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Rachel Ward, Charles Melville and Robert Hillenbrand
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A masterpiece of medieval Arab metalwork revealed, shedding light on courtly life in northern Iraq...

Austerlitz
James Wood, Anthea Bell and W.G. Sebald
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Austerlitz is W. G. Sebald's haunting novel of post-war Europe. In 1939, five-year-old Jacques...

Pro Spark Streaming: The Zen of Real-Time Analytics Using Apache Spark: 2016
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Learn the right cutting-edge skills and knowledge to leverage Spark Streaming to implement a wide...

Our Dementia Diary: Irene, Alzheimer's and Me
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This is a love story from start to finish, Irene and Rachael's. Based on the diaries of Rachael...

Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Annabelle Comes Home (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
Four years after Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmigia) brought the Annabelle doll into their home, they leave Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), a babysitter, in charge of their daughter, Judy (Mckenna Grace) while they investigate a case overnight. Mary Ellen's friend Daniela (Katie Sarife), sneaks into the artifact when she comes over uninvited and accidentally leaves Annabelle's glass case unlocked causing the terror that ensues.
This movie was pretty good. I liked it and thought that it was genuinely scary in certain parts for a PG-13 movie, but then afterwards I looked it up and saw that it was rated R. I don't feel that this movie lived up to its potential, it being rated R and also being in The Conjuring franchise. The plot felt very loose and not very put together and instead of being about the couple, it centered on their daughter. This I felt definitely made it feel a little scarier since she has none of the experience and knowledge of her parents when it comes to fighting these evil forces but I felt the audience was robbed of a better story the franchise could have told with the parents not really being involved at all. Also I felt that they tried to add too many ghosts/characters for one movie, which was kind of cool in certain ways but also seemed less because of it. All in all, if you like The Conjuring franchise you'll like this movie and I give it a 6/10.

Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Men in Black International (2019) in Movies
Jul 7, 2020
Molly Wright (Tessa Thompson) witnesses her parents being neuralized by agents of Men in Black in Brooklyn 1996. Avoiding neuralization as her parents assumed that she was asleep, she helps an alien escape. Twenty-three years later, she manages to track Men in Black agents back to MiB headquarters in New York. Molly makes an impression on Agent O (Emma Thompson), despite being caught entering the building. She is assigned to the London branch on a probationary agent status as "Agent M".
This movie was very predictable. There really wasn't one part of the movie that surprised me plot wise. From the twists and turns that they try and throw at you to the big reveal at the end. A lot of critics said this movie was very forgettable with lackluster action and they are not wrong. However, the movie was quite enjoyable for myself and others. The chemistry between Thompson and Hemsworth was awesome and particularly the voice acting for Kumail Nanjiani's character. His character Pawney, stole the show and really made the movie good. He was the comic relief and center of any scene he was in. The special effects were great and they even threw in a couple of new aliens as they often do with the sequels of this series. The movie also didn't have near the emotional impact of the sequels. It was a decent movie but not as funny, surprising, or stupendous as the first film in the franchise. I give it a 7/10,

ClareR (5854 KP) rated The Silent Wife in Books
Jul 8, 2020
This story based around Will Trent (a GBI agent) and medical examiner Dr Sara Linton, is as dark and unsettling as the other books I’ve read. When the GBI is called in to investigate the death of an inmate during a penitentiary riot, another inmate, Daryl Nesbitt, offers them information about a series of terrible attacks, sexual assaults and murders of women in Grant County. Murders and attacks which almost exactly mirror the murders that he was convicted of and that he claims that he didn’t commit. He claims that Sara’s dead husband, Chief of Police Jeffrey Tolliver, and his fellow officer, Lena Adams, framed him.
There is enough in what he says for them to start looking in to past cases and to follow up on a more recent death.
No matter how gore-filled these books are, it’s never done in bad taste. The characters have respect for the dead women (I don’t think I’m giving too much away when I say it’s ‘women’, as in ‘more than one’), and they, to some extent, treat suspects with restraint. I really liked the extended flashbacks to Jeffrey Tolliver. They’ve certainly made me want to read more of the Grant County books.
I’m really glad that The Pigeonhole have serialised the last couple of Karin Slaughter books, and selfishly, I really hope they continue to do so! If you’re already a fan of Karin Slaughter books, you’ll understand. If you haven’t read any yet, what are you waiting for?

Anand Wilder recommended Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens in Music (curated)

DJ Muggs recommended Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin in Music (curated)

Debbiereadsbook (1410 KP) rated Nothing But Good in Books
May 19, 2021
First time author, peeps, and I think it’s rather good!
Jefferson is an FBI agent tasked with catching The Smiley Face killer, Mr Smiley (I have no idea why, but that tickled me no end!) Coming face to face with his college room-mate after 8 years, and then Finny getting attacked by Mr Smiley, puts Jefferson in a difficult position. But Jefferson can’t stay away from Finny, not now.
So, couple points.
First, though, well done Ms McKinley, on a job well done. I did NOT see the whodunnit coming at me, at all! And the WHY! Loved being kept on my toes.
It did take me a little while to get into it, and it was touch and go whether I would dump this or not, but I am glad I kept going, I really did enjoy it!
I did feel, though, that I might have enjoyed this more, had there not been any smexy stuff, I really do. I felt the scene before the gala dinner was kinda thrown in, like it NEEDED some smexy, but I really don’t think it did. So, clean, here, might have worked better for ME.
And of course, I wanted to hear from Finny too! Why they fell out, all those years ago was playing on my mind, and what I had was not how it went down. But I needed Finny to tell me why, not Jefferson. Finny had his heart broken when Jefferson went nuts, and I needed Finny to tell me how he dealt with it all, in much more detail than when he is talking to Jefferson. And we don’t get him, we just get Jefferson. Just me, being greedy!
A well thought out plot line, well written, and well delivered.
4 GREAT stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
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