Search
Search results
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Monkey Around in Tabletop Games
Jun 18, 2019 (Updated Dec 12, 2019)
The Kids Table series from Purple Phoenix Games seeks to lightly explore games that are focused toward children and families. We will do our best to give some good insight, but not bog your down with the millions of rules…
Monkey Around is basically Kids’ Quelf. Never played Quelf? Meh, it’s okay if you are part of a silly group that will do anything asked of them. This game is similar in that you draw a circular card, and simply do what it asks you to do. As adults, some of the requests might be strange, but to a child, it’s all just silly fun. Many times you are asked to use the included stuffed banana in your tricks. Examples: lie on the floor with the banana on your belly button. Or: walk around the room while balancing the banana on your head. It’s silly.
I play this with my 3 year old boy and we have a great time with it. He is learning balance, improvisation, following instructions, motor skills, and interaction with others. It may make you feel silly but that’s what kids love, man. Just play this with your kids and have a really great time with zero pressure. Drop the banana? Oh well, try again with a different card. They will be cracking up and you will be strengthening that bond with your kids and fostering the love of board games early.
Monkey Around is basically Kids’ Quelf. Never played Quelf? Meh, it’s okay if you are part of a silly group that will do anything asked of them. This game is similar in that you draw a circular card, and simply do what it asks you to do. As adults, some of the requests might be strange, but to a child, it’s all just silly fun. Many times you are asked to use the included stuffed banana in your tricks. Examples: lie on the floor with the banana on your belly button. Or: walk around the room while balancing the banana on your head. It’s silly.
I play this with my 3 year old boy and we have a great time with it. He is learning balance, improvisation, following instructions, motor skills, and interaction with others. It may make you feel silly but that’s what kids love, man. Just play this with your kids and have a really great time with zero pressure. Drop the banana? Oh well, try again with a different card. They will be cracking up and you will be strengthening that bond with your kids and fostering the love of board games early.
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The Crown (The Selection, #5) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Oh...My...I can not tell you the crazy rollercoaster ride of emotions Kiera Cass took me on in this series. Now that it is all said and done and I look back, I am SO glad I finally picked up The Selection. I will say that the first three books (America's selection) are the BEST part of the series. I totally binge read them and would probably do so again in the future. However, I was disappointed with the Eadlyn's selection story. The Heir and The Crown have a very different feel than the first three books. Eadlyn is a very different person than America and that is to be expected. I did enjoy watching Eadlyn mature and become her own person. She has a strength that I admire. And I was happy with the final result of her selection, however the story as a whole felt a little too forced. There was a lot of fluff that wasn't wholly necessary. That being said, although I think it would have been better to end the series with The One, it was good to read the continuing stories of so many characters from the original books. I doubt I will read The Heir and The Crown again, but the first three book of The Selection series are among my favorite books I have read this year. Overall, I did not enjoy The Crown...It fell very short of my expectations.
David Gemmell is/was one of my favourite authors.
However, he passed away in 2006 while finishing the final novel in his <i>Troy</i> trilogy (<i>Fall of Kings</i>), which was then finished by his second wife Stella.
<i>The City</i> is her first fully solo outing. Following recent trends, this definitely weighs in on the 'epic' side of the fantasy scales: think 'A Game of Thrones', where one novel is the size of three what I would term 'normal' reads. Indeed, the novel itself is split into various sections: personally I feel that it could have been split into two or maybe three separate books rather than under the one cover.
<i>The City</i> of the title (which is never actually named) is ancient and bloated, locked in an endless war with its enemies. Built over centuries, it reminded me somewhat of a passage in one of Pratchett's Discworld books (I forget which, and referring to Ankh-Morpork), something along the lines of:
'the main thing Ankh-Morpork is built on is Ankh-Morpork'.
That could be a pretty fair description of The City as well!
I also found some sections to be slow-moving, and while I never lost interest in the story, it also never really grabbed me, seeming to lack that certain something to turns a good story into a great story.
Would I read more by Stella Gemmell? At the moment, I'm undecided.
However, he passed away in 2006 while finishing the final novel in his <i>Troy</i> trilogy (<i>Fall of Kings</i>), which was then finished by his second wife Stella.
