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Mariafrancesca (30 KP) rated Gemina: The Illuminae Files: Book 2 in Books
Mar 30, 2019
I really don't know what it is about this series. If I think about it, it just a collection of all the biggest and most common themes in sci-fi, but somehow it works. I couldn't put this book down!
The story starts 5 seconds after the end of the first book, and it focuses on the events happening on the station where the Kady and the Hypatia are headed. There is no need to say that things goes as wrong as they can.
I have to say that I found this book a bit slower than the first one, and if readers thought that characters in the first book were fake, they will probably found the ones in this second book even more so (even though I think that the problem is the narration more than anything else, we always see these characters through a filter, we never know how the feel directly from them). However the more you get into the story the more gripping and eventful it gets, there are a lot of plot twists (again they may be cliches but the do work inside the story) and the book ends with a huge cliffhanger. I can't wait for part 3!
The story starts 5 seconds after the end of the first book, and it focuses on the events happening on the station where the Kady and the Hypatia are headed. There is no need to say that things goes as wrong as they can.
I have to say that I found this book a bit slower than the first one, and if readers thought that characters in the first book were fake, they will probably found the ones in this second book even more so (even though I think that the problem is the narration more than anything else, we always see these characters through a filter, we never know how the feel directly from them). However the more you get into the story the more gripping and eventful it gets, there are a lot of plot twists (again they may be cliches but the do work inside the story) and the book ends with a huge cliffhanger. I can't wait for part 3!
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Blood Runs Cold (DS Max Craigie #4) in Books
Apr 3, 2023
Wow ... just wow!!!
Once again, Mr Lancaster has written an absolute cracker in this brilliant series and whilst this is the fourth, it is quite successful as a standalone however, I would highly recommend you go back and read the other three because it will help with getting to know the main characters but also because they are just really good books!
DS Max Craigie and his team are strong characters that work well as a small but formidable team rooting out corruption within Police Scotland; Mr Lancaster has written them so well that I have found myself becoming really attached to them. Their relationship and dialogue feels authentic and I found myself tittering away to myself at times which helped to lighten what is, essentially, a very dark story.
This is a dark, gritty and fast paced police procedural that I was totally and completely absorbed by from the very start. The plot is scarily plausible and realistic with some excellent twists and turns which adds to the intensity.
Highly recommended and I urge everyone to read this excellent series; I can't wait for the next instalment and I must thank HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of the brilliant Blood Runs Cold.
Once again, Mr Lancaster has written an absolute cracker in this brilliant series and whilst this is the fourth, it is quite successful as a standalone however, I would highly recommend you go back and read the other three because it will help with getting to know the main characters but also because they are just really good books!
DS Max Craigie and his team are strong characters that work well as a small but formidable team rooting out corruption within Police Scotland; Mr Lancaster has written them so well that I have found myself becoming really attached to them. Their relationship and dialogue feels authentic and I found myself tittering away to myself at times which helped to lighten what is, essentially, a very dark story.
This is a dark, gritty and fast paced police procedural that I was totally and completely absorbed by from the very start. The plot is scarily plausible and realistic with some excellent twists and turns which adds to the intensity.
Highly recommended and I urge everyone to read this excellent series; I can't wait for the next instalment and I must thank HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of the brilliant Blood Runs Cold.
KatieLouCreate (162 KP) rated Memrise: learn languages in Apps
Feb 27, 2018
This app started of really good when I first downloaded it. I used it to aid me while learning Japanese. It has cool short games and activities to help you learn and remember old and new things every day. It was so good that in fact I bought a subscription for it so I could do more things. When you become a pro member you get listening activities from native speakers, listening games as well as pronunciation exercises.
However, after using it for a while, I noticed it was harder for me to learn how to construct larger sentences. It was just a case of remembering what kanji was used instead of actually learning how to say/write the sentences. So the app is only great for learning words and short phrases.
