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Modern Country: 'Inspiring Interiors for Contemporary Country Living
Book
Containing rarely seen images from the exclusive Cote Maison magazines, this sumptuous book brings...
UC
Uruguayan Cinema, 1960-2010
Book
Runner-up for the 2014 Publication Prize awarded by the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain...
Beat the Crowd: How You Can Out-Invest the Herd by Thinking Differently
Kenneth L. Fisher and Elisabeth Dellinger
Book
Train your brain to be a real contrarian and outsmart the crowd Beat the Crowd is the real...
Ian Fleming: A Personal Memoir
Book
With a foreword by Fiona MacCarthy OBE. This is Robert Harling's account of his close and enduring...
The Book Smugglers: Partisans, Poets, and the Race to Save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis
Book
The Book Smugglers is the nearly unbelievable story of ghetto residents who rescued thousands of...
history
ClareR (6054 KP) rated Haven’t They Grown in Books
Jan 23, 2020
A compelling story, with an unguessable ending - well, for me, anyway!
Haven’t They Grown starts off with what can only be described as a bizarre incident. Beth decides to go and see what her rich ex-best friend’s house looks like before she drops her son off at his football match - after all, its kind-of on the way. What she is confronted with though, is unbelievable: her friend, Flora, with her two children. Her two SMALL children. Which sounds perfectly normal, but the children look exactly the same as they did 12 years ago.
Beth becomes obsessed by this conundrum, and is determined to find out what is going on. Honestly, at several points I thought I might have picked up a science fiction novel, and there was going to be some rational, clone-based explanation (of course these kinds of explanations are ALWAYS rational in my world!). But there wasn’t. There is a perfectly TWISTED reason behind all of this (and you’ll have to read it to find out!). I didn’t for one moment guess the reason behind the ageless children.
Beth is a determined woman - luckily she seems to have a husband who backs down, supports her and lets her get on with it. Her daughter seems as persistent and driven as her mother - except for when her GCSE revision is involved. Living with a teenager in his final year at school, I can empathise with Beth here - my son will do anything to avoid his revision as well! But Beth’s daughter is a good sounding board for her, and pushes her to do things and ask people questions that her character probably wouldn’t have done on her own.
I really very much enjoyed this. The big reveal at the end completely floored me, and I most definitely hadn’t seen it coming. This is a great, entertaining story, and had me gripped throughout.
Many thanks to Readers First for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
Beth becomes obsessed by this conundrum, and is determined to find out what is going on. Honestly, at several points I thought I might have picked up a science fiction novel, and there was going to be some rational, clone-based explanation (of course these kinds of explanations are ALWAYS rational in my world!). But there wasn’t. There is a perfectly TWISTED reason behind all of this (and you’ll have to read it to find out!). I didn’t for one moment guess the reason behind the ageless children.
Beth is a determined woman - luckily she seems to have a husband who backs down, supports her and lets her get on with it. Her daughter seems as persistent and driven as her mother - except for when her GCSE revision is involved. Living with a teenager in his final year at school, I can empathise with Beth here - my son will do anything to avoid his revision as well! But Beth’s daughter is a good sounding board for her, and pushes her to do things and ask people questions that her character probably wouldn’t have done on her own.
I really very much enjoyed this. The big reveal at the end completely floored me, and I most definitely hadn’t seen it coming. This is a great, entertaining story, and had me gripped throughout.
Many thanks to Readers First for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
A loosely based modern retelling of the beloved 1939 classic book by Florence and Richard Atwater, Mr. Popper Penguin’s tells the story of Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) a successful New York real estate developer, who is focused on becoming a partner in his company.
One day Tom finds out his father has passed away and left him a gift. To his surprise he inherits six penguins (Captain, Loudy, Bitey, Stinky, Lovey and Nimrod) from his father. With a serious case of resentment towards his father’s absent role in his life and the hindrance it puts on his lifestyle and work.
Mr. Popper tries every avenue he possibly can to get rid of the penguins. Once the flock is introduced to his children, he realizes he has no choice but to keep them. As the movie progresses on, we see Mr. Popper bonding with the penguins, teaching them how dance, going to the potty and also learning from them how to be a better person. He realizes that there are more important things in life than work, money and power. He begins spending more time with his children and tries to rekindle his relationship with his ex wife, Amanda (Carla Gugino) and less time focused on work.
