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A Peaceful Coastal Town...Threatened by a Storm of Secrets

It's 1916 when newspaper woman Anna McDowell learns her estranged father has suffered a

stroke. Deciding it's time to repair

bridges, Anna packs up her precocious adolescent daughter

and heads for her hometown in Sunset Cove, Oregon.

Although much has changed since the turn of the century, some things haven’t. Anna finds the

the staff of her father’s paper not exactly eager to welcome a woman into the editor-in-chief role, but

her father insists he wants her at the helm. Anna is quickly pulled into the charming town and

her

new position... but just as quickly learns this seaside getaway harbors some dark and dangerous


secrets.

With Oregon’s new statewide prohibition in effect, crime has crept along the seacoast and

invaded even idyllic Sunset Cove. Anna only meant to get to know her father again over the

summer, but instead she finds herself rooting out the biggest story the town has ever seen

And trying to keep her daughter safe from it all.



My Thoughts: This well-written story takes us to the seashore in Oregon during the prohibition period. Anna returns home to visit her estranged father to make amends for a disagreement that happened years ago. During this visit home, she discovers that something just isn't quite right around town. Using her investigative news reporting skills she intends to find out.


This is a wonderful summertime read! It's always nice to read about the ocean and beaches in the summer, and this one is perfect. It's full of mystery and suspense; it doesn't focus on romance. This is a book about forgiveness, healing relationships and starting over. I enjoyed Melody Carlson's writing and how she developed her characters. It was a very enjoyable read.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Jul 28, 2020  
Sneak a peek at the autobiography/memoir LANDING IN MY PRESENT by Mary Clark, Traveler​ on my blog, watch the book trailer, and enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of the book, a $25 Amazon gift card or a $15 Amazon gift card - three winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/07/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-landing-in.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Mary Walker Clark barely knew her father. When he died, he left not only the obvious void every teen would experience, but took with him scores of Indiana Jones-style tales about flying the Hump, a treacherous series of US missions that transported supplies over the Himalayas to China during World War II.

It would take a chance interview with a pilot who had flown with her father in the war to launch a series of extraordinary journeys—into a shrouded past and halfway around the globe to India and China—for Clark to finally come to know the father whose absence had haunted her for decades.

Landing in My Present chronicles the adventures of a daughter who chose to pry open a painful past while enlarging her view of an adventurous father long thought lost.
     
Blood Father (2016)
Blood Father (2016)
2016 | Action, Mystery
7
7.3 (11 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: Blood Father starts as John Link (Gibson) who has recovered from his own substance abuse problems to be a tattooist while being parole. He has been searching for his daughter for years but when Lydia (Moriarty) calls him in need of help he races to her aid.

Link finds out that Lydia is in over her head which leads him into going on the run breaking his parole to protect her and locate the people who are trying to kill his daughter, using old connections along the way.

 

Thoughts on Blood Father

 

Characters – John Link is a former alcoholic convict, he has cleaned himself up but when his daughter finds herself in trouble he must go back into the routes that left him in prison, he must go after the men trying to kill his daughter, while stopping himself going off the bandwagon. Lydia is the teenager daughter runaway, she finds herself in too deep with the drug cartels but now she needs to trust her father to keep her safe. Jonah is the boyfriend of Lydia that she believes she killed cause the effects of the film. Preacher is one of the people Link turns to for help while Kirby is his support while trying to stay off the drinks.

Performances – Mel Gibson might have had troubled times recently but he shows us here the talent he holds to lead a movie in the action genre. Erin Moriarty is good in this film too because she shows us a street wise character beyond her years. Diego Luna is solid as the villain but we just don’t get enough from his character. This is a problem through the film, we don’t give the support characters enough time.

Story – The story is good, as it follows a distant father daughter relationship needing to rebuild after she finds herself in trouble with the law. This works for the story because we know how the aging hero is the new thing now, as an actor that can easily be the new one that saves his child and this gives us everything we want, we have moments of comedy as the two come from difference backgrounds but overall this is everything you would expect it to be

Action/Crime – The action is fire fights between Link and anyone that gets in his way, this does work well as the crime side of the story takes us into.

