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The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer, #1)
The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer, #1)
Jenny Han | 2009 | Young Adult (YA)
9
8.7 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sweet Summer Love Story
I was a little bit unsure of this book, because of the name. I was afraid it was going to be one of those stereotypical books where the girl gets skinny/ discovers make up/ something happens that suddenly makes her pretty, and all the boys notice her. I was pleasantly suprised that it was a lot more than that. Yes it is stated that Belly was prettier than in the past, but all the boys in the story had reasons to like her that went beyond looks. At 16 Belly is starting to act more like an adult, and that plays a large role in drawing the boys attention.
This book also did a great job showing that the characters had more going on than just a teen romance. I read this in a day, and would highly suggest it to anyone looking for a fun new read.
  
Out of the Dark (The Grey Wolves, #4)
Out of the Dark (The Grey Wolves, #4)
Quinn Loftis | 2012 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
10
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The best thing for me is the fact that you get taken straight back where the old book finished when the new book starts. And when you're reading them back to back as I am, this is great! There's no wondering who's done what and when. You just dive straight back into the pack and carry on.

You learn more in this book about the gypsy healers but that in no way detracts from Jen and Decebel's story. When a wicked witch (stay with me here, it's worth it) tries to place a curse on Fane, Decebel is somehow able to sense it and manages to take the hit, literally, for Fane. This is a horrible curse though because it means that he loses his memories of his mate when he has only just found her and they haven't completed the Blood Rites yet. The struggle between the two of them is so painful and intense, I felt like a voyeur! So well written, you just can't remain separate from the story. Just when you think that things are slowing down and you're going to get your HEA, something else will happen that will throw everything on its head. There is just so much action and thrills in this book. Once again, we are treated to a Blood Rites which manages to match that of Jacque and Fane. But is that the end of the story? I'll leave you to read it and find out.

DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED
  
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Thundercat recommended Issues by Korn in Music (curated)

 
Issues by Korn
Issues by Korn
1999 | Metal
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Emo steez. I was a little emo kid. It's one of those things where, again, notably realising when somebody does something different – and Fieldy definitely played his instrument different than any bass player I'd heard before. I could tie this to Marvel and everything again, like Todd McFarlane did the cover of the album Follow The Leader and the video for 'Freak On A Leash', and he was also a Marvel artist at the time. It was a bit iconic for me, from Follow the Leader to Issues. That's all I was at school; at one point I went through a hard-ass Korn phase where I was just like, 'I only listen to Korn.' I didn't want to play bass like Fieldy because I didn't I totally understand why it wasn't always very melodic or harmonic, but a lot of the choices that they made when it came to progressions and stuff like that were insane, also, and it was something that drew me in. Every now and again I run into them, and we're not friends, but we're associates to the degree of where we recognise each other. I literally just got a chance to see them at a show and we sat and talked, but I haven't ever told them that like they were a big part of my growing years as an artist and as a bass player. Yeah, Issues is still one of my favourite Korn albums."

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Kane Hodder recommended Monster (2003) in Movies (curated)

 
Monster (2003)
Monster (2003)
2003 | Drama

"Unfortunately, I keep saying ones that I had something to do with. I was the stunt coordinator on that, and I actually played the cop that arrested her at the end. If I have any kind of acting ability, it’s from watching people like Charlize Theron. I was on the set every day. I didn’t have all that much to do, stuntwise — just safety issues and a couple of little stunt things — but I could watch her work, and see how she got to certain places, and that’s the best possible training I think an actor can have. [Theron did] subtle things right before certain scenes, to get to a certain place. I think, even subconsciously, I’ve incorporated some of those techniques. It’s nothing I can really describe. For the violent stuff, it doesn’t take long. It’s just very easy for me to get from my personality to the murderously violent personality. I think I’m closer to that than most people are, so it’s a short trip. [laughs] But for the emotional stuff, and crying scenes and stuff like that, what works best for me is to use music that means something to me, that reminds me of something in the past that isn’t a good memory. Something like that. That helps me to where I can convincingly cry, because I’ve seen so many actors — and these are whom I consider good actors — who are not convincing when they’re crying. It’s just not believable, it’s too forced. I think that’s obviously one of the harder things to do. Take [Hatchet series’] Danielle Harris. Most often, when you have a character who has to have a lot of emotion like that, you start out as a regular character and become that, like Tamara [Feldman] did in the first movie. Starts out normal and then becomes emotional at the end. Well, because this picked up from the very last frame of the first movie, from the very beginning, Danielle has to be crazy emotional. She lost her whole family and found them dead. So, it’s one thing to be able to get to an emotional point, but to have to do it so many times is the hard part. Lots of people can make themselves cry once, but let me see you do it ten times in one day, and some of those times being after lunch, where you’re talking to friends, and then you gotta get back to that place. It’s not that you just do it one time and they film it and you’re done. You gotta do all the coverage and make sure the emotion matches. That’s the hard part."

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Final Girls
Final Girls
Riley Sager | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.0 (26 Ratings)
Book Rating
Good world building (0 more)
Forgettable Book (1 more)
Overdone Plot
Just Okay
Final Girls by Riley Sager came highly recommended to. I was looking for a good horror book to read. While Final Girls wasn't a great read, it wasn't bad. Final Girls was just an okay read and nothing more.

The pacing is okay in Final Girls. It's not fast paced, but it's not slow either. I didn't hurry to finish this book at all. Every now and then the pacing would get better, but most times it was just okay.

