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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2277 KP) rated Who is The Mystery Reader? in Books
Nov 4, 2019
Reading is a Superpower!
This book is broken up into many parts. The main story involves Zoom Squirrel who gets some help in reading for The Mystery Reader, a costumed superhero. But who is the masked man, er squirrel? And can Zoom enter the world of masked superheroes? After the main story, we get a couple of terrible (and by that, I mean delightful) puns and jokes related to reading. There’s also a section where we see the work that goes into creating a book.
As an adult, I don’t find these picture books as delightful as some of Mo’s other works. They are missing the humor and charm. However, I can see the appeal to young readers, and if the addition of superheroes to reading encourages kids to read, I’m all in favor of it. The multiple sections can make the book disjointed, especially if you are reading the book to a group of kids, but it would be great for kids ready to expand their reading beyond the traditional easy readers.
As an adult, I don’t find these picture books as delightful as some of Mo’s other works. They are missing the humor and charm. However, I can see the appeal to young readers, and if the addition of superheroes to reading encourages kids to read, I’m all in favor of it. The multiple sections can make the book disjointed, especially if you are reading the book to a group of kids, but it would be great for kids ready to expand their reading beyond the traditional easy readers.
AJaneClark (3975 KP) rated Private Sessions in Books
Nov 13, 2019
Middle of the Range
Caleb Payne is a calculating entrepreneur. An avowed bachelor. He takes what he wants - in the boardroom and the bedroom - and gets thanked for it! While Bryna Metaxas is his opposite; emotionally invested in her family’s business and about to enter into a business deal with Caleb that will shock her on every level... yet she’ll love every minute of it.
It’s a dangerously hot situation, filled with steamy sexual tension and cold business machinations. Can Caleb earn Bryan’s trust - and love??
Very much what you would come to expect of a Blaze Mills and Boon, with a hint of additional naughtiness. I generally view these as a quick read, palette cleanser between more heavier reading material. Tori is well known in the MB world for her good writing. This one whilst well written was lacking in something special. I struggled to like the characters, and the storyline is missing something that I can’t put my finger on.
Not the worst I have read, but far from being the best.
It’s a dangerously hot situation, filled with steamy sexual tension and cold business machinations. Can Caleb earn Bryan’s trust - and love??
Very much what you would come to expect of a Blaze Mills and Boon, with a hint of additional naughtiness. I generally view these as a quick read, palette cleanser between more heavier reading material. Tori is well known in the MB world for her good writing. This one whilst well written was lacking in something special. I struggled to like the characters, and the storyline is missing something that I can’t put my finger on.
Not the worst I have read, but far from being the best.
Sarah (7799 KP) rated The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019) in Movies
Jan 29, 2020
Misses the mark
The trailer made this film out to be a wonderfully eclectic humorous look at the life of David Copperfield, but I'm afraid to say the trailer was very misleading.
I've never read the book and to be honest, I really hope it's different to this mess. Yes this film is definitely rather eclectic and seems to swing from attempts at humour (that really miss the mark) to rather sombre drama and seriousness, and it also just feels a little jumbled. The script too is not what you'd expect from a film that feels so obviously British and there's nothing particularly clever or witty about it.
The cast are great, there really is a stellar line up of British stars in this and Dev Patel is a wonderfully charismatic choice as Copperfield and he's well supported by Tilda Swinton and Hugh Laurie. It's just a shame the rest of the cast are let down by the dodgy script and plot.
I really wanted to like this, but sadly it's missing virtually everything you'd expect and want, especially some decent British humour.
I've never read the book and to be honest, I really hope it's different to this mess. Yes this film is definitely rather eclectic and seems to swing from attempts at humour (that really miss the mark) to rather sombre drama and seriousness, and it also just feels a little jumbled. The script too is not what you'd expect from a film that feels so obviously British and there's nothing particularly clever or witty about it.
The cast are great, there really is a stellar line up of British stars in this and Dev Patel is a wonderfully charismatic choice as Copperfield and he's well supported by Tilda Swinton and Hugh Laurie. It's just a shame the rest of the cast are let down by the dodgy script and plot.
I really wanted to like this, but sadly it's missing virtually everything you'd expect and want, especially some decent British humour.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Saw IV (2007) in Movies
Jan 11, 2020
The game That Never Ends
Saw IV- continues right off from the 3rd movie, im really liking these movies, their is something about them that i really like. I think its because of the twist and turns throught the story, John's charcter and motivation, the mystery, the suspense and the thrills. This one you really get to know John's back-story through flashbacks. This franchise has alot of flashbacks which is good, because then you truely understand the story at hand. This franchises endings are soo good, and leave you wanted more.
The Plot: During the autopsy of serial killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), a cassette tape is discovered in his stomach in which he warns that his gory games will continue. Sure enough, SWAT Lt. Daniel Rigg (Lyriq Bent) is forced to follow a blood-drenched trail of torture, dismemberment and death in order to find two missing colleagues. A pair of FBI profilers follow Riggs, suspecting he might be Jigsaw's accomplice, even as they unlock the puzzle of the killer's origins, seen in gruesome flashbacks.
Such a good franchise.
The Plot: During the autopsy of serial killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), a cassette tape is discovered in his stomach in which he warns that his gory games will continue. Sure enough, SWAT Lt. Daniel Rigg (Lyriq Bent) is forced to follow a blood-drenched trail of torture, dismemberment and death in order to find two missing colleagues. A pair of FBI profilers follow Riggs, suspecting he might be Jigsaw's accomplice, even as they unlock the puzzle of the killer's origins, seen in gruesome flashbacks.
Such a good franchise.