<i>The City</i> is her first fully solo outing. Following recent trends, this definitely weighs in on the 'epic' side of the fantasy scales: think 'A Game of Thrones', where one novel is the size of three what I would term 'normal' reads. Indeed, the novel itself is split into various sections: personally I feel that it could have been split into two or maybe three separate books rather than under the one cover.
<i>The City</i> of the title (which is never actually named) is ancient and bloated, locked in an endless war with its enemies. Built over centuries, it reminded me somewhat of a passage in one of Pratchett's Discworld books (I forget which, and referring to Ankh-Morpork), something along the lines of:
'the main thing Ankh-Morpork is built on is Ankh-Morpork'.
That could be a pretty fair description of The City as well!
I also found some sections to be slow-moving, and while I never lost interest in the story, it also never really grabbed me, seeming to lack that certain something to turns a good story into a great story.
Would I read more by Stella Gemmell? At the moment, I'm undecided.
This book was not for me
I want to say something positive about this book. Okay, it is a quick read, I actually wanted to continue reading it although I am not sure if my reasons for this were because of enjoyment. I chose this book as I am going to be writing a part memoir for my dissertation. I liked the synopsis because I enjoy a bit of humour. In the past I have read (and enjoyed) a book by Mike Gayle called 'Turning Thirty' which I thought, and hoped, this book would have been similar. WRONG!!!!
Edwards basically writes some (I believe) far fetched memoir but mingles it with self help bullshit that has been regurgitated from other peoples ideas. I am confused by the author's objectives. Whilst I appreciate any woman who is a good and opinionated feminist, I feel that Edward's 'Sisterhood' is cringey. The writer comes across as middle class and perhaps would have benefited from excluding her middle class status to seem less arrogant to working class readers.
I learned of a technique for essay writing in college (PEE) Point, Evidence and Evaluation. This is a formula that Edwards uses throughout her book and it makes the flow very artificial instead of conversational.
On the plus side, it was her first novel, and she managed to write it and publish it. It just wasn't for me.
Edwards basically writes some (I believe) far fetched memoir but mingles it with self help bullshit that has been regurgitated from other peoples ideas. I am confused by the author's objectives. Whilst I appreciate any woman who is a good and opinionated feminist, I feel that Edward's 'Sisterhood' is cringey. The writer comes across as middle class and perhaps would have benefited from excluding her middle class status to seem less arrogant to working class readers.
I learned of a technique for essay writing in college (PEE) Point, Evidence and Evaluation. This is a formula that Edwards uses throughout her book and it makes the flow very artificial instead of conversational.
On the plus side, it was her first novel, and she managed to write it and publish it. It just wasn't for me.
A thing you can't live with, but you can't live without
I joined Facebook many years ago and couldn't see the point of it. Very quickly though, it became very addictive.
I enjoy the fact that you can share photos with people and I use the messenger quite a lot, to privately talk to my friends.
In general though, I think that this is a good way for your time to be sucked away. It's also a way for your confidence to be lowered, when you see friends getting more 'likes' than you or you see people doing more interesting things than you. That's why I've cut my use of Facebook down, significantly of late.
One thing that has become increasingly annoying, is the fact that when I find something of interest and when I want to show someone else, I can't find it again. The content you see, differs depending on whether you look at it on your mobile, or your tablet etc.
I also don't like the different adverts and random videos that Facebook shows you. I feel like Facebook is in control of what I see, rather than only seeing the content my friends have shared.
Facebook has a lot of negatives but unfortunately, it's a necessary evil, because so many people use it to communicate nowadays.
I enjoy the fact that you can share photos with people and I use the messenger quite a lot, to privately talk to my friends.
In general though, I think that this is a good way for your time to be sucked away. It's also a way for your confidence to be lowered, when you see friends getting more 'likes' than you or you see people doing more interesting things than you. That's why I've cut my use of Facebook down, significantly of late.
One thing that has become increasingly annoying, is the fact that when I find something of interest and when I want to show someone else, I can't find it again. The content you see, differs depending on whether you look at it on your mobile, or your tablet etc.
I also don't like the different adverts and random videos that Facebook shows you. I feel like Facebook is in control of what I see, rather than only seeing the content my friends have shared.
Facebook has a lot of negatives but unfortunately, it's a necessary evil, because so many people use it to communicate nowadays.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2275 KP) rated Not a Creature was Stirring in Books
Jan 24, 2019
Who was Enough of a Scrooge to Leave the Dead Body in Merry's Motorhome?