Then my card details were updated and I lost my pro-member benefits. I found out that they now want to to pay for things that were previously free such as the difficult words which saved words you were struggling with and help you learn them separately. So now the only thing you can really do on the app is learn new words and recap old ones. 4 out of the 7 games now need subscriptions which seems unfair.
It is also hard to add new people who actually play on the app as well. (You need to pay to use this as well now, I believe) but it allowed you to compete with other players on a weekly score board. Only problem with that is you couldn't search for anyone. You had to know someone who played the game as well and add their user name. The alternative was to type in a random name in the search bar and see who came up and hope they were still active.
This app is good for learning basics words, and phrases, and kanji if you study Chinese or Japanese. But it will not help you with fluency. And you basically have to buy it to seek all the other features which make the app what it is.
However, after using it for a while, I noticed it was harder for me to learn how to construct larger sentences. It was just a case of remembering what kanji was used instead of actually learning how to say/write the sentences. So the app is only great for learning words and short phrases.
Then my card details were updated and I lost my pro-member benefits. I found out that they now want to to pay for things that were previously free such as the difficult words which saved words you were struggling with and help you learn them separately. So now the only thing you can really do on the app is learn new words and recap old ones. 4 out of the 7 games now need subscriptions which seems unfair.
It is also hard to add new people who actually play on the app as well. (You need to pay to use this as well now, I believe) but it allowed you to compete with other players on a weekly score board. Only problem with that is you couldn't search for anyone. You had to know someone who played the game as well and add their user name. The alternative was to type in a random name in the search bar and see who came up and hope they were still active.
This app is good for learning basics words, and phrases, and kanji if you study Chinese or Japanese. But it will not help you with fluency. And you basically have to buy it to seek all the other features which make the app what it is.
MissCagey (2652 KP) rated The Paperboy (2012) in Movies
Dec 4, 2017
Can you really know someone after writing a few letters? This was an interesting film based on a true story of a woman who believed she had found her true love. the fact he was in prison for murder did not faze her and she was determined to have him released. She contacts two writers to investigate his case to try and get him freed. I really wanted to find out whether he was innocent or not and the twists and turns keep you gripped throughout. Very compelling.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz in Books
Jan 12, 2018
Many of us will have seen the photographs and moving images of those 2 little girls at the head of a line of survivors walking out of Auschwitz and many of us, me included, would have asked ourselves "I wonder who they are, where they came from, how they survived that nightmare and where are they now?"; this book sheds light on all those questions and introduces you to a very brave little girl.
Full review can be found here - http://readingstuffnthings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/surviving-angel-of-death-story-of.html, thank you.
Full review can be found here - http://readingstuffnthings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/surviving-angel-of-death-story-of.html, thank you.
The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) rated The Classic Tales Podcast in Podcasts
Jan 26, 2018
Narrative (2 more)
Voicework
classic Stories are timeless
As good as an audio book delivered to your phone
This is a great podcast, classic literature has stood the test of time for a reason. I found Captain Blood because of him, and it's now one of my favorite books of all time. He tends to select toward the horror side of things, but you can always find something you are interested in listening to. From Sherlock Holmes to Peter Pan. Herland to Pride and Prejudice. and lots of small stories in between.
Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn was undoubtedly the best thing in the mediocre 'Suicide Squad'. How you take to her livewire, hyperactive and at times a tad grating character will depend on how much you enjoy this spin off. Luckily I thought there was a good balance of action and humour here and plenty of entertainment to be found in Quinn's amusing narration and her interactions with the other Birds. It's got its faults certainly particularly in Ewan McGregor's hammy over the top villain but it's still worth a watch for Robbie's performance.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Yeah, but I Didn't in Books
Feb 15, 2020
I love books that deal with some sort of downward spiral. I don't mean that in a morbid sense. I just mean that I usually find them interesting. When I was presented with the opportunity of reading Yeah, but I Didn't by Ann Swann, I jumped at the chance.
Benji Stevens is a bright 14 year old high school girl. In fact, she's so smart, she's even skipped a grade in school. When something horrible happens to her one day at her house, her life begins to spiral out of control. With bad things happening right after one another, will Benji find the light at the end of the tunnel or will it be too late?
