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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Rear Window (1954) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
“Hmm… must have splattered a lot”.
Maddy at Maddy Loves Her Classic Films is hosting The Alfred Hitchcockblogathon. A fine idea, celebrating the life and works of the “Master of Suspense”. My contribution comes from his 1954 masterpiece “Rear Window” starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly.
rw-poster
In one pan around his small apartment, and without a word of dialogue required, Hitchcock deftly fills in all the back-story you need: Stewart plays ace photo-journalist L.B. Jefferies, laid up from jetting the world to worn-torn regions by a broken leg in a full-cast with only his courtyard view to entertain him. In sweltering summer temperatures all the apartments are open to the elements, so he can be well entertained by the menagerie before him: “Miss Torso”, the scantily-clad and frequently showering ballerina; a sculptress with an eye towards Henry Moore; a struggling composer (who has his clock wound by someone very familiar!); a newly-wedded bride threatening to wear out the groom; a salesman and his bed-ridden wife; a dog-loving and balcony-sleeping couple; and “Miss Lonelyhearts” – a hard-drinking spinster forced to create imaginary male dinner-guests.
Stewart plays his usual ‘Mr Ordinary’ watching perfectly ordinary goings on in a perfectly ordinary apartment block.
Or not. Jefferies is drawn to some odd-events in the apartment of the salesman (Raymond Burr, still 13 years before his career-defining role in TV’s “Ironside”). His rampant suspicions infect not only his cranky middle-aged physiotherapist Stella (Thelma Ritter) but also his perfect (“too perfect”) girlfriend, the fashion expert Lisa (Grace Kelly). Of course his police friend Doyle (Wendell Corey) is having none of it… there is no evidence of any crime being committed. And the “murdered” wife has been seen being put on a train by her husband, and is sending him letters from the countryside.
Is Jefferies just going stir-crazy? Or is there really something to it?
The set for this film is masterly. Although depicting a genuine location in New York’s Greenwich village the huge set was constructed on the Paramount lot in Hollywood, and you can just imagine the army of carpenters and artists building the multi-layered structure.
It’s one of the stars of the film, allowing for a wealth of detail to be populated: in the apartments; in the street behind; even in the cafe over the other side of the street. And it’s this detail that really makes what could be a highly static film come alive. There are a half dozen films-within-the-film going on at once, with Stewart’s character – and you as the fellow-voyeur – having a multi-pass to watch them all simultaneously.
And watch he does. As what could be perceived as a seriously pervy character – something he is called out on by Stella – Jeffries gets to see an eyeful in particular of the shapely and scantily-clad ballerina (Georgine Darcy, agent-less and only paid $350 for the role!). These scenes must have been deemed quite risque for the year of release.
Where the film rather falters is in the bickering romance between Stewart and Kelly. As a hot-blooded man, I will declare that even today Kelly’s first dream-like appearance (with Vaseline lightly coating the lens) is breathtaking. She’s just the ‘girl-next-door’: if you live next to a palace that is! And yet (with Kelly 21 years Stewart’s junior) she’s just “too perfect” for L.B. , who feels (against her protestations) that she’s ‘too girly’ to hack the life of a war photographer on the road. The mysogeny, common for the day, is gasp-making: “If a girl’s pretty enough, she just has to ‘be'” intones Stewart, to no howls of protest or throwing of saucepans! In fact Kelly is greatly encouraged: “Preview of coming attractions” purrs Kelly, flaunting what she has around the apartment in a negligee.
These scenes though are rather overlong and somewhat get in the way of the murder mystery plot-line. Things really start to warm up when a death occurs, to piercing screams in the night: “Which one of you did it?” shouts a woman to the neighbourhood, as everything – momentarily – stops. “WHICH ONE OF YOU DID IT?”. Given your emotional involvement in the ongoing voyeurism, it’s hard as a viewer not to feel discomforted…. (“well, it wasn’t me”…. shifts uneasily in the seat).
From then on, Hitchcock proceeds to pile on suspenseful jolt after jolt, with first Lisa and then L.B. placed in harms way. While the perpetrator may seem clueless and incompetent, as most murderers of passion probably are, the denouement is satisfying, with a great trial use of green-screen ‘falling’ that would be perfected by Hitchcock for “Vertigo” four years later.
What’s curious for such as classic is that there are a number of fluffed lines in the piece: with two notable ones by Stewart and Kelly. Hitchcock was the master of long and uninterrupted takes, but did he not believe in re-shooting scenes when such errors occurred? Most odd.
