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Reading Comprehension Earth Science for First Grade and Second Grade Free
Education and Book
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Reading Comprehension Earth Science for First Grade and Second Grade has twenty stories about the...
Earth Science Reading Comprehension for First Grade and Second Grade
Education and Games
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Reading Comprehension Earth Science for First Grade and Second Grade has twenty stories about the...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Good Sister in Books
Apr 15, 2021
A predictable yet oddly thrilling read
Fern and Rose are extremely close sisters and incredibly dependent on one other. Rose has always been the responsible one and Fern, with her sensory-processing issues, the one people look at a bit oddly. Their mother was abusive, scarring Rose, who saw through to her true nature. Fern, who always looks to the good side of people, remembers her more fondly. But Rose has always protected her sister, especially since, as children, Fern did something horrible. Rose has faithfully kept her sister's secret, even though both girls wonder if it made Fern a terrible person. Now Rose and her husband are having trouble conceiving. Fern realizes she could finally do something for Rose: give her a child. However, Rose worries that Fern could make some disastrous choices if pregnant, just as she did so many years ago.
"Most people think of me as Fern's protector. But the truth is, in her own funny way, she's always been mine."
This is an excellent book in terms of the page-turner element. I was madly flipping the pages. It is especially remarkable because the story was actually fairly predictable. I kept waiting for some big twist, but I felt the plot was pretty well telegraphed from the beginning.
What kept me spellbound was the characters, particularly Fern. There was just something about her--you couldn't help but become attached. The cast here is small: the sisters, Rose's husband, Fern's acquaintance Wally, but they are quite well-drawn. Hepworth does a fantastic job with the two sisters, both depicting their childhood and then their current state, as Fern becomes determined to do something for Rose, her long-time protector, and Rose struggles with what Fern's choice means.
It's best to go into this one blind. To me, the story felt pretty straightforward and nothing really surprising happened, but it was still well-written and exciting. Yes, I would have loved a great twist or two to push this thriller from good into great territory. I still think it's worth a read, though, especially if you don't read a ton of mysteries and are more likely to be surprised. The relationship and dynamic between Fern and Rose is really worth a read by itself. 3 stars.
"Most people think of me as Fern's protector. But the truth is, in her own funny way, she's always been mine."
This is an excellent book in terms of the page-turner element. I was madly flipping the pages. It is especially remarkable because the story was actually fairly predictable. I kept waiting for some big twist, but I felt the plot was pretty well telegraphed from the beginning.
What kept me spellbound was the characters, particularly Fern. There was just something about her--you couldn't help but become attached. The cast here is small: the sisters, Rose's husband, Fern's acquaintance Wally, but they are quite well-drawn. Hepworth does a fantastic job with the two sisters, both depicting their childhood and then their current state, as Fern becomes determined to do something for Rose, her long-time protector, and Rose struggles with what Fern's choice means.
It's best to go into this one blind. To me, the story felt pretty straightforward and nothing really surprising happened, but it was still well-written and exciting. Yes, I would have loved a great twist or two to push this thriller from good into great territory. I still think it's worth a read, though, especially if you don't read a ton of mysteries and are more likely to be surprised. The relationship and dynamic between Fern and Rose is really worth a read by itself. 3 stars.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated One Night in Miami (2020) in Movies
Apr 15, 2021
Keeps the audience at arms length
The issue when adapting a stage play to the screen is that, often times, the subject matter and style of the script does not lend itself to being “opened up”, what is powerful when sitting in a theater with the actors performing the piece in front of you can often times be seen as “flat” when it jumps to the screen.
Such is the case with ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI the Major Motion Picture Directorial debut of Oscar Winning Actress Regina King and based on the stage play by Kemp Powers. This film/play fictionalizes the true story of 4 powerful African American legends that meet up in a hotel room, one night in Miami.
And…this film feels like 4 people sitting in a hotel room talking - and that’s the problem with it. What should be powerful dialogue (and, I’m sure, IS powerful when seen live on stage) just doesn’t translate well enough on the screen, so the film just sits there demanding we pay attention, while not inviting us in to do so.
Since this is a story about 4 people sitting around talking, the acting needs to take center stage and hold our attention and, quite frankly, it just does not. Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Sam Cook are all “fine” in their roles, but they don’t rise above the script and direction. Odom gets an Oscar nod for his turn in this film, but I have to think that, maybe, it is as much for his turn in HAMILTON as it is in this film.
Only Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X shows a spark and draws an emotional response in this film and that might not be fair to the other actors for he has the flashier role with the most speeches.
