Search
Search results
Queer Saint: The Cultured Life of Peter Watson
Adrian Clark and Jeremy Dronfield
Book
When Peter Watson was murdered in his bath by a jealous boyfriend in 1956, the art world lost one of...
The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups
Book
In The Collapse of Parenting , physician, psychologist, and internationally acclaimed author Leonard...
ClareR (5603 KP) rated The Four Winds in Books
Feb 28, 2021
The Four Winds is about one woman’s determination to keep her family safe in extremely difficult circumstances. It was a tough, emotional read - and I couldn’t put it down.
It’s a period of history that I know little about. I mean, I’ve watched films set in this period where people live on ramshackle farms, or in shanty-type towns, and I knew that it was something to do with the Great Depression. This book describes the side of the story of a family of farmers who lived in the Dust Bowl of Texas.
Elsa lives with her husband, children and his parents on a farm in Texas. Two children later and with the farm failing, Elsa’s husband leaves them to pursue a better life - on his own. Elsa struggles on with her in-laws and children, determined to give Loreda and Ant (her children) a home where they feel loved. But when Ant nearly dies from dust pneumonia, and the farm fails completely, they make plans to leave for California. Elsa reluctantly leaves her in-laws behind (they refuse to leave their farm), because it’s the only way to save Ant.
California isn’t the promised land of milk and honey. They arrive with little money, nowhere to stay, and Californians don’t want to help them. In fact they believe ‘Okeys’ are feckless, lazy, dirty; they refuse to house or employ them. Elsa’s only choice is to live in a tent in an encampment where poverty and typhoid are rife.
I admired Elsa’s tenacity - she works tirelessly for little money to feed her children. It’s a story of one woman’s survival and her need to protect her family.
I didn’t know anything about the Dust Bowl before I read this. I’d heard the term, but I didn’t know about the dust storms, animals dying after being filled up with dust, and people dying from dust pneumonia. This sounds like an exaggerated story, doesn’t it? But it’s not. None of this was unusual.
The Four Winds is a hard, yet compelling read. This is only the third Kristin Hannah book I’ve read, and it won’t be my last!
Many thanks to St Martin’s Press for my e-copy.
It’s a period of history that I know little about. I mean, I’ve watched films set in this period where people live on ramshackle farms, or in shanty-type towns, and I knew that it was something to do with the Great Depression. This book describes the side of the story of a family of farmers who lived in the Dust Bowl of Texas.
Elsa lives with her husband, children and his parents on a farm in Texas. Two children later and with the farm failing, Elsa’s husband leaves them to pursue a better life - on his own. Elsa struggles on with her in-laws and children, determined to give Loreda and Ant (her children) a home where they feel loved. But when Ant nearly dies from dust pneumonia, and the farm fails completely, they make plans to leave for California. Elsa reluctantly leaves her in-laws behind (they refuse to leave their farm), because it’s the only way to save Ant.
California isn’t the promised land of milk and honey. They arrive with little money, nowhere to stay, and Californians don’t want to help them. In fact they believe ‘Okeys’ are feckless, lazy, dirty; they refuse to house or employ them. Elsa’s only choice is to live in a tent in an encampment where poverty and typhoid are rife.
I admired Elsa’s tenacity - she works tirelessly for little money to feed her children. It’s a story of one woman’s survival and her need to protect her family.
I didn’t know anything about the Dust Bowl before I read this. I’d heard the term, but I didn’t know about the dust storms, animals dying after being filled up with dust, and people dying from dust pneumonia. This sounds like an exaggerated story, doesn’t it? But it’s not. None of this was unusual.
The Four Winds is a hard, yet compelling read. This is only the third Kristin Hannah book I’ve read, and it won’t be my last!
Many thanks to St Martin’s Press for my e-copy.
Kristina (502 KP) rated Thirteen Reasons Why in Books
Dec 7, 2020
It hurts. I hurt - my heart, most of all. Thirteen Reasons Why spoke to me on a deep and personal level, one I try to ignore more often than not. Listening to Hannah Baker explain, in great detail, the stories, events, and people, that lead to her decision to commit suicide, was jarring. The way she chose to reveal her past, to expose the cause, was more effective than if she had just walked through the story in real time. Reading the discoveries through Clay's point of view made things more interesting. From Hanna's first official kiss, to the rumors that spread afterward (and who can honestly say they've never had a single rumor said about them?), to out of control parties and signs of depression ignored, we're lead through a sort of "treasure hunt". Each moment builds and builds as her tolerance withers away, crumbling under thoughts of not being wanted or cared about. This book, Hannah's story, is something that should open every eye to who we are as people, how we act, what we believe without verification, and how we treat others. Some events in Thirteen Reasons Why are textbook examples of bullying, while others are moments where, if they had happened separately from all the other moments, probably wouldn't have amounted to much. It should make you realize how every little thing can effect someone. Your words have an effect; your actions have an effect; your behavior has an effect. If you don't stop to think to how you've treated people throughout your life, or even wondered if something you have said or done has ever meant more to another person than they did to you, then perhaps you need to reevaluate your life. Thirteen Reasons Why is a breath of truth, if not a breath of fresh air. Nothing has slapped me in the face as serious or as hard as this book. Please, if you feel like you didn't feel the same reaction, reread this book and try to look at it through a different mindset. Because each word is important and the moral of this particular story is life changing.
Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated It: Chapter Two (2019) in Movies
Sep 6, 2019 (Updated Sep 6, 2019)
I am the eater of worlds, and of children.
IT Chapter2 feels like a ride you've been sat on all day, immense fun but a tad repetitive & a little tiresome after awhile. Now I can't remember the book much to be honest so im going by the films here alone & I personally think its all one giant metaphor for child suicide with the clown just being one big easy to relate to combined metaphor for fear, grief, guilt, betrayal, depression, negativity, loneliness, abuse, anxiety, torment, worry, instability & stress of growing up in a town thats had a lot of tragic events happen in it & in a world where things such as bullying, paedophilia, murder, arson, death, accidents, incest, mental illness, fear mongering, love and having no friends can also be against you and playing on your mind. Watching it in this way is where the real terror lies & everything had a logical explanation to it too (especially watching both films back to back) making these films that much more powerful, relatable, meaningful & heartwarming. Watching these kids/adults unite together to battle everything life throws at them to conquer & overcome the darkness while still trying to have fun and enjoy youth at the same time is so empowering and uplifting its just a shame this new film retreads to much old ground feeling a tad to repetitious of what we've seen before already. That being said the character drama is great & theres clear love here for the source material/films from the past that have since become cult classic. A genuine nostalgia vibe is present here too with the film feeling very lost boys meets the goonies & theres even elements of evil dead & john carpenters the thing too. Acting is fantastic with a near flawless adult cast & special effects for the most part are creative, creepy, disgusting & good looking with a few seemingly rushed bits here & there. Its a good film dont get me wrong it just feels like it needs a trim as the lulls at times can make your mind float off elsewhere (especially during some side plots). Overall IT 2 has great depth, fun horror elements & well developed characters its just a shame the comedy & repetitive structure spoil it.
Debbiereadsbook (1110 KP) rated Blue Fire in Books
Aug 26, 2019
it hit THAT spot, good and proper!
This was a freebie in August 2019.
Jared loses his home to a wildfire, and Adam rescues him. Adam doesn’t usually follow up his rescues, but Jared calls to his soul, deeply. When Jared isn’t recovering from his depression, Adam takes a chance and takes Jared to the place Adam calls home. Just when things start looking up, Jared runs. Years later, when Jared finds out Adam has been injured, Jared has moment of clarity, and realises he might have run away from the only person who made him truly whole. Will Adam see him, let alone listen to him?
I really rather enjoyed this!
It’s not very long, some 80 odd pages, only took me an hour to read, but it was a very enjoyable hour on a wet and miserable Wednesday morning!
Jared is still grieving the loss of his husband to cancer, and now the house he built has been destroyed and Jared feels destroyed too. Adam, with his ice blue eyes, rescues Jared from the blaze and visits him in rehab. Adam feels a powerful need to look in on Jared, to look AFTER Jared, and taking him to the cabin in the hills seems just the thing. And it was, till one of them says something, that sends them both into a tailspin and Adam has to return to work. After Jared runs, three years pass, and Jared’s glass work centres around his search for that perfect blue, the one that touches his soul. But it isn’t until Adam is injured, that Jared knows he’ll never find that perfect blue in a glass bauble.
I felt for both these guys. Adam, fighting his growing feelings for Jared, and Jared who is still recovering, and fighting all kinds of inner demons of his own.
They both have a say, in the third person. It’s hot and steamy in places, and deeply emotional in others.
It just hit THAT spot, you know? The warm and fuzzies one.
First I’ve read of this author, I’d love to read more!
4 solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Jared loses his home to a wildfire, and Adam rescues him. Adam doesn’t usually follow up his rescues, but Jared calls to his soul, deeply. When Jared isn’t recovering from his depression, Adam takes a chance and takes Jared to the place Adam calls home. Just when things start looking up, Jared runs. Years later, when Jared finds out Adam has been injured, Jared has moment of clarity, and realises he might have run away from the only person who made him truly whole. Will Adam see him, let alone listen to him?