Although tighter and more claustrophobic that some of his better known films, this is a firm favourite of mine. If you’ve never seen it, its well worth you checking out.
rw-poster
In one pan around his small apartment, and without a word of dialogue required, Hitchcock deftly fills in all the back-story you need: Stewart plays ace photo-journalist L.B. Jefferies, laid up from jetting the world to worn-torn regions by a broken leg in a full-cast with only his courtyard view to entertain him. In sweltering summer temperatures all the apartments are open to the elements, so he can be well entertained by the menagerie before him: “Miss Torso”, the scantily-clad and frequently showering ballerina; a sculptress with an eye towards Henry Moore; a struggling composer (who has his clock wound by someone very familiar!); a newly-wedded bride threatening to wear out the groom; a salesman and his bed-ridden wife; a dog-loving and balcony-sleeping couple; and “Miss Lonelyhearts” – a hard-drinking spinster forced to create imaginary male dinner-guests.
Stewart plays his usual ‘Mr Ordinary’ watching perfectly ordinary goings on in a perfectly ordinary apartment block.
Or not. Jefferies is drawn to some odd-events in the apartment of the salesman (Raymond Burr, still 13 years before his career-defining role in TV’s “Ironside”). His rampant suspicions infect not only his cranky middle-aged physiotherapist Stella (Thelma Ritter) but also his perfect (“too perfect”) girlfriend, the fashion expert Lisa (Grace Kelly). Of course his police friend Doyle (Wendell Corey) is having none of it… there is no evidence of any crime being committed. And the “murdered” wife has been seen being put on a train by her husband, and is sending him letters from the countryside.
Is Jefferies just going stir-crazy? Or is there really something to it?
The set for this film is masterly. Although depicting a genuine location in New York’s Greenwich village the huge set was constructed on the Paramount lot in Hollywood, and you can just imagine the army of carpenters and artists building the multi-layered structure.
It’s one of the stars of the film, allowing for a wealth of detail to be populated: in the apartments; in the street behind; even in the cafe over the other side of the street. And it’s this detail that really makes what could be a highly static film come alive. There are a half dozen films-within-the-film going on at once, with Stewart’s character – and you as the fellow-voyeur – having a multi-pass to watch them all simultaneously.
And watch he does. As what could be perceived as a seriously pervy character – something he is called out on by Stella – Jeffries gets to see an eyeful in particular of the shapely and scantily-clad ballerina (Georgine Darcy, agent-less and only paid $350 for the role!). These scenes must have been deemed quite risque for the year of release.
Where the film rather falters is in the bickering romance between Stewart and Kelly. As a hot-blooded man, I will declare that even today Kelly’s first dream-like appearance (with Vaseline lightly coating the lens) is breathtaking. She’s just the ‘girl-next-door’: if you live next to a palace that is! And yet (with Kelly 21 years Stewart’s junior) she’s just “too perfect” for L.B. , who feels (against her protestations) that she’s ‘too girly’ to hack the life of a war photographer on the road. The mysogeny, common for the day, is gasp-making: “If a girl’s pretty enough, she just has to ‘be'” intones Stewart, to no howls of protest or throwing of saucepans! In fact Kelly is greatly encouraged: “Preview of coming attractions” purrs Kelly, flaunting what she has around the apartment in a negligee.
These scenes though are rather overlong and somewhat get in the way of the murder mystery plot-line. Things really start to warm up when a death occurs, to piercing screams in the night: “Which one of you did it?” shouts a woman to the neighbourhood, as everything – momentarily – stops. “WHICH ONE OF YOU DID IT?”. Given your emotional involvement in the ongoing voyeurism, it’s hard as a viewer not to feel discomforted…. (“well, it wasn’t me”…. shifts uneasily in the seat).
From then on, Hitchcock proceeds to pile on suspenseful jolt after jolt, with first Lisa and then L.B. placed in harms way. While the perpetrator may seem clueless and incompetent, as most murderers of passion probably are, the denouement is satisfying, with a great trial use of green-screen ‘falling’ that would be perfected by Hitchcock for “Vertigo” four years later.
What’s curious for such as classic is that there are a number of fluffed lines in the piece: with two notable ones by Stewart and Kelly. Hitchcock was the master of long and uninterrupted takes, but did he not believe in re-shooting scenes when such errors occurred? Most odd.
Although tighter and more claustrophobic that some of his better known films, this is a firm favourite of mine. If you’ve never seen it, its well worth you checking out.
