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Mutiny/The Bad Seed by The Birthday Party
Mutiny/The Bad Seed by The Birthday Party
1989 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I guess anyone who's read any sort of Nick Cave book will tell you this story, but when they finished this record his girlfriend at the time, Anita Lane, did the painting for the sleeve and he thought it was really, really shit but he let it be the cover anyway. But I like it. I'm a sucker for painted roses for some reason. When I was first in The Horrors, The Birthday Party were definitely one band that we all collectively liked, other than 60s garage bands. They are a fantastic band. In terms of Birthday Party-related things though, I think one of my favourites is Rowland Howard's first solo album called Teenage Snuff Film, but that isn't an illustrated cover so I didn't include it. But Rowland Howard is one of my favourite guitarists and that's probably what I liked most about The Birthday Party."

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Hate F*@k: Part 1 (The Horus Group, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hmm...that last bit has stumped me a little. I'll give it 3.5 stars.

I have no idea where the name came from for this because there isn't much hate going on or f*@king for that matter. There's a lot of tension and few sexual interactions but not too much--which is good as far as I'm concerned. Too much puts me off.

Another thing I liked was there was actually a plot to this book--with the name you can never be too sure--and I enjoyed it. The tension was brilliant and I couldn't wait for it to peak which it did right at the end.

As for the other part of the story, the family issue and Cole's secrets I am very intrigued by that ending. What the hell happened?!

I think I'll have to get the second part just to find out.
  
The Day the Earth Froze (Sampo) (1959)
The Day the Earth Froze (Sampo) (1959)
1959 | Action, International, Classics
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"This is directed by Alexander Ptushko. I think he was Russian but he did all his films in Finland because they actually had money. This is like an amalgam of Norse folk tales poured into a film. The special effects are stunning for the time of the film, and yet it is so whacked out. It’s indescribable. It seems like it was filmed with an alien culture. Nothing makes any sense of any iteration of myth or culture that you can think up in this world. It’s actually quite beautiful, and it has a hero whose name is Lemminkäinen who tries to be a hero and just continues to fail in every respect and yet he comes home and it’s “hail to the conquering hero” even though he’s a total failure. And we actually sing a song in the Riff Trax about what a failure he is."

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Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg
Histoire de Melody Nelson by Serge Gainsbourg
1971 | World
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"We listened to a fair amount of Serge during Supergrass. We spent a lot of time in France – recording and writing in different houses and villas – and we’d often hear him on the radio. This one really got to me when I started to get nerdier about sounds – the bass sound is killer, and the drum sounds are great. The one person I’ve worked with who can get close to those Serge drum sounds is Nigel Godrich. We did a few bits of the Hotrats [Coombes and Goffey’s covers side-project] album together. They’re sort of dirty and a bit unstable; there’s something about them. You have to get past what a nutcase he was but it also adds to it; this whole mythology and glamour around him. My sister-in-law bought me this about five Christmases ago and that reignited my love of it."

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The Sorrows
The Sorrows
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Sorrows, an island off the coast of northern California, and its castle have been uninhabited since a series of gruesome murders in 1925. But its owner needs money, so he allows film composers Ben and Eddie and a couple of their female friends to stay a month in Castle Blackwood. Eddie is certain a haunted castle is just the setting Ben needs to find inspiration for a horror film.
But what they find is more horrific than any movie. Something is waiting for them in the castle. A malevolent being has been trapped for nearly a century. And he's ready to feed.
*Disclosure - I received a free copy for purposes of an honest review*

This is definitely a more slow burn novel that creeps up on you, giving you that uneasy feeling and putting you on edge.
The characters are each realistically flawed and interesting; this book does have sexual scenes, some scenes of violence and gore. This did not bother me as it flows with books plot.
If you have read anything by Janz then you will probably be aware that he has a talent for the darkest depths of hell and horror. The Sorrows represents the beginning of his journey, and also shows much he has honed his craft since then.
There are a few story lines in this novel, all keep you the edge of your seat with bated breath waiting to see what would happen next! We have a diary from the past talking about a mysterious little boy called Gabriel and the wrongdoing and terror that occurred on the island in 1925.
While the foursome are the island, things start off being just a little bit spooky. Strange sightings take place, violent apparitions, voices are heard and take control of people, mirrored walls and secret passages, the brutality of some of the characters, and finally the goat hooves beast of the island.
Then tension builds in the books with little tidbits of supernatural. The tension, it was palpable as you delve further into the mystery of the island and the past. A couple of things I felt were a bit too unexplained but I think it that it added to the magic of the book, because let us be honest when you watch films the unexpected always happens!
  
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MelanieTheresa (997 KP) rated Vox in Books

Sep 19, 2018  
Vox
Vox
Christina Dalcher | 2018 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
10
8.8 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book made me so ANGRY.
Contains spoilers, click to show
** spoiler alert ** Somewhere along the line, what was known as the Bible Belt, that swath of Southern states where religion ruled, started expanding. It morphed from belt to corset, covering all but the country’s limbs—the democratic utopias of California, New England, the Pacific Northwest, DC, the southern jurisdictions of Texas and Florida—places so far on the blue end of the spectrum they seemed untouchable. But the corset turned into a full bodysuit, eventually reaching all the way to Hawaii. And we never saw it coming.

This book made me so ANGRY. I read it in a flurry of outrage in less than 24 hours because I just.could.not.stop.

It's the very near future, and the religious right has (seemingly) won in the United States. Women no longer hold jobs, are no longer allowed to read or write, and are limited to speaking 100 words per day, enforced by an electric-shock "bracelet" counter, their voices effectively silenced, their rights taken away. A religious zealot is pulling the strings of the puppet-President. School textbooks are replaced with religious tomes. The LGBTQ community is forced into prison/work camps for "conversion" to the "normal" way (read: man/woman). Engage in premarital or extramarital sex? Work camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota for the rest of your life, with a counter on your wrist set to ZERO. You may think "none of this would ever happen!" .....wouldn't it, though? Consider the current political climate and treatment of women, folks. Maybe it's not that far off the mark.

“Whose fault do you think it was?” he said. I stood in my kitchen, wanting to explain, careful not to, while he told me we’d marched one too many times, written one too many letters, screamed one too many words. “You women. You need to be taught a lesson.”

There will be the inevitable comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale, of course. I personally could not slog my way through The Handmaid's Tale,, so I can't speak to those comparisons. I can only tell you that if you aren't outraged by the very IDEA that this could happen, there may be something wrong with you.

I did feel like the ending was slightly rushed, but not to the point that it took away from the rest of the story. It was a satisfying, hopeful ending.

What would you do to be free?