The plot was alright. It's like every other slasher survival type books. Final Girls did have a few plot twists. Most were pretty predictable such as the one with Sam. I just felt like I had read and seen this plot line so many times before. Nothing really stood out with the plot of Final Girls.

The world building was done well. It was easy for me to be transported to the world of Final Girls. Even the attacks on the girls seemed realistic.

I liked the characters enough and felt that they were fairly well written. I did feel that Quincy was a little too gullible and trusting. There were times I had to shake my head at her. For example, I felt like she was too trusting of Samantha. It's like she just took her at her word all the time. Saying all that, I did love Quincy though. She did have a fighting spirit about her, and I loved her determination. Sam annoyed me. She was written well, but she annoyed me with how she said "babe" almost all the time. She was always so shady, and I never trusted her. Even though Jeff and Coop weren't major characters, I still liked them a lot. They just seemed like really nice guys.

There are some themes in this book such as violence, smoking, prescription drug abuse, alcohol, sex, and swearing. Nothing is too over the top, and it fits in with the book perfectly.

All in all, I feel as if Final Girls by Riley Sager is a forgettable book. Nothing really stands out plot wise or character wise. It's just an okay read, but it's been done before.
  
Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack & J.J. Johnson
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Obviously that's a great soundtrack, and also my favourite blaxploitation film. I kind of remember growing up [thinking] blaxploitation films were silly, like I remember, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, but then once I started getting into them, I was like, oh wow, they are really political movies that don't really exist any more, and what I wanted to highlight was the score by J. J. Johnson. He's pretty much up there with Quincy Jones, but I would love to see a biopic about someone like that who has this really long career spanning from bebop and going to Hollywood and starting to score for blaxploitation films towards the end of his career. These guys are just genius arrangers, composers, players, and while their struggle was within the Hollywood system, it's not like it was a face you know from a college dorm poster like Miles Davis or something - it could be played by anybody you know."

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The Mandore Rose
The Mandore Rose
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Mandore Rose by Cyril James Morris is set in the early 1950s yet, for the most part, it feels like it could be set in modern-day. It also has a prologue from the 1700s but it takes a while for the connection to be made. This book can easily be read in a day or two.

Just Riley is a young Romany girl who is ordered by her elder to take her caravan and run away. This is not because of anything she has done. She must run in order to protect herself from the man pretending to be her uncle after her mother died just so he can steal from her. Just Riley now has to survive on her own with her horse Pixe and her spirit guide, The Bangled Lady for companions. That is until an accident at the beach puts her in contact with Big Pierre and Rhys.

Rhys teaches her how to hunt for crabs and they quickly become friends. Big Pierre owns and works on a crabbing boat and gives Just Riley some work. When Pierre takes Riley with him one day she meets the Monks and Lady Caldey on their island. The Lady agrees to have an instrument repaired for Just Riley and the two feel a bond right away. After learning to trust one another Just Riley learns that they each have a ring identical to the other. It is with these rings and a little bit of luck that they start on an adventure that may lead them to the truth about who Just Riley really is.

What I liked most was how the main character is called “Just Riley”. At first, I found this to be annoying and awkward, but after the reason is explained I fund it to be cute, if not a little sad as well. What I did not like was that I wish the book would have explained the difference between Romany and Gypsey. This is because on multiple occasions people in the book confuse the two and Riley seems to be insulted by that. I feel like many people (myself included) do not know the difference and would benefit from the explanation.

People who enjoy historical mysteries would enjoy this book the most. This book is appropriate for just about all readers even those in middle school. It is not too heavily historical that it is not enjoyable. I give this book a 3 out of 4 ratings. While there is not anything wrong with this book I could not give it a perfect score. The book just was not compelling to read. While it is classified as a mystery it really doesn't have a quality that made me curious about what was happening.

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https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/mandore-rose
  
Twister (1996)
Twister (1996)
1996 | Action, Drama
Special effects (0 more)
Just rewatched this and was amazed by how well the special effects held up. I enjoyed going down memory lane and seeing Gary England on the TV (even if it was for like 2 seconds).
The film tells a slightly accurate if over exaggerated story about weather chasers. Some of the acting is over the top, and a few of the scenes are incredulous (like the flying cow, but that has happened before) with the main characters evading being killed and the plot gets a bit lost as they focus more on the tornadoes and the destruction they can cause. Love it or hate to like it, it's a disaster movie through and through that highlights the power and suddenness of the twister.
  
Serial Hottie
Serial Hottie
Kelly Oram | 2012 | Young Adult (YA)
4
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<strong>Hmm. </strong>

This didn't grab me like several other books by the author have done.

It was all looking like Seth WAS the killer, which I know was the whole point, but he did come across as being a bit too quick to anger and rather crazy. It made him a bit hard for me to like.

That being said Ellie drove me mad on several occasions too. She was just so anti-anything-involving-a-guy and was rather hurtful to Seth at times and I couldn't understand his fascination with her.

I am making a point to read my way through this authors books and the fact this one didn't gel with me hasn't changed my mind about that.
  
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan
1993 | Rock
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I really love hip hop and I thought if I had to pick one album it'd have to be the first Wu-Tang album just for the personalities, and the real rawness and lo-fi urgency about it. I love the audacity of having an interview with the band in the middle of the record. It's something that I think independent music scene should start doing… in the middle of the next Pastels album, like, Stephen and Katrina start talking about how good they are. I need to make it so. I don't think I really got properly into hip hop until the last five years. Something suddenly clicked where it really made sense. These days I like Danny Brown and A$AP Rocky, things like that."

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