The Direction by King and the Script by Kemp Powers (based on his stage play) has some moments, but never draws the audience in. It keeps everyone at arms length and doesn’t touch the soul.
The subject matter in this film is an important one, and depicts a pivotal time in American History, but other films do a better job of driving that point home by inviting the audience into the conversation.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Such is the case with ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI the Major Motion Picture Directorial debut of Oscar Winning Actress Regina King and based on the stage play by Kemp Powers. This film/play fictionalizes the true story of 4 powerful African American legends that meet up in a hotel room, one night in Miami.
And…this film feels like 4 people sitting in a hotel room talking - and that’s the problem with it. What should be powerful dialogue (and, I’m sure, IS powerful when seen live on stage) just doesn’t translate well enough on the screen, so the film just sits there demanding we pay attention, while not inviting us in to do so.
Since this is a story about 4 people sitting around talking, the acting needs to take center stage and hold our attention and, quite frankly, it just does not. Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Sam Cook are all “fine” in their roles, but they don’t rise above the script and direction. Odom gets an Oscar nod for his turn in this film, but I have to think that, maybe, it is as much for his turn in HAMILTON as it is in this film.
Only Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X shows a spark and draws an emotional response in this film and that might not be fair to the other actors for he has the flashier role with the most speeches.
The Direction by King and the Script by Kemp Powers (based on his stage play) has some moments, but never draws the audience in. It keeps everyone at arms length and doesn’t touch the soul.
The subject matter in this film is an important one, and depicts a pivotal time in American History, but other films do a better job of driving that point home by inviting the audience into the conversation.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Faking Friends in Books
Sep 24, 2020
The main characters in this novel are Amy and Melissa, two best friends who become worst enemies. This book was a real emotional roller coaster for me: I was laughing, getting angry, feeling pity and upset throughout this book. And all that was caused by the characters which were chosen for this book. I really liked Amy as a character, I think she was charming, very believable and relatable in some way. I absolutely could not stand Melissa though, I think she is an absolute lowlife who is a disgrace to womankind. Everything about her pissed me off, EVERYTHING! Jack and Simon in this book were not better as well, they were just plain stupid. But that was what made this book so indulging. The variety of characters and their unbelievably silly actions somehow made it really entertaining.
The plot of this book really hooked me, the constant drama, action, twists and turns didn’t let me sleep till 4 am in the morning. I just had to find out how it will end. I really appreciate that author used different perspectives in this book, it made it much more gripping and interesting, and it did allow to understand the characters way better. Another thing which I found really cool was the jumps between the past and present, it made the whole story richer and explained their friendship’s nuances to the reader. I really enjoyed all Fallon’s personal experience such as: movie industry and how it works, acting and it’s struggles, general knowledge of London (places, student life, renting options, shops etc.) It was really enlightening to me and I do feel sympathy for all the actors out there.
In this book Jane Fallon stayed true to her writing style, offering multiple perspectives, suspense, interesting topics and absolutely stunning writing itself. The language used was easy to understand, however, there were some swear words. The chapters were not very long, and it kept me going, as I really wanted to find out what will happen next. I really liked the ending of this book, I think it rounded up the story very nicely and left me satisfied. So to conclude, I absolutely loved this book, it gave me everything I need in good Chick – lit book, it has different types of characters, amusing and absorbing plot and interesting topics, and I do strongly recommend this novel. Enjoy 🙂
The plot of this book really hooked me, the constant drama, action, twists and turns didn’t let me sleep till 4 am in the morning. I just had to find out how it will end. I really appreciate that author used different perspectives in this book, it made it much more gripping and interesting, and it did allow to understand the characters way better. Another thing which I found really cool was the jumps between the past and present, it made the whole story richer and explained their friendship’s nuances to the reader. I really enjoyed all Fallon’s personal experience such as: movie industry and how it works, acting and it’s struggles, general knowledge of London (places, student life, renting options, shops etc.) It was really enlightening to me and I do feel sympathy for all the actors out there.