Piper (13 KP) rated Halloween (2018) in Movies
Nov 27, 2019
Strong Characters (3 more)
Clever Camerawork
Myers is Finally Threatening Again
Callbacks and Subversions
"You're The New Doctor Loomis" (3 more)
Plot Holes
Predictable
Too Much Off-Screen Action
Halloween: Predictably Unpredictable
Contains spoilers, click to show
After the nightmare of a film that was Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake, I refused to bother seeing the new Halloween on its release, choosing instead to pick up a DVD when the price got knocked down significantly enough - after all, we’ve had sixty-three Halloween films now and only half of them were worth watching (really, Season of the Witch?) and this looked, in all honesty, like just another slasher-film-reboot that wasn’t worth the time. Now don’t get me wrong, it absolutely was just another slasher film, but I wish I’d seen it in the cinema. And a year earlier than I did, too, because I missed out big-time with this one.
The plot is predictable, because of course it is. It’s Michael Myers, what’s he going to do except escape from a mental institution and murder some people? But it’s beautifully subverted; some of the characters you might expect to last till the end die before the halfway mark, and while there are a fair amount who are clearly written in just to be killed minutes later, they contribute to some fine, gory moments, so it’s kind of okay. There’s no real heartbreaker here - everyone you really rooted for just about makes it, and everyone that was kind of a dick is killed. And that’s fine, because in a way this isn’t the kind of slasher where it matters who lives or dies. This is a film about preserving a legacy, or perhaps just making one, and it works. We’re told fairly early on that this is a direct sequel to the original Halloween (Myers’ death toll at the start of this version, apparently, is five, which matches the amount of kills he made in the first movie - as far as I’m aware, Myers has actually killed over 100 people in all the films combined, so this is a nice subtle way of telling us what to remember and what to ignore completely). Having said that, references are made throughout to previous films, the best of which is of course a callback to the infamous scene where Myers tumbles out of a window only for his body to completely disappear - this time it’s Laurie Strode who does the tumbling, and she very much intends to do a little vanishing act of her own, Michael, so keep an eye on - oh, no, you looked away, I wonder what’s happening down there!
Focusing on Laurie for a moment, Jamie Lee Curtis does an absolutely excellent job here. Age has given her character wisdom, paranoia, and a whole lot of guns, and the acting carries a huge amount of weight and strength with it. Having said that, there are a couple of moments where all of Laurie’s fear-induced calculations don’t seem to have quite worked out - why bother going to such extreme measures to protect your house, if the front door you’re standing behind is half glass? But that’s the thing about this movie - whatever you plan for, whatever you think Michael Myers is capable of, he’s stronger than you think, he’s far more terrifying than you remember, and right until the end, he’s here to remind you that nothing you can plan for will ever be enough. Of course, we never actually see him die (again) so here’s looking forward to the next sequel…
The cinematography is something to at least wonder over - settings and locations are used well and established with some wonderful wide shots, and some of the best scenes are those where the camera just stays in one place, at a very carefully-selected window for example, and watches. Two scenes are worth a particular mention; the first, in which we follow our two podcast-host characters to a gas station, seems fairly dull until Myers catches up to them, but if you watch the background carefully enough you’ll see he’s there all along, beating people up and murdering quite happily (swapping his prison jumpsuit for those traditional blues in the process). The second seems a little superficial, in the grand scheme of the movie, but it’s well-shot nonetheless - we watch, from that aforementioned window, as a woman hears about all the nasty things Michael might do, and of course we can see him through another window, heading for her front door, and when he finally appears inside the house he’s all the way across the room, somehow, and he calmly wanders on over and stabs the woman quite coolly through the throat, in a scene which I think is most reminiscent of the original films.
However, there are moments when you don’t see Michael at all, just the aftermath, or where we watch him enter a room and are forced to linger in the corridor while he does the dirty work. A couple of times that’s just fine, but considering the nature of the film it would be nice to watch the magic happen a couple more times. And while we’re on the negatives, I might mention that the reveal that the Doctor Loomis-type character who looked, felt, and sounded like a rip-off of Doctor Loomis, and was even referred to as “The New Doctor Loomis” did EXACTLY the same thing that Doctor Loomis did, surprise, and we were somehow expected to not see that coming like it was all one big, obvious, heavy-handed bluff. A couple of the other characters, too, felt like they were purely rammed in there to be irritating - there were a couple of strong scenes with our podcast hosts, but ultimately they were rude, on-the-nose and annoyingly egotistical, and I was happy to see them go, just like Alison’s friend Foggy Nelson.
The score, incidentally, is worth mentioning, from a haunting retune of the original Myers theme to darker and more dramatic variations on it later on that really would have been quite something to hear in surround-sound. I’m never usually one to appreciate the music of a film quite fully enough, so it was nice to have this grab my attention in quite the way it did. Overall, it’s a genuinely good follow-on that takes the best of the films before and makes the best use of the worst of them. Some of the characters might be a little annoying, some of the action could have translated better on-screen than off, but it was an honest and straight-up slasher film and it just wasn’t that bad at all.
