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Letters to Laura
Letters to Laura
Wesley Rivers | 2016 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+
10
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Letters to Laura is a set of letters, told from the heart with atypical honesty and bluntness, as recommended by a counsellor. They detail the feelings of a woman on the receiving end of a breakup and everything that entails. They are raw, angry, loving, and kind, basically all of the emotions that you will feel if you allow yourself.

There are so many points to this book that I could agree with, indeed some of the comments made, I've actually made myself. Some of them, I still feel to this day. There is no right or wrong way to work through a breakup, but the worst thing you can do is ignore it. The author of these letters puts it so much more distinctly than I ever could. There is a part where she talks about 'shrapnel' which is totally mind-blowing. I adored that part!

'This book' is not of the norm that is out there.
'This book' is different, in such a good way.
'This book' should make you think.
'This book' should make you look in your own mirror and see yourself honestly.
'This book' is one that you should keep and re-read! Highly recommended.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
May 22, 2016
  
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    Bad Piggies HD

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    From the creators of Angry Birds: a game from the PIGS’ point of view! OiNk! Build makeshift...

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Olivia Munn recommended Forrest Gump (1994) in Movies (curated)

 
Forrest Gump (1994)
Forrest Gump (1994)
1994 | Comedy, Drama, Romance

"Forrest Gump. That is the longest movie ever, but I will watch it as Forrest is learning how to walk, when his braces fall off of him; when he’s like, going through the swampy puddles of Vietnam; when he’s like, ping-ponging through China. I could watch that movie on Netflix or throw on a DVD, but I’ll end up sitting eight hours, watching it through commercials. I’m sitting there, like, “This is a lot, but I can’t leave. Forrest Gump is on!” “Yeah, you can watch it any time that you want.” “I know, but I’m gonna sit here through these commercials and watch Forrest Gump.” It is like the longest movie ever and becomes the longest movie ever when you sit there through commercials, but I’ll sit there through every stage of Forrest’s life. I will be there. It kind of feels like it needs no explanation because it’s Forrest Gump. I mean, there are so many stories in one, and it’s just so beautiful. You have a man who lives his life with only love and loyalty, loyalty for the ones he loves, and that’s what drives him. It’s so beautiful to watch how that all unfolds. That part at the end when he goes and he sees Jenny after all that time, back there towards the end, and then he’s this little boy and he’s like, “Is he smart or is he…” She’s like, “No, he’s really smart.” Then he goes and sits down next to him — which is a little, tiny Haley Joel Osment — but then they’re both watching the cartoons, and then they both turn their head and tilt it, and it’s just… It’s such a beautiful story, because at the end, you know, Jenny’s finally kind of gone through a life and exorcised all of her demons. She goes through this whole thing in her life, where she has this little boy, and only through love and wanting to take care of her child does she get her life together and reach back out to Forrest. It’s so beautiful at the end. She finally is there, but they don’t get much time together because she’s sick. Then at the end he’s got his little boy with him, and it’s just such a beautiful… It’s such a beautiful movie, and story, and you really feel like you’re with him through all these different stages of his life. The one thing that never changes is his heart. He never gets jaded like the rest of us. The rest of us in the world, we get jaded, we get hardened. Not “we,” but there’s a lot of people who go through the world and feel like they’ve been hurt, they’ve been betrayed, they’ve been beaten down, and so they’re allowed to live life angry, and you just have to give them a big old pass on being upset and angry, but that’s just the story we tell ourselves. S— happens to everybody, and a lot of s— happened to Forrest, but his heart never changed. I think that’s a beautiful story and something we can all take with us."

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Cruel Beauty
Cruel Beauty
Rosamund Hodge | 2014 | Young Adult (YA)
9
8.5 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
After reading Bright Smoke, Cold Fire I knew I HAD to find more Rosamund Hodge. She has a fantastic flair for taking fairy tales (or Shakespeare!) and twisting them into something darker but more realistic. Cruel Beauty is a twist on Beauty and the Beast, but this is no Stockholm Syndrome-suffering Beauty. She is resentful, and bitter, and angry at her father for subjecting her to this. She has trained her entire life to go to the Beast and destroy him, even if it means destroying herself too. What she find at the castle is nothing like what she expected, though, and neither is she what Hodge's Beast expects. Watching these two bitter, mocking characters dance around each other to get to the bottom of the curse and what actually happened to their world is engrossing and beautiful.

I couldn't put this book down once I started it, and I've already started Crimson Bound (Little Red Riding Hood), the next book in the same world. There's also a novella, Gilded Ashes (Cinderella), that I should snag a copy of.

The world is lovely and evocative, with gods and Forest Lords and Demons who actively participate in the world and grant wishes and make deals. It's a little bit Rumpelstiltskin, a little Fairy Godmother, a little Greek mythology, and all Rosamund Hodge. She's got talent, and writes my favorite micro-genre SO WELL.

If you like dark fairy tales, read this and then everything else Rosamund Hodge has written. It's excellent!

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
  
R(
Return (Redemption, #3)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This prodigal-son-returns-home story is one of my absolute favorites of Ms. Kingsbury's Baxter family books. Luke's character is the baby of the family, and she chiseled him so well in these stories. I was so excited years ago when I learned he had a book where his story was center. I loved revisiting him!

What would you feel like if everything you ever believed in was ripped away in one tragic instant? That's what Luke battles and I was so angry with him for so long in this book! I found myself on more than one occasion wanting to throw the book across the room. But, in trademark Kingsbury fashion, she weaved messages of hope, forgiveness, understanding and acceptance into her pages, and it wrapped me up instantly. Luke's story is a powerful one and I will forever love it.

This book should be able to get more than a simple 5 star rating. This book is emotional, utterly raw and absolutely breathtaking. The characters are now your family, the lessons are yours. All of it wrap up to make one unforgettable novel in a sweep-you-off-your-feet series. Ms. Kingsbury's shelf is graced with Luke's story and when someone asks me my favorites, his will always be one of the first to slip off the shelf. Well done, once again, on another amazing addition to this incredible family story.
 
*I purchased this book for my personal collection. Cafinated Reads was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*
  
TM
The Measure of a Lady
4
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I love me some Deeanne Gist, but I have never had a novel make me as angry as this one.

Everything about this novel was so obnoxious and contradictory that I wanted to scream. Rachel is an overbearing sister who is trying to set a good example for them, but, in reality, she is just a control freak who has been uprooted from all she has ever known and clearly does not like change since she does not even try to adapt to her new surroundings. What makes her character even more frustrating is that she tends to break all the rules that she sets forth for her siblings, mainly her sister.

Her younger sister is a whole other can of worms. While the brother seems almost nonexistent in the novel, only appearing when needed for furthering the story, Rachel's sister has grasp onto to this new found freedom, since Rachel cannot control her because she is too busy breaking her rules for being a lady. The younger sister takes this freedom and runs with it, wreaking all sorts of havoc while her bad attitude ever increases.

Out of all of Gist's books, this seems to be the most sensual. In her other books, the relationship of the protagonists seems more important than their hormonal need for each other. I felt like I was reading an 80's romance novel with the way they lusted after each other.

I am giving it two starts only because of its one redeeming factor: Gist's lovely style.