In this book Jane Fallon stayed true to her writing style, offering multiple perspectives, suspense, interesting topics and absolutely stunning writing itself. The language used was easy to understand, however, there were some swear words. The chapters were not very long, and it kept me going, as I really wanted to find out what will happen next. I really liked the ending of this book, I think it rounded up the story very nicely and left me satisfied. So to conclude, I absolutely loved this book, it gave me everything I need in good Chick – lit book, it has different types of characters, amusing and absorbing plot and interesting topics, and I do strongly recommend this novel. Enjoy 🙂
The story is told from multiple perspectives, mainly by Volnay – The Inspector of strange and unexpected death, and Casanova – the seducer of everyone with a vagina. The main character I think is Volnay, and most of the time he shares his findings, uncovered with the help of his companion, the Monk. Casanova is just there, and his story was not very interesting to me, he was more of an obstacle rather than an intriguing participant. The characters are very sophisticated, refined, and most of the time very rich. The atmosphere in this book is quite grand, pompous and fancy, however, there are parts of filthiness and prostitution from time to time as well. My favourite character in this book has to be the Monk, he is the smartest and most intriguing of all of them, and Volnay would be nothing without him.
This book was quite a slow burner for me. First of all, there is not much progress happening towards the murders, and secondly, it is a very political book. There is a lot of scientific talks about alchemy, potions and other science-related things, that sound interesting, but at the same time doesn’t make sense to me at all. :/ The topics discussed in this book were paedophilia (the king was a paedophile), prostitution, scientific inventions, alchemy, French political affairs, etc. There were not many things happening in this book, and I missed the twists and turns to speed up this book.
The writing style of this book is very rich and sophisticated, the author has to be a true intellectual, who is into philosophy and science. It is a translation from French, that’s why it is filled with French expressions and place names. The chapters were too long for my liking and felt quite draggy sometimes. The ending was quite interesting but didn’t leave me fully satisfied. So, to conclude, it is a very complex novel, filled with refined characters, and very layered and political plot. This book is very beautifully written and I believe that the author is very gifted, to be able to write a book like this, but the reader has to be an intellectual as well, to appreciate and enjoy it. So if you are into 18th century France, and enjoy books about politics and science, this historical thriller will be for you.
This book was quite a slow burner for me. First of all, there is not much progress happening towards the murders, and secondly, it is a very political book. There is a lot of scientific talks about alchemy, potions and other science-related things, that sound interesting, but at the same time doesn’t make sense to me at all. :/ The topics discussed in this book were paedophilia (the king was a paedophile), prostitution, scientific inventions, alchemy, French political affairs, etc. There were not many things happening in this book, and I missed the twists and turns to speed up this book.
The writing style of this book is very rich and sophisticated, the author has to be a true intellectual, who is into philosophy and science. It is a translation from French, that’s why it is filled with French expressions and place names. The chapters were too long for my liking and felt quite draggy sometimes. The ending was quite interesting but didn’t leave me fully satisfied. So, to conclude, it is a very complex novel, filled with refined characters, and very layered and political plot. This book is very beautifully written and I believe that the author is very gifted, to be able to write a book like this, but the reader has to be an intellectual as well, to appreciate and enjoy it. So if you are into 18th century France, and enjoy books about politics and science, this historical thriller will be for you.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated BlacKkKlansman (2018) in Movies
Sep 9, 2020
BlacKkKlansman just ticked all the right boxes for me. Spike Lee has created a piece that is moving, hilarious, horrific, poignant and something truly important.
John David Washington and Adam Driver are a winning leading pair, portraying Ron Stallworth and Flip Zimmerman respectively, two police officers from Colorado Springs who manage to infiltrate a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, in an attempt to foil a potentially fatal and racially charged attack, and it's all based on a quite incredible true story.
Washington and Driver are both fantastic, providing this movie with most of it's heart, humour and emotion.
Topher Grace is great as well, as David Duke, a top brass member of the KKK. He's so smarmy, and easy to dislike, much like his real life counter part. This applies to all the racist pieces of shit in this story actualy. The characters are all horrible, but the cast bring them to life in a disturbingly believable way.
The screenplay is nothing but tight from start to finish. It's very funny in places, and heart wrenching in others. A particular highlight is a speech spoken early on by black rights speaker Kwame Ture. It's a lengthy monologue that is so damn powerful. There are multiple scenes that strike hard throughout the runtime - another standout moment is the truly uncomfortable visuals of Ron Stallworth looking on in quiet despair as KKK members cheer loudly whilst watching The Birth of a Nation. Humanity can be extremely ugly, and although BlacKkKlansman veers towards comedy at times, Lee is sure to never stray too far from that fact.
Some of the criticism I've read of this movie are along the lines of "it has an agenda" and "it's being forced down the audiences throat". Well, yeah if course it has an agenda. It's dealing with a topic that shouldn't even exist in the first place, but it's certainly not being force fed. No one is forcing anybody to watch it, but I highly recommend that EVERYONE does watch it.
The inclusion of real life footage of protests in 2017 is a strong statement, it's a director publicly taking a stand for something he believes in. In 2020, these topics feel more important than ever.
