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Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane by Jeffrey Lewis
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"In the UK people know Jeffrey Lewis. He is this artistic polymath, he does comics, he's one of the most talented people I've met in my life, he can do anything. I feel if you looked into his notebook it would almost be like looking tin DiVinci's notebook. He can draw anything, write anything. He's got a lot going on, but he's also a super humble guy. This is his first album which he put out through Rough Trade. When I first heard his music I felt it was actual folk music from someone who'd grown up in the East Village. It felt like I was hearing a document of a great person who someone had recorded on a hi-fi in someone's home. He just played his diary to music, but it happened to so interesting and he happened to be a genius so you could put it out as an album. The way Jeff tells a story is unique. He lets words unfold in a way that only someone like Eminem or Notorious BIG – or someone that good! – can. It's great watching someone listen to his songs for the first time: 20 seconds in they're interested; a minute in they're trying to process all the information; three minutes on and they're getting even more intense, but by the end they're 'I cannot believe a person could make a complete statement in something so concise!' His music is like a mathematical proof. You don't realise at the beginning of a song what you're getting into and by the end Jeff has floored you!"

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The Wife Who Got A Life
The Wife Who Got A Life
Tracy Bloom | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
6
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A hilarious look at the trials of life from a woman who is worrying about looming menopause. From two teenagers who seem to create chaos when in the same room together to an absent husband who just doesn’t listen, Cathy has her work set out with her home life.

We follow Cathy on her journey through one year after her sister gifts her a motivational diary, which Cathy decides to use for her own small targets like deciding who is going to clean her mum and dad’s loo to the far reaching targets like dancing with Hugh Jackman.

Every month she has a book club meeting, where more often than not, only a couple of the members have actually read the book. But they use it as more of a night where they can catch up and chat about their lives.

As a trained accountant, Cathy gave up working when she had her two children but did a little bit for some small local businesses, but that changes when she sees Tony one day (who she regularly meets on her dog walks) and he tells her he is in need for an accountant, she then ends up going to work in a hip, cool building which does her confidence wonders.

The book really did have some funny parts which made me giggle, and some that made me cry. The only reason for the 3 star rating was that I don’t think that I was the intended audience (a bit on the younger side and nowhere near menopause, I hope!) but I could still find the funny side in a lot of her worries and the situations that arise throughout.
  
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Nikki Massey (8 KP) rated Carrie in Books

Feb 7, 2019  
Carrie
Carrie
Stephen King | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.3 (71 Ratings)
Book Rating
Strong female lead (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
Stephen King has been on my 'must read' list for many years. I've always wanted to read his books but never plucked up the courage.
I finally went down to my local library and the librarian raved about him - which books were good, what collections were interesting, all about the films, TV shows, similar authors. I was sold!
I went in expecting Carrie to be this evil witch using her telekinesis to harm others. I ended up feeling so sorry for her and in some way able to relate to her. She had a difficult time through school, singled out for being different and getting bullied for it. I didn't enjoy school myself and the people who say that it is the best time of your life are highly mistaken and lying through their teeth.
Carrie was just pushed one too many times and then all hell is let loose at her Senior Prom.
I found the writing method quite different to anything I had read in the past. It is an epistolary novel - in that it uses clippings of newspapers, diary entries and such to get the story across. It is also quite unusual in that due to the clippings you find you know what has happened quite early on in the novel but not how. I guess that is what keeps you reading, to find out exactly how it panned out.
I finished with a few questions remaining but perhaps that is part of the joy of a good novel - it gets you thinking and you end up questioning what actually happened and researching possible alternative endings.
I have found my new favourite author in Stephen King and already have Salem's Lot, The Shining and The Stand on order from the library!
  
Millie Sullivan plays a 1920s-era guest during tours of a palatial estate on the shore of St. Simons Island, Georgia, where her great-grandmother was a real guest ninety years ago. When Millie learns of a lost diary that may contain the location of a hidden treasure on the estate and reveal the identity of her great-grandfather, she sets out to find the truth of her heritage--and the fortune she desperately needs. But it won't be easy.

When security guard Ben Thornton discovers her snooping in the estate's private library, he threatens to have her fired. Still, her story seems too ludicrous to be fiction, and her offer to split the treasure is too tempting to pass up.

Get ready for a romantic escapade through dark halls and dusty corners that will have you holding your breath and sighing with delight.

"A mystery, a treasure hunt, and a split-time romance--all set within a beautiful chateau.

My Thoughts: This is a wonderful romance mystery that keeps the readers' attention from the beginning. You can't help but love Millie, who is taking care of her grandmother diagnosed with dementia. When Milie has to find another home for her grandmother, with little money to do it with, her grandmother tells her of a journal of her great grandmother's that has a treasure map. Who doesn't like a good treasure hunt? And so begins our story of intrigue and romance.

This is a story of a lost romance and a new romance brought together by a unique situation. I believe that readers will enjoy this story as much as I did. It's not only about mystery and love, in this story we find two people trying their best to do right. Millie taking care of her grandmother and Ben trying to right his mother's wrong.
  
The Dead Fathers Club
The Dead Fathers Club
Matt Haig | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
7
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Philip’s father has just died in a car crash, but he doesn’t think it was an accident. His father’s ghost comes back and tells him that he must have been murdered because he is part of the Dead Fathers Club – just for murdered fathers. He tells Philip that it must have been his Uncle Alan who murdered him, and tells him that he must get revenge.

In an odd take on Hamlet, The Dead Fathers Club follows Philips hunt for revenge for the death of his father.

It’s definitely a disturbing read. Philip is a young boy whose father has just died unexpectantly, and now he sees his father’s ghost, telling him to do awful things, to the point where he is listing ways he could kill his uncle.

The novel is written like it was Philips diary, so the childish grammar with the disturbing thoughts that Philip is experiencing work together to create a definitely troubling novel.

I was definitely questioning Philip’s mental health throughout the novel and wondering whether his father’s ghost was all in his imagination or it was actually happening.

Philip is a misfit with no friends, a girlfriend in part of the novel (which I’m not too sure what that did to the plot) and he’s bullied constantly. He found comfort in the fact that he had the chance to change his own life. He knew he could kill his uncle if he tried, and he saw that as the only way ahead. In killing his uncle, he would get revenge for his father’s death and stop his father from suffering and finally send him to heaven. He could get everything he needed and at the same time feel like he had a friend in his father’s ghost.

It was definitely a good read, but a big change to Matt Haig’s usual writing style.
  
ED
Every Day Matters Diary
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
WOW … I LOVE this.

Just got a copy of This Diary for an honest review …. and… WOW!

It’s ring bound and lies flat … so much easier to just leave open on a desk and look quickly rather than having to squish it down and half breaking the spine. The A5 size is big enough to not get lost, but still small enough that i could put it in my handbag (there is a smaller version available too if that would be more what you would look for)

It’s bright and colourful … knowing a small amount about colour therapy the overall scheme of the book is relaxing and positive colours.

Every month has a theme … January is Happiness, Feb is Creativity and so forth. the front page of the month explains your “task” for the month, each 2 page spread has a quote from inspirational people that relates to that theme, and a smaller contemplative sub-task for the week.


There is a really good amount of space to write in each day … as a parent this gives me LOADS of room to write down all the appointments for the 4 humans and 2 felines in the household, much more than a basic calendar (the normal way) which usually has a tiny bx or one line only per day.

At the end of each month is a 2 page spread where you can reflect on the past month and the things you have learned. Could be interesting to look back on in future years.

Overall I am very impressed, and will actually use this one (unlike the several that end up being abandoned in a drawer somewhere).

Would I recommend … Absolutely.