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Suswatibasu (1702 KP) rated Thanks, Obama: My Hopey Changey White House Years in Books

Mar 16, 2018

A book of hopey changey during the Obama years

This funny, poignant look at the White House from the perspective of a speechwriter, humanises those who worked for Obama and the former president himself.

From hilarious anecdotes, where David Litt was literally found with his Hulk pants down on Air Force One, to harrowing experiences watching Obama sing Amazing Grace after the racially-motivated Charleston shooting -it's like a real-life series of West Wing.

His admiration for the ex-chief is rather sweet, turning from full-blown hero worshipping to quiet respect for POTUS as a person as in his own words: "We are not perfect but we have the capacity to be more perfect".

Hence the ending seems bittersweet - Litt was part of Obama's legacy that is being decimated so for him it is personal. He asks "Was Barack Obama a good President?" And without hesitation he agrees that he was.

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Joelene Marie (28 KP) rated The Regulars in Books

Oct 1, 2018

The Regulars

Georgia Clark | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I was SO excited to read this book, it was on a ton of hottest/best books of the summer lists so I figured it just had to be great. Not so much. I was very disappointed when I finally finished it. It started out good enough but as it progressed the characters just got on my nerves. I couldn't relate to any of them and the things they did often made little sense. The constant feminism was annoying and felt like all there was to that particular character, another was flakey to the extreme and while somewhat funny at first it became grating as, again, that's all there was to her character, and the remaining protagonist was just strange. She was perhaps the least flat of the three but I found it impossible to relate or identity with her. The plot was intriguing and unlike anything I've read before but it seemed to be more afterthought than integral. A serious let down :(

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CKD (37 KP) rated The Good House in Books

Dec 7, 2018

Hildy Good is a real estate broker in Wendover, MA - a (fictional) town located north of Boston. Her husband left her for a man and she has 2 daughters with him. She is a grandmother. This story starts after she's been released from rehab for drinking (her daughters put her in rehab). It tells Hildy's story once she's home and trying to work and get through the day without drinking. Rebecca and her husband move to Wendover and Rebecca and Hildy become good friends. Hildy is happy (although she's started drinking secretly) until she discovers a secret about Rebecca and someone else in town. When the secrets start to unravel and there is a mysterious disappearance in town, Hildy begins to question some of her actions. At times funny, sad and poignant, the book is well written and you feel for all of the characters in the story. Ann Leary is the wife of Denis Leary, the comedian.

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated A Man Apart (2003) in Movies

Apr 14, 2020

A Man Apart (2003)

2003 | Action, Drama

6.3

(4 Ratings)

Movie Rating

The world is in lockdown, so I could be learning another language, or reading Ulysses, or writing a book, or practising the ukulele. Yet somehow I find myself spending my time watching obscure Vin Diesel movies. So it goes. This is one he made before he was properly famous, and which only got a proper release off the back of The Fast and the Furious and xXx. Vin's DEA agent gets very cross indeed when drug dealers shoot his wife after he arrests El Big Chief, and threatens to go off the rails entirely while seeking revenge.

Diesel has something of his usual presence and charisma, which means the film scrapes another point (just) - this is a very ordinary, very violent revenge thriller, with no interesting ideas, wit, or imagination about it. It's neither good, nor bad enough to be unintentionally funny - I nearly gave up halfway through, which hardly ever happens. Tedious macho nonsense; steer clear.