Search
Search results
Daisy (166 KP) rated Sunsett Song in Books
May 15, 2017
Jonathan Rhys Meyers recommended Ivan The Terrible: Part I (1944) in Movies (curated)
David McK (3188 KP) rated Me Too (The Bandy Papers, #5) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Fifth entry in [a:Donald Jack|442728|Donald Jack|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s 'Bandy Papers', this is set back in Bandy's home country of Canada, prohibition era (so between World War 1 and World War 2), and sees the titular hero(?) getting involved in rum-running to the States before running for (and winning a seat in) parliament.
While perhaps not as consistently funny as the earlier entries in the series (maybe because of the subject matter of Candian politics? Maybe because that's foreign (forgive the pun) to us Europeans?), this still has its moments where it near made me laugh out loud - as such, this perhaps not the best choice to read when you're on a bus packed full of people!
While perhaps not as consistently funny as the earlier entries in the series (maybe because of the subject matter of Candian politics? Maybe because that's foreign (forgive the pun) to us Europeans?), this still has its moments where it near made me laugh out loud - as such, this perhaps not the best choice to read when you're on a bus packed full of people!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Lights out Liverpool (Pearl Street #1) in Books
Feb 26, 2023
22 of 235
Book
Lights out Liverpool (Pearl Street #1)
By Maureen Lee
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The folk of one small Liverpool street cope with the first year of World War II. They find the war affects each of them in a different way. One woman worries about her twin sons who are called up, another is liberated from a loveless marriage, whilst Jessica Fleming's life is changed irrevocably.
I love a good saga! This one kind of hit home with the start of WW2 and in comparison to what we are dealing with now and it’s quite frightening to think of what they were facing and the loss that was felt. It was a little heartwarming to read and have a break from my usual reads.
Book
Lights out Liverpool (Pearl Street #1)
By Maureen Lee
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The folk of one small Liverpool street cope with the first year of World War II. They find the war affects each of them in a different way. One woman worries about her twin sons who are called up, another is liberated from a loveless marriage, whilst Jessica Fleming's life is changed irrevocably.
I love a good saga! This one kind of hit home with the start of WW2 and in comparison to what we are dealing with now and it’s quite frightening to think of what they were facing and the loss that was felt. It was a little heartwarming to read and have a break from my usual reads.
Andy K (10821 KP) created a post in Movies are the shiz!
Apr 7, 2018
ClareR (5566 KP) rated So Much Life Left Over in Books
Sep 8, 2018
The aftermath of World War 1 in true de Bernieres style.
Louis de Bernieres has been one of my favourite authors ever since I stumbled across The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts in 1990. As soon as I see that he has a book coming out, I avidly wait until I can buy it, trying to get as much information about the subject matter as I can (yes, I'm a fan-girl). This novel has not disappointed me.
So Much Life Left Over takes us back in to the lives of Rosie and Daniel Pitt after the First World War has come to an end. We go as far as Ceylon, back to London and to Germany in the 1930's. We catch up with all of the characters that we first encountered in The Dust That Falls From Dreams (and if you haven't read that yet, you're seriously missing out), and learn about what happens to Rosie's sisters, parents and those that they have met along the way.
I love the dialogue in this book: it's punchy, quick-witted and emotional. The first of Oily Wragge's chapters (each chapter, when about a different person, is written from their perspective, sometimes in first person, sometimes in third person - but I like this. It seems so personal) haunting, terribly sad and filled with the violence and horror of war and being a prisoner of war.
Daniel and Wragge go to work in Germany, and set up a business with the two fighter pilots that Daniel captured in the war. Here we get a look at the Germany of the early 1930's: the poverty, deprivation, and Hitlers rise to power. Daniel correctly predicts another war.
However, the truly heart wrenching events happen in the last thirty pages or so. I strongly suggest you get your handkerchief ready. The emotion in these last pages is what really makes this a truly stand out book for me (if the rest of the book hadn't already been enough to do that!). The sensitivity in the way that the subject matter is handled, and the emotions that this invokes in the reader is so well done.
I would thoroughly recommend this novel, I so enjoyed it, and I will be looking forward to the last part of this story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
So Much Life Left Over takes us back in to the lives of Rosie and Daniel Pitt after the First World War has come to an end. We go as far as Ceylon, back to London and to Germany in the 1930's. We catch up with all of the characters that we first encountered in The Dust That Falls From Dreams (and if you haven't read that yet, you're seriously missing out), and learn about what happens to Rosie's sisters, parents and those that they have met along the way.
I love the dialogue in this book: it's punchy, quick-witted and emotional. The first of Oily Wragge's chapters (each chapter, when about a different person, is written from their perspective, sometimes in first person, sometimes in third person - but I like this. It seems so personal) haunting, terribly sad and filled with the violence and horror of war and being a prisoner of war.