Merry is hoping to turn her Christmas crafting business into a full-time job, and as part of that plan, she's purchased a motorhome from her ex-step-daughter. The hope is she can use it as a mobile crafting studio and a place to show her stuff at some of the more popular craft shows. She's trying it out at the Christmas Holiday Bazaar, one of her favorite events of the year. However, when she's unloading her products, she finds the dead body of her ex-husband in one of the storage compartments. How did his dead body get into the RV?
With as much as I love Christmas, this book was a lot of fun. We got lots of talk about everything Christmas, even comparing characters to famous fictional Christmas characters. I did feel the book needed another polish to flesh a few things out, and I found Merry's concern for her ex-husband's family a little hard to believe considering how short her marriage had been. On the other hand, I loved the majority of the characters, and Merry's relationships with her own kids was fabulous. The plot was good with many twists and turns. I figured out a couple of things early, but I was left guessing about the rest of it until the end.
With as much as I love Christmas, this book was a lot of fun. We got lots of talk about everything Christmas, even comparing characters to famous fictional Christmas characters. I did feel the book needed another polish to flesh a few things out, and I found Merry's concern for her ex-husband's family a little hard to believe considering how short her marriage had been. On the other hand, I loved the majority of the characters, and Merry's relationships with her own kids was fabulous. The plot was good with many twists and turns. I figured out a couple of things early, but I was left guessing about the rest of it until the end.
Sarah (7799 KP) rated Anna and the Apocalypse (2018) in Movies
Nov 2, 2019
Too many genres!
I’m a massive fan of zombie films, musicals and Christmas films, but I’m really not too sure what to make of them all thrown into one film. I feel like they’ve just picked a handful of popular genres of films that people love and decided to mash them all together. And not very successfully either.
This film isn’t bad. The songs are quite good, they just seem ridiculously out of place in a zombie film and there are some dodgy vocals at times. A Christmas zombie film is a pretty decent idea though, especially as there’s nothing more anti-festive than a load of flesh eating zombies. It has a decent cast, with Mark Benton and Paul Kaye the old hands in a younger cast. However i think Paul Kaye may have taken overacting a little too far in this. He’s beyond fun and hammy and just sheer ridiculous. It’s a shame as he’s a great actor but it feels like he’s hamming it up in a kids pantomime. In fact, a lot of the humour in this seems to be made for kids or very young teenagers. Which is strange seen as it has a 15 rating! I just found it all a little bit juvenile, which is a shame as I had little expectations about this film.
It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. Watchable, and only memorable because of how truly bizarre it is!
This film isn’t bad. The songs are quite good, they just seem ridiculously out of place in a zombie film and there are some dodgy vocals at times. A Christmas zombie film is a pretty decent idea though, especially as there’s nothing more anti-festive than a load of flesh eating zombies. It has a decent cast, with Mark Benton and Paul Kaye the old hands in a younger cast. However i think Paul Kaye may have taken overacting a little too far in this. He’s beyond fun and hammy and just sheer ridiculous. It’s a shame as he’s a great actor but it feels like he’s hamming it up in a kids pantomime. In fact, a lot of the humour in this seems to be made for kids or very young teenagers. Which is strange seen as it has a 15 rating! I just found it all a little bit juvenile, which is a shame as I had little expectations about this film.
It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. Watchable, and only memorable because of how truly bizarre it is!
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Lord of the Things Book I: The Mellow Hip of the Thing in Books
Nov 20, 2019
This is by no means the first parody of Professor Tolkien's enduring (and weighty) fantasy tale, nor will it be the last. This is a broad retelling of the first book of the classic trilogy, and as such it's really only for people who are familiar with the source book.
This started as an online creation of a discussion group, later edited and extended by the author to the published version. The history shows in the writing, the first half being distinctly uneven in tone and with plenty of things that were no doubt funny to the group, but don't work so well without the background.
However once past Rivendell, things get a lot better (if no less silly), although the story does feel a little rushed. There are some good chuckles to be had throughout as fun is thoroughly poked at some of the rather po-faced pontification of the source text. Yes the jokes use the scattergun approach but enough hit the mark - certainly more later in the story - to make this an entertaining read.
