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LilyLovesIndie (123 KP) rated The Penguin History of the USA in Books

Nov 5, 2018

A very concise and yet still strangely detailed history of one of the youngest super powers ever to exist. It is an effective and informative text that provides a complete history of the United States, although I must admit I was slightly let down by the lack of detail in later years, from Kennedy onwards. Brogan has a good degree of insight into the events and imparts this in a sometimes comical, but always fair way, never making assumptions unless he had solid foundations. All in all I found this an incredibly informative, if not slightly hard going due to the amount of fact covered, and one that deserves every attribute given to it by critics and ordinary readers alike. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is seriously interested in developing a more in depth knowledge about the history of this great country, scholars and casual readers alike.

Kudos

Phil Leader (619 KP) rated The Long Kill in Books

Nov 20, 2019

The Long Kill

Reginald Hill, Patrick Ruell (pseudonym) | 1988 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

As a big fan of Reginald Hill I was interested in reading this, one of the books he published under a pseudonym at the same time as he was experiencing success with his other novels.

The set up is intriguing and the main character interesting but the plot doesn't quite seem to gel; I don't know exactly what wasn't right but it didn't have the Hill magic. Everything seems to be fairly conventional, if not a bit cliched and some of the plot points came across as contrived or plain unlikely. The writing too wasn't up to par, almost as if Hill had lost enthusiasm for the project before it was completed. Perhaps that was why he published it under a different name.

That said, it's workman like enough to pass as a casual read. It's just not in the same league as Hill's other work.

Kudos

Erika (17789 KP) rated A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) in Movies

Nov 27, 2019 (Updated Nov 27, 2019)

The only reason I saw this movie was because a friend wanted to go to it. I wasn't really interested in it. There's a weird, cult-like thing going on with Mister Rogers (much like RBG), which I don't really get, and that's probably why this movie got made so quickly after the documentary.

Mister Rogers wasn't really the main character, the main character is a rando reporter named Lloyd. Mister Rogers basically helps the dude get through stuff. Some of it's kind of trippy, and a little depressing. Tom Hanks does well as Mister Rogers, and Matthew Rhys is really entertaining as Lloyd.

Honestly, this was a movie that wasn't strictly necessary, when the excellent documentary exists. If you're part of the cult of Mister Rogers, you'll probably love it. I, on the other hand, a casual fan of the dude thought it was good, but not mind-blowing.