Thoreau's Wildflowers
Henry D. Thoreau, Geoff Wisner and Barry Moser
Book
The first collection of Thoreau's writings on the flowering plants of Concord, with more than 200...
Rethinking Dance History: Issues and Methodologies
Larraine Nicholas and Geraldine Morris
Book
The need to 'rethink' and question the nature of dance history has not diminished since the first...
Moscow Tales
Book
Presenting stories which represent each layer of the city of Moscow, from the centre of power to the...
The Oxford Book of Essays
Book
The essay is one of the richest of literary forms. Its most obvious characteristics are freedom,...
All the Odes
Book
Pablo Neruda was a master of the ode, which he conceived as an homage to just about everything that...
Kristina (502 KP) rated Lock Every Door in Books
Dec 7, 2020
My most immediate consensus was that 'Lock Every Door' would reveal itself as a paranormal genre. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, considering Riley's previous books were mystery/suspense, but I grew to like the idea.
Honestly, this book could have ended in any number of ways and I probably would have been satisfied. Genuine disappointment ensued when Jules first believed a cult lives in the Bartholomew; not because the culprit wasn't of paranormal nature, but because it was so outlandish. However, as hard to believe as it may be, I was more intrigued by what was truly going on and the fact it had been happening for so many generations. The entire mystery was still a bit absurd, but it appealed to me more than the cult theory.
While I may not have enjoyed this book as much as the first two, I still consider myself a Sager fan. I'm excited to see what's in store for any future books!
Cumbrian Contrasts: A Vision of Countryside
Book
This is nature writer Jan Wiltshire's second book, following the highly successful About Scout Scar....
Cassie Osbourne (6 KP) rated An Officer and a Spy in Books
Nov 9, 2018
Towards the beginning, I was a little disappointed in the book. The writing style is brilliant and how faithful it is to actual events is great but in some ways, this is also its downfall. The conspiracy went on for years which makes the pacing very slow in parts and incredibly quick and exciting in others. All the characters in this book, even the tiny bit characters, were real people tied up in the affair; however, none of these characters has any real development until the very end and only for a short amount of time. As someone who favours character-driven story arcs rather than plot-driven ones, this was very frustrating for me to read as they all seemed to be very one dimensional (with the exception, perhaps, of Henry) and it doesn't really make any of them terribly likeable.
All that being said, I did very much enjoy the last two hundred or so pages where the pace really picked up and became exciting as everything seemed to come together rather than people sitting on files and information - but this is, of course, the nature of courtrooms and trials.
Although I probably won't read this book again, I am glad that I did as it introduced me to an interesting army conspiracy in France that I will definitely be doing more research in to.
Characters - 6/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Writing Style - 8/10
Plot - 7/10 (score majorly affected by pacing)
Intrigue - 6.5/10 (as above)
Logic - 10/10 (real events so difficult to score lower)
Enjoyment - 6.5/10 (again pacing and lack of character development)
Score average - 7.8/10
Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa
Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin and Seiji Ozawa
Book
An intimate conversation about music and creativity, between the internationally bestselling writer...