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The War of the Flowers
The War of the Flowers
Tad Williams | 2003 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Descriptions (3 more)
world building
index of people places and things
800+ pages
long winded (2 more)
whiney dense lead
800+pages
A stand alone book. As a fan of Tad Williams I have put this book off from reading (it had been on my TBR list for over a decade) because of a previous stand alone book, I was afraid I won't like this one. Luckily, because of a TBR reading challenge I finally picked it up, and was pleasantly surprised at the intricate worlds that have been built.
The book is set up in five parts and has a couple of POVs most being that of Theo (the main character) who goes from California to the world of Faerie. A very different Faerie then expected. A very unique take on it.
Theo is thrown into a world he doesn't understand and has an extremely difficult time with well... don't want to give any spoilers. Although I will say the author isn't afraid to put Theo through hell, from the get.
While I did figure out quite a lot of the book along the way I was more pleased then annoyed when I was right in my assumptions.
The descriptions are very realistic and graphic in places (the author's note at the beginning is warranted) making this book quite long as are most of his books. A good long read that may not be for everyone.
  
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
1962 | Classics, Drama
8.8 (24 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"The first two that jump to mind are both from my formative years. One is To Kill a Mockingbird and the other was Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, both of which are films that I saw at a young age. Obviously To Kill a Mockingbird is, you know, one of the great novels of the 20th century, and a beautiful film adaptation of that that I think did a great job of… I mean, this is from a current perspective, having read the book a couple of times and read the book to my kids and seen the movie. But, at the time — I don’t know how old I was, if I was nine or eleven or twelve — but I was sort of viewing it from the perspective of the kids. The whole story is told from Scout’s perspective and the other kids, and like most kids growing up, I sort of saw Gregory Peck as the film version of my dad in the good guy standing up for what’s right and doing the right thing. Yeah, just a really well-made film with characters that I think are relatable to a really wide range of people, as all great storytelling is, whether it’s a film or a novel, or whatever it is. Something that’s accessible for a variety of ages and demographics and is something that speaks to a lot of people."

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Henry Rollins recommended The Graduate (1967) in Movies (curated)

 
The Graduate (1967)
The Graduate (1967)
1967 | Classics, Comedy, Drama

"The Graduate directed by Mike Nichols. It’s just a perfect film. And it was, I think, the first non-student real film for Dustin Hoffman. It’s just a beautiful, perfectly written… perfectly shot, perfectly acted film, where you have Dustin Hoffman who has bedded both Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross and he breaks up the marriage. I saw it as a little kid because I lived with my mom and she liked to go to the movies. She couldn’t always get a babysitter and so now and then I would get taken to films that were quite adult. There’s not necessarily nudity, because there doesn’t need to be. The thing is so well written; the adult themes and just how screwed up adults are is on full display in The Graduate. You can tell all these people are just so damn talented, and you look at a young Dustin Hoffman and you go, “Damn, man. Look at the career you’re about to have, dude. You’ve got it.” His talent was just so huge yet so innate in that he’s not gonna fail. He’s one of those people like, “Man, you were born to act.” I’ve tried to get to Buck Henry to get him to tell me stories about The Graduate and I’ve hung out with him a couple of times. And I’m like, “You wrote The Graduate!” And he’s always very funny and kinda belligerent to me, “Ah, shut up… Rwagh, Rwagh.” I’m like, “OK [laughing].”"

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Traitor's Moon (Gladstone Shifters #2)
Traitor's Moon (Gladstone Shifters #2)
Alexander Elliott | 2019 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
TRAITOR'S MOON is the second book in the Gladstone Shifters series and it does follow on from book one so I definitely recommend you read that book just to get the full picture.

Ben and Evan are still trying to make their Pack a safe home but Wilburn still has other plans. Jack and William are 'on tour' trying to bring the reality of True Elders to other packs.

There is so much intrigue in this book, making it fast-paced and full of action without it being rushed. As a reader, you daren't blink in case you miss anything. And yet, there is still time for romance, for love, for hope. And not just for MM couples either. Personally, I think this is one of the best parts of these books - instead of just one romance, you get a couple or more!

The world-building is excellent and you also get the political structure and problems too. Although there are a host of characters, each one is fully fleshed out, making every single one of them completely believable.

This is a fantastic addition to the series and I look forward to carrying on with their stories. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Jonah!

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Killing in a Koi Pond
Killing in a Koi Pond
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jessica Gets Back on the Road to Murder
Jessica Fletcher is traveling down to South Carolina to visit a college friend. Delores has just married Willis, and she is over the moon. She is also blind to the way that Willis treats the majority of those around them, but Jessica observes the way others are reacting to his almost abusive behavior at dinner. When Jessica sets out for a run the next morning, she finds Willis dead in the Koi Pond. While Delores doesn’t want to believe that anyone could have killed Willis, the police being to treat Delores as a suspect. Can Jessica figure out what is really happening?

Although I’ve been a fan of the TV show for years, I just started reading the books a couple of years ago. While I enjoyed those books, they felt a little off for the franchise. This book captures the feel of the show much better, especially Jessica on a trip episode (which were the majority). Jessica is her charming best here, and I enjoyed several other characters as well as appreciating the growth in Delores. I did feel that Delores’s step-granddaughter was a bit young for the age she was supposed to be and the suspects were thin. The plot was good, although the pacing was off. Still, it did provide some enjoyable red herrings before we reached a classic Murder, She Wrote climax. Fans of the series will feel right at home here.
  
