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Under the Emerald Sky (The Irish Fortune #1)
Book
Escape to 19th century Ireland in the first book in the Irish Fortune Series, a historical fiction...
Historical Fiction Ireland Irish History Great Famine
TF
The Fuggers of Augsburg: Pursuing Wealth and Honor in Renaissance Germany
Book
As the wealthiest German merchant family of the sixteenth century, the Fuggers have attracted wide...
GPS Tracker | GPS tracking by trackOmeter
Social Networking and Utilities
App
GPS Tracker makes GPS Tracking fun and easy for the whole family. - Install on as many devices as...
Kings & Queens: 1,000 Years of British Royalty
Reference and Education
App
Now available for your iPhone as well as the iPad British history brought vividly to life in the...
Supra: A Feast of Georgian Cooking
Book
Bordered by Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and situated at a crossroads on an ancient...
Ardrossan: The Last Great Estate on the Philadelphia Main Line
Book
A richly detailed history of the baronial splendour of the Philadelphia Main Line estate Ardrossan...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Girls of Brackenhill in Books
Nov 5, 2020
As a kid, Hannah spent several summers at Brackenhill, her aunt and uncle's beautiful mansion in the Catskills. Joined by her older sister, Julia, they enjoyed a peaceful time away from their troubled mother and her boyfriend. But that final summer, Hannah made the journey home alone after Julia disappeared. Now, seventeen years later, Hannah is back at Brackenhill, accompanied by her calm and steady fiance Huck, to deal with the aftermath of her Aunt Fae's death. Her uncle Stuart is quite ill and Hannah must handle the necessary affairs. But once at Brackenhill, long buried memories flood to the surface, along with some undiscovered family secrets.
"She'd escaped Brackenhill once. She could do it again."
I read this completely captivating thriller in one breathless day. It's such a wonderfully eerie and ghostly mystery that excellently captures the spooky atmosphere of Brackenhill. I'm all for a read with a creepy castle, ghostly happenings, and a history of missing girls. Told in a then (Hannah and Julia's summers at Brackenhill) and now format, Moretti sucks you in from the beginning, making the reader feel as if they are a part of the haunted happenings at Brackenhill.
"The Ghost Girls of Brackenhill are an urban legend."
The result is a twisted and dark story--a true Gothic ghost tale. I figured out a few pieces, but still found this impossible to put down. Moretti excels at weaving in the devastation of family secrets and small town mystery. As Hannah unravels the mystery of her family history and her sister's disappearance, we do as well, and you'll share her sense of dread and the overall foreboding that sweeps across the pages.
I wished the ending offered a bit more resolution, but this is an excellent, haunting, and spooky supernatural read. You'll be madly flipping the pages (with the lights on)! 4+ stars.
"She'd escaped Brackenhill once. She could do it again."
I read this completely captivating thriller in one breathless day. It's such a wonderfully eerie and ghostly mystery that excellently captures the spooky atmosphere of Brackenhill. I'm all for a read with a creepy castle, ghostly happenings, and a history of missing girls. Told in a then (Hannah and Julia's summers at Brackenhill) and now format, Moretti sucks you in from the beginning, making the reader feel as if they are a part of the haunted happenings at Brackenhill.
"The Ghost Girls of Brackenhill are an urban legend."
The result is a twisted and dark story--a true Gothic ghost tale. I figured out a few pieces, but still found this impossible to put down. Moretti excels at weaving in the devastation of family secrets and small town mystery. As Hannah unravels the mystery of her family history and her sister's disappearance, we do as well, and you'll share her sense of dread and the overall foreboding that sweeps across the pages.
I wished the ending offered a bit more resolution, but this is an excellent, haunting, and spooky supernatural read. You'll be madly flipping the pages (with the lights on)! 4+ stars.
Aintree: The History of the Racecourse
Book
Each year, for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon in April, Aintree Racecourse becomes the focus of...
ClareR (6059 KP) rated The Burning Chambers (The Burning Chambers #1) in Books
Jan 26, 2021
This book is an immersive experience! I found myself drawn in to the world of 16th Century France - and to be fair, it was all pretty exciting stuff! Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres, one of my ‘go-to’s’, and this did not disappoint one bit. It’s a story of religion, conflict, ambition, with a bit of a love story thrown in for good measure.
It’s all history that I know little about - my history education being that of the carefully selected English type. I’ve always tried to find out more about European history (ahem, German degree) and further afield if I can, and historical fiction makes it a bit more interesting than a dry history book. This book taught me a lot about the tensions between the catholic majority, and the Huguenot minority.
Minou is the 19 year old daughter of a bookseller, and lives in Carcassonne with her family. She meets Piet, a Huguenot convert, and helps him to escape from the town. Later, in Toulouse, they meet again in far more dangerous circumstances. They become trapped in a city at war - Catholic against Huguenot - and someone that Piet believes is a friend is very far from that. In Puivert, the chatelaine of the castle has a secret that she wants to keep hidden, and the only way to do that is for her to find Minou.
First, the most obvious thing: this is one big book. It’s the kind of book that I would buy on my kindle, because at 600+ pages, it definitely won’t fit in my handbag! The Pigeonhole is great for these circumstances!
Secondly, although this book is a serious whopper, it didn’t feel that way when I was reading it. It’s an exciting, fast-paced, delight of a read. It has it all: action, history, romance. Everything that makes for a compulsive read! The heroes and heroines are good, and the villains are thoroughly bad, and I loved them all!
It’s all history that I know little about - my history education being that of the carefully selected English type. I’ve always tried to find out more about European history (ahem, German degree) and further afield if I can, and historical fiction makes it a bit more interesting than a dry history book. This book taught me a lot about the tensions between the catholic majority, and the Huguenot minority.
