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Knot Ready for Murder
Knot Ready for Murder
Mary Marks | 2021 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Hitch on the Way to Get Hitched
Martha Rose has finally agreed to marry her long-suffering fiancé, but Crusher has a shock for her. He’s just learned that a marriage he thought was annulled decades ago never was. Even worse, his wife is coming to LA to visit. When Hadas arrives, she quickly makes it obvious that she is not going to let Crusher go easily. But then she is kidnapped. Can Martha figure out what is going on? Or is Crusher now a widower?

The previously unmentioned spouse is a trope I hate for being too much like a soap opera, but once we get past that, this proves to be a good mystery. There are plenty of surprises along the way to a great climax. While we do get a new over the top character here, the rest of the cast have been toned down some, which I appreciated. On the other hand, I wish we’d seen more of some of them, especially since this is the final book in the series. Fans who have read the entire series will be delighted with the final chapter, which sends the characters out well. As always, I enjoyed seeing towns I recognized pop up, but I really enjoyed seeing a local pizza place show up. I’ll miss spending time with these characters, but I was smiling when I set the book down.
  
First Name: Carmen (1983)
First Name: Carmen (1983)
1983 | Crime, Drama, Music
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"""What else do I like? A Godard film called Prenom Carmen, which sounds like I’m just saying that to be cool, but it’s actually one of my favorite films. I think it’s the best Godard film. It’s like his version of Carmen the opera, one of his films from the eighties. In terms of just pure filmmaking and manipulating an audience, it kind of starts out as a farce, as a complete, stupid farce, with this bank robbery; but it’s really, really…Godardian, with kind of a stupid humor that’s so random. Only he could make it, mixed up with these kinds of philosophical elements. It starts out with one of these bank robbers, these students, and she starts to sleep with one of the guards; she’s having sex with him in the bank, and he pretends to arrest her and they run away together. And he wants to be part of her gang. It’s all so completely ridiculous. And then suddenly, halfway through, it turns into the most heartbreaking, serious thing that you’ve ever seen — out of nowhere! — and you’re suddenly so attached to these characters, which you weren’t before, because it seemed like a stupid student film. They have this secondary story where they have a string quartet playing the soundtrack which runs in the other story, but they film them during rehearsal, just doing really close up things with them playing cello and stuff, and it’s about the relationship with the conductor and this girl, the cellist — and it’s completely random to the film, but it’s incredible."""

Source
  
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Christopher Paolini | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Space Epic From The Author Of The Eragon Series
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Christopher Paolini's Eragon series, I looked forward to listening to the audiobook of his latest novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.

Paolini did not disappoint. His work on this space opera spanned for nearly a decade. The research completed to make it accurate as possible shows he did not rush his writing.

Do not expect to read/listen to this in one sitting. The run time is 32 hours, 29 minutes, and the book is 880 pages. The book could have been released into a trilogy but do not let that scare you. The story may be long, but it is well built and full of completely fleshed out characters and worlds. My favorite character is Gregorovich, a ship mind. Paolini's sarcastic words and the narrator's voice makes him a character as memorable as paranoid Marvin from H2G2.
 
In 2013, the narrator, Jennifer Hale, was recognized by Guinness World Records as "the most prolific video game voice actor (female)." Her voice is instantly recognizable, and the array of voices she uses in the audiobook are separate and distinct from each other.

Paolini's story and Hale's voices make this an enjoyable story to remember.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/15/20.
  
Project Almanac (2015)
Project Almanac (2015)
2015 | Mystery, Sci-Fi
Dumb-as-nails but unpretentious CW teen soap opera reimagining of a time travel film - in which the machine itself is built using parts from an Xbox 360 and there are prominent slo-mo shots of Red Bull cans flying through the air. And what's the most noteworthy thing they do with the power of time travel right at their fingertips? Go to an Imagine Dragons concert, of course! Seems like it hates its own existence, no question about it - this was only made to sell tickets and that's it. But there's something really stupidly fun about it - maybe it's the neurotic nature of each element (from the acting to the camerawork to the cutting to the writing etc), or the fact that people record a good chunk of this pointlessly (but thankfully) found footage Chronicle ripoff with their smartphones yet they still make the clunky old camera sounds? And when they *do* record with the 10+ year old camcorder (which still takes tape btw) it's somehow pristine HD quality? I also really have to appreciate that so much of this is dedicated to the actual anxiety of making the machine itself, too - rather than jumping right into the travel stuff. Kind of falls off when this becomes another lame YA romance deal but even then it's still so confidently dumb and committed to its daft premise that I had to admire it somewhat. Also whenever they turn the machine on and everything starts floating and spinning that shit is cool as fuck and you know it.
  
Death at a Country Mansion
Death at a Country Mansion
Louise R. Innes | 2020 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dead Diva
Dame Serena Levante was a world-renowned opera singer. She’s also the mother of Daisy Thorne’s best friend, Floria, so when news comes that Serena is dead, Daisy rushes to Serena’s mansion outside of the English village of Edgemead. The police quickly see that it was murder, and they believe that robbery was involved since an expensive painting is also missing from the mansion. Daisy owns the local hair salon, and it is a hub of gossip. As a result, she begins to hear things that might help the police in their quest to find out what happened. Can she get the gruff inspector to listen to her?

I wasn’t planning to read this book until I started hearing great things about it, and I’m glad I picked it up. The mystery starts out right away, and we have plenty of twists and turns. The climax wraps everything up neatly for us. Serena was the kind of woman who left behind many suspects, something I always enjoy. We don’t get to know all the suspects super well, but because we like Daisy and Floria, we care about the outcome. We meet some other regulars, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with all of the cast. There are a few things that could have been smoothed out better, including a timeline issue, but they are minor overall. The book is shorter than many today, but there wasn’t a wasted scene. Overall, this is an enjoyable debut, and I’m looking forward to visiting Daisy again soon.