I tend to see a common thread in some of Jim Carrey’s characters; he plays a guy who neglects the people he loves because of his work, for example, Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty. In this movie, Carrey is back with his usual physical slapstick comedy, however Mr. Popper’s Penguins is definitely a toned down version of Carrey’s ever so hilarious Ace Ventura: Pet Detective role. You can’t help but laugh at the shenanigans and charm of these amazing penguins as well as Jim Carrey’s ability to find the humor in the most uncomfortable situations. If you can get past Mr. Popper’s assistant Pippi (Ophelia Lovibond) and her positively unpleasant practice of perpetually trying to use words that start with the letter P, there are some great laugh out loud moments the whole family will love.
One day Tom finds out his father has passed away and left him a gift. To his surprise he inherits six penguins (Captain, Loudy, Bitey, Stinky, Lovey and Nimrod) from his father. With a serious case of resentment towards his father’s absent role in his life and the hindrance it puts on his lifestyle and work.
Mr. Popper tries every avenue he possibly can to get rid of the penguins. Once the flock is introduced to his children, he realizes he has no choice but to keep them. As the movie progresses on, we see Mr. Popper bonding with the penguins, teaching them how dance, going to the potty and also learning from them how to be a better person. He realizes that there are more important things in life than work, money and power. He begins spending more time with his children and tries to rekindle his relationship with his ex wife, Amanda (Carla Gugino) and less time focused on work.
I tend to see a common thread in some of Jim Carrey’s characters; he plays a guy who neglects the people he loves because of his work, for example, Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty. In this movie, Carrey is back with his usual physical slapstick comedy, however Mr. Popper’s Penguins is definitely a toned down version of Carrey’s ever so hilarious Ace Ventura: Pet Detective role. You can’t help but laugh at the shenanigans and charm of these amazing penguins as well as Jim Carrey’s ability to find the humor in the most uncomfortable situations. If you can get past Mr. Popper’s assistant Pippi (Ophelia Lovibond) and her positively unpleasant practice of perpetually trying to use words that start with the letter P, there are some great laugh out loud moments the whole family will love.
CG
Complete Guide to Open Source Big Data Stack
Book
This book describes the creation of an actual generic open source big data stack, which is an...
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Tiger Warrior (Jack Howard #4) in Books
Nov 26, 2019
The Tiger Warrior follows archaeologist and adventurer Jack Howard as he follows a tantalising clue that perhaps some escaped Roman legionaries had found themselves pitched against the bodyguard of the First Emperor of China and one had taken refuge in the jungles of India.
This might sound far-fetched but Gibbins knows his archaeology and comes up with a plausible (if tenuous) story to make this work. The story is then taken up at the end of the 19th century in India when Howard's great great grandfather is part of the British Royal Engineers Corps trying to push roads - and hence British rule - into the jungle. He stumbles across an old temple that contains a secret.
The story roves around the the world showing us some incredible - but real - historic sites across Asia. Genuine books and records are quoted to back up the (modern day) Howard's quest to find out what happened - to both the Romans and his antecedant. Everything has very solid historical underpinnings with the more fantastic elements of the story cleverly weaved between them.
I did enjoy the book but it wasn't an unqualified success. There isn't really much menace, threat or drama in what happens to Jack Howard and his associates as they follow the past (told in a series of flashback chapters), uncovering clues one step at a time. Yes there are 'bad guys' but they seem quite ineffectual and the 'big boss' is in fact never seen at all but only mentioned in passing towards the end of the book. Judging by the notes from the author this is a very personal book - the character and story of Jack's ancestor in India is very much based on his own forebear - and this limits the scope for making the pieces fit into a pleasing whole.
That isn't to say I didn't enjoy reading it - as a subtle way of introducing surprising archaeological facts it works well (I didn't know that Ancient Rome traded with India but apparently so) and some of the set pieces are gripping to read. I will certainly be finding another Jack Howard book to read, but I suspect this was too personal a project for my first taste, which is s shame.
This might sound far-fetched but Gibbins knows his archaeology and comes up with a plausible (if tenuous) story to make this work. The story is then taken up at the end of the 19th century in India when Howard's great great grandfather is part of the British Royal Engineers Corps trying to push roads - and hence British rule - into the jungle. He stumbles across an old temple that contains a secret.
