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F My Life: And You Thought You'd Had A Bad Day
F My Life: And You Thought You'd Had A Bad Day
Maxime Valette | 2009 | Humor & Comedy
8
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Do you ever feel like your life is going down the toilet? Does something happen to you where you just wish the ground would open up and swallow you? Then read this book! Nothing makes you feel better about your own misfortune than reading about other people's misfortune. This book is a hilarious collection of unfortunate events that have affected members of the general public. These are the most popular stories taken from the website FML and are guaranteed to make you chuckle to yourself. I know this is meant to be read in small chunks and to be referred back to now and again as a pick me up but I just have to read a book from start to finish. This made the book a little repetitive and dry in places but overall I really recommend this book.
  
Tales not just for Christmas!
Midwinter Mysteries is a great, festive collection of crime stories and thrillers - and I loved it. There are some of my favourite characters in this anthology, and some I’m now very interested in finding out more about. Graham Brack brings in another great story from Josef Slonsky (he IS my favourite), Linda Stratmann’s Mina Scarletti is also a great, if ghostly, story, and Charles Dickens makes an appearance thanks to J. C. Briggs (might have to read more of these books). Actually, it’s hard NOT to like any of these stories, and this fabulous collection has just made my wish list even longer - there wasn’t a single story that I didn’t enjoy. The collection left me feeling kind of seasonal in a slightly murderous, criminal way - but these stories don’t have to be confined to December!
  
War and Peace (Voyna i mir) (1965)
War and Peace (Voyna i mir) (1965)
1965 | Drama, History, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I’d have to say number one is the Russian War and Peace, which is eight hours long [laughs] and is, I think, the greatest film ever made. Just in scope, and size, and the genius of Sergei Bondarchuk, and the majesty of it. It took 10 years to make, and everyone in it ages the 10 years [they do] in the book. So there are no other actors playing the other people; the children all grow 10 years and so do the older people. That’s pretty amazing in itself. And there was no CGI, so when you see the Battle of 1812 of Borodino it seems like there are just 50,000 soldiers on horseback. It was made by the Russian government, which is why they had access to everything and so much money. I would have to say that was my number one."

Source
  
40x40

Vince Clarke recommended Trick Of The Trial by Genesis in Music (curated)

 
Trick Of The Trial by Genesis
Trick Of The Trial by Genesis
1976 | Pop, Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"When I was about 16 or 17 I bought my first stereo unit. It had white speakers. Up to that point we'd only had a radiogram in our house, so this was the first time I'd heard stereo. I'd put my head between the two speakers on the floor and just listen to this record over and over again, I just couldn't believe it. It's an underrated record, but I think it's a fantastic album, it's got some really great songs on. Sonically, if you listen to it through really good speakers it sounds amazing. Now I've got bigger speakers I put it on really really loud. I've got a place in Maine, that's where the loud equipment is, and that's in the middle of the woods so I can play stuff as loud as I like."

Source
  
    MapMe

    MapMe

    Travel and Utilities

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Ever had that thought where you’ve wondered where on earth you were last Monday at 4pm? ...

    Parallel Life (2010)

    Parallel Life (2010)

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    Movie

    KIM Suk-hyun is Korea's youngest appointed criminal court head judge, very famous for his rational...

Gregory and the Grimbockle
Gregory and the Grimbockle
Melanie Schubert | 2017 | Children, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Such a fun, imaginative read!
Gregory and the Grimbockle was one of the funniest and cute books that I’ve read with my child in a long time. It was so imaginative and fantastical. We loved the adorable illustrations, but were very glad that the Grimbockle was never illustrated going into or out of his temporary home. The sheer grossness of how that happened was so at odds with the cuteness of everything else, but it worked really well together strangely.

Melanie Schubert has enormous talent that Abigail Kraft complemented perfectly. This story of a boy who doesn’t quite fit in, who is teased and sometimes bullied, and is from a home that is neither loving nor abusive will resonate with a lot of younger readers, I believe. His situation isn’t one of extremes and as a result he’s more easy to relate to. The adventures that he goes on with the Grimbockle are pure fiction, but the truth he learns along the way about the large impact that small gestures can have means is not. As a parent, that truth – that our actions have much more an impact that we might think – is one that I enjoyed having a chance to talk about with my child through the lens of Gregory and the Grimbockle.

The only thing we didn’t like about Gregory and the Grimbockle was the way it ended. It just felt like it ended too abruptly. The transition from childhood to “okay, he’s growing up now” happened so quickly that we had to re-read to make sure we hadn’t accidentally missed a few pages. While I can see why the author did it the way she did, by the time closed the book, we were both already mourning the exiting of the Bockles from our world.

Gregory and the Grimbockle is a book that any parent should delight in picking up to read with their children. It’s an easy read, a short one, and it helps reinforce an important lesson. You’ll be missing out if you don’t give it a try.

This review appeared first at Sci-Fi & Scary.