Search
Search results
The Stolen Marriage
Book
The Stolen Marriage is a compelling novel from Diane Chamberlain, the bestselling author of The...
GS
George Szell: A Life of Music
Book
This book is the first full biography of George Szell, one of the greatest orchestra and opera...
Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich: Supreme Commander of the Russian Army
Book
Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (18561929) was a key figure in late Imperial Russia, and one...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Collecting Death (Haunted Collection #1) in Books
Mar 5, 2021
33 of 250
Kindle
Collecting Death (Haunted Collection book 1)
By Ron Ripley
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Rolf the teddy bear looks sweet and warm. But in the dark, its eyes glow with a murderous gleam…
Stefan Korzh’s parents built a life around collecting possessed items, in the throes of a peculiar game with the dead. Antique porcelain dolls, beautifully crafted teapots and an eerie teddy bear, all seemingly innocuous objects that encompass unimaginable evil, and malignant spirits who wish to inflict pain on the living.
His parents’ obsession ruined Stefan’s life, and he dreams of punishing the rest of the world for his poor luck of the draw. Dreams become reality when he sends the collectibles to unsuspecting customers. One by one, he eagerly watches the chaos that unfolds.
Victor Daniels, a historian exhausted by yet another academic conference, wants nothing more than to go home and see his wife. But tragedy cuts his hopes of comfort short. Seeking answers, he teams up with a paranormal expert by the name of Jeremy Rhinehart. The two discover a tangled web of haunted collectibles gleefully painting the town red with the blood of their new owners.
Time is running out, and they must stop Stefan from spreading further mayhem. But Jeremy and Victor are in over their heads, and the hellish objects’ spirits will not rest until their pursuers join the ranks of the dead…
Well he took being pissed at his parents way to far! I’d have loved to learn more about Anne and Rolfe as well as a few other characters! It was super eerie especially if you have a fear of haunted kids toys! Reading in the dark made this that little bit better. Really Interesting read. I’d love to know what else was unleashed on the unsuspecting people buying these haunted items. Found the ending slightly rushed too! But overall a good read.
Kindle
Collecting Death (Haunted Collection book 1)
By Ron Ripley
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Rolf the teddy bear looks sweet and warm. But in the dark, its eyes glow with a murderous gleam…
Stefan Korzh’s parents built a life around collecting possessed items, in the throes of a peculiar game with the dead. Antique porcelain dolls, beautifully crafted teapots and an eerie teddy bear, all seemingly innocuous objects that encompass unimaginable evil, and malignant spirits who wish to inflict pain on the living.
His parents’ obsession ruined Stefan’s life, and he dreams of punishing the rest of the world for his poor luck of the draw. Dreams become reality when he sends the collectibles to unsuspecting customers. One by one, he eagerly watches the chaos that unfolds.
Victor Daniels, a historian exhausted by yet another academic conference, wants nothing more than to go home and see his wife. But tragedy cuts his hopes of comfort short. Seeking answers, he teams up with a paranormal expert by the name of Jeremy Rhinehart. The two discover a tangled web of haunted collectibles gleefully painting the town red with the blood of their new owners.
Time is running out, and they must stop Stefan from spreading further mayhem. But Jeremy and Victor are in over their heads, and the hellish objects’ spirits will not rest until their pursuers join the ranks of the dead…
Well he took being pissed at his parents way to far! I’d have loved to learn more about Anne and Rolfe as well as a few other characters! It was super eerie especially if you have a fear of haunted kids toys! Reading in the dark made this that little bit better. Really Interesting read. I’d love to know what else was unleashed on the unsuspecting people buying these haunted items. Found the ending slightly rushed too! But overall a good read.
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Villains (2019) in Movies
Mar 10, 2021
This one struck a chord with me, and hit all the right notes along the way.
Villains is a witty, often funny, often dark thriller, with a sprinkling of horror for good measure. It's beautifully shot from start to finish and has fantastic performances all round from its small cast. Bill Skarsgård and Maika Monroe are extremely likeable "protagonists", as two amateur crooks on the run after robbing a gas station hoping to gather enough cash to start a new life together. The chemistry between the two of them is wonderful. When they run out of fuel during their getaway, they break into a nearby house in an attempt to either siphon some gas, or straight up steal a car but are quickly embroiled in a life or death situation when the homeowners return, two people who aren't quite as they seem. Jeffrey Donovan and Kyra Sedgwick are just as great as the two homeowners, both playing up their parts with villanous glee. Donovan's character may just be one of the most likable "bad guys" in recent history.
What follows is an incredibly entertaining and suspenseful film, with a few shocks and the odd splash of violence. The screenplay is brilliant, the pacing is perfect, and the music score is beautiful.
Underneath all of the craziness though, is a story I found to be incredibly sad. None of these people are perfect, some worse than others, but even the worst of the bunch aren't completely awful. These characters are well fleshed out, and are easy to sympathise with. This ensures some well earned emotional moments that really land and the cast are just fantastic sharing the screen together.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Villains but it really got me. I can safely say it's one of my favourites of 2019, which is something considering how many excellent movies there were that year.