Settings – The settings show us the underworld that works for the hiding from potential trouble using no iconic landmarks which makes this fully believable.


Scene of the Movie – Showdown

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t learn enough about the villains.

Final Thoughts – This is a good action film that is enjoyable, short sweet and gives you everything you want.

 

Overall: Action film 101.
  
Goodbye, Vitamin
Goodbye, Vitamin
Rachel Khong | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Poignant look at how Alzheimer's affects an entire family
A wonderful but tragic look into the downward spiral of a professor with Alzheimer's through the perspective of his daughter. With short bursts of journal entries and quirky anecdotes, she documents how quickly his health deteriorates. It's bittersweet for the most part, given the nature of the subject but it is juxtaposed with the unravelling of her own life, which becomes less significant when she focuses on her father. A great read.
  
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
2001 | Animation, Comedy, Family
Literally one of my favourite Disney Pixar films
I find Monsters Inc to be on par with Toy Story. Such a heartfelt story of an almost father - daughter relationship between Sully and Boo, unlike most Disney films where there is a love interest. The voices from Billy Crystal and John Goodman are genius and the ending still makes me shed a happy tear. And I actually watched it from the beginning again straight after seeing it for the first time.
  
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Alicia Keys recommended Purple Hibiscus: A Novel in Books (curated)

 
Purple Hibiscus: A Novel
Purple Hibiscus: A Novel
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | 2005 | Essays
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"I also read a book recently called Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She's phenomenal, and she's written so many beautiful books. Purple Hibiscus was also quite moving, about a family - a daughter, and a brother, a mother and a father - and these deep, intricate details of their life and the complexities of it all. You find yourself falling in love with this family and really being taken on their journey, their heartbreak, and their secrets - it is a beautiful and amazing read."

Source
  
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Dean (6921 KP) rated Crawl (2019) in Movies

Aug 28, 2019  
Crawl (2019)
Crawl (2019)
2019 | Horror, Thriller
Good cast (1 more)
Good sets & SFX
Short snappy thriller
After seeing the trailer I was looking forward to this creature feature. Especially as it's produced by Sam Raimi. It really is a bitesize treat. Under 90 minutes long but it's very intense as a Father and Daughter are trapped in their home during a big hurricane, surrounded by hungry Aligators. The acting is good, the sets impressive and the 'gators look realistic. Much better than many other bigger budget films on a similar theme.
  
The Family Lie
The Family Lie
Jake Cross | 2019
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
You whispered goodnight to your daughter. You didn’t know that would be your last goodbye.
You wake up in the middle of the night.
Your five-year-old daughter is gone.
Your husband is nowhere to be seen.
Your family think he took her.
The police believe he’s guilty.
But he wouldn’t do that, would he?
He’s a loving father. A loving husband. Isn’t he?

This book is about a mother, Anna, who will do anything to get her five year old daughter back. I really liked how the author portrayed Anna. All this mother wanted was to get her daughter back and would stop at nothing to do this. In the end she had to be brave and face her demons of the past to do this.
I also liked that there were so many twists and turns throughout the whole book. You never knew what surprise was coming next. This book had me guessing up til the end.
I thought I had it figured out but boy was I wrong, and I'm glad I was. Great book!
Recommend Reading!

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
  
Franklyn (2008)
Franklyn (2008)
2008 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Clever, well written, paced well, wrap up is well done. (1 more)
Well written and shot, really draws you into how it all connects ,
Four individuals across time converge, think twelve monkeys, cloud atlas and the fisher king
Contains spoilers, click to show
A sci-fi fantasy that draws you into the world of mental illness, four seemingly unrelated people converge , a suicidal daughter, a jilted lover, a futuristic vigilante and a father seeking his lost son. A fantastically shot film, that will need you seeking the ending, and it won't disappoint.
  
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
1988 | Drama

"I just am an Italian girl. My father grew up in that exact era and I remember seeing it in Italian class, in school, and then going home and showing it to him and tears streaming down his face as he watched it. He was a boy with a pair of shoes and who was fascinated by the movies, and there was, like, one theater in his town. So that movie has just always struck a personal nerve for me as a daughter of an immigrant."

Source