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    Little Digits

    Little Digits

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    Little Digits is a fun educational app that teaches children about numbers via an intuitive spin on...

    Lethe

    Lethe

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    "This game has the best artistic quality and effects I've ever seen."- Japanese music master Onoken....

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2444 KP) rated Death in the Aegean in Books

Sep 10, 2022 (Updated Sep 10, 2022)  
Death in the Aegean
Death in the Aegean
M. A. Monnin | 2022 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Travel to Greece for this Fun Caper
Stefanie Adams is finally returning to Greece on vacation. Her trip is timed with the debut of the gold statue of the Akrotiri Snake Goddess, a new archeological find. She is on hand for its first viewing, but that event might turn out to be its last viewing since someone steals it that night. The next day, Stefanie finds the dead body of a woman she’d met the day before. With her reputation, not to mention her freedom, on the line as the police think she is tied into both of these events, Stefanie begins investigating to find out what is really happening. The only person she might be able to trust is, Thomas, a German traveler she met along the way, but a man with secrets of his own. Will she clear her name of not one but two crimes?

This is a fun debut. It’s more of a caper than a traditional mystery. The action is fast and never lets up. Capers can seem a bit chaotic to me as a genre, and that’s the case here, but all our questions are answered by the time we get to the climax. Stefanie and Thomas are wonderful main characters we can’t help but root for. The rest of the cast isn’t quite as well developed, but they work for their place in the story. The action takes place mostly on Crete, and the book does a good job of letting us play armchair tourist without slowing the action down. I’m already booking my next trip with Stefanie.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2444 KP) rated Irish Coffee Murder in Books

Feb 2, 2023 (Updated Feb 2, 2023)  
Irish Coffee Murder
Irish Coffee Murder
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Here's to a Deadly St. Patrick’s Day
Once again, these three authors are teaming up for a holiday themed novella collection. This time, their stories are set around St. Patrick’s Day. In the first story, Leslie Meier’s character, Lucy Stone, is doing a story on four local Irish dancers. Then one of their mother’s is murdered. Next, Lee Hollis’s sleuth, Hayley Powell, gets involved when the headlining comedian for the St. Patrick’s Day show dies after proposing a toast with his Irish coffee. Finally, Barbara Ross’s Julia Snowden is enjoying a stormy St. Patrick’s Day in with friends when they start talking about the local unsolved murder from 150 years ago. Everyone has a theory about who did it, but can Julia figure it out after all this time?

Since these are novellas, each story is roughly 100 pages, giving us a good taste of the series and characters before we move on to the next one. I enjoyed all three of them. I do struggle some with Leslie Meier’s entries in these anthologies, but I enjoyed it overall. On the other hand, I am considering starting Lee Hollis’s books because I continue to enjoy their entries in the series. Barbara Ross’s series is one of my favorites, so it’s is no surprise that I loved her entry. All three stories do feature good characters and an intriguing mystery. Lee Hollis and Barbara Ross include recipes with their stories, so you’ll have several traditional Irish recipes. This is a great book to sit down and enjoy with a mug of Irish coffee.
  
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ClareR (6001 KP) rated 73 Dove Street in Books

Sep 12, 2023  
73 Dove Street
73 Dove Street
Julie Owen Moylan | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
73 Dove Street is set in the 1950’s, and begins with Edie Budd arriving at a boarding house with nothing but a suitcase. It’s clear that something has happened to her - she’s constantly alert and frightened. Edie’s story is told in a series of flashbacks starting five years before.

Two other women live at number 73: landlady Phyllis, and fellow resident Tommie. When Edie arrives, Phyllis has just finished burning the mattress of a former resident who she’d caught with her husband, along with her husbands remaining belongings.

Tommie is best described as a whirlwind. She works for a Mrs Vee, and she enjoys her nights out. But as with Edie and Phyllis, there’s a lot going on in Tommie’s life.

This is a slow burn, a character driven novel, and has exactly what I enjoy most in a book. I love learning about characters lives, especially lives that are so different from my own. The 1950’s were a time of great change (again!): men back from war, women having to adjust back to traditional roles. These things were incorporated into the stories of Edie, Tommie and Phyllis. The women are drawn together by their secrets, lies and fears, and all three end up making life-changing decisions.

The feel of this book was perfect. I was taken back to the 1950’s with its pea-souper fogs, bars with dancing and super slim skirts (or even the full ones with petticoats!).

73 Dove Street is a very emotional book at times - you’ll need your hanky - and funny too. Overall, a really great read. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
  
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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1 in TV

May 24, 2019 (Updated May 24, 2019)  
Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1
Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1
2017 | Sci-Fi
Packed full of great characters (0 more)
Klingons aren't very interesting in this (1 more)
Wired propulsion system makes little sense
Slick action packed adventure
I grew up on Star Trek The Next Generation and was pretty obsessed with it, all those now defunct VHS tapes...sigh. I enjoyed the Original series (in particular Doctor McCoy) but things started to go awry with Deep Space Nine and I struggled to get into it until the later series and the Dominion came into it. Voyager never did a lot for me the Borg made it tolerable at times and I just plain gave up on Enterprise so it’s safe to say I went into watching Discovery without much hope but came out of season 1 pleasantly surprised.

Set before the adventures of the Original series Discovery is a star-ship with a revolutionary propulsion system and set to be a key part in the battle against the Klingons which this series focuses on (the look they went for with the Klingons in this didn’t work for me - too much like a Cornish pasty head.)

Unlike previous incarnations, Discovery doesn't focus around the Captain, instead we focus more on the character of Michael Burnham who’s pretty a smart kick ass type of girl. It’s the characters and the acting in this that really engaged, I don’t think I’ve liked as many of the main cast as this before.

When we start dealing with the Mirror universe (remember goatee Spock in the original series?) this series really got going for me I love the Terran empire and when we meet the Emperor it’s just great.

This series was full of continuing story lines (unlike the more traditional Trek standalone episode formula) and had a lot more action based feel to it. It’s different but enjoyable, looking forward to watching series 2.