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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Bailey's Day in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Bailey's Day by Robert Haggerty, illustrated by Bobbi Switzer
Genre: Kids
Rating: 1
I loved reading Bailey's Day, it was really cute and funny, had fun illustrations, and fun animals. I loved Bailey's character. She was a perky little dog who spent all day running around the neighborhood with her friends and having a good ol' time… until the end.
At the end of the story… Bailey get's scolded for going out and running around the neighborhood all day. I expected her to be sad and say "yes master" to her owner, and then realize that having fun wasn't worth it if she disobeyed her "daddy," or maybe that obedience was more important… or something... she didn't. She laid down on her bed, perfectly at ease, and knew her "daddy" (owner) was a "softie" and that he'd get over it, and that she'd have fun tomorrow too. My jaw dropped as I read that last page.
This totally ruined an adorable story. Kids fiction should have good examples to follow, and bad examples to learn from with the lesson clearly stated, but this one makes it look like disobedience and disregard and disrespect are perfectly ok if you can get away with it. I am sorry to say that I cannot recommend it to anyone for this reason.
Genre: Kids
Rating: 1
I loved reading Bailey's Day, it was really cute and funny, had fun illustrations, and fun animals. I loved Bailey's character. She was a perky little dog who spent all day running around the neighborhood with her friends and having a good ol' time… until the end.
At the end of the story… Bailey get's scolded for going out and running around the neighborhood all day. I expected her to be sad and say "yes master" to her owner, and then realize that having fun wasn't worth it if she disobeyed her "daddy," or maybe that obedience was more important… or something... she didn't. She laid down on her bed, perfectly at ease, and knew her "daddy" (owner) was a "softie" and that he'd get over it, and that she'd have fun tomorrow too. My jaw dropped as I read that last page.
This totally ruined an adorable story. Kids fiction should have good examples to follow, and bad examples to learn from with the lesson clearly stated, but this one makes it look like disobedience and disregard and disrespect are perfectly ok if you can get away with it. I am sorry to say that I cannot recommend it to anyone for this reason.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated The Good Girl's Guide to Murder (Debutante Dropout, #2) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first in the series, Blue Blood. The mystery was okay, but it was a very slow start and took over one-hundred pages for the book to actually get anywhere, and I began to get bored and wondered if I could continue. This could have been accomplished in maybe twenty or thirty pages. Luckily for the author, I persevered. Also some research and editing could have been done. For example, if Andy had ever been interested in animal rights, which she was, she would know that Iams tests on animals and wouldn't buy any to donate. The author should have just said bags of cat/dog food instead. Another thing, I've never heard of knitting a crocheted throw blanket - there's crocheting and there's knitting - they're two different things. I should know since I crochet myself and am into animal rights. Just little things that should have been edited. Otherwise, the mystery was, again, easy to figure out, and the book ended almost the same as the last one. I sincerely hope the others don't follow in the same pattern. Still, after I got to the meat of the story, it was light, fast, and easy to read, but ended up a disappointment after the debut of this series.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
Rickey A. Mossow Jr. (689 KP) rated Pet Sematary (2019) in Movies
May 19, 2019
Twists on the original keep viewers guessing (1 more)
Visually better
Characters are skeletal with little development (1 more)
Filmmakers add so much it changes the concept of the story
Good if you don't know the source material or the original film.
The keys to a good remake are to not forget the original or the source material, update the story, and hold true to the values of the predecessors. While this remake captures the basic outline of King's novel and the original movie, it also makes several changes. Firstly, it adds several twists to the original plot line, which are excusable to keep viewers guessing and to separate the movie from the original. What frustrates, however, is that the filmmakers added so much. These additions skewed the very deep and visceral meanings and themes of King's book and the original movie. Rather than being a horror-filled contemplation on the complexity of loss and grief, it settled on jump scares, gore, and the creepiness of violent kids and animals. The characters are skeletal at best with no real depth or development in the film. In 2019, when you try to remake things, they have to be great. While this was a decent film if you ignore the book and the previous film, this effort fell far short of anything near great.
Ande Thomas (69 KP) rated White Fang in Books
May 30, 2019
I appreciate this book; I just don't like it.
Jack London is a unique breed. His voice is so distant, so separated from the subjects in his stories. In short bursts (<i>To Build a Fire</i>) it works for me - there's a beauty in watching the action unfold from such a distance. So too is there a beauty in the way White Fang is portrayed in this book. With an absolute minimum of anthropomorphism, we can see and feel what White Fang experiences. This isn't a cartoon version of a wolf-turned-man's-best-friend. The animals don't talk, don't even think in the way we're accustomed to their thoughts when we try to imagine what goes through their minds. White Fang is a dog; nothing more. It just so happens that we hear the story from his perspective.
But. While I appreciate that sort of perspective, one I wouldn't dream of finding from any other author, I still found myself speeding through the book, and not out of excitement. I just wanted to get it done and move on. The dissociation from the characters, though necessary, can only get you so far. Eventually it dissociated me from the story itself. I'll always maintain that I like Jack London. I just...maybe...won't re-read him.