BlacKkKlansman is an incredible movie, and nothing can change my mind about that.
John David Washington and Adam Driver are a winning leading pair, portraying Ron Stallworth and Flip Zimmerman respectively, two police officers from Colorado Springs who manage to infiltrate a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, in an attempt to foil a potentially fatal and racially charged attack, and it's all based on a quite incredible true story.
Washington and Driver are both fantastic, providing this movie with most of it's heart, humour and emotion.
Topher Grace is great as well, as David Duke, a top brass member of the KKK. He's so smarmy, and easy to dislike, much like his real life counter part. This applies to all the racist pieces of shit in this story actualy. The characters are all horrible, but the cast bring them to life in a disturbingly believable way.
The screenplay is nothing but tight from start to finish. It's very funny in places, and heart wrenching in others. A particular highlight is a speech spoken early on by black rights speaker Kwame Ture. It's a lengthy monologue that is so damn powerful. There are multiple scenes that strike hard throughout the runtime - another standout moment is the truly uncomfortable visuals of Ron Stallworth looking on in quiet despair as KKK members cheer loudly whilst watching The Birth of a Nation. Humanity can be extremely ugly, and although BlacKkKlansman veers towards comedy at times, Lee is sure to never stray too far from that fact.
Some of the criticism I've read of this movie are along the lines of "it has an agenda" and "it's being forced down the audiences throat". Well, yeah if course it has an agenda. It's dealing with a topic that shouldn't even exist in the first place, but it's certainly not being force fed. No one is forcing anybody to watch it, but I highly recommend that EVERYONE does watch it.
The inclusion of real life footage of protests in 2017 is a strong statement, it's a director publicly taking a stand for something he believes in. In 2020, these topics feel more important than ever.
BlacKkKlansman is an incredible movie, and nothing can change my mind about that.
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Firefly: Big Damn Hero (Firefly #1) in Books
Nov 30, 2020
WOW! No, really, <b>WOW!</b> That was gorram incredible!
It's been ages since I read any fan fiction, as so much of it, at the end of the day, was just glorified 'Shipping. It's been almost two months since I have picked up anything (comic or prose) to read, as my wife and I have been through a hellish two months (started with the MS diagnosis, and ended with our 14 year old Mini Schnauzer having to be put to sleep). Long story short, not a whole hell of lot of reading going on my life, as I have been walking around in a fog, caring not one whit about much of anything, including eating or reading.
FIREFLY: BIG DAMN HERO came out on my Kindle November 20th, the day before my 50th birthday (without Lily, our 14 y.o. Mini, no longer with us, it was more like an UnBirthday, as I really felt it was no longer worth celebrating). I read the first two Chapters, or rather, I <i>tried</i>, but they seemed as though I had not when I returned to the book last week.
No matter, for it appeared not to affect my overall satisfaction that the FIREFLY prose novels were off to a very good start indeed! And I was able to focus my attention enough to finish the book in such a quick time!
From beginning to end, we are a presented with a tale of the SERENITY and her crew early in the first Season. Everyone is true to form, from Mal to Wash and Zoë to Simon and River, etc. No one ever seemed out-of-character.
At a base level, this was a Mal-centric story. We gain some backstory into his past, on Shadow, just prior to the War. We are also given an inside track to his inner thoughts, allowing us to gain an even deeper understanding of his character, beyond what we learned in the short-lived TV series and subsequent movie SERENITY.
DOCTOR WHO is a hot mess right now, something I am unable to get behind (after being a fan for almost 48 years). Too many changes, good and bad. Fortunately, though, FIREFLY remains the same, untouched, let to continue as the way it was intended, and I am totally fine with that!
If you love FIREFLY as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up!
It's been ages since I read any fan fiction, as so much of it, at the end of the day, was just glorified 'Shipping. It's been almost two months since I have picked up anything (comic or prose) to read, as my wife and I have been through a hellish two months (started with the MS diagnosis, and ended with our 14 year old Mini Schnauzer having to be put to sleep). Long story short, not a whole hell of lot of reading going on my life, as I have been walking around in a fog, caring not one whit about much of anything, including eating or reading.
FIREFLY: BIG DAMN HERO came out on my Kindle November 20th, the day before my 50th birthday (without Lily, our 14 y.o. Mini, no longer with us, it was more like an UnBirthday, as I really felt it was no longer worth celebrating). I read the first two Chapters, or rather, I <i>tried</i>, but they seemed as though I had not when I returned to the book last week.
