Search
Search results
Olivier Assayas recommended Topsy-Turvy (1999) in Movies (curated)
What an inspirational book!
I had actually never read a biography before, so this was a very different genre to what I'm used to.
As I started reading I wasn't sure if this book was really for me.
In the early days, during Katie's goal of reaching the dizzying heights of fame, she came across as a self-absorbed and not very likable person.
As you progress along the journey with Katie and you suddenly reach the day where her life is flipped upside down you wish you could take back all your negative thoughts for her former-self.
From the second the attack happens, you really feel for the poor girl. You follow along with her during her initial moments in the hospital, how her life is in the doctors hands and all the harrowing and life altering procedures she has to endure on this journey to recovery.
The book is traumatising and inspirational in equal measures. Katie shows us how strong and positive an individual can be, even in the darkest of situations that life can throw at you.
After suffering panic attacks earlier this year myself, I decided to buy this book. It definitely put everything into perspective for me and has helped me try and carry on and find an inner strength I previously was unaware of.
I had actually never read a biography before, so this was a very different genre to what I'm used to.
As I started reading I wasn't sure if this book was really for me.
In the early days, during Katie's goal of reaching the dizzying heights of fame, she came across as a self-absorbed and not very likable person.
As you progress along the journey with Katie and you suddenly reach the day where her life is flipped upside down you wish you could take back all your negative thoughts for her former-self.
From the second the attack happens, you really feel for the poor girl. You follow along with her during her initial moments in the hospital, how her life is in the doctors hands and all the harrowing and life altering procedures she has to endure on this journey to recovery.
The book is traumatising and inspirational in equal measures. Katie shows us how strong and positive an individual can be, even in the darkest of situations that life can throw at you.
After suffering panic attacks earlier this year myself, I decided to buy this book. It definitely put everything into perspective for me and has helped me try and carry on and find an inner strength I previously was unaware of.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in Books
Jul 10, 2018
This book (audiobook) was recommended to me by one of my friends. I finally bought it and went into the book not knowing what to expect. The audiobook is narrated by the author Sherman Alexie and he did a good job narrating his biography.
I found the book interesting for the most part. I did find that it dragged a little and at times I was annoyed by the narrator. I honestly would have rated it 3 stars and I didn't think I was very invested in the book until 75% into the book and I started crying due to a scene. When a book can make me invested in the characters I always add a 1/2 star and then I round up.
Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to review this book. For the most part, I found it a little dull but I did love the multicultural part of the book. It was fascinating to hear about how alcohol has destroyed so many people's lives and how it seemed like a part of the Native American's culture.
Overall, I enjoyed the book but I would have a hard time rereading it or recommending it. It would be a good book for freshman in High School to read if the teacher is wanting to show multicultural issues.
I found the book interesting for the most part. I did find that it dragged a little and at times I was annoyed by the narrator. I honestly would have rated it 3 stars and I didn't think I was very invested in the book until 75% into the book and I started crying due to a scene. When a book can make me invested in the characters I always add a 1/2 star and then I round up.
Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to review this book. For the most part, I found it a little dull but I did love the multicultural part of the book. It was fascinating to hear about how alcohol has destroyed so many people's lives and how it seemed like a part of the Native American's culture.
Overall, I enjoyed the book but I would have a hard time rereading it or recommending it. It would be a good book for freshman in High School to read if the teacher is wanting to show multicultural issues.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Mar 24, 2020 (Updated Mar 24, 2020)
David Hudson recommended Contempt (1963) in Movies (curated)
BookblogbyCari (345 KP) rated Mindhunter: Inside the FBI Elite Serial Crime Unit (Now A Netflix Series) in Books
Mar 10, 2019
Douglas is a show-off
This is hands-down the most action-packed biography I have ever read! And it’s almost the most egotistical and narcissistic sounding biography I have ever read.
In his opening scene in the prologue, Douglas finds himself waking up from a coma in hospital expecting to be tortured by sick criminals, having (almost) single-handily run the FBI’s psychological profiling unit, handling hundreds of cases for several years.
I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the Netflix series based on this book, but I am quite a fan of the Criminal Minds series, so I had an idea of what to expect. However, you need to get 6 chapters in before Douglas starts talking about his work as an FBI profiler. He starts off talking about growing up, his love life, and getting into his career.
Douglas may call himself a profiler, but in my opinion, he is first and foremost a story-teller, with a talent for a drama-filled yarn. And rather than being put off by his constant bragging, I found myself hanging on his every word.