Minou is the 19 year old daughter of a bookseller, and lives in Carcassonne with her family. She meets Piet, a Huguenot convert, and helps him to escape from the town. Later, in Toulouse, they meet again in far more dangerous circumstances. They become trapped in a city at war - Catholic against Huguenot - and someone that Piet believes is a friend is very far from that. In Puivert, the chatelaine of the castle has a secret that she wants to keep hidden, and the only way to do that is for her to find Minou.
First, the most obvious thing: this is one big book. It’s the kind of book that I would buy on my kindle, because at 600+ pages, it definitely won’t fit in my handbag! The Pigeonhole is great for these circumstances!
Secondly, although this book is a serious whopper, it didn’t feel that way when I was reading it. It’s an exciting, fast-paced, delight of a read. It has it all: action, history, romance. Everything that makes for a compulsive read! The heroes and heroines are good, and the villains are thoroughly bad, and I loved them all!
Ronyell (38 KP) rated We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993) in Movies
Jul 24, 2020
Dinosaurs Meet New York City!
The movie starts off with a young bird wanting to run away from home because he got embarrassed by his mother coddling him in front of his brothers. But then, the young bird meets up with a tyrannosaur named...Rex and Rex then starts telling the little bird about how he and the other dinosaurs came to New York City. When a kindly inventor named Captain NewEyes brings the dinosaurs from their era and gave them a cereal brand called "Brain Grain" in order to make the dinosaurs smarter, he sends the dinosaurs on a mission to get to the Museum of Natural History. When the dinosaurs finally reach New York City, they meet up with two kids named Louie, who is a young boy with a tough attitude and Cecilia, a young girl who comes from a rich family. The two kids then accompany the dinosaurs to the Museum of Natural History, but unfortunately, they meet up the evil Professor ScrewEyes, who wants to turn the dinosaurs back into their feral states in order to showcase them in his terrifying eccentric circus.
I will admit that when I first heard about this movie, I wasn't that excited to watch it and I actually was afraid to watch it the first time. But, then I finally caved into this movie and I ended up enjoying it! I loved the way that this film explored the importance of family and friendship as the dinosaurs' friendship with Louie and Cecilia is what helps them make it on their journey to the Museum of National History and help them try to resist the evil temptations of Professor ScrewEyes. I also really loved the voice acting in this movie as all the voice actors gave it their all in voicing these characters. John Goodman did a fantastic job at voicing Rex as he makes Rex have a booming sounding voice while having a gentle tone to his voice to show Rex's kind nature. Yeardley Smith did a great job at voicing Cecilia as she made Cecilia sound so adorable. The animation was also fantastic as it was quite ahead of its time and I especially loved the scenes of New York City being lighted up as the lights look so gorgeous. The late James Horner's music was the highlight of this film as it sounds so beautiful and uplifting and I always wanted to get the soundtrack for this film!
Some of the issues that I have with this film is that there is a lack of character development. There are some characters that weren't quite fleshed out, like Professor ScrewEyes himself and I wanted to learn more about the backstories of these characters, so I would have a better understanding of them. Also, there were times where the themes of this movie were a bit clunky in its execution, like the theme of family in this film. I can see how Rex is trying to teach the little bird at the beginning of the film about the importance of family since Louie and Cecilia both had family problems of their own and it connects with the little bird's predicament. But, I don't see how the family theme connects with the dinosaurs themselves since they never really mentioned their own families to Louie and Cecilia and the movie never really implied that the dinosaurs considered each other as a family.
Overall, "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story" is a great film for anyone who loves films that deal with dinosaurs and for anyone who is looking for a more family-friendly version of "Jurassic Park."
Originally posted on: https://surrealmoviesandtvblog.blogspot.com/2019/05/movie-review-were-back-dinosaurs-story.html
I will admit that when I first heard about this movie, I wasn't that excited to watch it and I actually was afraid to watch it the first time. But, then I finally caved into this movie and I ended up enjoying it! I loved the way that this film explored the importance of family and friendship as the dinosaurs' friendship with Louie and Cecilia is what helps them make it on their journey to the Museum of National History and help them try to resist the evil temptations of Professor ScrewEyes. I also really loved the voice acting in this movie as all the voice actors gave it their all in voicing these characters. John Goodman did a fantastic job at voicing Rex as he makes Rex have a booming sounding voice while having a gentle tone to his voice to show Rex's kind nature. Yeardley Smith did a great job at voicing Cecilia as she made Cecilia sound so adorable. The animation was also fantastic as it was quite ahead of its time and I especially loved the scenes of New York City being lighted up as the lights look so gorgeous. The late James Horner's music was the highlight of this film as it sounds so beautiful and uplifting and I always wanted to get the soundtrack for this film!
Some of the issues that I have with this film is that there is a lack of character development. There are some characters that weren't quite fleshed out, like Professor ScrewEyes himself and I wanted to learn more about the backstories of these characters, so I would have a better understanding of them. Also, there were times where the themes of this movie were a bit clunky in its execution, like the theme of family in this film. I can see how Rex is trying to teach the little bird at the beginning of the film about the importance of family since Louie and Cecilia both had family problems of their own and it connects with the little bird's predicament. But, I don't see how the family theme connects with the dinosaurs themselves since they never really mentioned their own families to Louie and Cecilia and the movie never really implied that the dinosaurs considered each other as a family.
Overall, "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story" is a great film for anyone who loves films that deal with dinosaurs and for anyone who is looking for a more family-friendly version of "Jurassic Park."
Originally posted on: https://surrealmoviesandtvblog.blogspot.com/2019/05/movie-review-were-back-dinosaurs-story.html