The premise for Yeah, but I Didn't is really interesting. There were some great aspects of this book. In fact, after reading this book, my new life motto is now, "You can’t control how other people treat you. But you CAN control how you react. And that’s how you take back your power." I love that quote, and it's said a few times throughout Yeah, but I Didn't. I liked the theme of hope and forgiveness towards the end of the book as well. Ann Swann did a fantastic job with her descriptive language at making it easy to picture each scene in the book. I found myself being transported to the setting of Yeah, But I Didn't whenever I started reading.
The characters in Yeah, but I Didn't felt fairly realistic throughout the novel, though Benji's character seemed more like she was 12 with how she would speak and act sometimes. I liked Benji though, and I admired her determination to get through this horrible part of her life. I enjoyed reading about Benji's mom and how (in the last quarter of the book) she turns to God to help her with everything. (Though this was a sudden shift and was a little jarring. The story went from no real mention of God to suddenly focusing on how God can help you.) Janie was a well-written character, but I just wanted to shake that girl sometimes for being so spiteful and horrible to her mom and Benji especially! My favorite characters were Uncle Aidan and Dr Blue. They always came across as being optimistic and wanting to help Benji be the best version of herself. I will also say that each character is described very well, so it's easy to picture each one as a real life person instead of just some character in a book.
As much as I enjoyed the book, there were things that didn't work for me. I found the pacing to be a bit too slow for my liking, and I felt like there was too much narrative description through much of the book; I didn't need to know exact details of every little thing. I could have done without the mention of politics in this book; it didn't seem necessary. And a pet peeve: it's mentioned that Benji and her uncle they order chicken nuggets from Sonic. Sonic does not do chicken nuggets; they do chicken strips, popcorn chicken, and boneless wings -- but never chicken nuggets!
I also felt like, although this book is considered a young adult book and deals with some heavy subject matters, it felt like it was written for a middle grade audience.
Trigger warnings for Yeah, but I Didn't include alcoholism, suicide, attempted suicide, teenage pregnancy, some violence, and attempted rape.
While I found Yeah, but I Didn't to be a bit of a slow read mostly, I do think younger teens that who are going through a dark patch in their life would enjoy this. I would recommend Yeah, but I Didn't by Ann Swann to those 14+ who need a bit of hope in their life.
--
(A special thank you to Lone Star Literary Life for providing me with an eBook of Yeah, but I Didn't by Ann Swann in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
Benji Stevens is a bright 14 year old high school girl. In fact, she's so smart, she's even skipped a grade in school. When something horrible happens to her one day at her house, her life begins to spiral out of control. With bad things happening right after one another, will Benji find the light at the end of the tunnel or will it be too late?
The premise for Yeah, but I Didn't is really interesting. There were some great aspects of this book. In fact, after reading this book, my new life motto is now, "You can’t control how other people treat you. But you CAN control how you react. And that’s how you take back your power." I love that quote, and it's said a few times throughout Yeah, but I Didn't. I liked the theme of hope and forgiveness towards the end of the book as well. Ann Swann did a fantastic job with her descriptive language at making it easy to picture each scene in the book. I found myself being transported to the setting of Yeah, But I Didn't whenever I started reading.
The characters in Yeah, but I Didn't felt fairly realistic throughout the novel, though Benji's character seemed more like she was 12 with how she would speak and act sometimes. I liked Benji though, and I admired her determination to get through this horrible part of her life. I enjoyed reading about Benji's mom and how (in the last quarter of the book) she turns to God to help her with everything. (Though this was a sudden shift and was a little jarring. The story went from no real mention of God to suddenly focusing on how God can help you.) Janie was a well-written character, but I just wanted to shake that girl sometimes for being so spiteful and horrible to her mom and Benji especially! My favorite characters were Uncle Aidan and Dr Blue. They always came across as being optimistic and wanting to help Benji be the best version of herself. I will also say that each character is described very well, so it's easy to picture each one as a real life person instead of just some character in a book.
