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Tales of the City is set in San Francisco in 1976 - three years after I was born, so how can I feel nostalgic?! This is how a feel good book should be written. I loved it.

They’re all great characters, and I warn you - this is a laugh out loud book, and when you have to explain to the 12 or 14 year old sons WHY you’re laughing, the explanations can be interesting! I feel fortunate that a friend convinced me to go and see Armistead Maupin with her at my local literature festival, otherwise I don’t know whether I would have ever picked up this book. I’d simply never heard of Maupin, and I don’t have Netflix to have heard about the TV series. Now I wish I had Netflix!

I’m glad I have book 2 waiting in the wings, because I really want to keep living in 1970s San Francisco!
  
Pumpkin Pied
Pumpkin Pied
Karen MacInerney | 2015 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Halloween Hijinks
Natalie Barnes has a rare few days off at her bed and breakfast, her only guest being her college roommate Lucy Resnick. The timing is perfect since the annual Cranberry Island Harvest Festival is about to start. However, rumors are swirling that the area is haunted, and Natalie and Lucy witness a few weird things themselves. What is going on?

As a fan, it was fun to pop in to visit these characters in this October set short story. The plot was good and entertaining. It perfectly kept my attention for this short read. This is a short story that took me under an hour to read. Fans of the author will recognize Lucy as the star of her own series, and I enjoyed seeing her first appearance here as well as visiting the residents of Cranberry Island. Throw in a couple of delicious sounding pumpkin recipes, and you’ve got a festive winner.
  
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David Lowery recommended The Dawn Wall (2017) in Movies (curated)

 
The Dawn Wall (2017)
The Dawn Wall (2017)
2017 | Documentary
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"“Free Solo” is the rock climbing documentary du jour, and for very just cause. But Alex Honnold’s climbing partner Tommy Caldwell is also the subject of his own documentary, about a different historic ascent of El Capitan. It was directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer, and was released almost simultaneously with “Free Solo,” and thus hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. I saw it at its premiere at SXSW in March, at which the entire audience erupted into a standing ovation – during the movie! I couldn’t help but go back for an encore screening a few nights later, which I think is the first time I’ve ever seen a movie twice at a film festival. While Honnold’s achievement is certainly more historic, Caldwell’s unbelievable life story and his accent of the titular wall with Kevin Jorgensen makes for one of the most triumphant feel-great narratives I’ve seen in years. I would recommend watching both docs, back to back, and then joining a climbing gym."

Source
  
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Karl Hyde recommended James Blake by James Blake in Music (curated)

 
James Blake by James Blake
James Blake by James Blake
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"It’s astonishing; one of those soundscape albums where the songs barely hold together, but somehow they do, so beautifully and so delicately. They’re like hymns, all of them. There’s a very spiritual quality to the chord sequences, straight from the church. It’s worshipful and soulful. In some ways it relates to Talk Talk’s last works. But they have that dark, dubstep feel to them as well. I just love the way he deconstructs songs. After I’d bought the album, it was on in a people carrier when we were being driven to a festival somewhere, and everybody was saying, "this is really dreary", but I had to pipe up and say, "actually it’s one of my favourite albums at the moment so can we leave it on?" I felt connected to it. I thought, "this isn’t dreary; it’s making me feel uplifted." I like what he does. I like anyone who takes songs and challenges the notion of song structures."

Source
  
Hell Fest (2018)
Hell Fest (2018)
2018 | Horror
As the movie starts we see a group of friends entering a haunted house at a fairground, they are split up from each other and one is killed by someone in a costume and hung with other bodies like an attraction, this sets the scene for the movie and got me interested straight away.
Next scene we see another group of friends talking about going to hell fest, yeah yeah we know where this is going to end right!? To be fair if hell fest was real, I would want to go too as its right up my street, you know with the murders and all!
Anyway I found the movie very good, you didn't always know if someone was about to be killed or if it was part of the festival which definitely kept you guessing throughout the movie.
The ending is not your typical Slasher movie ending and it did leave me wanting a sequel. Look out for a cameo from candy man's Tony Todd.
  
