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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

May 28, 2020  
"A highly interesting read that will leave you hooked on each and every word."

Stop by my blog, and read my review for the fascinating historical fiction novel STORMS OF MALHADO BY Maria Elena Sandovici​. Enter the GIVEAWAY to win a SIGNED copy of the book!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/05/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-storms-of.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Galveston Island, Texas, September 2008

Katie doesn’t believe in ghosts. And she certainly doesn’t believe the rumors that her family’s home is haunted, despite its tragic history: two young women who lived there in different eras died in hurricanes—one during Hurricane Carla in 1961, one during the Great Storm of 1900, the greatest natural disaster to befall the United States. But that was the past, a fact Katie reminds herself of when she returns to Galveston to await Hurricane Ike with her parents and boyfriend in her family’s Broadway mansion, hoping to rekindle her flailing relationship.

While Katie is not afraid of the ghost stories she’s heard, she is afraid of the monster storm approaching. As even die-hard Islanders evacuate, her fears grow—fear of the looming hurricane, fear that she’s talentless as a painter, fear that her relationship with her boyfriend is already over. As Katie struggles against her fears, the past whispers to her of the women who died there and the haunting similarities they share with Katie’s own life.

Through three different timelines, Storms of Malhado weaves a story of Galveston’s past, underscoring its danger and isolation, as well as its remarkable resilience, and its capacity for both nostalgia and reinvention. Full of contradictions, at once insular and open to the world, Galveston Island is as much a character of the novel as Katie, Suzanne, Betty, their lovers, and their confidantes.
     
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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated As I Lay Dying in Books

Oct 25, 2017 (Updated Oct 25, 2017)  
As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner, Michael Gorra | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
A timeless American classic
This is a classic among American literature - as with most of William Faulkner's novels, it can be hard work at times, but it is tragic, darkly funny and full of compelling characters.

It begins with the death and burial of Addie Bundren, the matriarch of the family. Members of the family narrate the story of carting the coffin to Jefferson, Mississippi, to bury her among her relatives. And as the intense desires, fears and rivalries of the family are revealed in the vernacular of the Deep South, Faulkner presents a portrait of extraordinary power.

The narrative, told from each character's perspective, yet often about the same event, left the reader to interpret the underlying motive or conflict of feelings within the Bundren family. It is intriguing but requires careful reading of the dense prose.
  
The Theory of Happily Ever After
The Theory of Happily Ever After
8
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Scientist, Dr. Maggie Magguire's life has been turned upside down. Recently dumped by her fiancee, the author of a book on happiness. Maggie spends her days sitting on her sofa eating gelato and watching romance movies until her friends come to the rescue and book her as a guest speaker on a "New Year, New You" cruise to Mexico.

Maggie fears she is unqualified because she can't find happiness herself. Then she runs into a handsome stranger who insists that smart women can't be happy, this makes Maggie determined to prove him wrong.

I enjoyed this book, it was fun, witty and full of suspense. The characters were believable and interesting.
The writer proves that if we listen to God and follow our hearts, happiness will follow.

This is a wonderful book that is hard to put down.
  
The Descent (2005)
The Descent (2005)
2005 | Horror
Character development (8 more)
Good scares
Simple, but effective plotline
Atmospheric music
Conveys the character's experience to the audience
Great set design
Likable characters with individual personalities
No severe horror cliche pitfalls
Claustrophobia and genuine scares create a full experience for the audience
An amazing horror
Six female friends go on an adventure to explore some caves in the Appalachian mountains, where things don't go quite to plan. Focusing on Sarah, we follow the girls in their struggle for survival as they face claustrophobia, darkness, unstable footing, and the things that lurk in the caves.

It's a simple plot that allows us to focus on the characters themselves, each with their own distinct personalities. You get to know the 6 girls in a short amount of time and you can see their struggles and fears.

Genuinely terrifying, well worth a watch.
  
Charlie is surprised when James Delacorte asks for his help cataloging his private library since the two hardly know each other. But James fears that someone is stealing his rare books. Returning from his lunch break his first day on the job, Charlie finds James dead. Who killed him? Are there really missing library books?

I let too much time pass before I got back to this series, but I was thrilled to see Charlie and his cat Diesel again. They are great main characters, and I liked how Charlie and several relationships around him grew in this book. The mystery was a bit slow to get started, but once it did, the tension was strong and the ending was great.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-review-classified-as-murder-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
The Stepford Wives (1975)
The Stepford Wives (1975)
1975 | Drama, Thriller
Bryan Forbes' SF-horror-satire has left a cultural impression out of all proportion to its original box-office success. Nice modern couple leave grimy New York for idyllic small town of Stepford, where everyone seems happy and the women are thoroughly domesticated. What on Earth can the secret of the place be...?


 Subtle storytelling and fine performances do a good job of masking the fact that the premise of the story is basically a paranoid fever-dream; oddly, some people interpreted the film as being anti-feminist and actually misogynistic, when it is actually about male objectification of women and fears of the same (maybe also has stuff to say about consumerism too). Perhaps a bit overlong, but the slow aggregation of details adds a lot to a convincingly unsettling atmosphere. An entertaining horror fable.