As much as I enjoyed the book, there were things that didn't work for me. I found the pacing to be a bit too slow for my liking, and I felt like there was too much narrative description through much of the book; I didn't need to know exact details of every little thing. I could have done without the mention of politics in this book; it didn't seem necessary. And a pet peeve: it's mentioned that Benji and her uncle they order chicken nuggets from Sonic. Sonic does not do chicken nuggets; they do chicken strips, popcorn chicken, and boneless wings -- but never chicken nuggets!
I also felt like, although this book is considered a young adult book and deals with some heavy subject matters, it felt like it was written for a middle grade audience.
Trigger warnings for Yeah, but I Didn't include alcoholism, suicide, attempted suicide, teenage pregnancy, some violence, and attempted rape.
While I found Yeah, but I Didn't to be a bit of a slow read mostly, I do think younger teens that who are going through a dark patch in their life would enjoy this. I would recommend Yeah, but I Didn't by Ann Swann to those 14+ who need a bit of hope in their life.
--
(A special thank you to Lone Star Literary Life for providing me with an eBook of Yeah, but I Didn't by Ann Swann in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
4.5 STAR RATING
Now I must admit that I sometimes find it very difficult to give a star rating to a self-help book as actually reading the book is only part of the therapy that it provides. In order to give a fully accurate rating the book would have to be read, the constructive ideas written within the pages followed and carried out wholeheartedly and a realistic amount of time left to pass for recovery. As I have only finished reading this book today I have not had time to really go through the processes that are outlined in this book, therefore, I do not know how much this book will actually have an impact on my life BUT I am willing to work my way through the suggestions.
I borrowed this book from the library (I find some self-help books to be over priced and there are just so many out there that you often don't know exactly what you're buying) so I am not able to refer back to this copy time and time again throughout recovery like this book suggests you do (unless I decide to purchase a copy) and so quite a few of the processes will have to be carried out using memory, which I know isn't often advised.
The reason for my high rating is because I found this book to be completely different to any other self help book that I have read in the past. Often these books outline the same sort of processes so you keep being fed the same sort of information but this book seems to have a more relaxed approach to dealing with stress, anxiety and depression...and in some ways a more realistic approach. It teaches you the methods of 'floating' not 'facing', 'accepting' not 'fighting' and 'comfort' not 'conflict'.
I am definitely not a stranger to anxiety and depression and so for a long time I have been actively searching for ways in which these 'illnesses' can be 'cured' or made less intense. This book has definitely helped me in the sense that it has given me a completely different perspective compared to what I had before reading this book. Stress and depression can cause you to be a lot less open minded than you perhaps used to be and being accepting of new ideas and view points may seem very daunting, however, when ideas are presented in this book Dr Weekes gives examples about how the sufferer may be feeling once presented with an idea (personally I found her to be pretty spot on) and so you are given a sense of relief that someone out there knows what you are going through and that she has helped many people in similar situations.
The book also contains numerous 'Case Studies', where Dr Weekes gives examples of some of her clients, their problems, their emotions, their coping strategies and the feedback that she provides for them. The 'life problems' discussed are very broad and so you may find that one might be similar to your current situation, a situation you have been in or perhaps even a situation that you are frightened you might end up in in the near or distant future.
My retraction of 1/2 a star wasn't because this book has any negative aspects but simply because I am yet to fully explore it's full potential and to put it into practice, as mentioned earlier on in my review.
I find that just knowing that someone is there 'talking to you' and 'guiding' you in the right direction is comforting and kind of relaxing in a way...a helping hand, to turn that frown upside down.
Now I must admit that I sometimes find it very difficult to give a star rating to a self-help book as actually reading the book is only part of the therapy that it provides. In order to give a fully accurate rating the book would have to be read, the constructive ideas written within the pages followed and carried out wholeheartedly and a realistic amount of time left to pass for recovery. As I have only finished reading this book today I have not had time to really go through the processes that are outlined in this book, therefore, I do not know how much this book will actually have an impact on my life BUT I am willing to work my way through the suggestions.