This light and long prelude to the criminal profiling section of the book made the crime details feel all the more gruesome. Some of the predictions made by Douglas about the murderers are barely believable. I mean, how can a crime scene really tell you the age of a murderer or what kind of car he drives?
Unfortunately, Douglas doesn’t offer much explanation into these kinds of things, and the leader is left assuming it’s all down to statistics. And if there’s anywhere the book is let down it would be here, because this would be why readers would pick the book up.
I once read a similar book called The Profiler, by Pat Brown. Brown, however, was a mere spectator to criminal goings on and had no influence whatever on getting criminals brought to justice. Douglas, however, would meet with local police and provide strategies on getting the bad guy, and getting him to confess.
To me, the most crucial chapter was Battle of the Shrinks. It looks at how criminals are dealt with once apprehended. Here Douglas meets with a psychiatrist whose job it was to assess whether criminals can have their sentences shortened and be let off early. This psychiatrist didn’t bother reading police reports to see from an outsider exactly what the criminal had done because he didn’t want to be made biased it and wanted to meet the criminal exactly as they presented himself to him. Douglas was appalled by this attitude and tried to get this over to the psychiatrist, but sadly, to no avail.
In short, this is a very entertaining book, and while it can teach you lot, reading it will never make you as good a profiler as John Douglas himself.
In his opening scene in the prologue, Douglas finds himself waking up from a coma in hospital expecting to be tortured by sick criminals, having (almost) single-handily run the FBI’s psychological profiling unit, handling hundreds of cases for several years.
I haven’t had the opportunity to watch the Netflix series based on this book, but I am quite a fan of the Criminal Minds series, so I had an idea of what to expect. However, you need to get 6 chapters in before Douglas starts talking about his work as an FBI profiler. He starts off talking about growing up, his love life, and getting into his career.
Douglas may call himself a profiler, but in my opinion, he is first and foremost a story-teller, with a talent for a drama-filled yarn. And rather than being put off by his constant bragging, I found myself hanging on his every word.
This light and long prelude to the criminal profiling section of the book made the crime details feel all the more gruesome. Some of the predictions made by Douglas about the murderers are barely believable. I mean, how can a crime scene really tell you the age of a murderer or what kind of car he drives?
Unfortunately, Douglas doesn’t offer much explanation into these kinds of things, and the leader is left assuming it’s all down to statistics. And if there’s anywhere the book is let down it would be here, because this would be why readers would pick the book up.
I once read a similar book called The Profiler, by Pat Brown. Brown, however, was a mere spectator to criminal goings on and had no influence whatever on getting criminals brought to justice. Douglas, however, would meet with local police and provide strategies on getting the bad guy, and getting him to confess.
To me, the most crucial chapter was Battle of the Shrinks. It looks at how criminals are dealt with once apprehended. Here Douglas meets with a psychiatrist whose job it was to assess whether criminals can have their sentences shortened and be let off early. This psychiatrist didn’t bother reading police reports to see from an outsider exactly what the criminal had done because he didn’t want to be made biased it and wanted to meet the criminal exactly as they presented himself to him. Douglas was appalled by this attitude and tried to get this over to the psychiatrist, but sadly, to no avail.
In short, this is a very entertaining book, and while it can teach you lot, reading it will never make you as good a profiler as John Douglas himself.
Deborah (162 KP) rated The Children of Henry VIII in Books
Dec 21, 2018
I was surprised to see that this book, covering a fair subject - the four known children of Henry VIII - had only about 200 pages of actual text. A rather different prospect to Guy's weighty biography of Mary Queen of Scots. As reams of paper and oceans of ink of already been expended on the Tudors, I'm not sure quite what the impetus behind this book was. It's not that it wasn't well written, because it was, but that I felt that it offered up almost nothing new. As an introduction to the subject to a reader new to the period I think I would recommend it, but to someone for whom this is already an area of interest, you've probably heard it all before.
The one new point that Guy does bring up, is the theory that Henry VIII belonged to a rare blood group, which resulted in problems with offspring surviving. We can see that no one woman appears to have more than one surviving child by him, but I would have liked a little more detail to support this - how did Henry come by his rare blood group? He was one of several siblings who survived infancy and his surviving sisters themselves had more than one surviving child.
A good brief guide to the subject, probably more suited to a reader fairly new to the subject. I felt disappointed as there was nothing new in here for me.