Daniel and Wragge go to work in Germany, and set up a business with the two fighter pilots that Daniel captured in the war. Here we get a look at the Germany of the early 1930's: the poverty, deprivation, and Hitlers rise to power. Daniel correctly predicts another war.
However, the truly heart wrenching events happen in the last thirty pages or so. I strongly suggest you get your handkerchief ready. The emotion in these last pages is what really makes this a truly stand out book for me (if the rest of the book hadn't already been enough to do that!). The sensitivity in the way that the subject matter is handled, and the emotions that this invokes in the reader is so well done.
I would thoroughly recommend this novel, I so enjoyed it, and I will be looking forward to the last part of this story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Dean (6921 KP) rated The King's Man (2021) in Movies
Jan 31, 2022
Up and down pacing (1 more)
Different to the first two
A good entry to the series
Finally got around to watching this. I really liked the original and enjoyed the second. This takes a different direction being a prequel but also with less humour.
Based on events leading up to World War 1 as a Lord tries to use his influence and means to prevent conflict.
There are some great action scenes and fights but it doesn't have the humour of the other films. Quite odd at times, serious the next. It's a bit of a mixed bag. Plenty to enjoy but also a few surprises in one way or another.
Based on events leading up to World War 1 as a Lord tries to use his influence and means to prevent conflict.
There are some great action scenes and fights but it doesn't have the humour of the other films. Quite odd at times, serious the next. It's a bit of a mixed bag. Plenty to enjoy but also a few surprises in one way or another.
David McK (3188 KP) rated His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes in Books
May 5, 2024
So, 2 things:
1) I actually listened to the Stephen Fry presented Audible version of this (in between bouts of actually reading it)
2) I was expecting there to be an over-arching plot, similar to something like 'The Hounds of the Baskervilles'
With regards to #2, there isn't.
This, instead, hews closer to something like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in that it is presented as a series of more-or-less standalone cases, with the final one in the collection 'His Last Bow' and with that one set in the early 1910s, just before the outbreak of World War One, and in which Holmes comes out of retirement to solve one last case.
1) I actually listened to the Stephen Fry presented Audible version of this (in between bouts of actually reading it)
2) I was expecting there to be an over-arching plot, similar to something like 'The Hounds of the Baskervilles'
With regards to #2, there isn't.
This, instead, hews closer to something like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in that it is presented as a series of more-or-less standalone cases, with the final one in the collection 'His Last Bow' and with that one set in the early 1910s, just before the outbreak of World War One, and in which Holmes comes out of retirement to solve one last case.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Phoenix (Prophecy #1) in Books
May 11, 2020
76 of 200
Kindle
Phoenix ( THe Prophecy boom 1)
By Jessica Wayne
Anastasia Carter is plagued by nightmares of death and coming destruction.
Countless nights she's awoken coated in sweat, unable to shake the feeling that someone was coming for her.
But nightmares are just tricks of the mind, right?
Her world is turned upside-down when dreams become reality and a violent attack rips her away from the man she loves, landing her in a world parallel to her own.
In Terrenia, Anastasia must question everything she ever thought she knew.
As she struggles to come to terms with her new reality, she discovers she doesn't have much time. Terrenia is on the brink of a war that could easily destroy not only this world, but Earth as well, and only one person holds the key.
Anastasia must find the light within to defeat the darkness that comes for them all.It was actually really enjoyable to read. Straight forward very good writing and a world and characters to love and hate!
A bit predictable in places but that wasn’t a bad thing! The book flowed well!
I read a bit of Jessica Wayne when I read a collaboration with Meg Anne and knew I’d enjoy her books!
Kindle
Phoenix ( THe Prophecy boom 1)
By Jessica Wayne
Anastasia Carter is plagued by nightmares of death and coming destruction.
Countless nights she's awoken coated in sweat, unable to shake the feeling that someone was coming for her.
But nightmares are just tricks of the mind, right?
Her world is turned upside-down when dreams become reality and a violent attack rips her away from the man she loves, landing her in a world parallel to her own.
In Terrenia, Anastasia must question everything she ever thought she knew.
As she struggles to come to terms with her new reality, she discovers she doesn't have much time. Terrenia is on the brink of a war that could easily destroy not only this world, but Earth as well, and only one person holds the key.
Anastasia must find the light within to defeat the darkness that comes for them all.It was actually really enjoyable to read. Straight forward very good writing and a world and characters to love and hate!
A bit predictable in places but that wasn’t a bad thing! The book flowed well!
I read a bit of Jessica Wayne when I read a collaboration with Meg Anne and knew I’d enjoy her books!
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #1) in Books
Jun 4, 2023
72 of 235
Book
Dark Lover (Blackdagger Brotherhood 1)
By J.R Ward
Reread
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.
The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.
This is my first reread and I loved it more the second time round!! This series definitely need a second round!
Book
Dark Lover (Blackdagger Brotherhood 1)
By J.R Ward
Reread
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.
The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.
This is my first reread and I loved it more the second time round!! This series definitely need a second round!