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Metal Shooting War: Tanks vs Robots
Games and Entertainment
6.0
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Welcome to the ultimate war experience. Drive a tank and do not stop shooting until the enemy is...
Environmental Transformations: A Geography of the Anthropocene
Book
From the depths of the oceans to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, the human impact on the...
The Calling (Endgame #1)
7.0
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Book
Twelve thousand years ago, they came. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire, and created...
Suswatibasu (1702 KP) rated The Line Becomes a River in Books
Dec 16, 2017
Haunting, disturbing, an essential read
This novel is beautiful, fiercely honest, while being deeply empathetic, looking at those who police the Mexican-American border, and the migrants who risk and lose their lives crossing it. In a time of often ill-informed or downright deceitful political rhetoric, this book is an invaluable corrective.
The book follows author Francisco Cantu while he was a US Border Patrol agent from 2008 to 2012. Working the desert at the remote crossroads of drug routes and smuggling corridors, tracking humans through blistering days and frigid nights across a vast terrain. Hauling in the dead and detaining the exhausted, Cantu is plagued by nightmares, opting in the end to abandon his position. Line Becomes a River is a timely look at this arbitrary landscape, bringing home to us the destruction that US policy inflicts on countless lives, and the violence it wreaks on the humanity of us all.
The book follows author Francisco Cantu while he was a US Border Patrol agent from 2008 to 2012. Working the desert at the remote crossroads of drug routes and smuggling corridors, tracking humans through blistering days and frigid nights across a vast terrain. Hauling in the dead and detaining the exhausted, Cantu is plagued by nightmares, opting in the end to abandon his position. Line Becomes a River is a timely look at this arbitrary landscape, bringing home to us the destruction that US policy inflicts on countless lives, and the violence it wreaks on the humanity of us all.
Rachel (48 KP) rated Small Gods in Books
May 24, 2017
Funny (4 more)
Philosophy
Fantasy
Terry Pratchett
Excellent fiction
The 13th Discworld book
Small God's is the 13th book in the Discworld series. You do not have to have read any of the other books to understand this one as it features characters that (mostly) only appear in this book.
As with all of Pratchett's work it is a subtle blend of humour and humanity. It uses amazing characters and situations to highlight the hypocrisy and insanity of real life.
This book focuses on Brutha; a 'slow', ordinary monk for the God Om. It is the biggest, and most ruthless, religion in this part of the Discworld.
Brutha is gardening, as he always is (not much use for anything else) when a tortoise literally drops into his life and changes his world......
This book questions the hierarchy of religion, the wisdom of power, philosophy, the righteousness of war and whether a tortoise really does make good eating.
As with all of Pratchett's work it is a subtle blend of humour and humanity. It uses amazing characters and situations to highlight the hypocrisy and insanity of real life.
This book focuses on Brutha; a 'slow', ordinary monk for the God Om. It is the biggest, and most ruthless, religion in this part of the Discworld.
Brutha is gardening, as he always is (not much use for anything else) when a tortoise literally drops into his life and changes his world......
This book questions the hierarchy of religion, the wisdom of power, philosophy, the righteousness of war and whether a tortoise really does make good eating.
Nick Friesen (96 KP) rated Wonder Woman (2017) in Movies
Jul 11, 2017
Strong female characters (3 more)
Love Interest without a "damsel in distress"
Not too dark, and not too happy either
The most cohesive DCEU film to date
A Triumph for Women Everywhere (and the DCEU)
Gal Gadot is perfect. She kicks ass and looks great doing it, dominating every frame she inhabits. Thanks to Patty Jenkin's guiding hand, Gadot's iteration of Wonder Woman does so without becoming yet another one-dimensional sex symbol. The movie itself is the most cohesive and fun segment the DCEU has offered yet. Free of the glowering and overbearing lens Zack Snyder has placed over Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman touches on themes of hope and discovered humanity that were yet to be seen in DC's fledgling movie universe. Even if the story is a little basic, and a little reminiscent of Captain America: The First Avenger, it stands on its own two feet and puts up a good fight for two hours and twenty minutes.
I’m not a huge fan of short stories: I like to really get into the characters lives and the anticipation and the crescendo of a novel. Short stories, to me, feel like I’m thrown into a story, see a snippet of it, and am then jerked out. But one thing that really helped this collection not feel like that was how all the stories were about the same thing. Not the same plot, not the same people… but the same concept. A machine that tells you how you will die, and is absolutely never wrong? That’s a sticky situation. And each person had to figure out how to deal with it and it revealed a lot of humanity.
I was very pleased with this collection as a whole. I didn’t read the first one, and I don’t think you’d need to in order to enjoy it. I definitely liked some stories and some writers better than other, but all in all, it was very satisfying.
I was very pleased with this collection as a whole. I didn’t read the first one, and I don’t think you’d need to in order to enjoy it. I definitely liked some stories and some writers better than other, but all in all, it was very satisfying.
Domonique (0 KP) rated The Maze Runner in Books
May 12, 2018
I absolutely loved this book! I first heard about it via the movie of course and then once I was able to get a copy from the library, I started it immediately. And I was hooked! I love to read books told from the perspective of teenagers because it always amaze s me how perceptive and curious they can be. Even though I knew Thomas was supposed to be the hero and save everyone, there were still a few things I didn't see coming: the truth about the maze for one thing, where the kids came from and how they ended up in the maze to begin with and just the lengths people were willing to go to save humanity. It really makes me think about what would happen if the world as we know it suddenly was hit by a natural disaster that killed millions and created disease. How would we survive? It certainly makes you think and find out what happens next!
Jennifer Daniell (108 KP) rated A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea in Books
Apr 10, 2018
Devastating. Heartbreaking. Sickening. And POWERFUL. I wish everyone would take the time to read about Doaa, or any refugee so that they can see just what it is that is happening. Why we MUST take these people into our country, our lives, and our homes. To be able to stop seeing them only as their religion, and instead for their humanity, their souls.
I do have to say that the author did Doaa somewhat of an injustice by being the one to tell her tale. I don't know why, but there seemed to be such a disconnect from the writer to the story, it felt very...matter of fact. Perhaps because of the language barrier or maybe because the author isn't an author by trade. Whatever it is, I suppose, is of little relevance as long as Doaa's story is heard, and because in the end their meeting led to the reuniting of a deserving family; safe, if not sound.
I do have to say that the author did Doaa somewhat of an injustice by being the one to tell her tale. I don't know why, but there seemed to be such a disconnect from the writer to the story, it felt very...matter of fact. Perhaps because of the language barrier or maybe because the author isn't an author by trade. Whatever it is, I suppose, is of little relevance as long as Doaa's story is heard, and because in the end their meeting led to the reuniting of a deserving family; safe, if not sound.
Prieblanda (25 KP) rated The Tattooist of Auschwitz in Books
May 17, 2019
Could be darker
The novel takes us back to the WW2 times, the times when concentration camps were running full capacity. And it lets us to get in a life of one of the prisoners at the biggest camps - the Auschwitz. Starting to read, you know beforehand what lies in path of the main character - Lale. Though the story itself happens in dark times (times I consider to be closest to dystopia humanity ever got to), Lale doesn't lose his optimism and it makes the whole story a bit more lighthearted. We don't really get much insight on some more gruesome things.
Summing up, there were some parts that I liked and there were a few that I didn't. But knowing it is based on a true story makes it a forgivable. I just wish the author put a bit more of work in her prose, to paint the images more vividly
Summing up, there were some parts that I liked and there were a few that I didn't. But knowing it is based on a true story makes it a forgivable. I just wish the author put a bit more of work in her prose, to paint the images more vividly