The one new point that Guy does bring up, is the theory that Henry VIII belonged to a rare blood group, which resulted in problems with offspring surviving. We can see that no one woman appears to have more than one surviving child by him, but I would have liked a little more detail to support this - how did Henry come by his rare blood group? He was one of several siblings who survived infancy and his surviving sisters themselves had more than one surviving child.
A good brief guide to the subject, probably more suited to a reader fairly new to the subject. I felt disappointed as there was nothing new in here for me.
MaryAnn (14 KP) rated Sacred Privilege: Your Life and Ministry as a Pastor's Wife in Books
Mar 5, 2019
Drawing on more than forty years in ministry, Kay provides encouraging principles and life lessons, along with intimate personal stories, that will give you the confidence you need to lead and live well. You'll learn to
- accept who you are
- adapt to change
- help your children survive and thrive
- protect your private life
- deal with criticism
- live with integrity
- develop an eternal perspective
Whether you are excited, struggling, or feeling broken and tired, you will find hope and encouragement for your calling in Kay's warm and wise words.
Kay Warren has put together from her immense experience of 40 years as a pastor’s wife.
Every pastor’s wife will enjoy reading this book that Mrs. Warren has compiled and put her lifetime of experiences for all of us pastor’s wives to read.
I myself enjoyed this and I was able to get so much out of this book. I know that Mrs. Warren is the pastor’s wife of a very large church, but even if you are in the smallest of churches you can still use and apply a lot of the experience from Mrs. Warren.
When I first started reading the book, it seemed more like a biography, but as you read through her life and experience, you can learn so much that you can use in your own life and ministry.
I have read many books for and written by pastor’s wives and I have enjoyed and uses many of them. This is a great new book that many will like to read.
- accept who you are
- adapt to change
- help your children survive and thrive
- protect your private life
- deal with criticism
- live with integrity
- develop an eternal perspective
Whether you are excited, struggling, or feeling broken and tired, you will find hope and encouragement for your calling in Kay's warm and wise words.
Kay Warren has put together from her immense experience of 40 years as a pastor’s wife.
Every pastor’s wife will enjoy reading this book that Mrs. Warren has compiled and put her lifetime of experiences for all of us pastor’s wives to read.
I myself enjoyed this and I was able to get so much out of this book. I know that Mrs. Warren is the pastor’s wife of a very large church, but even if you are in the smallest of churches you can still use and apply a lot of the experience from Mrs. Warren.
When I first started reading the book, it seemed more like a biography, but as you read through her life and experience, you can learn so much that you can use in your own life and ministry.
I have read many books for and written by pastor’s wives and I have enjoyed and uses many of them. This is a great new book that many will like to read.
Donna C (199 KP) rated Sleeping with a Psychopath in Books
Jun 2, 2021
Fast paced true story
Contains spoilers, click to show
So this is a biography of a woman who was completely fooled by a fraudster called Mark Acklom. She was happily living alone in a rented cottage, looking for a house to buy after selling her previous home. She worked in an upmarket clothes shop and had £850,000 from the house sale.
One day a handsome charming man comes in to the shop and sweeps her off her feet, claiming to be a millionaire with property, planes and a job in MI6 which is top secret. Within a couple of days he is promising her the world but claims that he cannot be a proper couple for 18 months until he can complete his current contract. He tells her he is involved in goings on in Syria, claims to have been shot, the stories get wilder and wilder! In the meantime he also has a "cashflow problem" and asks her to pay for everything and he will pay her back.
You do start off thinking "how did she fall for all this blather? It's so totally untrue." But she is not a stupid person. Her friends and family don't like him, but she has fallen head over heels and won't listen.
It is a fast paced book, and I really wanted to know how she got out of the situation.
You really don't know what is going on in other peoples' lives do you???
(Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book from ReadersFirst for an honest review)
One day a handsome charming man comes in to the shop and sweeps her off her feet, claiming to be a millionaire with property, planes and a job in MI6 which is top secret. Within a couple of days he is promising her the world but claims that he cannot be a proper couple for 18 months until he can complete his current contract. He tells her he is involved in goings on in Syria, claims to have been shot, the stories get wilder and wilder! In the meantime he also has a "cashflow problem" and asks her to pay for everything and he will pay her back.
You do start off thinking "how did she fall for all this blather? It's so totally untrue." But she is not a stupid person. Her friends and family don't like him, but she has fallen head over heels and won't listen.
It is a fast paced book, and I really wanted to know how she got out of the situation.
You really don't know what is going on in other peoples' lives do you???
(Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book from ReadersFirst for an honest review)
I usually don't judge a book by its cover, but I'm not going to lie. When I saw the gorgeous cover for Nancy Churnin's children's book For Spacious Skies, I fell in love with the cover and knew I had to read the book. I'm really glad I did because everything about it was fantastic, and I even learned a few things I had never known about the song America the Beautiful and its creator, Katharine Lee Bates.
For Spacious Skies tells the condensed biography of Katharine Lee Bates, the creator of the song America the Beautiful although when it was written, it was originally a poem. Katharine Lee Bates comes across as a fantastic person. She lived in a time when men were seen as being far superior than women, but she didn't let that stop her from getting an education and being a voice for those that felt they had no voice.
I admit that I didn't know the history behind America the Beautiful, so this book was the perfect starting point. I think my favorite fact in the book was that Katharine Lee Bates never wanted or accepted any payment for penning America the Beautiful. She just wanted to give something back to the country she loved so much.
This is a biography picture book for older children, and I believe that it's written in a way that speaks to children and will draw in their attention quite easily. The length is perfect, and the wording is fantastic. Everything flows perfectly. I also liked the fact that Nancy Churnin includes an author's note as well as a timeline of Katharine's life and accomplishments at the end. The author's note goes into a little more detail about Katharine's life which is great for adults, children who want to learn a bit more, or for a discussion. The timeline makes it easy to picture events as they happened.
The illustrations in For Spacious Skies are absolutely breathtaking! Olga Baumert is the illustrator, and her talent shines through in every page. Each illustration is full of detail and really helps to drive the story. Although my 5 year old was a little young for this book, he did love the illustrations in it and even asked if we could just look at the pictures as they are quite colorful and really draw you in. Seriously, I could go on and on about amazing the illustrations are, but it's better if you just pick up a copy of the book yourself to see what I'm talking about.
Overall, I feel that For Spacious Skies is the ultimate girl power book. Katharine Lee Bates was obviously a force to be reckoned with according to this book. If you're looking for a book with a strong female and beautiful illustrations, pick up a copy of For Spacious Skies. I would definitely recommend For Spacious Skies by Nancy Churnin to adults and children aged 8 and older. I feel as if this book needs to be required reading in all elementary schools and should be in every school library. That's how good and informative it is. Grab a copy, and see for yourself!
--
(A special thank you to Edelweiss for an eBook copy of For Spacious Skies and to Nancy Churnin and Lone Star Literary Life for a hardback copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
For Spacious Skies tells the condensed biography of Katharine Lee Bates, the creator of the song America the Beautiful although when it was written, it was originally a poem. Katharine Lee Bates comes across as a fantastic person. She lived in a time when men were seen as being far superior than women, but she didn't let that stop her from getting an education and being a voice for those that felt they had no voice.
I admit that I didn't know the history behind America the Beautiful, so this book was the perfect starting point. I think my favorite fact in the book was that Katharine Lee Bates never wanted or accepted any payment for penning America the Beautiful. She just wanted to give something back to the country she loved so much.
This is a biography picture book for older children, and I believe that it's written in a way that speaks to children and will draw in their attention quite easily. The length is perfect, and the wording is fantastic. Everything flows perfectly. I also liked the fact that Nancy Churnin includes an author's note as well as a timeline of Katharine's life and accomplishments at the end. The author's note goes into a little more detail about Katharine's life which is great for adults, children who want to learn a bit more, or for a discussion. The timeline makes it easy to picture events as they happened.
The illustrations in For Spacious Skies are absolutely breathtaking! Olga Baumert is the illustrator, and her talent shines through in every page. Each illustration is full of detail and really helps to drive the story. Although my 5 year old was a little young for this book, he did love the illustrations in it and even asked if we could just look at the pictures as they are quite colorful and really draw you in. Seriously, I could go on and on about amazing the illustrations are, but it's better if you just pick up a copy of the book yourself to see what I'm talking about.
Overall, I feel that For Spacious Skies is the ultimate girl power book. Katharine Lee Bates was obviously a force to be reckoned with according to this book. If you're looking for a book with a strong female and beautiful illustrations, pick up a copy of For Spacious Skies. I would definitely recommend For Spacious Skies by Nancy Churnin to adults and children aged 8 and older. I feel as if this book needs to be required reading in all elementary schools and should be in every school library. That's how good and informative it is. Grab a copy, and see for yourself!
--
(A special thank you to Edelweiss for an eBook copy of For Spacious Skies and to Nancy Churnin and Lone Star Literary Life for a hardback copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)