No matter, for it appeared not to affect my overall satisfaction that the FIREFLY prose novels were off to a very good start indeed! And I was able to focus my attention enough to finish the book in such a quick time!
From beginning to end, we are a presented with a tale of the SERENITY and her crew early in the first Season. Everyone is true to form, from Mal to Wash and Zoë to Simon and River, etc. No one ever seemed out-of-character.
At a base level, this was a Mal-centric story. We gain some backstory into his past, on Shadow, just prior to the War. We are also given an inside track to his inner thoughts, allowing us to gain an even deeper understanding of his character, beyond what we learned in the short-lived TV series and subsequent movie SERENITY.
DOCTOR WHO is a hot mess right now, something I am unable to get behind (after being a fan for almost 48 years). Too many changes, good and bad. Fortunately, though, FIREFLY remains the same, untouched, let to continue as the way it was intended, and I am totally fine with that!
If you love FIREFLY as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up!
Sophie Wink (11 KP) rated Granite Grit (Fighting's in the Blood #1) in Books
Jun 26, 2019
"When your toughest opponent is you."
Your not kidding! A very true statement in more ways than one throughout the novel, for the main character Joe and the reader's themselves. What a fantastic debut novel.
The storyline is brilliant, easy to follow and written in quite a unique style jumping from past to present in the space of a couple lines with ease. It is truly fascinating, coming from someone who is clueless when it comes to boxing of any kind I managed to understand everything, it all made sense. I loved the twists and turns the story itself took, unwinding the spiral of destruction the main character created for himself, it's powerful yet sad and overall really moving creating the important hook.
The themes of the story are simple and conveyed with the utmost professionalism, the love between man and women, between parents and children, between man and the art of boxing. The relationships between the characters throughout the novel are wonderfully portrayed whether they come to a complete halt or blossom in times of tragedy. I think the theme of abuse is conveyed beautifully considering the sensitive, powerful and hard-hitting nature of the theme as a whole tying in well with a further theme of family which seems to be one of Joe's fatal flaws. Which leads me on to the character Joe whom I love, hate and support, the character development of Joe is remarkably controlled and really well done. At first, I really loved and sympathised with the man trying to keep his family afloat, then his downwards spiral left me hating him yet supporting him, wanting him to do well and wanting him to win the fight with not only himself but his opponents.
Personally, the fight scenes were my favourite due to the descriptive manner of which they were told, I felt like I was in the crowd onlooking the entire scene feeling the tension and fear in the atmosphere. Although it may not seem like it due to the boxing element the novel is very relatable considering family loyalty, the struggle for money and even the determination Joe has to prove himself. I even found myself laughing out loud at some of the comments Joe made.
Overall, this is truly an amazing book and I couldn't recommend it more.
Your not kidding! A very true statement in more ways than one throughout the novel, for the main character Joe and the reader's themselves. What a fantastic debut novel.
The storyline is brilliant, easy to follow and written in quite a unique style jumping from past to present in the space of a couple lines with ease. It is truly fascinating, coming from someone who is clueless when it comes to boxing of any kind I managed to understand everything, it all made sense. I loved the twists and turns the story itself took, unwinding the spiral of destruction the main character created for himself, it's powerful yet sad and overall really moving creating the important hook.
The themes of the story are simple and conveyed with the utmost professionalism, the love between man and women, between parents and children, between man and the art of boxing. The relationships between the characters throughout the novel are wonderfully portrayed whether they come to a complete halt or blossom in times of tragedy. I think the theme of abuse is conveyed beautifully considering the sensitive, powerful and hard-hitting nature of the theme as a whole tying in well with a further theme of family which seems to be one of Joe's fatal flaws. Which leads me on to the character Joe whom I love, hate and support, the character development of Joe is remarkably controlled and really well done. At first, I really loved and sympathised with the man trying to keep his family afloat, then his downwards spiral left me hating him yet supporting him, wanting him to do well and wanting him to win the fight with not only himself but his opponents.
Personally, the fight scenes were my favourite due to the descriptive manner of which they were told, I felt like I was in the crowd onlooking the entire scene feeling the tension and fear in the atmosphere. Although it may not seem like it due to the boxing element the novel is very relatable considering family loyalty, the struggle for money and even the determination Joe has to prove himself. I even found myself laughing out loud at some of the comments Joe made.
Overall, this is truly an amazing book and I couldn't recommend it more.
Virtual Villagers 4 Lite
Games and Entertainment
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Virtual Villagers: The Tree of Life is the fourth chapter in the award-winning Virtual Villagers...