
Gaz Coombes recommended Here Come the Warm Jets by Brian Eno in Music (curated)

Break Beats in the Bronx: Rediscovering Hip-Hop's Early Years
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The origin story of hip-hop—one that involves Kool Herc DJing a house party on Sedgwick Avenue in...
Music music history

Stories of Anton Chekhov
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Called the greatest of short story writer, Anton Chekhov changed the genre itself with his spare,...

Swear on This Life
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From USA TODAY bestselling author Renée Carlino (Before We Were Strangers), a warm and witty novel...

For the Demented by Annihilator
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Annihilator’s brand-new album “For The demented” promises to pack a premier punch....
Metal

BookInspector (124 KP) rated Tin Man in Books
Sep 24, 2020
This novel carries a story of two friends, Ellis and Michael. They are the main characters in this book and the whole book was told from their perspectives. I shouldn’t forget Annie as well, even though she is kind of a silent character, she plays an integral part in the essence of this novel. All the characters are exceptionally crafted and incredibly complex. The whole novel got my brain working and imagination just flew free. I loved that author allowed the reader to paint the characters themselves, she allows you to know the story, but at the same time, there are so many details missing and so many questions left unanswered. I am not really sure whether I liked those gaps or not… because everything made so much sense. I found all the characters very likable and their internal relationship very amusing.
The narrative of this book was very confusing to me, it always keeps jumping between present and past, filling this book with romantic, but at the same time heartbreaking stories. I really enjoyed all the twists which author brought in, it made this book even more deeper and unexpected. I really liked the topics Sarah Winman was highlighting in this novel, such as homosexuality, friendship, HIV, family issues, loneliness etc. HIV hasn’t been discussed in the books for a while now, and I am great full for this reminder.
This was my first encounter with Sarah Winman’s writing, but there is no doubt that her writing style is very unique and absolutely masterful. The thing is, even though I admire her writing gift and I strongly believe she should be awarded for it, I am not a very big fan of it. Too many unanswered questions and I was not very satisfied with the closure of this book. Another thing what nagged me was the length of the chapters. Even though the book is not very long, the chapters were pretty long for my liking and it kind of dragged sometimes. So, to conclude, even though there were some things which were not for me, I truly think this book is a must-read, the characters and the plot are absolutely unique and very creative, and the prose is absolutely gorgeous and mentally challenging. Get it, read it, and I hope you will enjoy it! 🙂 (I know it is a confusing review and sometimes sentences contradict themselves, but that how this book made me feel… 🙂 )

Inkflow Plus Visual Notebook
Business and Education
App
Visual Thinkers Rejoice! Inkflow works like a word-processor for visual thinking. Capture your ideas...

Jacqueline Stewart recommended Fieldwork Footage (1928) in Movies (curated)

BookInspector (124 KP) rated Before This is Over in Books
Sep 24, 2020
The main character in this book was Hannah, a wife and mother of two boys. Normally I really enjoy reading books, told from different perspectives, but in this case, the whole story was told from Hannah’s perspective only, and it didn’t leave me disappointed. I really liked the relationship which this family was sharing: the support and understanding between Hannah and her husband were very strong, and I also enjoyed reading about their parenting techniques, there is something new to learn. 🙂 The characters who really annoyed me were the children. I am not a very big fan of kids, and they got on my nerves really bad in this book (children will remain, children, I get it…) I really liked Hannah as a character, she was doing everything she could to survive those horrible weeks in isolation, and I really respected her decisions, even though sometimes they used to be really harsh.
The plot of this book was concentrated around Hannah’s house, sometimes including some news about next door neighbours. This book was quite long, and sometimes the chapters used to drag a little, but one thing I liked, that when you think everything is going to be ok, Hickie throws in a challenge for the family to face. That’s what kept me going and interested in this book. I was curious whats next, how and when this all epidemic is going to finish.
The writing style was very creative and pleasant to read. The chapters were too long for my liking and it really dragged sometimes. I really liked the idea of using a calendar symbol to mark the new chapters, I think it was creative and something new. The ending of this book rounded the whole story quite good. However, it left me wondering, what happened to the other characters, who came along the way. So, to conclude, this is a really emotionally challenging novel about survival and choosing whats best for your family. I do strongly recommend to give it a try, I really enjoyed this adventure.

Becs (244 KP) rated Final Draft in Books
Oct 29, 2019
I listened to the audiobook of Final Draft and it was honestly not my favorite. The whole thing was out of order and there were a variety of things that made me extremely uncomfortable with the plot.
Firstly, the relationship between Laila and Mr. Madison was a massive cringe-fest. It crossed a lot of lines, not sexual in any way, but it went from a professional student-teacher relationship to something more personal. Laila would email Mr. Madison things that just shouldn’t have been said to a teacher. It made the rest of the book awfully weird.
It was also difficult to relate to Laila as she seemed to overshadow the plot of the story more than was needed. Many of her actions were selfish and she projected self-hatred onto others. The secondary characters weren’t even fleshed out and the relationships between each of the characters were poorly written. The plot didn’t even stick with the whole creative writing aspect and was mainly more drama than anything else.
The ending was rushed and too much happened within the last few pages. Although Laila does explore her sexuality, she never officially comes out. There was a lot of female body positivity which is really nice to see in a book! But I feel that was about the only thing going for this story.