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Tyondai Braxton recommended Multistability by Mark Fell in Music (curated)

 
Multistability by Mark Fell
Multistability by Mark Fell
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Revelatory meditations on a classic FM synth sounds. The end of an era and the beginning of one. I came to his music maybe later in my life, and he's one of those guys where you just slap your head and go "Oh man, how have I not known about this guy?" Only in the last couple of years have I approached him. He does micro-electronic stuff, kind of like preceded a lot of labels that have since flourished with that, like Raster-Noton and Editions Mego. What he's done - and I think this must be a running theme of things that I like – as far as liberating an idea from its historical context. Like Feldman and Varese, it's him taking these dance sounds, these FM synth sounds that you hear in techno even, and isolating them, turning them into this simple object which is hanging on your wall. And in doing so, it's reduced to something so pure that it's profound and it's absurd. And it's powerful and funny. It's so simple, the idea behind it. Production-wise, he has his own methodology that I'm not too sure about. It's not basic, but it's so obvious in its clarity, that it makes you ask, "How has someone not done this already?" So profound in a way. It's so simple, this idea. It's literally one pulsing sound. You understand it, but you are thinking "How do I listen to this? What is it for?""

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ClareR (5874 KP) rated Expectation in Books

Jul 6, 2021  
Expectation
Expectation
Anna Hope | 2019 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Expectation was a book that really sneaked up on me. I started reading it, and discovered that I didn’t actually want to stop. It was fascinating.

It looks at the lives of three women: Hannah, Cate and Lissa, who are best friends. Hannah and Cate have known one another since childhood, and they meet Lissa at university. They all come from diverse backgrounds, and they all go on to do very different things after they graduate. We see the pressure that they all feel to succeed on their chosen paths, and the ways that they deal with both their successes and failures at home and at work.

This is a book that has stayed with me since I finished reading it a couple of weeks ago. Their life choices struck a chord of recognition in me, even though my own life is nothing like the three women. It made me think about how we all start off thinking our lives will go down one particular path, and invariably, things happen that completely change what we want.

Expectation is beautifully written, and I often lost myself completely in the story. I liked the slow burn, and the way that the book would go back to childhood or university years in order to emphasise a characters decision in the present. The ending was a real affirmation of the strength and longevity of female friendship. Just my kind of book.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2336 KP) rated Pint of No Return in Books

Jul 8, 2021 (Updated Jul 8, 2021)  
Pint of No Return
Pint of No Return
Dana Mentink | 2021 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Delicious Debut
After finding out that her ex-husband was a thrice-married embezzler, Trinidad Jones moved to Upper Sprocket, Oregon. The reason? Her ex left her a storefront, and she is going to open a shake shop there. One afternoon, she finds a neighboring store owner dead in the back of his popcorn shop. The police start to look at Juliette, one of Trinidad’s fellow ex-wives, as the killer. Trinidad doesn’t think that Juliette committed the crime, but can she trust her instincts?

I found myself at once drawn into the book as I struggled to fully get lost in the world. There were small details that we didn’t get right away that kept me from fully getting emmeshed in the story. On the other hand, the characters were wonderful, and those relationships kept drawing me in. The pacing was a little off a couple of times, but it held my interest as I read, and it led to a great climax. The book does a good job of balancing tone. At times, it’s light, but other times it gets serious. The combination makes for a richer book. I appreciated the slight twist on the cozy mystery set up. The ice cream scenes made my drool, and I appreciate the recipe at the end of the book. I can’t wait to revisit these characters when the second in this series comes out.
  
Pony Up
Pony Up
Sandy Dengler | 2020 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Settling into Married Life with Danger
This book opens at Joe Rodriguez’s wedding reception over in Ireland, but it isn’t too long before he and his young wife, Bridgid, are back in Phoenix and settling into wedded bliss. Well, they would be if it weren’t for Charlie Stegener. He is still trying to cause trouble for Joe in particular and the entire Phoenix police in general despite the fact that his wife has dropped out of the mayor’s race. Meanwhile, someone has followed Joe and Bridgid back from Ireland intent on ruining their lives. Can Joe stay one step ahead of both of these problems?

This book follows the previous book in the series very closely. In fact, some of the storylines I thought were wrapped up come back into play. The result feels more like a TV show than a novel, however, with the dueling plots. The characters are wonderful, and fans of the series will be excited to see what happens next to them. Well, mostly. There are a couple of scenes that were excessive, and I have to wonder what one character did to the author to get the treatment they got here. The ending, while wrapping up the plot, did seem a bit abrupt. I did enjoy the book because I like the characters and got caught up in the events, but I’ve enjoyed other books from this author more.
  
Judgment Night by Faith No More
Judgment Night by Faith No More
1993 | Hip-hop, Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This was something of an anomaly in Faith No More’s catalogue, from a film made in the early ‘90s called Judgement Night. The soundtrack was a sort of experiment where they would get bands - white people, essentially - and they would couple them with hip-hop groups and see what happened. This was one of my first introductions to hip-hop to be honest and it wasn’t even ‘proper’ hip-hop, it was bands playing with rapping over the top. “I just thought it was absolutely amazing and I couldn’t get enough of it, this worn-out tape. ‘Another Body Murdered’ was one of the best tracks on it and it ended up introducing me to loads of bands and loads of rappers and this wasn’t like nu-metal, it was mostly edgy rappers. But then there was also a track ‘Fallin’ with Teenage Fanclub featuring De La Soul, things like that. It gave me a really broad introduction via a medium I already understood, which was bands. “But because it was a faceless tape, I didn’t really know who everyone was or who was doing what on each track. I didn’t realise then what cultural lines might have been crossed, because it was all just blurred into one: here’s the guitar, here’s somebody rapping. It didn’t matter to me at all and I think that was a healthy way to discover that sort of music."

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