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Thundercat recommended Aja by Steely Dan in Music (curated)

 
Aja by Steely Dan
Aja by Steely Dan
1977 | Rock
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"What don't I say about Aja? We all have our different experiences with Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, but everything that they've created throughout the years is really awesome. I have a few albums of theirs I love; Can't Buy A Thrill, Katy Lied, Pretzel Logic, but there's a number of reasons why I am totally in love with Aja. It stems from the personnel, the feel, and how much it was a stab in another direction of pop culture. It was anti-pop, it was a bit on the outskirts of everything, I think. It's always funny listening to Donald Fagen singing about stuff because it's like, 'what's the guy rambling on about?' sometimes. A couple of my favourite musicians are on it; like Steve Gadd and, again, Michael McDonald. When I realised this was Michael McDonald singing background I lost my fucking mind, like, straight up. I always loved the Doobie Brothers and I knew his hits because of hip hop and stuff, but I remember being like 'Who's this magical person singing these dissonant chords behind the changes with ease with this weird timbre of voice?' – and you look at the credits and of course it's Michael McDonald. Aja, if I can't listen to it in its entirety then I get mad; I get pissed because I want to go through the whole album every time. One of my favourite moments on the album is Steve Gadd playing out on actual song 'Aja'; the way that just like the drum feels and everything – I don't know how to play drums but I love to try to act like I play drums to that one moment when he takes a slight solo at the end. Steve Gadd was always one of my favourite drummers ever because of the choices of records and stuff that he would do. Aja is he was he was one of those moments that it spanned out to everybody at that point. It was like at the height of their popularity. That was what happened and it was perfect."

Source
  
The title implies that the story told within the pages is about Sleeping Beauty, it's not. While that fairy tale plays a small part, it's not really what the book is about. Featuring many fairy tales and mythical references, a tournament with diverse quests, and of course, magic, THE SLEEPING BEAUTY's main characters are Lily, the Godmother of the kingdom of Eltaria, Rosamund, the princess, and Siegfried, the Norse-like warrior "prince". Of all the characters, Siegfried is the one I got to know the best, who I liked the most, and was fully fleshed out, while Rosamund was flat with no personality; I honestly didn't care what happened to her. Lily was a promising character at the beginning, then she was almost abandoned, her personality lost, and thrown in here and there until the end, which is a shame.

The story was okay, it had its ups and downs. Sometimes it dragged, other times it kept at a brisk pace. Often the humor fell flat but there were a few smile-worthy moments. The "evil" was never fully explained and I never understood why the bad guy did what he did. As for the final confrontation, there didn't seem much to be overcome and it was over in almost an instant. I would have hoped for more of a bang instead of a whimper. The ending itself was pretty much how many people would expect a fairy tale to end, but it was too hurried and too confusing for me. The book is an enjoyable, light afternoon read, but one I'm likely to forget about. Not my favorite of the series by far.
  
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Book Divas (227 KP) rated Overboard in Books

Dec 12, 2017  
O
Overboard
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received a free copy of this book when I signed up to host the book tour. I made no guarantee of a favorable review.

What an amazing book! I was so lost in this story that I read it in one sitting. Emily is a young girl living with her parents in Indonesia and she is miserable living there. One day after an incident at the clinic her parents work at, she decides to get on a ferry and go visit her uncle. Little does she know that the ferry is going to capsize and that she'll be fighting to live.

Fast paced, edge of your seat, heart pounding drama at its best with outstanding characters. This story will stay with me for years to come as it was truly captivating. The author pulled me in from the start and every turn of the page had me feeling like I was in that water swimming for my life. This is truly a gripping and must read book.

I give this book five high heels.
  
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
2018 | Action, Family, Sci-Fi
casting, costumes, scenery (0 more)
A Solid Attempt
I didn't have very high hopes when I saw that they were making this movie, but I think they did an okay job. I love the casting choices for the most part, although Oprah doesn't make a ton of sense for me. That being said I think that however random the casting of the Misses seems they did make it work. I really love that they chose to feature an interracial family and placed emphasis and importance on the acceptance and self love for and of natural hair and features. It is a message little brown girls rarely hear from the world and its an important one. The main issue I had with the movie was that it was very very rushed. Because they crammed multiple books into one movie a lot of details and imagery that make the books so fantastical was lost. The worlds and landscapes they did build and feature were beautifully done, as were the costumes - with one glaring exception - Oprah's eyebrows. Maybe its just me but they were always slightly crooked and just off in general and it was glaring and distracting. If you haven't read the books you will probably enjoy it more than if you have, but you should read them, they're good.
  
LICKED: A Warrior Hearts Academy Prequel
LICKED: A Warrior Hearts Academy Prequel
Ellie Horn | 2025 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
LICKED is the prequel novella to the three trilogies in the Warrior Hearts Academy series.

It tells the story of Faith, Alistair, Kenji, and Kalen and how they realise they are mates. Faith is human (apparently), Kenji and Kalen are twin Morphs, and Alistair is a dragon. Told from multiple perspectives, I only got them mixed up when it was the twins, even though they have different personalities. For the life of me, I couldn't remember which one had blue-green eyes and which one had a scar! So unless they talked about whether they were grumpy or sunny, I always got lost with which one was talking.

Full of action and spicy dreams, we follow Faith and the others as their stories link together. I loved how Faith was not a weepy wallflower and used her rage to help others. I also loved that it wasn't just a simple "I'm telling you this is what you are" and then she immediately knows all she needs to.

A great novella that I thoroughly enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending.

** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
May 15, 2025