
My Secret Sister: Jenny Lucas and Helen Edwards' Family Story
Jenny Lee Smith and Helen Edwards
Book
Helen grew up in a pit village in Tyneside in the post-war years, with her gran, aunties and uncles...

A Good American
Book
Alex George's A Good American is a positive and uplifting novel about the American Dream. This is...

Kim Pook (101 KP) rated American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020) in Movies
Oct 14, 2020
After a friend is unable to contact Shannan, the police are called as well as Chris - Shannans husband-who come out to her house and find no trace of anybody in the house, it's like the family vanished into thin air, even a neighbour has no footage of them on his surveillance camera to show of anything suspicious. That neighbour does suggest, however, that something seems off with Chris but it is brushed off.
As the documentary continues, it becomes evident that the neighbour had every reason to be suspicious.
It's certainly a different way to tell a story, as usually it's told through interviews given to the camera or interviewer, so I wasn't sure if I would enjoy it. It turned out I found it just as interesting as a regular documentary if not more, because of watching everything unfold in reality. It was an interesting watch that's for sure, but the outcome is very sad.

The Exile: The Flight of Osama Bin Laden
Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark
Book
The extraordinary inside story of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in the years after 9/11. Following...
Politics Security

Reclaimed (Angel's Halo MC #4)
Book
Felicity Bolton finally feels like she has moved on with her life. She misses her friends and family...

The Daughter of Auschwitz
Tova Friedman and Malcolm Brabant
Book
A powerful memoir by one of the youngest ever survivors of Auschwitz, Tova Friedman, following her...

Valleywood: The Autobiography of Lateysha Grace
Book
Since exploding on to our screens as part of the MTV show The Valleys, diva Lateysha Grace has...

Outlaw Witch (Enchanted Bargains #1)
Book
In a city of magic users, I’m a freak—a sponge with the ability to absorb the powers of others....
Reverse Harem Why Choose? Cliffhanger Ending Paranormal Romance Forced Proximit

EmersonRose (320 KP) rated Knight of The Dead II: Cavalry in Books
Nov 20, 2019
I really appreciated the small moments throughout the book that hold sweet moments of family. In a dark world, it is nice to see those moments of trying to keep a little innocence alive for young children, sharing love, the comradery of close friends, and the earnest desire to protect one another. What this book, and the series as a whole, are very strong in is the action. This does not just mean the actual fights but the interesting chases, the intense moments of sneaking through the city, searching for materials needed to survive, and trying to save others. I thought that the addition of new characters was great and through their eyes allowed us to learn even more about the central family. Especially when it came to dealing with conflict and trusting those around them. In this book, the family’s connection to God is strengthened and becomes a key aspect of their mental journeys and how they deal with the horror that surrounds them.
Smorynski has done an excellent job of creating an atmosphere in the series that feels possible. For both the physical shape of the world and the mental space of the characters, you can see this being a future for humanity despite the sci-fi premise. I found the book to be a fun read and look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

Ross (3284 KP) rated Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) in Movies
Nov 28, 2017
Everything seems to get back to normal for a short time with the family reunited and moving on from the trauma they've been through. But this doesn't last long and soon strange things start happening again, this time focused around the baby.
For me, this film fell down a little as many horror sequels do, trying to build on tiny parts of the original story rather than carrying on from it. I found the parts where the reality and past of the presence that haunted Josh in his childhood really engaging and exciting and creepy, but felt this should have been explored so much more.
Rose Byrne is good again, somehow keeping the family together through all the unpleasantness.
One thing that did spoil this for me was when, after a particularly creepy scene in which a ghost child's foot steps were heard running through the house, my 3 year old son decided to get up and run through to my bedroom so I suddenly heard footsteps eerily similar to those on the film directly above my head.
A decent follow on with some interesting exploration of small aspects of the first film, but largely more of the same.