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Mayhawke (97 KP) rated The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey in Books

Feb 9, 2018

A good Christmas story without the mawkishness

I have nine children. I bought this book for the oldest two - over twenty years ago It is a beautiful book, wonderfully illustrated, with a great Christmas story: Jonathon Toomey - a cold and unfriendly man, since the loss of his wife and child takes in a homeless woman and her son in the middle of winter, with - for grown ups - a predictable outcome.

This story is not especially original, but it is the way in which it is told rather than the story itself that makes it stand out. I dislike sugary sentimentalism and one of the problems I have buying childrens books (particularly Xmas ones) is that the market is so over-loaded with 'sugar' that it's verging on a serious case of diabetes. This book is not sugary, nor even particularly sentimental. It tells a fine story, calmly and with dignity.

It has been a popular story with all the varied personalities in the family, which has to say something about breadth of appeal, and as it was re-issued in 2015 It seems to be weathering social change as well.

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated The Chocolate Clown Corpse (A Chocoholic Mystery, #14) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

Clowns are the theme for the annual winter carnival in Warner Pier, which is ironic since the man who ran the clown themed store in town was murdered about a month before it starts. Since that store was next door to TenHuis Chocolade, Lee Woodyard is hoping to buy it to expand the business. That’s how she meets the family and gets further involved when evidence begins appearing suggestion the homeless man who has been arrest for the murder might be innocent. But if he is innocent, who actually did it?

The book started out a little slowly, but once it gained speed, I found it hard to put it down, as always. I did spot the ending a little early, but I was having so much fun I didn’t mind. Lee, her husband Joe, and the new characters are great, but I do wish we could see more of the supporting cast – another common complaint when it comes to this series. Still, fans of Lee’s will gobble this book down like always.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/07/book-review-chocolate-clown-corpse-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

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Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated You Were Never Really Here (2018) in Movies

Nov 7, 2019

You Were Never Really Here (2018)

2018 | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

7.4

(16 Ratings)

Movie Rating

286. You Were Never Really Here. One intense movie! Intense soundtrack, intense action, intense subject matter. We meet a guy named Joe, sure he looks homeless, but in reality he's a war veteran that lives with his aging mother. The audience gets just a few glimpses of Joe's background and they aren't pretty. Now he's dedicated his life to rescuing missing and exploited children, and more importantly for those that hire him, he punishes those responsible, very brutally, weapon of choice: ball-peen hammer. And the one case the film focuses on, turns out to be very sinister indeed. Joaquin Phoenix is intense as Joe, a man unafraid of violence, but extremely tormented by his past. Definitely worth a watch. (Side note: If you watch it, towards the beginning of the movie Joe exits his house, you can hear in the background a small dog barking like crazy. Joe pauses for a moment, twitches just a bit, camera cuts to his mom watching him out the front window, you hear the dog bark one final time, yelps as in pain and goes silent... Do you think Joe killed the doggy???) Filmbufftim on FB