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    Colosseum

    Colosseum

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    Tabletop Game

    In Colosseum each player is a Roman impresario - producing great spectacles in his or her arena in...

Bad Romance (Billionaire's Club #16)
Bad Romance (Billionaire's Club #16)
Elise Faber | 2023 | Contemporary, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
BAD ROMANCE is the sixteenth book in the Billionaire's Club series and after reading Tiff's story, I knew this one would be difficult. I was right, it is. If you have triggers, then please be careful. Saying that, it is also a story about surviving, about picking yourself up, putting all the pieces back together again, and living.

When Ash turned Mel down, it was for all the right reasons (or so he thought.) He quickly found out his mistake and had to live with the consequences. Mel called Ash in her hour of need, even though she regretted doing so. Once the lines of communication opened between the two of them, things started working out better. Ash knew just how much to push Mel, to bring her alive without being threatening. He also knew when to fall back, to give her time and space to regroup. Their relationship builds over time, step by careful step, until Mel is ready to move forwards.

Rome and Maddie are next, with a sneak preview in the epilogue - which was perfect for Ash and Mel, by the way. My heart is aching for him and I really can't wait to read how Maddie can help. The Hutchins family is definitely one I love and can't wait to read more of. HIGHLY recommended by me.

** 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, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies
Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies
Catherine Mack | 2024 | Mystery
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Don’t Bother Booking This Vacation
Eleanor Dash’s first book was an instant best seller. It was inspired by a trip she took to Rome, and she fictionalized parts of it. She just didn’t change the hero’s name, and ever since, her ex, Connor Smith, has been worming his way into her life. Ten years later, Eleanor is planning to kill him off – at least in her next book. However, someone seems determined to do it in real life on a trip they are both on to celebrate ten years of her series. Can she figure out what is going on?

The premise of this one sounded fun, and I was intrigued when I heard that there are footnotes in the book. Sadly, the footnotes didn’t add anything; in fact, they came across as self-indulgent at times and lazy at others, like when the author put character descriptions in them. And I’ll call out the foul language, which was especially excessive at the beginning. (See your footnote complaining about calling out foul language didn’t work.) The characters were shallow, and some of their relationships and issues seems like issues that could have been resolved quickly. Eleanor herself doesn’t seem to fit her backstory. Yes, the characters grew, but it wasn’t quite enough for me. The pacing in the book was off as well, although there were some good twists. I did enjoy the virtual trip to Italy. In the end, this book wasn’t nearly as clever as it thought it was, so the result wasn’t as entertaining as I hoped it would be.
  
100 Speeches that roused the world
100 Speeches that roused the world
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
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<b><i>Boy, oh boy, do I have mixed feelings about 100 Speeches That Roused the World by Colin Salter.</i></b>

The reason I picked up this book is because I have always been in love with speeches and orators. I believe that the ability to speak in front of an audience is a very powerful skill, and I admire it as such. Many great leaders and many successful people use this skill to make people listen and act in a way they want them to. That is where the true art is, and I really admire this aspect. The fact that you can listen to two or more people tell you the same thing, and only one being able to convince you to do something or believe in something they say is a true gift.

Which takes us to the second reason I picked this book up. To find out more about the people who had this ability in history and made a difference in one way or another. And for the most part, I was pleased. There are speeches of many great (and not so great) leaders out there, speeches of people that made breakthroughs in their fields, people who fought for their rights.

<b><i>But there was a pattern I noticed in these 100 speeches.</i></b>

Most of these speeches were either from the UK or USA. And most of them were presidents, prime ministers,royalty or leaders in any other way. And all their speeches were speeches during the wars. Telling their people to fight for their nations.

And I have nothing against those speeches. They were perfect for their time and they did their purpose at the time. What I had a problem with is that there were so many more important times in history when a speech was made and it represented a change.

What about all the speeches that philosophers have given in ancient Rome and Greece? For Rome, where is Julius Caesar’s speech to the senate? For Greece, how about the movement for freedom of speech? What about the speeches during humanism and renaissance? What about some of the groundbreaking speeches that scientists have given over the years?

I was a bit disappointed with the format of the book as well, as the speeches were mostly short paragraphs, followed by a full page of the author’s notes, mostly quoting the same speech again. It was very helpful to know the background of how the speech made a difference in the world, but when most of those speeches didn’t really make any difference, and I was involved in a history lesson of the most important wars in history, it wasn’t much of a fun read.

<b><i>To conclude, this book wasn’t what I was looking for, both format and content wise. The 100 Speeches mentioned in this book didn’t do enough justice for me. I believe that title is misleading, but I can also understand that some people can still learn a lot by reading it.</i></b>