Smashbomb

"This is travel writing at its best. As a boy, Chatwin was fascinated by a dried-up piece of skin and hair, said to be from a brontosaurus brought back from Patagonia by a distant cousin and and kept in a glass-fronted cabinet in his grandmother’s dining room. Chatwin’s musings about the brontosaurus eventually led to a trek through Patagonia described in ninety-seven brief chapters filled with sharp observations and crystal-clear prose, gem-like entries in a brilliant diary. The narrative meanders, just as Chatwin did on his journey. Passages describing the stark landscape are juxtaposed with profiles of people encountered, nuggets of historical lore, and the details of rugged overland travel. Readers who insist on a traditional narrative thread might be disappointed, even put off. But for me, Chatwin evokes a serene curiosity that I find ingratiating."

Source

Kudos

Filipino Food Lovers Free

Food & Drink and Lifestyle

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

Delectable recipes from the famous food blog filipino-food-lovers.com by Robert Colinares are now...

Echo Connect

7.6 (9 Ratings) Rate It

Tech

Connect your home phone to your compatible Echo device to call any phone number, using just your...

The Wrangler and the Orphan (Farthingdale Ranch #4)

Jackie North

7.5 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

"Some scars run soul-deep. Some scars only love can heal." Brody is the wrangler at Farthingdale...

Contemporary MM Romance

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2436 KP) rated Open for Murder in Books

Nov 27, 2020

Open for Murder

Mary Angela | 2020 | Mystery

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Opening Weekend Features Murder

Zo Jones is thrilled to have her best friend Beth Everett back in her life. The two were inseparable every summer when Beth would visit her aunt in Spirit Canyon, South Dakota. Beth has inherited the lodge her aunt owned, and, after renovating, she is ready to reopen just in time for summer tourists. However, the first night the lodge is opened, one of the guests is murdered. The victim was a local competitor, and the police begin to look at Beth as their prime suspect. Zo doesn’t believe her friend would do something like this, but can she find the proof?

Zo owns a souvenir shop, and between that and the setting, I had to give this series a try. I loved the setting. The book took a couple of chapters before it introduced us to the victim and suspects, but it picked up from there. I did find some of the motives weak early on, but they got stronger the further into the book we got. Likewise, it takes a bit for the characters to be developed. There is still room for the main characters to grow as the series progresses. We get a recipe for a delicious sounding S’more brownie at the end of the book. If you are open to a new series, this is one to check out.

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2436 KP) rated Curses, Boiled Again! (A Lobster Shack Mystery #1) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

Allie Larkin is back home in Mystic Bay, Connecticut, recuperating from a broken ankle and helping her aunt Gully with her new Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack. Aunt Gully has only had her business open for a few months, but it’s attracted enough attention to land her a spot as a finalist in the YUM! Network’s lobster roll contest. However, after sampling the first contestant’s entry, the judges start to collapse. Someone poisoned the rolls, but who was the target? And why?

This book opens the morning of the contest, so things get off to a strong start. It does seem to slow down a little in the second quarter, but it picks up again as Allie tries to figure out who the target of the poison was. This added twist was very welcome and helps the book stand out. There is room for the characters to grow as the series progresses, but we get to know several of them well here. The suspects are great at keeping us guessing until the end.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/01/book-review-curses-boiled-again-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

Kudos

Sarah (7800 KP) rated The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018) in Movies

Oct 3, 2018

Could've been so much more

I knew relatively nothing about this film but having been impressed by the recent Goosebumps films (not the new sequel), I had fairly high expectations. Sadly it didn't live up to them.

For me this film seemed to be nothing new. I was bored for the most of this and there were only a few parts that I really enjoyed. A lot of the humour and banter between the characters seemed a little too ott and forced and made me cringe more than it made me smile. The effects were alright and there were some truly creepy scenes, just not enough. Cate Blanchett probably saved this, as even Jack Black couldn't bring back the magic he had with RL Stine. And the evil warlock wasn't particularly scary or threatening, and the whole ending was lacking any sort of menacing terror or suspense.

I also spent the entire film thinking the kid was the one from Room (Jacob Tremblay), and wondering why on earth his acting was so bad. The kid was one of the problems in this, I won't lie and his crying was particularly horrendous. And then when the credits rolled I realised it wasn't him after all...