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Experiencing Carl Maria von Weber: A Listener's Companion
Book
Scholars have long recognized Carl Maria von Weber as the father of the German Romantic and...
American Showman: Samuel Roxy Rothafel and the Birth of the Entertainment Industry, 1908-1935
Book
Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel (1882-1936) built an influential and prolific career as film exhibitor, stage...
GG
George Gershwin: An Intimate Portrait
Book
George Gershwin lived with purpose and gusto, but with melancholy as well, for he was unable to make...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2520 KP) rated Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder in Books
Apr 23, 2021 (Updated Apr 23, 2021)
Murder in the Mayor’s Office
Easter is coming, and The Cookie Jar is awash in orders, keeping Hannah Swensen, her business partner Lisa, and the rest of their staff busy. But that doesn’t mean that Hannah doesn’t have time to help her sister Andrea when she calls in a panic. She’s just found Mayor Bascomb’s dead body in his office hours after having a very loud fight with him. The police wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t consider Andrea a suspect, so Hannah springs into action to figure out what really happened. Can she prove her sister is innocent?
I’ve been reading this long running series since the beginning, and I keep reading because I do enjoy catching up with the characters. If that is your reason for picking up the book, you’ll find they are as charming as always. I was pleased to see the soap opera of the previous few books has died down, and we see growth in a surprising direction in one character. Sadly, the love triangle is no closer to being resolved. The mystery is decent with enough suspects to keep us engaged. However, the focus is on the food. There is plenty of talk about food and how much the characters love what they are eating. With 24 new recipes for us to try, there is certainly plenty of new food to talk about. The dialogue is repetitious, an example of why realistic dialogue is better than real dialogue in a novel. While I still want to catch up with the characters, I find myself skimming the book instead of reading it closely. If you are like me and want to keep up with the characters, you’ll be glad you picked up this book. But if you haven’t started the series yet, you’ll want to go back to the beginning to find out why there are readers like me who still enjoy visiting the characters. And if you’ve given up on the series, you can safely skip this one.
I’ve been reading this long running series since the beginning, and I keep reading because I do enjoy catching up with the characters. If that is your reason for picking up the book, you’ll find they are as charming as always. I was pleased to see the soap opera of the previous few books has died down, and we see growth in a surprising direction in one character. Sadly, the love triangle is no closer to being resolved. The mystery is decent with enough suspects to keep us engaged. However, the focus is on the food. There is plenty of talk about food and how much the characters love what they are eating. With 24 new recipes for us to try, there is certainly plenty of new food to talk about. The dialogue is repetitious, an example of why realistic dialogue is better than real dialogue in a novel. While I still want to catch up with the characters, I find myself skimming the book instead of reading it closely. If you are like me and want to keep up with the characters, you’ll be glad you picked up this book. But if you haven’t started the series yet, you’ll want to go back to the beginning to find out why there are readers like me who still enjoy visiting the characters. And if you’ve given up on the series, you can safely skip this one.
Lenard (726 KP) rated Voyagers (2021) in Movies
Apr 18, 2021
Voyagers is the story of an 86-year voyage to a life sustaining planet in another galaxy. How did they stock the ship for the crew? When the 1st generation crew dies, who is going to train the next generation? Will the next generation listen since they are the first crew's children? Next question: you are going to bred a crew from intellectual superior Earthlings and keep them isolated in a facility so they will not miss the Sun or anything on Earth. How will these children develop a circadian rhythm since human circadian rhythms are based on the Sun? How do you settle upon 30 crew members? Could you have 60 crew members and give each a different circadian rhythm so you would have 3 shifts of 20 and someone would always be monitoring the vessel? Would that be more efficient and safer than all 30 being on the same cycle? These are just the science-y questions for this story.