I really rather enjoyed this!
It’s not very long, some 80 odd pages, only took me an hour to read, but it was a very enjoyable hour on a wet and miserable Wednesday morning!
Jared is still grieving the loss of his husband to cancer, and now the house he built has been destroyed and Jared feels destroyed too. Adam, with his ice blue eyes, rescues Jared from the blaze and visits him in rehab. Adam feels a powerful need to look in on Jared, to look AFTER Jared, and taking him to the cabin in the hills seems just the thing. And it was, till one of them says something, that sends them both into a tailspin and Adam has to return to work. After Jared runs, three years pass, and Jared’s glass work centres around his search for that perfect blue, the one that touches his soul. But it isn’t until Adam is injured, that Jared knows he’ll never find that perfect blue in a glass bauble.
I felt for both these guys. Adam, fighting his growing feelings for Jared, and Jared who is still recovering, and fighting all kinds of inner demons of his own.
They both have a say, in the third person. It’s hot and steamy in places, and deeply emotional in others.
It just hit THAT spot, you know? The warm and fuzzies one.
First I’ve read of this author, I’d love to read more!
4 solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Napoleon Hill's : Think and Grow Rich
Business and Productivity
App
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich is a motivational personal development...
Beneath the Mountain: A Novel
Book
In Luca D’Andrea’s atmospheric and brilliant thriller, set in a small mountain community in the...
suspense thriller
Bonnie and Clyde: Resurrection Road
Clark Hays and Kathleen McFall
10.0
Rate It
Book
THE RETURN OF BONNIE AND CLYDE Saving democracy, one bank robbery at a time. In the provocative...
series adult fiction Bonnie & Clyde Bonnie and Clyde
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Firekeeper's Daughter in Books
Aug 19, 2021
An expansive and lovely #OwnVoices tale
Daunis Fontaine feels torn between two worlds--growing up worrying about her Mom and dreaming of becoming a doctor and then being an unenrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe. Her late father was a member and so is her half-brother, Levi. When Daunis' uncle dies and she decides to stay home and attend local community college to take care of her mom, she feels trapped. But the arrival of Jamie, a new member of Levi's hockey team, is a bright spot. The two become fast friends. However, everything changes when Daunis witnesses a horrible murder, and she becomes an informant for the FBI. Suddenly, everything she knows about her hometown and the tribe changes.
"I learned there were times when I was expected to be a Fontaine and other times when it was safe to be a Firekeeper."
This is an excellent book--more mystery than I thought it would be. It covers a lot of topics--sometimes more than seems necessary. Racism, tribal issues, sexual assault, depression, drug abuse, FBI informants, romance, murder... there's a lot packed into this book. However, it does a great job looking into how meth and drug abuse affect the Native American community (as well as sexual assault). It's heartbreaking at times, but also compelling and educational.
"My mother's superpower is turning my ordinary worries into monsters so huge and pervasive that her distress and heartache become almost debilitating. I can protect her from that hurt."
Daunis is a very sympathetic and likeable character. She's dedicated to her family, to her tribe, and her community. She takes on a lot for a kid her age. Sometimes it felt like the informant plot was a little much, a little contrived, but overall, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. It was wonderful to read an #OwnVoices book of such quality and scope, and I look forward to what Boulley does next.
I read this book as part of my new reading project--choosing books off my shelves based on their Goodreads rankings. This is my fourth book of the project, forcing me out of my comfort zone and to try books in genres I don't usually read!
"I learned there were times when I was expected to be a Fontaine and other times when it was safe to be a Firekeeper."
This is an excellent book--more mystery than I thought it would be. It covers a lot of topics--sometimes more than seems necessary. Racism, tribal issues, sexual assault, depression, drug abuse, FBI informants, romance, murder... there's a lot packed into this book. However, it does a great job looking into how meth and drug abuse affect the Native American community (as well as sexual assault). It's heartbreaking at times, but also compelling and educational.
"My mother's superpower is turning my ordinary worries into monsters so huge and pervasive that her distress and heartache become almost debilitating. I can protect her from that hurt."
Daunis is a very sympathetic and likeable character. She's dedicated to her family, to her tribe, and her community. She takes on a lot for a kid her age. Sometimes it felt like the informant plot was a little much, a little contrived, but overall, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. It was wonderful to read an #OwnVoices book of such quality and scope, and I look forward to what Boulley does next.
I read this book as part of my new reading project--choosing books off my shelves based on their Goodreads rankings. This is my fourth book of the project, forcing me out of my comfort zone and to try books in genres I don't usually read!