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Kindle
Murder Any Witch Way ( Brimstone Bay book 1)
By N.M. Howell
⭐⭐⭐

Being a witch is hard. It's even harder when you live in a town that doesn't believe in witches.When young witch River Halloway moves to sleepy Brimstone Bay for her very first journalist job, she doesn't expect to cover anything ground-breaking. That is, until a paranormal festival comes to town and a body is found on opening night. Now, with all evidence pointing towards a witch, River must find the true killer before she becomes the prime suspect.Or worse, the next murder victim.So much for it being a sleepy little town.

It was ok and I liked it but it could have been so much better. I think it lacked a little personality the characters were a little flat. It was a quick ok to good read with masses of potential.
  
The Art of Vanishing
The Art of Vanishing
Cynthia Kuhn | 2017 | Mystery
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Someone is Out to Destroy Arts Week
Every spring semester, Stonedale University puts on an arts festival, and Lila has been roped into serving on the committee. The big name for the week is author Damon Von Tussel, who has just released his second book decades after his critically acclaimed debut. Lila is sent to interview him before the big event to gain some publicity, but before she can talk to him, he disappears. Then everyone on the committee starts to get threatening e-mails. What is going on?

I don’t read too many mysteries set in the academic world, so I enjoyed changing that with this book. The internal politics of the college and Lila’s worries since this is her first-year teaching there overshadowed the mystery at times. The mystery itself is a little different than many of the books I read, and I found it a refreshing break. The characters are fun, especially Lila’s mother, and I am curious how some of these relationships will develop in the future.
  
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Prose and Cons (Magical Bookshop, #2)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It’s time for the annual Food and Wine festival in town, and this year Violet Waverly is adding a Poe-try reading at Charming Books to the week’s line up. However, when one of the readers is found dead at the bottom of the shop’s steep stairs during the event, things take a tragic turn. The police quickly decide it was murder and start looking at Violet’s friend Sadie. An Violet prove her friend is innocent?

I absolutely love the bookstore in this series, a shop where the perfect book finds you. That’s really the only bit of magic in the series, and Violet is left to use old fashion methods to sift through clues and motives to find the killer. I did feel some of the characters could be stronger, but the mystery is strong with plenty of red herrings before things fall into place at the end.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/12/book-review-prose-and-cons-by-amanda.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
Josie Callahan is back working at her family’s Tex Mex restaurant while she figures out what is next in her life. She’s just in time for the Wild Wild West Festival that brings in the tourists to the small town of Broken Boot. But the tamale making party at the restaurant ends in tragedy when a local artist is found murdered behind the restaurant. Who would want to kill her?

It took me a little while to fully get into this book. There were a bunch of characters early on, and I struggled to keep them all straight. Likewise, the mystery got off to a slow start. But as I kept reading, I grew to like the characters and really got into the story. The ending was surprising and suspenseful. I can easily see this growing into a charming series.

NOTE: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-review-here-today-gone-tamale-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
One Fete in the Grave
One Fete in the Grave
Vickie Fee | 2017 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This Fourth of July Ends with the Bang of Murder
When the fireworks show ends, party planning Liv McKay thinks her day organizing her town’s Fourth of July festival is over. Unfortunately, someone finds the body of councilman Bubba Rowland. Despite being on the council, Bubba had his enemies, and one of them was Earl, her mother’s new fiance. Can Liv help her mother by clearing Earl’s name?

This book starts with a bang – of fireworks, but it isn’t too long before we find Bubba’s body. Unfortunately, the book does still have some pacing issues as Liv’s party planning business slows things down. I did find one sub-plot lots of fun, however. The mystery does have some good suspects and twists before we reach the logical climax. Liv’s family and friends, including best friend Di, are as charming as ever. The suspects work, although we don’t get to know them as well as we might in some mysteries. This is a fun cozy for a relaxing summer read or any time of the year.