The Time Traveller's Guide to Restoration Britain: Life in the Age of Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton and The Great Fire of L
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Old Bones
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
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Nora Kelly, a young but successful curator at the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute, is approached...
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Helsingør Sewing Club [Audiobook] in Books
Feb 13, 2022
What an incredibly powerful story this is and one that is a must read/listen if you want to be gripped by an inspiring tale of bravery that is based on true events.
Told from diary of Inger in 1943 and her granddaughter, Cecilie in the present day, this is the story of how a community in Denmark saved their Jewish friends, neighbours and countrymen from the tyranny of the Nazi regime. Their self-less courage and strength is captured within the words of this book and although it starts off a little slowly, this helps to set the scene of what's to come.
I listened to the audiobook and have to say that Kristin Atherton did an excellent job of narrating this story; she drew me in and kept me there from start to finish.
This is a gripping story about events in Denmark during World War II and one which I wasn't aware of or appreciated so thank you to Ella Gyland for bringing this to my attention and I would certainly recommend it to anyone with an interest in this area or to anyone who just enjoys a really good book.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Nadya R (9 KP) rated The Handmaid's Tale in Books
Jul 2, 2018
Strange book.
I really wanted to like it and I kinda do.
Its way too biblical for me. With all these references to different Books connected with the Bible - the Bible stories are not really my thing. Yeah, I know that this is the point - the Religious takes over the world. But the author brings it too far than needed.
The story doesn’t have any logical order. It sounds like a diary of somebody who lost their common sense. All this illogical sentences. Like a flashes of memory in between the current situation. Lack of direct speech - there is no distinction between the narrator and the different characters. It’s so senseless in some points that I have to go back and to read the past couple of pages all over again so I can get the line out.
It's is situated in not-so-far future and it’s told by a woman with no name. All women are named after the family who owns them. In this case our narrator is OfFred - owned by a commander Fred’s family. The new government, that had risen, is proclaiming no rights for the women. Their only purpose is to give birth to a healthy babies. They don’t need money, jobs, books, pens or other things that we are taking for granted in our lives. They don’t need them to deliver babies, so they don’t need them at all.
"Tell, rather than write, because I have nothing to write with and writing is in any case forbidden.
But if it's a story, even in my head.
I must be telling it to someone. You don't tell a story only to yourself. There's always someone else.
Even when there is no one."
The Republic of Gilead, as I said, uses religion to control their lives. Every atrocity they do is justified by the Bible. The Bible has all the answers.
The story line is going around OfFred’s inner fights, her struggle to make the right choices, her dreams to be free again and to be with her child and her husband again. Along with her thoughts she shows us what is like to be a Handmaid. Her daily routine, the Rituals and all these small things that distract her from the reality.
"You can only be jealous of someone who has something you think you ought to have yourself"
Personaly, I don’t like the book that much. It’s senseless and not that easy to read. Not because of the topic, but the way it’s written. The shortage of direct speech took away the movement of the book. I know it should look like a diary, but even in the diaries, the difference between the narrator and others is shown in proper way. Probably I will need a second read to fully understand it. But for now the book left a big mess in my head.
"A man is just a woman's strategy for making other women."
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) in Movies
Jul 15, 2019
At the beginning I didn’t know what to expect from this film because the first movie was great, the second not so much; but it has been 12 years since then, fortunately it was a very pleasant surprise.
In this third film British singleton Bridget has broken up with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and turned her focus on advancing her career, she is now a top news producer who can’t help but worrying because she is a 43 yrs. old single woman, whose friends are in committed relationships and having kids.
In an attempt to cheer her up one of these fun friends Miranda (Sarah Solemani) take her to a music festival as a getaway weekend, where Bridget meets Jack (Patrick Dempsey), an American love guru with whom she has a one-night stand.
That encounter is followed by a Baptism a week later, where Mr. Darcy is the godparent, whom she shagged but then realized that He hasn’t change and still a workaholic, the reason why they broke up in the first place, so she decided to leave him in bed and try to move on.
But something happened and, like you can probably tell from the title, Bridget is pregnant. But she is not sure who the father is. It could be the confident and gorgeous Jack or the always elegant and perfect gentleman Mark.
Like in the first 2 films we have two very attractive men fighting for her love. But Bridget is less interested in whom she’ll end up with and instead is more concerned with who she’s hurting by giving them the news that one is the father and the other one isn’t. She decides to wait until after giving birth to get a DNA test for the baby, in the meantime both men decide to assist during the stages of her pregnancy creating some delightful charming old-fashioned comedy set ups.
Jones’s Baby really works and I can say with confidence it is one of the best sequels of the year, I think the big difference is that Jones is no longer the butt of jokes, and matter of fact there is not a single chubby joke, and yes Zellweger doesn’t look like the same Bridget (even my husband who loves chick flicks, thought it was a different actress) but hey! She shouldn’t look the same. It’s been 15 years; In fact, neither does Firth as Mr. Darcy or Dr. McDreammy. As a franchise, this Jones has done more than update from a pen to paper diary to an iPad, it’s embraced its characters to allow them to get involved in very funny situations and laid less emphasis on crying to the song “All By Myself”.
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Sam (74 KP) rated Why Mummy Drinks in Books
Mar 27, 2019
I really enjoyed reading this one. It was so funny and honest, and I can definitely see how it sold so well. I loved the perfect parents in the playground who Ellen aspired to be, and how they fed their kids on quinoa. It was just so funny.
My favourite characters were Bardo and Louisa. Everyone has those embarrassing relatives that you’d rather people didn’t know about, but these took it to another extreme. They lived outside and brought their children up outside, almost like animals. They were so surreal and I would have happily read a book just on their lives.
I wasn’t sure whether to buy this one, mainly because of it being aimed more towards parents than me. But now I can safely say that you don’t have to be a parent to appreciate the humour.
There were a few parts that took the humour a bit too far for me and were past funny, but they didn’t ruin the book. I found the book a bit slow in some places as well, but I read the second half on a sunny day within a few hours and quickly forgot about that.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Sometimes I Lie in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Book for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I must say that I'm just as confused now as when I was reading the book. Usually for me it is because the book travels back and forth through time, but this time, the story itself was confusing. You think you may know what is going on, but then a curve in thrown into the story and you have no idea what is going on. The story held my attention and I was able to finish it rather quickly, but even days after finishing it, it has left me with questions.
Is Amber really as bad as you think? What about her sister Claire? Who is the real culprit in all the disaster that has happened in their lives?
Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated Bella Figura: How to Live, Love, and Eat the Italian Way in Books
May 29, 2018
This is one of those books where you can live vicariously though the author and feel like you are living their life (and truly wishing you could!) Part 'Under the Tuscan Sun', a dash of 'Bridget Jones' Diary' and some hints of "Eat, Pray, Love" I am dreaming of Florence, it's people, it's food, and can easily picture the beautiful scenery after reading this!
Kamin is stuck. Shes in a bit of a rut professionally, personally, and mentally. The stresses of everyday life combined with lingering heartache are wearing down on her immensely and she takes a giant leap of faith and moves to Italy for a year. To write, mostly, but the lessons she ends up learning will change her life forever.
The way this book is structured is my absolute favorite! Every chapter is a month of her new Italian life, and starts with little snippets of the month (Smells, What's in season, Italian phrases learned) and they all end with AMAZING recipes that were talked about in that chapter. I adore how she shares these almost intimate details, and feel as if I'm there with her.
I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait to try some of the recipes, and I aim to embrace "Bella Figura!"
I received a copy of Bella Figura as part of the Penguin First to Read program in exchange for my honest review.