The plot is predictable, because of course it is. It’s Michael Myers, what’s he going to do except escape from a mental institution and murder some people? But it’s beautifully subverted; some of the characters you might expect to last till the end die before the halfway mark, and while there are a fair amount who are clearly written in just to be killed minutes later, they contribute to some fine, gory moments, so it’s kind of okay. There’s no real heartbreaker here - everyone you really rooted for just about makes it, and everyone that was kind of a dick is killed. And that’s fine, because in a way this isn’t the kind of slasher where it matters who lives or dies. This is a film about preserving a legacy, or perhaps just making one, and it works. We’re told fairly early on that this is a direct sequel to the original Halloween (Myers’ death toll at the start of this version, apparently, is five, which matches the amount of kills he made in the first movie - as far as I’m aware, Myers has actually killed over 100 people in all the films combined, so this is a nice subtle way of telling us what to remember and what to ignore completely). Having said that, references are made throughout to previous films, the best of which is of course a callback to the infamous scene where Myers tumbles out of a window only for his body to completely disappear - this time it’s Laurie Strode who does the tumbling, and she very much intends to do a little vanishing act of her own, Michael, so keep an eye on - oh, no, you looked away, I wonder what’s happening down there!
Focusing on Laurie for a moment, Jamie Lee Curtis does an absolutely excellent job here. Age has given her character wisdom, paranoia, and a whole lot of guns, and the acting carries a huge amount of weight and strength with it. Having said that, there are a couple of moments where all of Laurie’s fear-induced calculations don’t seem to have quite worked out - why bother going to such extreme measures to protect your house, if the front door you’re standing behind is half glass? But that’s the thing about this movie - whatever you plan for, whatever you think Michael Myers is capable of, he’s stronger than you think, he’s far more terrifying than you remember, and right until the end, he’s here to remind you that nothing you can plan for will ever be enough. Of course, we never actually see him die (again) so here’s looking forward to the next sequel…
The cinematography is something to at least wonder over - settings and locations are used well and established with some wonderful wide shots, and some of the best scenes are those where the camera just stays in one place, at a very carefully-selected window for example, and watches. Two scenes are worth a particular mention; the first, in which we follow our two podcast-host characters to a gas station, seems fairly dull until Myers catches up to them, but if you watch the background carefully enough you’ll see he’s there all along, beating people up and murdering quite happily (swapping his prison jumpsuit for those traditional blues in the process). The second seems a little superficial, in the grand scheme of the movie, but it’s well-shot nonetheless - we watch, from that aforementioned window, as a woman hears about all the nasty things Michael might do, and of course we can see him through another window, heading for her front door, and when he finally appears inside the house he’s all the way across the room, somehow, and he calmly wanders on over and stabs the woman quite coolly through the throat, in a scene which I think is most reminiscent of the original films.
However, there are moments when you don’t see Michael at all, just the aftermath, or where we watch him enter a room and are forced to linger in the corridor while he does the dirty work. A couple of times that’s just fine, but considering the nature of the film it would be nice to watch the magic happen a couple more times. And while we’re on the negatives, I might mention that the reveal that the Doctor Loomis-type character who looked, felt, and sounded like a rip-off of Doctor Loomis, and was even referred to as “The New Doctor Loomis” did EXACTLY the same thing that Doctor Loomis did, surprise, and we were somehow expected to not see that coming like it was all one big, obvious, heavy-handed bluff. A couple of the other characters, too, felt like they were purely rammed in there to be irritating - there were a couple of strong scenes with our podcast hosts, but ultimately they were rude, on-the-nose and annoyingly egotistical, and I was happy to see them go, just like Alison’s friend Foggy Nelson.
The score, incidentally, is worth mentioning, from a haunting retune of the original Myers theme to darker and more dramatic variations on it later on that really would have been quite something to hear in surround-sound. I’m never usually one to appreciate the music of a film quite fully enough, so it was nice to have this grab my attention in quite the way it did. Overall, it’s a genuinely good follow-on that takes the best of the films before and makes the best use of the worst of them. Some of the characters might be a little annoying, some of the action could have translated better on-screen than off, but it was an honest and straight-up slasher film and it just wasn’t that bad at all.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House in Books
Jan 10, 2018
Sensationalist yet frighteningly alluring
You're a moth to a flame reading this rather alarmingly captivating book by journalist Michael Wolff. At times you question which are facts and which are fiction thanks to a bombardment of fake news by the Trump administration. And while Fire and Fury does sound satirical due to the surreal nature of the entire book, much of it can be sadly backed up by what we have seen.