Now, the actual film. The writer decides to quickly dispatch the lone "adult" in this cast of YAs. Slowly the crew descends into Lord of the Flies. At one point, I was wondering which one is the Piggy. Hint: brown and male. There is a little twist where one of the crew turns paranoia into a weapon and launches a leadership campaign. I enjoyed the concept of an alien that was not there, but could attack anyone. It never went far as the movie turned into a battle of arms rather than wits. I prefer not to critique films based on what should have been done. But shouldn't the crew have learned at some point that the pressure outside in outer space on a metal tin can travelling at interstellar speeds creates friction which reverbs inside. Then the film could have focused on a more politically tinted parable.
One scene disturbed me. The acting of Lily-Rose and Fionn is so bad that I thought a porn scene had been edited into the space opera.
Now, the actual film. The writer decides to quickly dispatch the lone "adult" in this cast of YAs. Slowly the crew descends into Lord of the Flies. At one point, I was wondering which one is the Piggy. Hint: brown and male. There is a little twist where one of the crew turns paranoia into a weapon and launches a leadership campaign. I enjoyed the concept of an alien that was not there, but could attack anyone. It never went far as the movie turned into a battle of arms rather than wits. I prefer not to critique films based on what should have been done. But shouldn't the crew have learned at some point that the pressure outside in outer space on a metal tin can travelling at interstellar speeds creates friction which reverbs inside. Then the film could have focused on a more politically tinted parable.
One scene disturbed me. The acting of Lily-Rose and Fionn is so bad that I thought a porn scene had been edited into the space opera.
Rufus Wainwright recommended Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys in Music (curated)
I Am Providence
9.0
Rate It
Book
An author's murder during an H. P. Lovecraft fan convention reveals dark secrets beneath the printed...
Horror crime
When the Stars Fall (The Sisters, Texas Mystery Series Book 2)
Book
Madison Reynolds is rebuilding her life, one obstacle at a time. But the building blocks aren’t...
romance adult mystery cozy mystery fiction series
Sensitivemuse (246 KP) rated Falconer's Crusade in Books
Apr 7, 2018
Great historical aspect, mystery not so much
This is a pretty short mystery to read through. Looks can be deceiving though. Despite being short, it’s packed in with some heavy duty stuff.
The setting for example. Very rich in detail and gives you a sense on how it was back then in William Falconer’s time. Add in some political intrigue, a Jewish Quarter, and some rioting and it gets pretty exciting. I really can’t get over how great the setting is. It’s so descriptive you can feel the darkness and the dampness that permeates throughout the novel. Morson also does an excellent job to stay close to historical accuracy here in this novel as well. Forensic pathology is frowned upon, and you even get to see Falconer try on a strange contraption that looks a lot like Medieval opera glasses at the time. :)
The plot is pretty straight forward although there is not much of a secret mystery element in it. The suspect list is not extensive (thankfully! You’ll see why as you read further into this review) and when revealed it’s not much of a surprise or an a ha! Moment. There isn’t much personality to the characters except Falconer and his student Thomas. Thomas is a particular dolt. A Farmer boy who managed to be gifted and chosen to study and be a Scholar, well, for all the idiotic moves he makes, you have to wonder how the University chose this guy to let him attend their school. He fumbles and stumbles at the worst times and always manages to get himself into some life threatening situations (and doesn’t learn from it). It was funny the first few times, but after a while it gets annoying and you want to slap this boy upside the head. (You don’t deserve Hannah’s attention, you twit).
I’m going to assume it will get better with other books in this series, and this one serves as an introduction to the series. Since I really do love the historical aspect I will stick with this series and see where it takes me. Historical mystery lovers will love the setting and theme of this book, the mystery part, not so much.