Jack London is a unique breed. His voice is so distant, so separated from the subjects in his stories. In short bursts (<i>To Build a Fire</i>) it works for me - there's a beauty in watching the action unfold from such a distance. So too is there a beauty in the way White Fang is portrayed in this book. With an absolute minimum of anthropomorphism, we can see and feel what White Fang experiences. This isn't a cartoon version of a wolf-turned-man's-best-friend. The animals don't talk, don't even think in the way we're accustomed to their thoughts when we try to imagine what goes through their minds. White Fang is a dog; nothing more. It just so happens that we hear the story from his perspective.
But. While I appreciate that sort of perspective, one I wouldn't dream of finding from any other author, I still found myself speeding through the book, and not out of excitement. I just wanted to get it done and move on. The dissociation from the characters, though necessary, can only get you so far. Eventually it dissociated me from the story itself. I'll always maintain that I like Jack London. I just...maybe...won't re-read him.
Little Concepts: ABC French: Take a fun journey through the alphabet and learn some French! by Daniel Roode is an alphabet book introducing mostly animal nouns A-Z based on their French words with the English noun below.
The illustrations are brightly colored and in a cartoon-like style kids should enjoy. This is a fairly good intro to French vocabulary. I say only fairly good because not all of the animals have their article before them and in French you've got to know if it is le or la to say it correctly. The description says there is a pronunciation guide, but it was not included in the preview so I can't comment on it. In addition, the pages for letters I, J, K, M, Q, R, V,W,X, and Y were also not included. I hope that this gets fixed before it is published; otherwise, it is a great introduction book to French.
If you're looking for a foreign language picture book or a different kind of alphabet book, this is a visually attractive option. I would love to have this added to my classroom/ school library.
I received this ARC from Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster, Jr. via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars. If it was not missing pages or information it would receive 5/5 stars.
The illustrations are brightly colored and in a cartoon-like style kids should enjoy. This is a fairly good intro to French vocabulary. I say only fairly good because not all of the animals have their article before them and in French you've got to know if it is le or la to say it correctly. The description says there is a pronunciation guide, but it was not included in the preview so I can't comment on it. In addition, the pages for letters I, J, K, M, Q, R, V,W,X, and Y were also not included. I hope that this gets fixed before it is published; otherwise, it is a great introduction book to French.
If you're looking for a foreign language picture book or a different kind of alphabet book, this is a visually attractive option. I would love to have this added to my classroom/ school library.
I received this ARC from Quarto Publishing Group – Walter Foster, Jr. via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars. If it was not missing pages or information it would receive 5/5 stars.
Addiction, thy name is Pinterest!!
Love this app. You literally can disappear forever if you aren't careful. Thousands of pins, from cute animals to how sew in a zipper. One of my Besties and I have been know to do joint "shopping" trips on Pinterest. We get on the app, and IM back and forth. We have said that life would be easier if the App makers would add their own chat program. Kind of like AOLs chat rooms but private. You could talk and share a rainy day away! We have sent recipes, baby ideas, etc. back and forth. Last year we planned my niece's wedding by creating a private board where all of us could pin and write our thought about how or what would work and why. It was great, because we are all spread out across the country, and this wsy we all felt included. So yes, I am very pro Pinterest. The only thing I do not like is people stealing others(Micheal Kors, Home decorators, etc) intellectual property and either not giving credit or claiming it for themselves.
Michael Packner (32 KP) rated Jurassic World (2015) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Returns a sense of wonder to the franchise. (5 more)
Brilliantly adresses plotholes and minor issues from previous installments.
Takes the next logical step in the series.
High quality dinosaur action.
New dinosaurs we haven't seen before.
Chris Pratt
This, at least in my opinion, is the second best film in the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World series. Just like the original, this installment returns that sense of wonder to the series by returning to the park setting. The dinosaurs are an attraction again rather than just dinosaurs living in the wild. People come from all over to see them and this time they've created a new species, the Indominus Rex. Sure it's corny, but the film acknowledges that and also plays on the fact that hybrid dinosaurs were the next logical step. I like the fact too that now that dinosaurs are no longer a new novelty in this universe that people have figured out it makes sense to train some of these animals from birth, hence the relationship between Owen and his Raptors. I like that if you're paying attention, you'll notice the film adresses plot holes from the previous films, especially the first one. This may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it. In my opinion this is the sequel we deserved from the very beginning.
Merissa (12906 KP) rated Frostfire (Kyndred, #3) in Books
Dec 17, 2018
This is, for me, by far the weakest book of the 3. I'm glad I've got it but it will be a while before I read this one again.
Lilah can 'speak' to the animals but suddenly, she can understand human thoughts too. Their powers were also unexplained, the descriptions between them often refers to heat and then his ice cold (the Frostfire of the title presumably) but this is again, never explained. Why can she do things with him and not by herself? The connection is never explained and so lost in the story. Her counterpart in this is a question mark in himself. Who is he? What's his past? Why are the Darkyn after him? Who the hero turns out to be is meaningless if you have not read Darkyn books and even then, as he is so characterless, it does not tie in at all with the earlier story. And how he is turned/not turned is not revealed at all.