Wolff seeks to fill in the gaps between the various tweets and public appearances made by the U.S. president during the last 13 months, the rash decisions and the thinking behind the bizarre rants. But more than anything, this book seems to explain the Trump brand, and everyone who has become a prime role in marketing it, especially Trump's ex-right hand man Steve Bannon and his family Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner. Their position is explained to be the 'puppet masters', in which unlike any other U.S. government - policies are dictated and "trickled upwards".
In this, Trump is described as 'post-literate', unable to read or concentrate on anything that doesn't interest him, petulant like a child, and disturbingly vacuous. This is less shocking than expected. However, the claims made in the book range from covert connections with the Russians ahead of the elections in great detail, to 'allowing' former head of the FBI, James Comey, to stay in power so that would did not investigate internal affairs - allegedly confirmed by Bannon.
Other less explosive statements include Trump's inner circle reportedly saying how ridiculously stupid he is, which he has recently refuted by saying he is a "stable genius". Overall, an incredibly readable book mostly corroborating what liberals and non-Trump supporters believe.
Wolff seeks to fill in the gaps between the various tweets and public appearances made by the U.S. president during the last 13 months, the rash decisions and the thinking behind the bizarre rants. But more than anything, this book seems to explain the Trump brand, and everyone who has become a prime role in marketing it, especially Trump's ex-right hand man Steve Bannon and his family Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner. Their position is explained to be the 'puppet masters', in which unlike any other U.S. government - policies are dictated and "trickled upwards".
In this, Trump is described as 'post-literate', unable to read or concentrate on anything that doesn't interest him, petulant like a child, and disturbingly vacuous. This is less shocking than expected. However, the claims made in the book range from covert connections with the Russians ahead of the elections in great detail, to 'allowing' former head of the FBI, James Comey, to stay in power so that would did not investigate internal affairs - allegedly confirmed by Bannon.
Other less explosive statements include Trump's inner circle reportedly saying how ridiculously stupid he is, which he has recently refuted by saying he is a "stable genius". Overall, an incredibly readable book mostly corroborating what liberals and non-Trump supporters believe.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Sons of Thunder (Brothers in Arms Collection) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
I loved the concept of Sons of Thunder. It had great potential and I’ve seen tons of five-star reviews for it. Sadly it didn’t meet my expectations.
I had a hard time reading it for a few reasons. One was the writing. It had a sort of funny style. It was as if short dramatic phrases were placed at the end of a paragraph, but the phrases were not dramatic in any way, nor were the necessary. It made the whole thing feel awkward. It was also hard to follow and I got confused a lot.
The second was the romance. I immediately saw and understood how Markos looked at Sofia. But their relationship jumped around from courteous to in-love to friends to not-talking, and I couldn’t understand where they actually stood or how they saw each other. It was like a whole first chunk of their relationship was missing from the book. There was no connection to the characters.
Third, I didn’t like the Chicago club stuff at all. It turned me off right away.
As I mentioned above I didn’t finish Sons of Thunder. There was nothing compelling me to continue, there wasn’t any plot, and the characters were beginning to aggravate me and I didn’t connect with them. I skipped to the very last page just to see what happened, and was not surprised to see that exactly what I thought would happen, did happen.
I was very disappointed by Sons of Thunder, especially considering all the five star reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. I really wish I had loved it, but I must share my 100% honest opinion. Please know that I and the few other readers who didn’t like it are the minority by a landslide. I hope you’ll consider other reviews before you make a decision.
I had a hard time reading it for a few reasons. One was the writing. It had a sort of funny style. It was as if short dramatic phrases were placed at the end of a paragraph, but the phrases were not dramatic in any way, nor were the necessary. It made the whole thing feel awkward. It was also hard to follow and I got confused a lot.
The second was the romance. I immediately saw and understood how Markos looked at Sofia. But their relationship jumped around from courteous to in-love to friends to not-talking, and I couldn’t understand where they actually stood or how they saw each other. It was like a whole first chunk of their relationship was missing from the book. There was no connection to the characters.
Third, I didn’t like the Chicago club stuff at all. It turned me off right away.
As I mentioned above I didn’t finish Sons of Thunder. There was nothing compelling me to continue, there wasn’t any plot, and the characters were beginning to aggravate me and I didn’t connect with them. I skipped to the very last page just to see what happened, and was not surprised to see that exactly what I thought would happen, did happen.
