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ClareR (5841 KP) rated Summerwater in Books
Oct 4, 2020
Summerwater takes place over a single day in a Scottish holiday park. Each section follows a different person as they experience a very wet holiday with not very much to do.
I do enjoy this kind of book that looks at the ordinary, everyday lives - nothing wildly exciting happening. I know this may appear odd, but there you are š¤·š¼āāļø Maybe it could be construed as voyeuristic, but ānormalā fascinates me, because one persons normal isnāt remotely like mine (or anyone elseās). There are people from all walks of life: the retired doctor and his wife who appears to have dementia; young parents with small children; older parents with teenaged children; a boyfriend and his girlfriend. I could go on, but I wonāt. Needless to say, theyāre all very different people. They do have some things in common: their distrust of outsiders. There is an ex-soldier camping and living rough in the woods, and a Ukrainian family who certainly seem to know how to have a party. No-one seems to particularly trust them or like their presence at the holiday park.
I liked the smaller sections from the point of view of nature - whether it was from one of the animals in the woods, or the bedrock beneath the lodges. It made me think that all of the petty human concerns were nothing in comparison to the ground beneath their feet and that feeling of endurance.
Iāve had more than a few holidays where Iāve been shut up in a tent, camper van or a holiday cottage because of bad weather, and this reminded me in some part of those holidays (minus the rather dramatic ending!). I think I liked this so much because basically, at the end of the day, Iām a bit of a curtain twitcher...
Many thanks to NetGalley and Picador/ Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book.
I do enjoy this kind of book that looks at the ordinary, everyday lives - nothing wildly exciting happening. I know this may appear odd, but there you are š¤·š¼āāļø Maybe it could be construed as voyeuristic, but ānormalā fascinates me, because one persons normal isnāt remotely like mine (or anyone elseās). There are people from all walks of life: the retired doctor and his wife who appears to have dementia; young parents with small children; older parents with teenaged children; a boyfriend and his girlfriend. I could go on, but I wonāt. Needless to say, theyāre all very different people. They do have some things in common: their distrust of outsiders. There is an ex-soldier camping and living rough in the woods, and a Ukrainian family who certainly seem to know how to have a party. No-one seems to particularly trust them or like their presence at the holiday park.
I liked the smaller sections from the point of view of nature - whether it was from one of the animals in the woods, or the bedrock beneath the lodges. It made me think that all of the petty human concerns were nothing in comparison to the ground beneath their feet and that feeling of endurance.
Iāve had more than a few holidays where Iāve been shut up in a tent, camper van or a holiday cottage because of bad weather, and this reminded me in some part of those holidays (minus the rather dramatic ending!). I think I liked this so much because basically, at the end of the day, Iām a bit of a curtain twitcher...
Many thanks to NetGalley and Picador/ Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2304 KP) rated Finding Zelda in Books
Oct 2, 2019 (Updated Oct 2, 2019)
Zeldaās About to Experience a Bunch of Bad Holidays
We first meet the Bowen family at Easter as Zelda and her two sisters, Norma and Bea, are arguing over who will wear the bunny costume that year for the kids. Normally, that is something their father would do, but he has vanished without a word to anyone. Even though the three women are grown, two of them with families of their own, his absence has repercussions in all of their lives and in their family overall. As the year progresses, how will they deal with what happened?
I was excited to see this novel come out. It started life as four short stories in a series called Holidays from Hell. Those stories, plus some additional scenes to help fill in the gaps, make up the first half of the novel, and I was anxious to find out what happened to Zelda. I wasnāt disappointed. While author Sue Ann Jaffarian is best known for her mystery novels, this isnāt a mystery. Instead, itās a dysfunctional family dramedy. And yes, there are scenes that will make you laugh and scenes that will make you feel for the characters and what they are going through, especially Zelda. As our main characters, she is the most sympathetic, but all the characters have their moments as the book unfolds and all of them are great. This book definitely falls into the PG-13 realm with a smattering of foul language and some scenes that discuss charactersā sex lives. I could have done without those elements, but they are worth noting only in passing. Despite the fact that the book takes place roughly over the course of a year, we get a clear plot and only the scenes we need for the story. While originally conceived as a standalone novel, we are going to get more of Zeldaās adventures. Iām not sure where things can go from here, but Iām looking forward to visiting her again.
I was excited to see this novel come out. It started life as four short stories in a series called Holidays from Hell. Those stories, plus some additional scenes to help fill in the gaps, make up the first half of the novel, and I was anxious to find out what happened to Zelda. I wasnāt disappointed. While author Sue Ann Jaffarian is best known for her mystery novels, this isnāt a mystery. Instead, itās a dysfunctional family dramedy. And yes, there are scenes that will make you laugh and scenes that will make you feel for the characters and what they are going through, especially Zelda. As our main characters, she is the most sympathetic, but all the characters have their moments as the book unfolds and all of them are great. This book definitely falls into the PG-13 realm with a smattering of foul language and some scenes that discuss charactersā sex lives. I could have done without those elements, but they are worth noting only in passing. Despite the fact that the book takes place roughly over the course of a year, we get a clear plot and only the scenes we need for the story. While originally conceived as a standalone novel, we are going to get more of Zeldaās adventures. Iām not sure where things can go from here, but Iām looking forward to visiting her again.
Trader Clock
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This really is the trading app you can't do without. If you are trading then this app is the one...
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) in Movies
Dec 25, 2019
The Christmas Holiday Speical
The Rise of Skywalker- is better than the last jedi but worse than force awakens. I mean it has good parts, intresting parts and alot of bad parts, no spoilers. All of go to this place to get this thing, than go to that place, than that place and continues on until the end. Still alot of unanswered questions from the pervious movies, still alot of questions from this movie, that will be unanswered. Alot of what the fuck moments from this movie.
The Plot: The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more as Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron's journey continues. With the power and knowledge of generations behind them, the final battle commences.
A fitting conclusion to this saga. I felt that this whole new sega was way overhyped, just so much hype for them, that their were all okay.
May The Force Be With You All, and a merry christmas. Happy holidays and a happy new year.
The Plot: The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more as Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron's journey continues. With the power and knowledge of generations behind them, the final battle commences.
A fitting conclusion to this saga. I felt that this whole new sega was way overhyped, just so much hype for them, that their were all okay.
May The Force Be With You All, and a merry christmas. Happy holidays and a happy new year.
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