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Y is for Yesterday (Kinsey Millhone, #25)
Y is for Yesterday (Kinsey Millhone, #25)
Sue Grafton | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
5
7.9 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Yesterday, I Finished the Alphabet
It is September of 1989, and PI Kinsey Millhone is hired by a family in a difficult situation. 10 years ago, their son made an explicit tape. He’s just been released from prison, and now the tape has resurfaced. Someone is threatening to give the tape to the authorities if the family doesn’t pay up, and they want Kinsey to find out who it is. Meanwhile, Kinsey is dealing with the aftermath of the attack she recently suffered. Things only heat up when she suspects her attacker might be back in the area.

There is plenty happening here with four different storylines weaving in and out of each other. Still, I did feel the flashbacks for the main mystery slowed things down. The rest of the stories feature continuing stories and characters from earlier books in the series, and I especially liked seeing one of them come back since it gave much needed closure to the previous book in the series. As always, I liked seeing Kinsey again, and we see plenty of regulars. This is the final book in the series, and part of me is sad because I’d love to know how the author would have ended things. On the other hand, this book ends without any major cliffhangers and allows us to imagine Kinsey’s life moving forward as we want it to. I wish we could have gotten a feel for what was on the tape without going into all the detail we got, especially the second time around. There’s a dose of foul language as well I definitely recommend this for series fans even if it isn’t one of the stronger books in the series.
  
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
2019 | Horror
Verdict: Goosebumps With Pure Horror

Story: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark starts with the backdrop of the Richard Nixon election, where high school students Stella (Colletti), Auggie (Rush) and Chuck (Zajur) look to get revenge on the school bully, which sees them stumble into stranger’s Ramon (Garza) car on Halloween which sees them head to a haunted house that has the story about the daughter of the family Sarah Bellows, writing scary stories for the local kids that soon went missing.
When Stella finds the story book she starts to investigate the stories, only to see the stories writing themselves with the locals starting to go missing, including her friends, Stella must investigate the myth about Sarah to stop the people she loves going missing.

Thoughts on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Characters – Stella is an outsider at her school, she has always struggled with the people talking about her mother that disappeared, she is known for writing stories and enjoys a horror film, she wants to investigate the haunted house and is fascinated by what she finds, even though she must do anything to protect her friends once she learns the evil involved. Most of this film Stella feels like a young Velma from Scooby Doo too, which can be hard to shake without realizing. Ramon Morales is a stranger in town, the police don’t take to him too kindly, but Stella sees him as a nice guy, it is slightly confusing trying to figure out how old he is and why he is hanging out with the high schoolers, but he does have a reason to be on the run. Auggie and Chuck are the two banter filled friends of Stella that do make the smart decisions when it comes to dealing with horror moments. Roy Nicholls is the father of Stella that has been struggling with his wife’s disappearance, which has seen him become distant from Stella too.
Performances – Zoe Margaret Colletti is great in the leading role, we see her give us a vulnerable, but strong character that needs to break out of her shell. Michael Garza is strong through the film, playing the mysterious stranger, needing to keep a lot of his secrets close to his chest. Gabriel Rush and Austin Zajur have great chemistry and the friends, while Dean Norris doesn’t do anything wrong, but does feel wasted at times.
Story – The story here follows a group of teenagers that find a book that tells scary stories that come true with horrifying outcomes and they must figure out how to break the curse placed upon them. This does feel like a much darker version of a Goosebumps set of stories, with each horror figure being terrifying in their own right, which will lead to an event that you don’t see coming. We do have the investigation side of the film which does answer the questions about what is going on and why, which as always is entertaining to watch in a horror and with everything adding up nicely we will be left with a story that flows smoothly throughout.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in the film comes from the different creations of horror, for the most part the trailer does show us each of the creations involved in the film, the mystery plays into why the horror events are happening and just what Sarah is making this happen.
Settings – The film is set in a small town, where everybody knows everyone, which does play into the idea that the stories around the town can destroy reputations and feelings.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are used to make the horror creatures seem more terrifying where they look like practical effects too, which is a delight to see.

Scene of the Movie – Chuck’s visit.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The trailer gives away all of the horror figures.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun horror film that is filled with scary figures that will fill you with dread as they are original creations and will surprise with what happens to the characters.

Overall: Fun Dark Horror.
  
It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree
It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree
A J Jacobs | 2017 | Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
How many ways did I love this audiobook? Perhaps too many to count. The simple fact that A.J. Jacobs' voice is like a cross between modern Jews a couple of generations removed from the old country and Caroll Spinney was completely enticing to me. His narrative of his great idea and project was perfectly paced and incredibly funny. Being a big fan of genealogy shows myself, I was enticed by his insights into the process, products, and services available. I agree wholeheartedly that it is the family anecdotes, the stories and coincidences passed down through the generations that are stronger than scientific results on a print out. However, when you really get down to it, there is so little that separates us, and so much more to come that will connect us in the future. Fantastic work and a terrific book.
  
The Mapmaker's Children
The Mapmaker's Children
Sarah McCoy | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved this book with each turn of the page. It gave you two stories that went well together. You get a modern mystery. You also learn about history at that time.
 
This book has you learn about Sarah and her family. We learn about slavery and what it like to be a part of the UGRR? The historical fiction and story go through the past to the future.
 
What will happen to Sarah and helping other by being so brave? The abolitionist John Brown has a daughter that might really be talented. She and Eden have something in common. Will Eden uncover the secrets of the past to the future?
 
You do learn about slavery and what our country was going through at that time. Eden may find a story that connects to the Hills from the past to present.