I was very disappointed by Sons of Thunder, especially considering all the five star reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. I really wish I had loved it, but I must share my 100% honest opinion. Please know that I and the few other readers who didn’t like it are the minority by a landslide. I hope you’ll consider other reviews before you make a decision.
Dana (24 KP) rated The Princess Diarist in Books
Mar 23, 2018
I want to start off by saying that I was so saddened to hear about Carrie's passing. She was a childhood hero of mine, so to see that she was gone was devastating.
Carrie Fisher was a brilliant woman, but like was not always kind to her. She battled with addiction, depression, and so many other things, but I would have never guessed it.
It was interesting to actually read what she thought of herself when she was younger. With her self worth and self-esteem issues, it was very easy to identify with her journal pages. Now, having read the whole book, I know she would tell me to buck up and don't give a damn about what other people think of me. Which is something I am trying to do now. It honestly hurt to read these things because I can see myself in these pages. People are so quick to put these famous people on pedestals and forget that they are human too. I can say that I did the same thing.
Yes, we get information on her affair with Harrison, but I don't necessarily want to get into that. If you want information on it, feel free to pick up the book.
We also get an understanding of how fame affected her. She often speaks of her own mortality, talking about how people will see her after her death. Many of these things have already started happening. For example, she talked about how she would be forever immortalized by her pictures as Princess Leia with those buns she hated so much. Oh, and she loved fan interactions because it showed why her work was important to others.
I loved reading this book and I am going to pick up some of her other biographies.
Carrie Fisher was a brilliant woman, but like was not always kind to her. She battled with addiction, depression, and so many other things, but I would have never guessed it.
It was interesting to actually read what she thought of herself when she was younger. With her self worth and self-esteem issues, it was very easy to identify with her journal pages. Now, having read the whole book, I know she would tell me to buck up and don't give a damn about what other people think of me. Which is something I am trying to do now. It honestly hurt to read these things because I can see myself in these pages. People are so quick to put these famous people on pedestals and forget that they are human too. I can say that I did the same thing.
Yes, we get information on her affair with Harrison, but I don't necessarily want to get into that. If you want information on it, feel free to pick up the book.
We also get an understanding of how fame affected her. She often speaks of her own mortality, talking about how people will see her after her death. Many of these things have already started happening. For example, she talked about how she would be forever immortalized by her pictures as Princess Leia with those buns she hated so much. Oh, and she loved fan interactions because it showed why her work was important to others.
I loved reading this book and I am going to pick up some of her other biographies.
Debbie (52 KP) rated A Skeleton in the Family (Family Skeleton Mystery #1) in Books
Aug 9, 2018
A Skeleton in the Family By: Leigh Perry
Cozy Mystery 291 pages
Takes place in Penny Cross, Massachusetts
This is a mystery novel so I won't be going into much detail. I don't want to spoil anything.
This book is about a college Professor, Georgia, who hasn't been able to hold down a position for more than a year at time. Her boss's always want her to write a book but she can never find time with all she has to do.. She is a single mom of a teenage daughter, Madison.
She has received a teaching job at her hometown college where her parents teach. Her parents have tenured at this college and have taken a sabbatical for the semester. She moves back home to help with her finances.
Her daughter doesn't know that the family has a secret. That secret is the living, walking, talking skeleton called Sid. Sid followed Georgia home one day when she was 6 years old. He has been with them since. Sid doesn't want Madison to know that he is around. He does everything to keep himself away from her.
One day Sid talks Georgia into letting him out and have a little fun. He goes in disguise. He sees and recognizes someone while he out. This starts him to remember some of his pass but not enough. So they decide to start finding who he really is and what happened to him.
Who is Sid? Where did he come from? Why is he able to walk and talk? What happened to him?
All of questions are answered in this book. This is a good book and a fun mystery. I recommend that you give it try.
Cozy Mystery 291 pages
Takes place in Penny Cross, Massachusetts
This is a mystery novel so I won't be going into much detail. I don't want to spoil anything.
This book is about a college Professor, Georgia, who hasn't been able to hold down a position for more than a year at time. Her boss's always want her to write a book but she can never find time with all she has to do.. She is a single mom of a teenage daughter, Madison.
She has received a teaching job at her hometown college where her parents teach. Her parents have tenured at this college and have taken a sabbatical for the semester. She moves back home to help with her finances.
Her daughter doesn't know that the family has a secret. That secret is the living, walking, talking skeleton called Sid. Sid followed Georgia home one day when she was 6 years old. He has been with them since. Sid doesn't want Madison to know that he is around. He does everything to keep himself away from her.