I borrowed this book from the library (I find some self-help books to be over priced and there are just so many out there that you often don't know exactly what you're buying) so I am not able to refer back to this copy time and time again throughout recovery like this book suggests you do (unless I decide to purchase a copy) and so quite a few of the processes will have to be carried out using memory, which I know isn't often advised.
The reason for my high rating is because I found this book to be completely different to any other self help book that I have read in the past. Often these books outline the same sort of processes so you keep being fed the same sort of information but this book seems to have a more relaxed approach to dealing with stress, anxiety and depression...and in some ways a more realistic approach. It teaches you the methods of 'floating' not 'facing', 'accepting' not 'fighting' and 'comfort' not 'conflict'.
I am definitely not a stranger to anxiety and depression and so for a long time I have been actively searching for ways in which these 'illnesses' can be 'cured' or made less intense. This book has definitely helped me in the sense that it has given me a completely different perspective compared to what I had before reading this book. Stress and depression can cause you to be a lot less open minded than you perhaps used to be and being accepting of new ideas and view points may seem very daunting, however, when ideas are presented in this book Dr Weekes gives examples about how the sufferer may be feeling once presented with an idea (personally I found her to be pretty spot on) and so you are given a sense of relief that someone out there knows what you are going through and that she has helped many people in similar situations.
The book also contains numerous 'Case Studies', where Dr Weekes gives examples of some of her clients, their problems, their emotions, their coping strategies and the feedback that she provides for them. The 'life problems' discussed are very broad and so you may find that one might be similar to your current situation, a situation you have been in or perhaps even a situation that you are frightened you might end up in in the near or distant future.
My retraction of 1/2 a star wasn't because this book has any negative aspects but simply because I am yet to fully explore it's full potential and to put it into practice, as mentioned earlier on in my review.
I find that just knowing that someone is there 'talking to you' and 'guiding' you in the right direction is comforting and kind of relaxing in a way...a helping hand, to turn that frown upside down.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Final Girls in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Ten years ago, Quincy Carpenter was the sole survivor of a killing of her closest friends. She joined a small group of women the media has dubbed as the Final Girls. But Quincy doesn't want to be a Final Girl, she just wants to move on with her life and forget about the events that took place at Pine Cottage. When the original Final Girl is found dead in her apartment of an apparent suicide, and another Final Girl is brought into her life, Quincy must decide how she is going to live the rest of her life.
I loved this book. I couldn't put it down, it kept me up past my bedtime each night.
Imagine if you were the sole survivor of a mass murder. How do you think that would change your life? Would you become a recluse or would you try to live your life to the fullest? Quincy has tried to forget what happened to her best friend, boyfriend and other close friends that weekend at Pine Cottage. It was supposed to be a fun weekend to celebrate a birthday, but that quickly changed. When Lisa, the original Final Girl is found dead and Sam, the other Final Girl, shows up at Quincy's apartment, she is forced to take a look at her life and decide what to do next. Full of twists and turns, the end was something I didn't see coming.
This was a great debut novel. This author has another book coming out in July called The Last Time I Lied, I already have a copy of this book from NetGalley and I can't wait to read it.
I loved this book. I couldn't put it down, it kept me up past my bedtime each night.
Imagine if you were the sole survivor of a mass murder. How do you think that would change your life? Would you become a recluse or would you try to live your life to the fullest? Quincy has tried to forget what happened to her best friend, boyfriend and other close friends that weekend at Pine Cottage. It was supposed to be a fun weekend to celebrate a birthday, but that quickly changed. When Lisa, the original Final Girl is found dead and Sam, the other Final Girl, shows up at Quincy's apartment, she is forced to take a look at her life and decide what to do next. Full of twists and turns, the end was something I didn't see coming.
This was a great debut novel. This author has another book coming out in July called The Last Time I Lied, I already have a copy of this book from NetGalley and I can't wait to read it.