The story roves around the the world showing us some incredible - but real - historic sites across Asia. Genuine books and records are quoted to back up the (modern day) Howard's quest to find out what happened - to both the Romans and his antecedant. Everything has very solid historical underpinnings with the more fantastic elements of the story cleverly weaved between them.
I did enjoy the book but it wasn't an unqualified success. There isn't really much menace, threat or drama in what happens to Jack Howard and his associates as they follow the past (told in a series of flashback chapters), uncovering clues one step at a time. Yes there are 'bad guys' but they seem quite ineffectual and the 'big boss' is in fact never seen at all but only mentioned in passing towards the end of the book. Judging by the notes from the author this is a very personal book - the character and story of Jack's ancestor in India is very much based on his own forebear - and this limits the scope for making the pieces fit into a pleasing whole.
That isn't to say I didn't enjoy reading it - as a subtle way of introducing surprising archaeological facts it works well (I didn't know that Ancient Rome traded with India but apparently so) and some of the set pieces are gripping to read. I will certainly be finding another Jack Howard book to read, but I suspect this was too personal a project for my first taste, which is s shame.
ClareR (6054 KP) rated The Startup Wife in Books
Mar 20, 2022
I really enjoyed this satirical story of love and marriage in the setting of an app startup. It’s a book of two halves, really: a love story, and how you set an app is set up and start a business.
Computer scientist Asha, meets up with her high school crush, Cyrus, they fall in love and get married. Along with Cyrus’ friend Jules, Asha develops an app based on Cyrus’ beliefs. And the app really takes off - which is where the second part of the book kicks in.
Cyrus goes from reluctant participant in the venture, to being a guru who enthrals thousands of subscribers each day with his motivational webcasts. He IS the face of WAI, and Asha’s role is almost forgotten. Even when it becomes something of a phenomenon, Asha’s development and programming expertise is pushed aside to make way for her clearly more charismatic husband. The problem is, and this is what really started to put me off his character, Cyrus buys into his own charisma. He thinks he and the app are capable of doing far more than they realistically can do, and disaster awaits. If only they’d listened to Asha.
Asha is the loyal wife, but faced with being constantly undermined at work, and not being supported by Cyrus, things are bound to come to a head. And they certainly do! Everything that can go wrong, does!
I really liked the way that the author looked at how social media and apps should have a responsibility towards their users. People get carried away online, thinking that anything is possible, and social media can reinforce this.
I also think that the way that Asha was pushed out and her role trivialised was representative of many women in the workplace. In particular, the way that their investor ignored Asha in meetings, directing technical questions (her job) to the male partners.
Parts of this book really made me laugh, other parts showed the online world as trivial and shallow. It portrayed the dangers of trusting a programme with no human perception of situations. It’s a great book which not only entertained me, but really got me thinking.
Computer scientist Asha, meets up with her high school crush, Cyrus, they fall in love and get married. Along with Cyrus’ friend Jules, Asha develops an app based on Cyrus’ beliefs. And the app really takes off - which is where the second part of the book kicks in.
Cyrus goes from reluctant participant in the venture, to being a guru who enthrals thousands of subscribers each day with his motivational webcasts. He IS the face of WAI, and Asha’s role is almost forgotten. Even when it becomes something of a phenomenon, Asha’s development and programming expertise is pushed aside to make way for her clearly more charismatic husband. The problem is, and this is what really started to put me off his character, Cyrus buys into his own charisma. He thinks he and the app are capable of doing far more than they realistically can do, and disaster awaits. If only they’d listened to Asha.
Asha is the loyal wife, but faced with being constantly undermined at work, and not being supported by Cyrus, things are bound to come to a head. And they certainly do! Everything that can go wrong, does!
I really liked the way that the author looked at how social media and apps should have a responsibility towards their users. People get carried away online, thinking that anything is possible, and social media can reinforce this.
I also think that the way that Asha was pushed out and her role trivialised was representative of many women in the workplace. In particular, the way that their investor ignored Asha in meetings, directing technical questions (her job) to the male partners.
Parts of this book really made me laugh, other parts showed the online world as trivial and shallow. It portrayed the dangers of trusting a programme with no human perception of situations. It’s a great book which not only entertained me, but really got me thinking.