One day Sid talks Georgia into letting him out and have a little fun. He goes in disguise. He sees and recognizes someone while he out. This starts him to remember some of his pass but not enough. So they decide to start finding who he really is and what happened to him.
Who is Sid? Where did he come from? Why is he able to walk and talk? What happened to him?
All of questions are answered in this book. This is a good book and a fun mystery. I recommend that you give it try.
Debbie (52 KP) rated My Heart Belongs In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in Books
Nov 2, 2018
My Heart Belongs In Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
By: Murray Pura
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc
Published Date: November 1, 2018
256 pages Christian, Romance
#MyHeartBelongsInGettysburgPennsylvania
#NetGalley
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I greatly enjoyed this book. I gave this book 4 stars. I love history and this book was about the civil war one of my favorite subjects.
Clarissa is a 19 year old girl who has a lot of spunk and energy. She is a conductor on the underground railroad. She has a love interest in Kyle and Liberty. She doesn't know which one to choose. She likes both in different ways. Liberty is also on the underground railroad but she doesn't know what he looks like because he always wears a hood over his head. Kyle is studying to be a clergyman. When the war breaks out she is upset that Kyle won't join the army instead he stays behinds and helps the head clergyman.
During one of the underground escapes with Liberty they are caught and Liberty gets hurt. Who is Liberty? Why does he hide his face? What happens to Kyle? You need to read the book to find out.
Clarissa has some more adventures during the war. At the beginning of the book I didn't like her but throughout the story she grows and learns, which makes her a better person.
I was able to figure out a few things that happen in the book fairly quickly so it brought down my rating just a little. The author did a great job on the history. I would recommended this book for those who love history and a romance story.
By: Murray Pura
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc
Published Date: November 1, 2018
256 pages Christian, Romance
#MyHeartBelongsInGettysburgPennsylvania
#NetGalley
<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/9a41056d7201c045d3f9e5c161f9569494687ae1"; width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>
I greatly enjoyed this book. I gave this book 4 stars. I love history and this book was about the civil war one of my favorite subjects.
Clarissa is a 19 year old girl who has a lot of spunk and energy. She is a conductor on the underground railroad. She has a love interest in Kyle and Liberty. She doesn't know which one to choose. She likes both in different ways. Liberty is also on the underground railroad but she doesn't know what he looks like because he always wears a hood over his head. Kyle is studying to be a clergyman. When the war breaks out she is upset that Kyle won't join the army instead he stays behinds and helps the head clergyman.
During one of the underground escapes with Liberty they are caught and Liberty gets hurt. Who is Liberty? Why does he hide his face? What happens to Kyle? You need to read the book to find out.
Clarissa has some more adventures during the war. At the beginning of the book I didn't like her but throughout the story she grows and learns, which makes her a better person.
I was able to figure out a few things that happen in the book fairly quickly so it brought down my rating just a little. The author did a great job on the history. I would recommended this book for those who love history and a romance story.
Micky Barnard (542 KP) rated Gilded Cage in Books
Jan 26, 2019 (Updated Jan 26, 2019)
Disappointing
This was a book with big aspirations but patchy execution. I thought I was getting into some kind of dystopia with 'special skilled people'. On the one hand, that's what I got, on the other it was much more than this, almost too much of many other things. This is a hugely political read, which I am not adverse to but it was inherently confusing due to an overly large cast of characters, many of similar importance; I didn't know where to place my focus.
The start to the book is gentle (post-prologue), introducing a family who are about to do their ten years time in subservience. Hierarchy is the name of the game in GILDED CAGE and if you're not skilled then you have to forfeit your rights as a person and serve the skilled for ten years in slavedays. This family were from Manchester and as a Mancunian myself, I was piqued at this facet to the book. Manchester had a slaveday town called Millsmoor and this was described as a dark, pre-industrial revolution kind of inhuman place; definitely a contrast to life outside.
Lots about this book interested me, the Equals (skilled) and their way of life. What I found was that almost all of the Equals in this book were obnoxious in one way or another. There was no upstairs/downstairs feel to the story, despite some suggestion of kind dispositions. Do not get me started on the sadomasochistic keeping of a man-dog.
Whilst this is the first book in a trilogy and there is much more to come, the story did not weave together for me at all. I don't feel invested enough to continue with the rest of the series.
I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.
The start to the book is gentle (post-prologue), introducing a family who are about to do their ten years time in subservience. Hierarchy is the name of the game in GILDED CAGE and if you're not skilled then you have to forfeit your rights as a person and serve the skilled for ten years in slavedays. This family were from Manchester and as a Mancunian myself, I was piqued at this facet to the book. Manchester had a slaveday town called Millsmoor and this was described as a dark, pre-industrial revolution kind of inhuman place; definitely a contrast to life outside.
