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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Insomnia in Books

Jun 17, 2020  
Insomnia
Insomnia
Stephen King | 2011 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
8.7 (25 Ratings)
Book Rating
Reading this would be a great cure to insomnia...
This book has been on my shelf for quite some time. Mainly because it's a beast of a read - a huge 650 page hardback book - and I've not had the inclination to read. As my pile of unread books is dwindling drastically, I finally decided to give it a go and overall I was pleasantly surprised.

My biggest surprise when reading the first few chapters was the realisation that this book isn't what the Christopher Nolan film Insomnia was based on. I cant even tell you why I thought this in the first place 😕 Once I got over this, I really got into the book or at least the first few hundred pages. As always with King, the book is very well written with a likeable protagonist and well developed secondary characters. The problem is that the story is maybe a little convoluted and isn't helped by the sheer length of it all. 200 pages in I was wondering how this could be dragged out for 650 pages and whilst it never gets as tedious as you'd imagine, this is definitely longer than it needed to be. Whilst the plot is typical King, it gets a little confusing and 'out there' even for him and I think he could've simplified this a little. Because of this I could only read up to 100 pages at a time as it made me feel rather sleepy - a perfect cure for insomnia I'm sure.

By the end of the book I did come to at least enjoy this story more than I thought I would, and even shed a tear or two. This definitely isn't a book for casual readers though and not one of King's best. But if you're looking for a door stop sized challenge, you could do much worse than this!
  
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Ross (3284 KP) Jun 17, 2020

I'm sure your shelf breathed a sigh of relief!

Black City (Il re di Poggioreale) (1961)
Black City (Il re di Poggioreale) (1961)
1961 | International, Comedy, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"There’s one called Il Re di Poggioreale, The King of Poggioreale. It was called [Black City] in this country. The King of Poggioreale was one of [producer] Dino De Laurentiis‘ first pictures, and it was directed by Duilio Coletti. It was the story about a boot-maker in Poggioreale, outside of Naples. This cobbler, who was a complete nothing, a nobody, went on to become the big black marketer in Italy in World War II. And this actually happened. When people in Naples were starving to death, he managed to find food — steal it from the Germans, steal it from the Americans, steal it from anybody — to feed the people of Naples. And then, because of his knowledge of things, they sent him to the Vatican to bring back the jewels of St. Gennaro, who is the patron saint of Naples. And he went through the German lines, and came back with the jewels. Nobody ever expected him to come back. They said, ‘This man, he’s taken everything and run away with it.’ But he came back. And [the movie] actually showed what the people of Naples actually do today. One of the things about St. Gennaro is that they have his blood in what almost looks like a rolling pin. They roll it back and forth, and they move it back and forth, and it’s all dried blood. If there’s a good time coming for Naples, that blood will actually turn and become blood. In this picture, we took pictures of it — unbeknownst to anyone else — and you can actually see the blood flowing. It was a wonderful picture, and I played the lead. And I tell ya, I never enjoyed doing anything so much since Marty."

Source
  
Hidden Rebel (Changed Heart Series Book 3)
Hidden Rebel (Changed Heart Series Book 3)
Michelle Janene | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What a dream come true!
 This book was so good, it was like the secret fantasy we all wish we could play brought to life. This book is the third in her Changed hearts series, however, it can be read as a stand-alone.
Michelle Janene’s main character (Lady Aria) was fierce, independent, and the most amazing ninja/sword warrior ever! She also had great faith and because of that God blessed her. While her other main characters were well developed, they had lessons to learn and were always by Lady Arias’ side ready to help when things went awry. I really liked the overall character development, some of them didn’t have the best reactions to events though. I truly did like them anyway. <br/> This plot was definitely one right out of a medieval fantasy. Castles, knights, horses, and sword fights… totally a truly medieval fantasy come to life. The plot moved at a great pace, keeping me interested and wanting to know what would happen next. The was one thing I didn’t like about the plot; however, I will not tell you about it as it is a spoiler.
Overall this was a great story that I could totally imagine myself in. Michelle Janene wrote a great book that I loved reading. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars for the great Lady Aria, the amazing description and attention to detail given in the sword training dialogues, and for just the hint of romance given with the happily ever after ending. I truly enjoyed this book and will go back and read the others in the series
*I did receive this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.