This won't be to everyone's tastes - it is very very silly and the start can be a bit hard going - but this book is there purely to entertain, not to win any literature prizes. The thing is, for all of it's disposable puns, references and silly jokes just occasionally there's a glimpse of some real wit underneath it all.
This started as an online creation of a discussion group, later edited and extended by the author to the published version. The history shows in the writing, the first half being distinctly uneven in tone and with plenty of things that were no doubt funny to the group, but don't work so well without the background.
However once past Rivendell, things get a lot better (if no less silly), although the story does feel a little rushed. There are some good chuckles to be had throughout as fun is thoroughly poked at some of the rather po-faced pontification of the source text. Yes the jokes use the scattergun approach but enough hit the mark - certainly more later in the story - to make this an entertaining read.
This won't be to everyone's tastes - it is very very silly and the start can be a bit hard going - but this book is there purely to entertain, not to win any literature prizes. The thing is, for all of it's disposable puns, references and silly jokes just occasionally there's a glimpse of some real wit underneath it all.
Merissa (12374 KP) rated Better the Devil You Know (Broken Halos #6) in Books
Jan 22, 2020
Better the Devil You Know is the final book in the Broken Halos series. We start off with Raphael not doing too well and Eric fighting through humans, giving up on everything they held dear because Helena's gone. Hel, in the meantime, isn't sure where she is or even who she is, trapped in a world of grey.
This was a great final book to the series, with plenty of action and snark from Helena as she tries to find herself again, plus she has some new freaky-ass powers to contend with. Raphael keeps secrets throughout most of the book. And Eric is still Eric. He's growly and grumpy for all the right reasons.
Although the pacing is perfect, this book doesn't feel like the end to me. I guess it's because Hel and Eric still have so much more to do. So, really, it feels more like the end of a season. Now I just need to wait and see if there will be a second season or if it will get cancelled! 😁
I definitely recommend this book on the proviso that you are sensible and start at the beginning, otherwise you won't know what the "Hel" is going on.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This was a great final book to the series, with plenty of action and snark from Helena as she tries to find herself again, plus she has some new freaky-ass powers to contend with. Raphael keeps secrets throughout most of the book. And Eric is still Eric. He's growly and grumpy for all the right reasons.
Although the pacing is perfect, this book doesn't feel like the end to me. I guess it's because Hel and Eric still have so much more to do. So, really, it feels more like the end of a season. Now I just need to wait and see if there will be a second season or if it will get cancelled! 😁
I definitely recommend this book on the proviso that you are sensible and start at the beginning, otherwise you won't know what the "Hel" is going on.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Ronnie (304 KP) rated We Are Young in Books
Jan 26, 2020
Recently I have been struggling to find a good book but 'We Are Young' hooked me in immediately! I loved that the book started in such a dramatic way, leaving the reader with a need to find out what happened.
I loved seeing the changes in all the relationships throughout the book, but the two loved in particular were Evan’s with her Dad and her relationship with Lewis.
Evan needed to know what happened that night because no one in the car had any reason to be there with those people and with Lewis being the sole survivor, Evan had to find out what happened on her own. I loved Evan’s hard work to find out what had happened, and it made me love her.
Clarke has an amazing way of changing the way feel about certain characters change throughout the book and that is something I love because it helps you see that some people are just misunderstood… or evil.
I have to say that my favourite element of the book was the casual use of LGBT+. Many authors would make a big deal out of it, but Clarke was not like that. I have been trying to find a book with casual mentions of LGBT+ and I managed to stumble upon it here!
Overall, it was an amazing book and I look forward to reading more by Cat Clarke in the future!
I loved seeing the changes in all the relationships throughout the book, but the two loved in particular were Evan’s with her Dad and her relationship with Lewis.
Evan needed to know what happened that night because no one in the car had any reason to be there with those people and with Lewis being the sole survivor, Evan had to find out what happened on her own. I loved Evan’s hard work to find out what had happened, and it made me love her.
Clarke has an amazing way of changing the way feel about certain characters change throughout the book and that is something I love because it helps you see that some people are just misunderstood… or evil.
I have to say that my favourite element of the book was the casual use of LGBT+. Many authors would make a big deal out of it, but Clarke was not like that. I have been trying to find a book with casual mentions of LGBT+ and I managed to stumble upon it here!
Overall, it was an amazing book and I look forward to reading more by Cat Clarke in the future!