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Rivers of London: Body Work
Rivers of London: Body Work
Ben Aaronovitch, Lee Sullivan, Andrew Cartmel | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
7
5.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great book for urban fantasy lovers
I enjoyed reading this one as it featured a main character who wasn’t your typical anti-hero - which we seem to have a lot lately. I’m glad to see Peter was just your average good guy who’s doing his best to be a policeman until he comes across supernatural things in which his whole life changes.


Peter’s relationship with Nightingale is pretty much a mentor/student one. Nightingale has his own secrets though and a few are revealed but there’s more to him that you think - I hope there’s more information about him in the later books to come. There are other supporting characters; I do like Leslie because she’s got the wit (possible love interest, maybe) and she’s a perfect sidekick to Peter. Molly is another interesting character that I would love to know more about. Again this is the first book in the series so I’m hoping more character development will eventually come forth in later books.

The world building is pretty good and Peter does a good job also explaining how things are in London (I admit I had to google a couple of things as I didn’t know who or what Punch and Judy were) but it gives you information on the city and events that are common there to actually make you feel as if you are following Peter around as he tries to solve the case and becomes an apprentice.

The plot was well done and I liked how the different story arcs come together in the end into one large circle. It may seem confusing at first but once you have everything laid out and you know who is who everything comes to a close and it’s a great closing. It obviously leaves room for more books coming so one can look forward to what is next for Peter.

(The Riot scene though? Holyyyyy sheeeeeee what the……)

It’s a good read, those who are into urban fantasy mysteries will likely like this type of book. Looking forward to book two!
  
    BLW Slow Cook Recipes

    BLW Slow Cook Recipes

    Lifestyle and Book

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    App

    Hi, I'm Natalie, owner of Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook! Over the past 12 months I have developed over...

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Connie (244 KP) rated Duolingo in Apps

May 31, 2018 (Updated Jun 8, 2018)  
Duolingo
Duolingo
Education, Social Networking
9
8.4 (61 Ratings)
App Rating
Easy to use (3 more)
Has spoken activities
Gets creative when making sentences
Has a competitive scoreboard
Can reuse sentences multiple times (0 more)
I have been using Duolingo for years, and I find the app to be both fun and informative. I love the way it is set up, though sometimes I have a hard time switching back and forth between languages.

I appreciate the ability to skip sections of content via taking a test--this allowed me to save tremendous time when refreshing my Spanish. I was able to skip a series of lessons quickly and movw on to more challenging content, and even content I have never had the opportunity to learn!

I also appreciate that there is a spoken component with this app. Not only do you need to be able to type what you hear, you need to be able to speak what you see with a reasonable accent. I can't roll my tongue, but I can still pass any of the tests and hear corrections.

I also enjoy the opportunity to "compete" with my friends. We regularly check in with each other and it's a lot of fun to try and stay at the top of the heap. I would love to see the inclusion of challenges, where you could compete directly instead of just in overall points.

One thing I don't care for much is that the sentences, while creative, certainly don't always make sense. A cat eating an elephant or my aunt being faster than a dog doeisn't make much sense to me. Additionally, I sometimes see the same sentence 6 times in a lesson, which means there isn't enough content.

All in all, though, I appreciate Duolingo and plan to keep using it for some time to come!
  
Christmas With the Kranks (2004)
Christmas With the Kranks (2004)
2004 | Comedy, Family
9
7.2 (12 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Funny (0 more)
Over the top (0 more)
Funy Family Christmas Film
If you re looking for a funny Christmas film, then this is it. If you go into this with the expectation of a funny, family Christmas film, where you can all laugh together, even if it is at the ridiculousness, you won't be dissapointed. This is not Shakespeare. Don't expect that.
The acting is good, it's Jamie Lee Curtis and TIm Allen, with Dan Akroyd supporting, so of course it is. They all have a great rapport with each other which makes the film not so ridiculous.
The storyline is typical and stupid, but that's what the best Christmas films have. You know, the ones we watch over and over every Christmas (like National Lampons Christmas Vacation).
If you go in with your eyes open, not expecting Romeo and Juliet to declare their love and kill themselves (you do get some neighbourhood feuding so that won't dissapoint those Shakespeare fans), then you will enjoy a pleasent Christmas evening and feel good at the end of it.
  
Hippie
Hippie
Paulo Coelho | 2018 | Biography, Travel
6
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Full review on www.diaryofdifference.com

Hippie is the autobiography by Paulo Coelho, told in third person. This is a story about people that travel the world, wear funny clothes and flowers in their hairs, and believe in peace, love and freedom.

I have read many of Coelho’s books, even since I was a teenage girl. And all of them share something in common – the path of finding yourself. After reading Hippie, I believe that this is the the best one that covers this subject quite perfectly.

‘’He was a human being, with all the fragility that entails, he didn’t understand everything that happened in his life, but he truly wished to believe he was travelling in search of the light.’’

The book is a story of two people, Paulo and Karla. Paulo, a Brazilian guy, searching for freedom and travels. Karla, a lady born and living in Amsterdam, wanting to find herself so badly in the world. When she hears that a hippie bus is going all the way to Nepal, she is willing to go if she meets her ideal companion.

‘’She wished they could see her for her beauty, but all anyone ever saw was the hurricane, and they never sought shelter from it. They preferred to flee to safer ground.’’

Their adventure begins in such an adorable way, only hippies can relate to. Their search for what they want and need feeds with every stop and every destination. A beautiful story about friendship, love and travel.

I actually wished that they had spoken more about the travels and less about some individual stories that didn’t quite correlate to the plot. I also wished that they actually reached out the final destination the way they are supposed to (this was not a spoiler).

‘’Our travels teach us everything we need to know for the rest of our lives, as long as there’s no need to explain this to our parents.’’

Even though a sad end, it is a realistic story about a way of life before, where people loved to be free, and were free to find love, in a world of peace, love, marijuana and travels. A place where no one cares what you look like.

Right now, hippies are a normal thing, people that we all secretly enjoy reading about, and listening to their stories, but in the past, these people fought so hard to change the system of how people’s minds worked, the system people were stuck in, to make people realise that they have the freedom to believe in anything they think is right, to do anything that makes them happy, to be happy, and share this with the world. To live in a world full of happiness, love, peace, to travel and see places, discover places and people, see new cultures, explore people’s minds and customs.

‘’The sun had come out, as though to say that finally the Renaissance was making a return, to change everyone’s habits and customs – and one day very soon, people would no longer depend on the opinions of others but rather on their own ways of seeing life.’’

The one thing that I couldn’t enjoy was the constant religion mentioning in this book. All religions were mentioned, and with such intensity, that peace and love and freedom and the hippie meaning started to be in relation to religion, which is something I personally don’t want to put together. I am aware that lots of hippies believe in God in their own way, but I also think that love and peace should gather them together as a group, not religion. And this point was clearly states a lot of times throughout the book. Not enjoyable, at least for me.

For all of you out there, the hippies, the ordinary people that love travelling, love, life, happiness, music – this is a book for you. Another amazing Paulo Coelho novel, full of wisdom and quotes to underline.