David McK (3505 KP) rated Sharpe's Devil (Sharpe, #21) in Books
Mar 5, 2020
The final (*sniff*) of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books, this is set 5 years after the battle of Waterloo (so, in 1820) and sees Richard Sharpe - now happily settled and living with Lucille in Normandy, and his particular friend Patrick Harper (now running a bar in Dublin) off to Chile in a quest to find an old friend (from all the way back in Sharpe's Rifleswho is missing, reported dead - a report his wife refuses to believe.
While at first it seems that the 'pit-stop' in Saint Helena to meet/gawk at the defeated Emperor Napoleon - pretty daring of Cornwell to put such a famous historical personage in the novel! - is just that, this actually later proves to be an essential part of the plot: I'm not going to give anything away by saying how!
Bit sad that the series is finished now; I guess I'm just going to have to go back and (re)read them all again, as I have been doing over the last couple of years!
While at first it seems that the 'pit-stop' in Saint Helena to meet/gawk at the defeated Emperor Napoleon - pretty daring of Cornwell to put such a famous historical personage in the novel! - is just that, this actually later proves to be an essential part of the plot: I'm not going to give anything away by saying how!
Bit sad that the series is finished now; I guess I'm just going to have to go back and (re)read them all again, as I have been doing over the last couple of years!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case (Jayne Frost #1) in Books
Apr 8, 2020
Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year.
Jayne Frost is a lot of things. Winter elf, Jack Frost’s daughter, Santa Claus’s niece, heir to the Winter Throne and now…private investigator. Sort of.
Needing someone he can trust, her father sends her undercover to Nocturne Falls to find out why employees at the Santa’s Workshop toy store are going missing.
Doing that requires getting to know the town, which leads to interesting encounters with a sexy vampire, an old flame, and an elevator that’s strictly off-limits. The more Jayne finds out, the more questions she has, but the answers lead her deeper into danger.
Will her magic save her? Or will she come up cold?
First of all I don't think I've read anything like this ever! I found it so bizarre at first I really couldn't get my head round Jack frost and uncle Kris 🤣. But once into it I loved it! I think Jayne is brilliant! The whole idea was so refreshing I definitely need to start the Nocturne series too!
Jayne Frost is a lot of things. Winter elf, Jack Frost’s daughter, Santa Claus’s niece, heir to the Winter Throne and now…private investigator. Sort of.
Needing someone he can trust, her father sends her undercover to Nocturne Falls to find out why employees at the Santa’s Workshop toy store are going missing.
Doing that requires getting to know the town, which leads to interesting encounters with a sexy vampire, an old flame, and an elevator that’s strictly off-limits. The more Jayne finds out, the more questions she has, but the answers lead her deeper into danger.
Will her magic save her? Or will she come up cold?
First of all I don't think I've read anything like this ever! I found it so bizarre at first I really couldn't get my head round Jack frost and uncle Kris 🤣. But once into it I loved it! I think Jayne is brilliant! The whole idea was so refreshing I definitely need to start the Nocturne series too!
Jackjack (877 KP) rated The Stepfather (2009) in Movies
Apr 11, 2020
I liked it......
I have watched this film many times before, I personally enjoy it as I love a good messed up fight to survive kind of film and this family goes through alot.
The film starts out with the main guy. It shows him with his step family that he has just brutally murdered and how he changes his looks name and lifestyle to find the next family. It's good and bad in my eyes, good because you see how he slowly unravels and you see how messed up he is and how the family slowly start to realise the danger they are in. But bad because it would have been nice to just see the film not knowing he was a complete maniac and the son could have worked it out through the film and could have been interesting in that kind of twist. But all in all this broken family had something missing, the mum finds a partner who is very sketchy and slowly turns from a loving father figure to a complete murderous nightmare. Definitely worth a watch.
The film starts out with the main guy. It shows him with his step family that he has just brutally murdered and how he changes his looks name and lifestyle to find the next family. It's good and bad in my eyes, good because you see how he slowly unravels and you see how messed up he is and how the family slowly start to realise the danger they are in. But bad because it would have been nice to just see the film not knowing he was a complete maniac and the son could have worked it out through the film and could have been interesting in that kind of twist. But all in all this broken family had something missing, the mum finds a partner who is very sketchy and slowly turns from a loving father figure to a complete murderous nightmare. Definitely worth a watch.
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Little Monsters (2019) in Movies
Apr 26, 2020
One of my closest friends and fellow movie nerds has been pushing me to watch this movie for MONTHS, and I am so ashamed that it took me this long to get to it. Literally this film is perfect. I don't know what else to say. It's funny, it's heartwarming, I CRIED (???), and I want to watch it all over again even though I just finished it.
I love that Taylor Swift is a prominent theme throughout this film and that 'Shake It Off' is an anthem for them. This cast is beautiful, but Josh Gad is a star. I mean, he's always been a star. Duh, he's Josh Gad. BUT this film? He's a fricking STAR! He is hilarious and the most fun part is that it's hard not to hear Olaf and LeFou cussing when his character is. I really feel that adds an extra layer of hilariousness.
I loved this film and I cannot recommend it enough. If you haven't watched it, you're missing out.
I love that Taylor Swift is a prominent theme throughout this film and that 'Shake It Off' is an anthem for them. This cast is beautiful, but Josh Gad is a star. I mean, he's always been a star. Duh, he's Josh Gad. BUT this film? He's a fricking STAR! He is hilarious and the most fun part is that it's hard not to hear Olaf and LeFou cussing when his character is. I really feel that adds an extra layer of hilariousness.
I loved this film and I cannot recommend it enough. If you haven't watched it, you're missing out.
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