. It is also very much so a 'classic' boys own adventure story, full of numerous battles, a little bit of intrigue and some narrow escapes - as before, it is easy to see the influence this would have on later, perhaps better well known, stories by various authors.
Unlike the previous entry (which started on Earth), the entirety of this novel takes place on Mars itself. It is also very much so a 'classic' boys own adventure story, full of numerous battles, a little bit of intrigue and some narrow escapes - as before, it is easy to see the influence this would have on later, perhaps better well known, stories by various authors.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated Growing in God's Love: A Story Bible in Books
Jun 18, 2018
Growing in God's Love: A Story Bible by Elizabeth F. Caldwell; Carol A. Wehrheim is an illustrated book that pays attention to quality and detail. While it says it is a book that children can read, I believe it should be read to children. I am impressed with this book, the wording, and I like how it is designed to be interactive between adult and child with three simple questions at the end of each story.
Most of the stories are between one and two pages counting the illustrations and three questions and start at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis and through the old testament and then into the new testament. The verse location in the Bible is given under the story title.
The author did a great job of covering Bible topics in a way that children can understand but in a way that adults can gain a blessing as well.
I received an ARC from Westminster John Knox Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Most of the stories are between one and two pages counting the illustrations and three questions and start at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis and through the old testament and then into the new testament. The verse location in the Bible is given under the story title.
The author did a great job of covering Bible topics in a way that children can understand but in a way that adults can gain a blessing as well.
I received an ARC from Westminster John Knox Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
David McK (3245 KP) rated Wolverine: Origin in Books
Jan 30, 2019
As the mutant with no memory of who he was but with the adamantium skeleton and claws, there's a reason that Wolverine was the character chosen to draw the audience into the world of the X-Men in the 2000 movie of the same name, as well as being a key player in virtually all the X-Men movies to date (skipping, say, 'First Class').
He's also the first - and, to date, only X-Men mutant (I'm not counting Deadpool as belonging to the X-Men) to get his own solo movie in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A movie that I'm not sure whether was released before or after (or at the same time, even?) as this collection of stories.
But there sure is a lot of similarities in the early portion of that film, and with when this is set and the events that take place within it ...
[i]edit[/i]: I've just discovered that this was released first (2001-02), with the movie in 2009. Guess I know now where the early part of the plot came from!
He's also the first - and, to date, only X-Men mutant (I'm not counting Deadpool as belonging to the X-Men) to get his own solo movie in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A movie that I'm not sure whether was released before or after (or at the same time, even?) as this collection of stories.
But there sure is a lot of similarities in the early portion of that film, and with when this is set and the events that take place within it ...
[i]edit[/i]: I've just discovered that this was released first (2001-02), with the movie in 2009. Guess I know now where the early part of the plot came from!
Kim Pook (101 KP) rated To the Bone (2017) in Movies
Sep 10, 2020
Can be triggering for some
The movie starts with a hospital support group, the girls are super skinny and talking about food, why? They are anorexic! This story focuses on 20 year old anorexia sufferer Ellie, she lives with her step mum who watches her when she eats and weighs her on a regular basis. She takes Ellie to see a specialist doctor to try and help her, and he admits her to a clinic with other people with eating disorders, it has no doors and no electronic devices are allowed. Fairly normal for rehab.
There's not much to say about the movie really, it's nice to see a movie dedicated to getting better rather than leading upto the illness. Be warned though, if you suffer from or have suffered from an eating disorder and are easily triggered then I would stay clear of the movie as the eating disorder language and attitudes towards food is pretty full on, such as tips on losing weight, where to hide your vomit, weight numbers and calorie counting.
There's not much to say about the movie really, it's nice to see a movie dedicated to getting better rather than leading upto the illness. Be warned though, if you suffer from or have suffered from an eating disorder and are easily triggered then I would stay clear of the movie as the eating disorder language and attitudes towards food is pretty full on, such as tips on losing weight, where to hide your vomit, weight numbers and calorie counting.