Villains is a witty, often funny, often dark thriller, with a sprinkling of horror for good measure. It's beautifully shot from start to finish and has fantastic performances all round from its small cast. Bill Skarsgård and Maika Monroe are extremely likeable "protagonists", as two amateur crooks on the run after robbing a gas station hoping to gather enough cash to start a new life together. The chemistry between the two of them is wonderful. When they run out of fuel during their getaway, they break into a nearby house in an attempt to either siphon some gas, or straight up steal a car but are quickly embroiled in a life or death situation when the homeowners return, two people who aren't quite as they seem. Jeffrey Donovan and Kyra Sedgwick are just as great as the two homeowners, both playing up their parts with villanous glee. Donovan's character may just be one of the most likable "bad guys" in recent history.
What follows is an incredibly entertaining and suspenseful film, with a few shocks and the odd splash of violence. The screenplay is brilliant, the pacing is perfect, and the music score is beautiful.
Underneath all of the craziness though, is a story I found to be incredibly sad. None of these people are perfect, some worse than others, but even the worst of the bunch aren't completely awful. These characters are well fleshed out, and are easy to sympathise with. This ensures some well earned emotional moments that really land and the cast are just fantastic sharing the screen together.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Villains but it really got me. I can safely say it's one of my favourites of 2019, which is something considering how many excellent movies there were that year.
Beck recommended Careless Love: Unmaking of Elvis Presley in Books (curated)
Beck recommended Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley in Books (curated)
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Chosen (The Warrior Chronicles #1) in Books
Jan 20, 2021
13 of 250
Kindle
Chosen ( Warrior Chronicles book 1)
By K.F. Breene
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
It is said that when war threatens the world, one individual will be selected by prophecy to lead the Shadow Warriors out of the Land of Mist and reclaim the freedom which has been stolen.
~~
Shanti has grown up under the constant threat of war. Since she helped her people defeat a raiding party by using a special power, she’s been a hunted woman. Carrying rare abilities and an uncanny fighting aptitude, Shanti is the only hope of salvation for her people. The problem is, she doesn’t believe in her own divinity, and when she flounders, she nearly fails in the duty hanging so heavy on her shoulders.
It seems like any other day when Sanders and his band of misfit boys find a foreign woman clinging to life in the wastelands. Oblivious to the weapon they now have in their possession, they are content to harbor the mysterious woman until she is well enough to continue her journey.
But when the war spreads its arms and lands on her borrowed doorstep, Shanti has no choice but to reveal her secrets, plunging her saviors into danger. If they band with her, they will face certain death. But to trade her to Xandre, the warlord desperate to add her to his war machine, would be to give up their entire way of life.
War is coming. The only choice becomes: Which side do you choose?
I loved shanti she was brilliant! I really enjoyed the book and it’s characters! So why only. a 3 star rating? Well I got a little bored at some of it if I’m honest there were times in the book I felt a bit meh!! I can’t quite pin point it although I do find the cayan quite boring! Saying that overs it’s a good book!
Kindle
Chosen ( Warrior Chronicles book 1)
By K.F. Breene
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
It is said that when war threatens the world, one individual will be selected by prophecy to lead the Shadow Warriors out of the Land of Mist and reclaim the freedom which has been stolen.
~~
Shanti has grown up under the constant threat of war. Since she helped her people defeat a raiding party by using a special power, she’s been a hunted woman. Carrying rare abilities and an uncanny fighting aptitude, Shanti is the only hope of salvation for her people. The problem is, she doesn’t believe in her own divinity, and when she flounders, she nearly fails in the duty hanging so heavy on her shoulders.
It seems like any other day when Sanders and his band of misfit boys find a foreign woman clinging to life in the wastelands. Oblivious to the weapon they now have in their possession, they are content to harbor the mysterious woman until she is well enough to continue her journey.
But when the war spreads its arms and lands on her borrowed doorstep, Shanti has no choice but to reveal her secrets, plunging her saviors into danger. If they band with her, they will face certain death. But to trade her to Xandre, the warlord desperate to add her to his war machine, would be to give up their entire way of life.
War is coming. The only choice becomes: Which side do you choose?
I loved shanti she was brilliant! I really enjoyed the book and it’s characters! So why only. a 3 star rating? Well I got a little bored at some of it if I’m honest there were times in the book I felt a bit meh!! I can’t quite pin point it although I do find the cayan quite boring! Saying that overs it’s a good book!
Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated Paperweight in Books
Jun 24, 2019
https://bookmarkedreading.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/book-review-paperweight/
This. Book. Is. Amazing.
There aren't enough books about such serious and common topics like this. I'm not going to lie, I found this rather hard to read due to how it brought back so many personal memories for me. I should warn any potential readers that this book includes a log of negative language about body image, mentions of self-harm and suicide, and a lot about eating disorders and behaviours.
Stevie, a 17-year-old girl who's mother left and brother died, has her self-destruction plans halted when her father sends her to an eating disorder treatment centre. This book follows her through a twenty-seven day period of pain and conflicting thoughts and emotions.