The setting for example. Very rich in detail and gives you a sense on how it was back then in William Falconer’s time. Add in some political intrigue, a Jewish Quarter, and some rioting and it gets pretty exciting. I really can’t get over how great the setting is. It’s so descriptive you can feel the darkness and the dampness that permeates throughout the novel. Morson also does an excellent job to stay close to historical accuracy here in this novel as well. Forensic pathology is frowned upon, and you even get to see Falconer try on a strange contraption that looks a lot like Medieval opera glasses at the time. :)
The plot is pretty straight forward although there is not much of a secret mystery element in it. The suspect list is not extensive (thankfully! You’ll see why as you read further into this review) and when revealed it’s not much of a surprise or an a ha! Moment. There isn’t much personality to the characters except Falconer and his student Thomas. Thomas is a particular dolt. A Farmer boy who managed to be gifted and chosen to study and be a Scholar, well, for all the idiotic moves he makes, you have to wonder how the University chose this guy to let him attend their school. He fumbles and stumbles at the worst times and always manages to get himself into some life threatening situations (and doesn’t learn from it). It was funny the first few times, but after a while it gets annoying and you want to slap this boy upside the head. (You don’t deserve Hannah’s attention, you twit).
I’m going to assume it will get better with other books in this series, and this one serves as an introduction to the series. Since I really do love the historical aspect I will stick with this series and see where it takes me. Historical mystery lovers will love the setting and theme of this book, the mystery part, not so much.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Separate Lives in Books
Feb 13, 2018
It all begins when Susie sees the text on Alex's phone: "Start living a different kind of life ...P :-) xxx." Convinced he's having an affair, Susie sets off on her own trajectory that threatens their partnership of ten years and their life with their two children. And Alex? Is he completely innocent in all of this? And what about the mysterious P?
This novel is told from the alternating point of view of Susie, Alex, and Pippa. Susie's pieces come via standard narrative, Alex's mainly through email exchanges with his brothers and sister, and Pippa via emails to her sister. While this starts off as sort of enjoyable and different, it can grow old quickly (though the email format moved quickly at least). For instance, Pippa and Susie have a way of veering off into tangents about their past, which drove me absolutely insane. These summaries seemed not at all relevant to the book (what they wore and read at seventeen!) and dragged the narrative down and the story on forever.
Meanwhile, the novel sounds interesting in its premise: a group of characters brought together by a potential technological misunderstanding. It's certainly why I selected it as an ARC. The problem is that none of the characters are remotely redeemable or likeable. While a book that revolves around infidelity may not always have the most personable of characters, you can usually find some humanity them. This group: I just could not find any reason to root for them. I would find an occasional glimpse in Susie or Pippa, but overall, they all annoyed me with their whining and life choices, and I felt sorry for their children! Add to that a plot filled with a variety of twists and turns that would be better off in a soap opera or Lifetime movie (surprise pregnancies! love affairs with a spouse's siblings!), and my frustration level reached its peak. Again, there were moments I liked, but overall I just didn't find a lot of humor or enjoyment in this novel. 2.5 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review; it is available everywhere as of 12/06/2016
This novel is told from the alternating point of view of Susie, Alex, and Pippa. Susie's pieces come via standard narrative, Alex's mainly through email exchanges with his brothers and sister, and Pippa via emails to her sister. While this starts off as sort of enjoyable and different, it can grow old quickly (though the email format moved quickly at least). For instance, Pippa and Susie have a way of veering off into tangents about their past, which drove me absolutely insane. These summaries seemed not at all relevant to the book (what they wore and read at seventeen!) and dragged the narrative down and the story on forever.
Meanwhile, the novel sounds interesting in its premise: a group of characters brought together by a potential technological misunderstanding. It's certainly why I selected it as an ARC. The problem is that none of the characters are remotely redeemable or likeable. While a book that revolves around infidelity may not always have the most personable of characters, you can usually find some humanity them. This group: I just could not find any reason to root for them. I would find an occasional glimpse in Susie or Pippa, but overall, they all annoyed me with their whining and life choices, and I felt sorry for their children! Add to that a plot filled with a variety of twists and turns that would be better off in a soap opera or Lifetime movie (surprise pregnancies! love affairs with a spouse's siblings!), and my frustration level reached its peak. Again, there were moments I liked, but overall I just didn't find a lot of humor or enjoyment in this novel. 2.5 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review; it is available everywhere as of 12/06/2016