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Shamanic Healing: Traditional Medicine for the Modern World
Itzhak Beery and Alberto Villoldo
Book
Shamanic healing is making an astonishing comeback all over the modern technology-driven and...
Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing
Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Book
Why do some less talented students manage to consistently outperform their smarter classmates in...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2436 KP) rated Phantom Outlaw at Wolf Creek in Books
Mar 9, 2021
Danger on a Montana Ranch
Ricky Kidd is on a month long vacation with his friends Mike and Ralphy at Mike’s uncle and aunt’s ranch in Montana. When he arrives, he hears the legend of a bank robbery that happened decades ago and the phantom of the outlaw that still haunts the nearby canyon. Or is it a legend? Mike and his visiting cousin, Sarah, insist on investigating, and Ricky sees evidence with his own eyes that the legend might be true. Can Ricky uncover the truth of what is going on?
This is another wonderful book in a favorite middle grade mystery series. The characters are sharp and provide some wonderful laughs. Sometimes their antics slow down the mystery in the first half of the book, but parts of the plot are being worked in to the fun, and the second half pays off the questions wonderfully. The suspense at the end is great, and the way Ricky works everything out is perfect. These books were written for the Christian market, and they work Ricky’s faith in organically without ever once preaching. The books are a bit dated now since they were originally released in the 1990’s, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. It might take a bit to track down this mystery, but it is worth it.
This is another wonderful book in a favorite middle grade mystery series. The characters are sharp and provide some wonderful laughs. Sometimes their antics slow down the mystery in the first half of the book, but parts of the plot are being worked in to the fun, and the second half pays off the questions wonderfully. The suspense at the end is great, and the way Ricky works everything out is perfect. These books were written for the Christian market, and they work Ricky’s faith in organically without ever once preaching. The books are a bit dated now since they were originally released in the 1990’s, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. It might take a bit to track down this mystery, but it is worth it.
Mothergamer (1601 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Vampyr in Video Games
Nov 16, 2020
The game is not totally terrible. I found the concept interesting and being set in 1918 London during the influenza epidemic and World War I made for an interesting setting. I really wished that there was fast travel in the game because walking back and forth between neighborhoods for quests and gathering information could be really tedious. I also felt that the game was hindered by the lack of a manual save because sometimes conversations would go wrong if you picked the wrong choice with an NPC and you would lose the clue forever and there's no way to redo it unless you want to start the entire game over again. I truly don't understand why that decision was made by the game developers and it could be really frustrating to use a conversation hint and not be able to have a redo. The combat isn't bad, figuring out what vampire abilities worked best for each fight was intriguing, but it wasn't too challenging which I liked. The story is good, but not great because there were some unanswered questions and some plot holes leaving more questions. Overall, I did enjoy the story and I'm glad I played through it at least once. Full Mothergamer review is here: http://lorrie28-mothergamer.blogspot.com/2020/11/mothergamer-plays-vampyr.html
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Fantasy Island (2020) in Movies
Mar 22, 2021
Is Fantasy Island a good movie? I'd be inclined to say no. Is it as bad as everyone has been saying? Kind of...
The absolutely biggest flaw with this movie is it's pacing. The last 20 or so minutes are entertaining enough, and show off a few half decent twists, no matter how silly it gets, but sweet lord it really takes its time getting there. It's not a good slow burn either. The series of events leading up to the films climax is messy and bloated, and feels like a whole load of hot air being blown about.
The cast are ok...they do the best they can with an on the nose script that sounds like it's been written by adults trying to be "down with the kids" but the only person who comes out of this looking good (?) is Maggie Q. Her character was relatively interesting, everyone else was just an arsehole, and Michael Rooker is criminally under utilised. Michael Peña just looks severely uninterested for the whole runtime.
As I said, I didn't find it as ball achingly awful as I'd heard. It's a decent enough premise that unfortunately faffs about in its execution. It's sometimes entertaining, but devoid of any scares. And between this and the 2019 Black Christmas, I'm completely over Blumhouse movies replacing blood with jet black gooey liquid. Have some balls dammit!
The absolutely biggest flaw with this movie is it's pacing. The last 20 or so minutes are entertaining enough, and show off a few half decent twists, no matter how silly it gets, but sweet lord it really takes its time getting there. It's not a good slow burn either. The series of events leading up to the films climax is messy and bloated, and feels like a whole load of hot air being blown about.
The cast are ok...they do the best they can with an on the nose script that sounds like it's been written by adults trying to be "down with the kids" but the only person who comes out of this looking good (?) is Maggie Q. Her character was relatively interesting, everyone else was just an arsehole, and Michael Rooker is criminally under utilised. Michael Peña just looks severely uninterested for the whole runtime.
As I said, I didn't find it as ball achingly awful as I'd heard. It's a decent enough premise that unfortunately faffs about in its execution. It's sometimes entertaining, but devoid of any scares. And between this and the 2019 Black Christmas, I'm completely over Blumhouse movies replacing blood with jet black gooey liquid. Have some balls dammit!
Cori June (3033 KP) rated Destiny (Rogue Angel, #1) in Books
Jul 29, 2021
The idea (1 more)
Fight scenes
Getting pulled out of the narrative (2 more)
Mary Sue-ish character
The execution of the idea
Yeah , I finished the book, I'm not sure why.