There is a lot in this relatively small book but too confusing to be enjoyed. Maybe it will make more sense of a second reading but a really good book should pull the reader back a second time to appreciate the layers, not to simply understand what went on in the first place.
Lilah can 'speak' to the animals but suddenly, she can understand human thoughts too. Their powers were also unexplained, the descriptions between them often refers to heat and then his ice cold (the Frostfire of the title presumably) but this is again, never explained. Why can she do things with him and not by herself? The connection is never explained and so lost in the story. Her counterpart in this is a question mark in himself. Who is he? What's his past? Why are the Darkyn after him? Who the hero turns out to be is meaningless if you have not read Darkyn books and even then, as he is so characterless, it does not tie in at all with the earlier story. And how he is turned/not turned is not revealed at all.
There is a lot in this relatively small book but too confusing to be enjoyed. Maybe it will make more sense of a second reading but a really good book should pull the reader back a second time to appreciate the layers, not to simply understand what went on in the first place.
Anne (15117 KP) rated The Belles: The Belles Book 1 in Books
Nov 4, 2019
Well it sounds like there are some others who felt the same way as I did about this book.
It was hard to rate it and chose 3 because of the mixed feelings. It was very slow going - I made it halfway through and then stopped for a day or two and debated whether I wanted to or could finish it or not.
There’s a lot of heavy subject matter in here underneath the pretty stuff and in between the fun and interesting things. I don’t usually like or read this dark of a book much and it was a bit of a challenge for me in parts because I don’t handle reading about deaths or harming animals that well all the time - it can be hard to stomach depending on the details and who dies etc. There were also a lot of other things that bothered me or like some others mentioned maybe should have had a bit more warning before reading it. I also was not happy with the part where Alfred tried to attack and get some action during his beauty treatment.
As some others mentioned in their reviews, some of us readers perhaps more than others need to tread lightly when considering and/or reading this. I don’t know that I’ll be reading the next in this series. This book wasn’t really a good fit for me.
It was hard to rate it and chose 3 because of the mixed feelings. It was very slow going - I made it halfway through and then stopped for a day or two and debated whether I wanted to or could finish it or not.
There’s a lot of heavy subject matter in here underneath the pretty stuff and in between the fun and interesting things. I don’t usually like or read this dark of a book much and it was a bit of a challenge for me in parts because I don’t handle reading about deaths or harming animals that well all the time - it can be hard to stomach depending on the details and who dies etc. There were also a lot of other things that bothered me or like some others mentioned maybe should have had a bit more warning before reading it. I also was not happy with the part where Alfred tried to attack and get some action during his beauty treatment.
As some others mentioned in their reviews, some of us readers perhaps more than others need to tread lightly when considering and/or reading this. I don’t know that I’ll be reading the next in this series. This book wasn’t really a good fit for me.
Leah Lopez (7 KP) rated Buster: The Military Dog Who Saved a Thousand Lives in Books
Nov 6, 2019
I have to be honest and say I am not one for reading books based on animals/pets.
However, with my current research on British/American forces I thought it would be a good idea; given the fact I have/had no knowledge of dog/handler in the forces. It was such a great read. After reading heavy books based on Afghanistan/Iraq about Soldiers being shot at, severely wounded, and sometimes being blown up, it was good to read an easy-reading book. The chemistry between Will and Buster was well addressed; Will's narration on Buster's emotions was both funny and warm. I was actually falling in love with a dog I hadn't met. But, this journey, although it was based on Buster, wouldn't have succeeded had the chemistry and understanding not have being as blunt. Will Barrow is clearly a dog lover and to work alongside a dog with as much as energy is a bonus. I am glad they made it back to England without neither been injured.
I did notice that quite a lot of the reviews claim this book to be "boring" without "much happening (action)."
Well, I can assure you, it is much more of a pleasure in reading this book, having a happy journey and ending, than reading those whose lives have changed drastically and/or ended.
However, with my current research on British/American forces I thought it would be a good idea; given the fact I have/had no knowledge of dog/handler in the forces. It was such a great read. After reading heavy books based on Afghanistan/Iraq about Soldiers being shot at, severely wounded, and sometimes being blown up, it was good to read an easy-reading book. The chemistry between Will and Buster was well addressed; Will's narration on Buster's emotions was both funny and warm. I was actually falling in love with a dog I hadn't met. But, this journey, although it was based on Buster, wouldn't have succeeded had the chemistry and understanding not have being as blunt. Will Barrow is clearly a dog lover and to work alongside a dog with as much as energy is a bonus. I am glad they made it back to England without neither been injured.
I did notice that quite a lot of the reviews claim this book to be "boring" without "much happening (action)."
Well, I can assure you, it is much more of a pleasure in reading this book, having a happy journey and ending, than reading those whose lives have changed drastically and/or ended.