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Words Of Wisdom And Hope by Teenage Fanclub and Jad Fair
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"[sings] "I got a crush on us!" He's like "vampires came and vampires went, I won't forget this magic feeling", just so geeky, fucking brilliant lyrics, full of cliches, but done in the most hilarious way: "not stupid stuff like your cousin wrote". What the fuck are you talking about? I remember at the time seeing American Splendor, which is this film about Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar who's this comic book drawer in America, and I was listening to Jad Fair, and there's the whole [adopts nasal American accent] "nerd" thing that's a big part of my teenage music taste. The awkwardness of being in love and the geekiness of American culture. Terrible B-movies with Nicolas Cage, that was a big part of my university life, the trashiness and the shitness. I just really like how he talks about falling in love, the whole album's immersed in Halloween party punch, you're just at this geeky Halloween party he's talking about, and he's like "I love you more than soda pop", "you pop on my tongue and I'm so happy", loads of amazing American cultural references, that as an English kid, it's so cool. You get it. I like the hybrid of Teenage Fanclub and Jad Fair, because I couldn't say I was really into TF, but something happened, I just discovered that album and being in love with someone, my boyfriend at the time, we just loved that album because it's just so happy as well. It's innocent and happy and unashamedly geeky and loved-up. There's so many times you listen to that record and it makes you smile, and there's a lot of darkness and heaviness in my list, so I would recommend that album to anyone. First thing in the morning, summer in your car. It's got a real identity, that record, more than any other, it's a real thing in itself, you totally know what you're going to get and you totally love every moment."

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One of us is Lying
One of us is Lying
Karen M. McManus | 2017 | Young Adult (YA)
10
8.3 (41 Ratings)
Book Rating
I read so many great reviews about this book, so it was a no-brainer for me, whether to read it or not, and I was really enjoying this book all the way through.

This book follows lives of four seventeen-year-old students, who are accused of murdering their schoolmate during detention. McManus chose the characters for this book very cleverly, covering the main groups of students, which you find in most of the US schools. (using my experience of watching movies) Because of this great selection of characters, it is easy to relate to them and it makes them all very believable. My personal favourite was Bronwyn, I liked her story in this book and the way she was fighting all odds in her school and personal life. I really enjoyed that author was bringing up really serious topics through these characters and their stories, that created more depth and meaning in this book. Another thing which was a real pleasure was multiple perspectives, through which characters could open up to the reader and let their personalities shine.

The plot of this book was very well thought through and creatively designed, drop feeding the important information and creating impatience with every character’s story. There are plenty of turns and twists, so this book was a real page-turner for me. I was reading most of this book while I was travelling, so sometimes it was hard to follow who was who, as the characters change and mix in every chapter, but I got a hold of it later in the book.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book with easy language and short chapters. I think that author ended this novel very nicely, giving well-deserved conclusion and hope for all the romantics out there. So, to conclude, it is a great book with very strong and diverse characters, interesting plot, and it discusses very important topics, that’s why I think it is a must read and I strongly recommend it to everyone. Enjoy 🙂
  
The Gardener's Daughter
The Gardener's Daughter
K A Hitchins | 2018 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh Ava, Ava, Ava… Why are you playing an adult, when you are just a child??? Why?

The main lead in this novel is Ava, a nineteen-year-old girl, who finds out that she is adopted. Filled with anger and wish to find out who her real dad is, she runs away from home, getting herself in a lot more trouble than she could dream. This book offers a very wide variety of different characters, who bring intrigue and personality to the whole book. I really liked this selection of characters in this novel, and I think they all played their roles really well. However, Ava really annoyed me sometimes, with her silly and very childish decisions and actions. My favourite would be Theo, I loved his kind nature and heart, and he represented real father figure to me.

I really liked the plot of this novel, it was very well crafted, bringing a compelling and interesting setting and plenty of intrigues. It was really interesting to read all those bits and pieces of camp’s life and what can be hiding behind closed doors. The twists and turns were smartly placed and left me pleasantly surprised.

I think Hitchins is a very talented author, she has a great eye for detail and very creative writing style. I found the chapters quite long for my liking, but overall, the book didn’t drag for me because I was quite keen to find out, what will happen next. I really enjoyed the ending of this novel, and if there will be a continuation, I will be definitely waiting for it. 🙂 So, to conclude, this is a very amusing book, filled with very well developed and engrossing characters and intriguing plot, and I truly believe that Hitchins is incredibly good at what she does. So please give this book a try and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂
  
The Ghoul (2016)
The Ghoul (2016)
2016 |
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Chris is an undercover detective that starts seeing a psychotherapist to help solve the latest case, but the more time he spends in therapy the thinner the line between reality and the truth come from. Kathleen is an old friend from university that supports Chris, while also having him when she needs help. We have other characters that come into the life of Chris, the therapists trying to help him, the fellow patient trying to warn him, the film does keep the character numbers down with each posing a potential end of the investigation for Chris.

Performances – Tom Meeten appears in every scene and his performances needs to be great to carry the film, he is wonderful through the film as we feel his confusion through it all. Going into the supporting cast, we do have good performances for Tom to bounce off too.

Story – The story is the hardest thing to describe, it will keep you guessing from start to finish as you wait to see where the film will go next. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, because you will need to give the film 100% attention to make sure you don’t miss anything and even if you blink you might miss an important clue.

Thriller – This has tension driven through the film as we can see how thing could end up becoming something shocking.

Settings – The film is set in London which helps us se the busy street feel to the busy lives that the people are living.


Scene of the Movie – The final reveal.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is slightly too confusing.

Final Thoughts – This is a real mind bender, I always enjoy seeing film makers push things to the limits even if I don’t personally enjoy the film as much as I should have.

 

Overall: Real mind bender for all.
  
Max Einstein: Rebels with a Cause
Max Einstein: Rebels with a Cause
James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein | 2019 | Children, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
fast-paced (2 more)
adventure packed
lessons that are taught within
Amazing sequel to Max Einstein: the Genius Experiment
You can also find this review on my blog: bookingwayreads.wordpress.com

TRIGGER WARNINGS: a bit of violence, anger issues, absent parent(s), manipulation, kidnapping

REVIEW:
Rebels with a Cause is book two (2) of the Max Einstein series and it was just as great as book one (1)! The adventures that were packed into this little novel along side Max Einstein still being a great role model was seriously so refreshing.

In Rebels with a Cause, we get to see more of Max thinking on her feet and implementing crazy plans to save not only herself, but her team and the world as well. You also learn more about the villains in this novel, which made for an interesting addition to the plot!

Again, James Patterson really knows how to write a captivating story that is not only well-written but fast-paces as well. There are more math/science lessons in Rebels with a Cause and I really enjoyed that they were applied to real life problems. The way that each were explained were written in an extremely easy to understand way so that the reader, young or old, can know what is being put into the solution.

The task that Max and her team were given to fix was a water crisis and I really loved that this was the main problem in the story. Having clean water available to all is a real world crisis. Water is an extremely important part of the human survival and this topic really hit the spot while reading. James wrote Rebels with a Cause again with a fast-paced, adventure packed, and informative nature. I highly recommend to all!

"I believe that Ghandi's views were the most enlightened among all the political men of our time. We should strive to do things in his spirit; not to use violence in fighting for a cause, but by non-participation and what we believe is evil. - Albert Einstein”
  
    StroodleDoodle AR

    StroodleDoodle AR

    Games and Entertainment

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    Use your phone to sculpt in 3D on any flat surface with StroodleDoodle. We use Apple's brand new...