There was something about the use of passive voice or phrasing that pulled me out of the story. If it was obvious in its rudeness I usually rolled my eyes and moved on, it was the subtle stuff that had me going am I supposed to be reading it this way?
The fight scenes where well choreographed that's the best I can say about this book. That and the anthropology and archeology which can be a dangerous profession especially for women (as my teachers repeatedly told me with anecdotes). But sometimes when they talked about it, I felt like they (the author) was chasing rabbits.
I tried to like the main character, Annja, but she was too full of cliches that even though she was quippy it fell short. Like the author was trying too hard. And there was so much plot armor in actually put the book down during fight scenes because there wasn't a sense of danger.
I'm not continuing with the series and will be rehoming this book, either giving it away or selling to a used bookstore, so that someone who can appreciate it has a chance to find it.
There was something about the use of passive voice or phrasing that pulled me out of the story. If it was obvious in its rudeness I usually rolled my eyes and moved on, it was the subtle stuff that had me going am I supposed to be reading it this way?
The fight scenes where well choreographed that's the best I can say about this book. That and the anthropology and archeology which can be a dangerous profession especially for women (as my teachers repeatedly told me with anecdotes). But sometimes when they talked about it, I felt like they (the author) was chasing rabbits.
I tried to like the main character, Annja, but she was too full of cliches that even though she was quippy it fell short. Like the author was trying too hard. And there was so much plot armor in actually put the book down during fight scenes because there wasn't a sense of danger.
I'm not continuing with the series and will be rehoming this book, either giving it away or selling to a used bookstore, so that someone who can appreciate it has a chance to find it.
Gordon Gano recommended track If You Want Me To Stay by Sly & The Family Stone in Dynamite! The Collection by Sly & The Family Stone in Music (curated)
9.0
Album
Favorite
Lindsay (1779 KP) rated The Sprightly Carrot's Dream in Books
May 25, 2021
Are you looking for a cute spring story for your children or child? One that may deal with a significant issue that comes away gently but deals with the problem. I thought this was a fun and lovely story about the persuasion of what you wanted. But also, bullying does not always get your way. The Sprightly Carrot's Dream is the book to get.
Children will learn some suitable life lessons about bullying and learn about gardening; Children will learn about kindness and friendship. I did see this throughout the book. I wonder what Spright will do to achieve this dream? Will he get his goal, or will he not.
Sometimes being what you are is essential, and enjoying that. Children will learn something about carrots and also about flowers. Will Dave get what is coming to him? The way he acts and does not like Spright for some reason.
Parents will love this book on their children's bookshelves as it does teach some lessons about some fun things. Parents and children can learn about carrots and learn something about carrot roots and what they might make. You will be surprised.
The author does a beautiful job with this. I even learned something about carrot roots and what could happen. I thought the story was sweet. The pictures are beautiful as we
Children will learn some suitable life lessons about bullying and learn about gardening; Children will learn about kindness and friendship. I did see this throughout the book. I wonder what Spright will do to achieve this dream? Will he get his goal, or will he not.
Sometimes being what you are is essential, and enjoying that. Children will learn something about carrots and also about flowers. Will Dave get what is coming to him? The way he acts and does not like Spright for some reason.
Parents will love this book on their children's bookshelves as it does teach some lessons about some fun things. Parents and children can learn about carrots and learn something about carrot roots and what they might make. You will be surprised.
The author does a beautiful job with this. I even learned something about carrot roots and what could happen. I thought the story was sweet. The pictures are beautiful as we
This book is not for the faint hearted and made me cry for the nine women and the others who they met along their way so many times.
We follow nine women as they escape from a death march and their journey to try and get to safety. Throughout the recount of the escape, their own stories of who they were before and how they came to be at the concentration camp were told.
The resilience of these nine women throughout everything they enjoyed was inspiring and that they retained their hope and kindness after the disgusting treatment that they endured is nothing short of a miracle.
The story is harrowing, but also one that I feel everyone must know. I thought I knew enough about what happened in those concentration camps in World War II but after reading this I have found that I only knew the tiniest amount of what they endured.
Although I know this is a true story, sometimes I had to remind myself that it was not fiction as some of the passages were so horrific in their descriptions that it is almost unbelievable that a human being can treat another human being like that.
This book will stay with me for a long time, which I am glad of. Thank you to Gwen Strauss and Pigeonhole for allowing me to read this incredible book.
We follow nine women as they escape from a death march and their journey to try and get to safety. Throughout the recount of the escape, their own stories of who they were before and how they came to be at the concentration camp were told.
The resilience of these nine women throughout everything they enjoyed was inspiring and that they retained their hope and kindness after the disgusting treatment that they endured is nothing short of a miracle.
The story is harrowing, but also one that I feel everyone must know. I thought I knew enough about what happened in those concentration camps in World War II but after reading this I have found that I only knew the tiniest amount of what they endured.
Although I know this is a true story, sometimes I had to remind myself that it was not fiction as some of the passages were so horrific in their descriptions that it is almost unbelievable that a human being can treat another human being like that.
This book will stay with me for a long time, which I am glad of. Thank you to Gwen Strauss and Pigeonhole for allowing me to read this incredible book.