Throughout Stevie's time at the treatment centre, the reader is told about her life through little snippets here and there. We learn about her behaviours and thoughts as her eating disorder developed, about the day her mother left, and the time around her brother's death.
Stevie is carrying so much guilt and pain, and all she wants is to disappear on the anniversary of the accident. But her shrink, Anna, is desperate to help her live her life.
This book is so accurately written. The things Stevie thinks and does often reflect myself and people I've known while really struggling with eating disorders. The daunting prospect of recovery looms over her, making her unsure of what her goal really is. She was so sure she wanted to die... But now she's met Ashley, and Anna, and rethought her plan. What once seemed so simple and obvious, Stevie is no longer sure she wants.
Paperweight is so emotional, accurately telling the story of Stevie's personal experiences with an eating disorder as well as her struggles after her mother moved away and her brother was killed. It combats so many topics that I've rarely seen in other books, and is just so greatly written... I love it. 5 stars!
This. Book. Is. Amazing.
There aren't enough books about such serious and common topics like this. I'm not going to lie, I found this rather hard to read due to how it brought back so many personal memories for me. I should warn any potential readers that this book includes a log of negative language about body image, mentions of self-harm and suicide, and a lot about eating disorders and behaviours.
Stevie, a 17-year-old girl who's mother left and brother died, has her self-destruction plans halted when her father sends her to an eating disorder treatment centre. This book follows her through a twenty-seven day period of pain and conflicting thoughts and emotions.
Throughout Stevie's time at the treatment centre, the reader is told about her life through little snippets here and there. We learn about her behaviours and thoughts as her eating disorder developed, about the day her mother left, and the time around her brother's death.
Stevie is carrying so much guilt and pain, and all she wants is to disappear on the anniversary of the accident. But her shrink, Anna, is desperate to help her live her life.
This book is so accurately written. The things Stevie thinks and does often reflect myself and people I've known while really struggling with eating disorders. The daunting prospect of recovery looms over her, making her unsure of what her goal really is. She was so sure she wanted to die... But now she's met Ashley, and Anna, and rethought her plan. What once seemed so simple and obvious, Stevie is no longer sure she wants.
Paperweight is so emotional, accurately telling the story of Stevie's personal experiences with an eating disorder as well as her struggles after her mother moved away and her brother was killed. It combats so many topics that I've rarely seen in other books, and is just so greatly written... I love it. 5 stars!
Gareth von Kallenbach (977 KP) rated Last Flag Flying (2017) in Movies
Jul 11, 2019
The true cost of war goes beyond the numbers of the dead and wounded that we see in textbooks, lectures, and in news reports. Each number represents a person who either perished or was injured. We overlook the extended impact that this loss of life or experience has on their families and friends. Even more, we often overlook the lasting impact that warfare has on the men and women exposed to it.
In Last Flag Flying Steve Carell (The Office, 40-Year-Old Virgin), Brian Cranston (Breaking Bad), and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) play veterans who reunite thirty years after serving together in Vietnam to bury one of their sons who has been killed in Iraq. Doc (Steve Carell) tracks down his friends in order to find some closure as to events they faced in their past and to find some sanity and clarity in the death of his son.
The film brings home the horror of war and demonstrates how men and women, out of a sense of duty, find themselves in the same situation as previous generations as they left home to serve their nation. The film is uncomfortable, with good reason, as it makes audiences reflect on the meaning of sacrifice, duty, and honor. The three characters offer the film the opportunity to demonstrate the contrast between youth and experience. It demonstrates how people can have the same experiences but are changed by it to varying degrees. Nothing is uniform about how they adapt to their experiences or in how they cope with the horrors they witnessed.
Last Flag Flying offers a much-needed, sobering perspective about war and how the experiences of war never quite leave those who survived. Carell, Cranston, and Fishburne offer up performances that demonstrate the power of friendship and brotherhood that forms for those who serve together. For those who served and those who haven’t, the film offers audiences the ability to gain a greater understanding of what life is like for those men and women once they take off the uniform.
In Last Flag Flying Steve Carell (The Office, 40-Year-Old Virgin), Brian Cranston (Breaking Bad), and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) play veterans who reunite thirty years after serving together in Vietnam to bury one of their sons who has been killed in Iraq. Doc (Steve Carell) tracks down his friends in order to find some closure as to events they faced in their past and to find some sanity and clarity in the death of his son.
The film brings home the horror of war and demonstrates how men and women, out of a sense of duty, find themselves in the same situation as previous generations as they left home to serve their nation. The film is uncomfortable, with good reason, as it makes audiences reflect on the meaning of sacrifice, duty, and honor. The three characters offer the film the opportunity to demonstrate the contrast between youth and experience. It demonstrates how people can have the same experiences but are changed by it to varying degrees. Nothing is uniform about how they adapt to their experiences or in how they cope with the horrors they witnessed.
Last Flag Flying offers a much-needed, sobering perspective about war and how the experiences of war never quite leave those who survived. Carell, Cranston, and Fishburne offer up performances that demonstrate the power of friendship and brotherhood that forms for those who serve together. For those who served and those who haven’t, the film offers audiences the ability to gain a greater understanding of what life is like for those men and women once they take off the uniform.