Lots about this book interested me, the Equals (skilled) and their way of life. What I found was that almost all of the Equals in this book were obnoxious in one way or another. There was no upstairs/downstairs feel to the story, despite some suggestion of kind dispositions. Do not get me started on the sadomasochistic keeping of a man-dog.
Whilst this is the first book in a trilogy and there is much more to come, the story did not weave together for me at all. I don't feel invested enough to continue with the rest of the series.
I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated This Little Piggy in Books
Jan 27, 2020
This is another book that has been on my "to be read" pile since 2015!! I really have no excuse!
Set in the North East of England in 1984 at the height of the miners' strike, this is a story that captivated me from the start.
A baby is dead under suspicious circumstances and Clare is tasked with reporting the story but as she does so, she becomes embroiled in the life of a young girl (Amy) who seems to have seen what happened but can what she is saying be trusted or is she just making things up? Clare has her own baggage both in her personal and working life and this is well depicted and explored making her believable but some of her choices questionable. The development of the relationship between Clare and Amy felt authentic for the time the book was set it ... I don't think you would have got away with this had this been set in a later time period.
The book is told from Clare's perspective and this was a refreshing change as it gave a different insight into a murder "investigation" from someone other than a Police Officer. The backdrop of the miners' strike and the run-down estate created additional tension and unease throughout. The pace of the book was good if a little slow in places and I did work out quite early on who the murderer was but found it interesting to see how the story developed and was surprised how long it took for others to work it out!
Overall, a pretty good read and I want to thank Legend Press and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review but also apologise to them for taking so long to get round to it.
Set in the North East of England in 1984 at the height of the miners' strike, this is a story that captivated me from the start.
A baby is dead under suspicious circumstances and Clare is tasked with reporting the story but as she does so, she becomes embroiled in the life of a young girl (Amy) who seems to have seen what happened but can what she is saying be trusted or is she just making things up? Clare has her own baggage both in her personal and working life and this is well depicted and explored making her believable but some of her choices questionable. The development of the relationship between Clare and Amy felt authentic for the time the book was set it ... I don't think you would have got away with this had this been set in a later time period.
The book is told from Clare's perspective and this was a refreshing change as it gave a different insight into a murder "investigation" from someone other than a Police Officer. The backdrop of the miners' strike and the run-down estate created additional tension and unease throughout. The pace of the book was good if a little slow in places and I did work out quite early on who the murderer was but found it interesting to see how the story developed and was surprised how long it took for others to work it out!
Overall, a pretty good read and I want to thank Legend Press and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review but also apologise to them for taking so long to get round to it.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Sell Low, Sweet Harriet in Books
Jan 2, 2020
A Killer on Base and a Challenging Estate Sale
In the middle of a cold January, Fitch Air Force Base is rocked by the murder of one of the servicemen’s wives. Sarah Winston knew the victim slightly since they both volunteered at the base’s thrift shop. When Sarah is asked to help the police by listening, and only listening, and sharing what she learns, she agrees. But can she keep it to just listening? Meanwhile, since January is slow for Sarah’s garage sale business, she is thrilled when someone contacts her about holding an estate sale. The woman’s parents were retired CIA and had traveled the globe, so the house is filled with all sorts of treasures. But Sarah soon concludes someone is after something hidden in the house. Can she figure out what it is?
While the garage sale is really a sub-plot, it is a strong sub-plot and we spend almost as much time there as we do with the murder. I did feel the plot got a bit distracted early on, but it didn’t last for long, and that might have been me more than the book. Even then, I was pulled into the story, and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The ending made perfect sense when Sarah figured it all out. Sarah has surrounded herself with a great group of friends and neighbors, and I was thrilled to spend time with each of them again. The new characters are strong as well. There are several sub-plots that allow the supporting characters chances to shine. We even get a couple of funny moments that just might make you laugh at loud. Each book in this series is a delight, and this is another adventure sure to please Sarah’s fans.
While the garage sale is really a sub-plot, it is a strong sub-plot and we spend almost as much time there as we do with the murder. I did feel the plot got a bit distracted early on, but it didn’t last for long, and that might have been me more than the book. Even then, I was pulled into the story, and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The ending made perfect sense when Sarah figured it all out. Sarah has surrounded herself with a great group of friends and neighbors, and I was thrilled to spend time with each of them again. The new characters are strong as well. There are several sub-plots that allow the supporting characters chances to shine. We even get a couple of funny moments that just might make you laugh at loud. Each book in this series is a delight, and this is another adventure sure to please Sarah’s fans.