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Mathematics Explained for Primary Teachers
Derek Haylock and Ralph Manning
Book
Get access to an interactive eBook* when you buy the paperback! (Print paperback version only, ISBN...
Brian Eno recommended Velvet Underground by The Velvet Underground in Music (curated)
Checkers and Draughts
Games
App
Game Highlights: - Variety of different Checkers/Draughts games from all over the world - Play...
Imperial Struggle
Tabletop Game
In 1697 the Sun King, Louis XIV, emerged from a decade of war with his Continental ambitions still...
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Shatter (Joseph O'Loughlin #3) in Books
Jan 15, 2018
Let me just begin by saying this was a FANTASTIC read! This book started off intriguing and did not disappoint. It took off from about the 2nd chapter & did not let up until the very end.
It tells the story of Dr. O'Loughlin who is a psychiatrist. After completing a lecture at Bath University he gets "volunteered" by his department chair to take him place with a police matter. He is taken to a suspension bridge in the middle of a rainstorm (it is England after all) to try to prevent what appears to be a suicide. The woman is on the edge of the bridge naked, with slut written across her stomach in red lipstick, & a cell phone pressed to her ear. She looks at the doc, says, "You wouldn't understand," & jumps to her death.
It is written off as a typical suicide...& then strange things begin to happen. I don't want to say much more, but I will leave it off by saying that in the end the good doctor is left wishing he would've walked away from the hulking police officer that rainy afternoon.
I look forward to the next book in the series & a long relationship with the books of Michael Robotham. What a writer!!!
It tells the story of Dr. O'Loughlin who is a psychiatrist. After completing a lecture at Bath University he gets "volunteered" by his department chair to take him place with a police matter. He is taken to a suspension bridge in the middle of a rainstorm (it is England after all) to try to prevent what appears to be a suicide. The woman is on the edge of the bridge naked, with slut written across her stomach in red lipstick, & a cell phone pressed to her ear. She looks at the doc, says, "You wouldn't understand," & jumps to her death.
It is written off as a typical suicide...& then strange things begin to happen. I don't want to say much more, but I will leave it off by saying that in the end the good doctor is left wishing he would've walked away from the hulking police officer that rainy afternoon.
I look forward to the next book in the series & a long relationship with the books of Michael Robotham. What a writer!!!
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Down and Out in Paris and London in Books
Sep 9, 2017
George Orwell, a man of many experiences
I adore George Orwell, not only is he an incredibly gifted writer, he's a cat with nine lives. From living in Burma to fighting in the Spanish Civil War, Orwell has a lived a life rich with experiences hence he is able to make observations many journalists cannot. In this case, Orwell lived in squalor and absolute poverty in both Paris and London, not out of choice mind, but because he had become destitute and extremely poor during his early 20s.
His life living with an extrovert Russian in Paris is vivid, describing real hunger, having had nothing to eat for several days. He ends up working in a few godforsaken squalid hotels in Paris as a dishwasher, with long hours just to make ends meet and quench his hunger. Eventually, after working with rats, he has no choice but to return to England (borrowing money) and finds that it isn't much different. The homeless shelters are basically prison cells, dark and dangerous, but a way to keep off the streets.
In the end, he attempts to give recommendations to what can be done to alleviate the plight of the poverty stricken. It is another interesting chapter of his short but eventful life.
His life living with an extrovert Russian in Paris is vivid, describing real hunger, having had nothing to eat for several days. He ends up working in a few godforsaken squalid hotels in Paris as a dishwasher, with long hours just to make ends meet and quench his hunger. Eventually, after working with rats, he has no choice but to return to England (borrowing money) and finds that it isn't much different. The homeless shelters are basically prison cells, dark and dangerous, but a way to keep off the streets.
In the end, he attempts to give recommendations to what can be done to alleviate the plight of the poverty stricken. It is another interesting chapter of his short but eventful life.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Hopkins Manuscript in Books
Mar 21, 2019
Powerfully moving, surprisingly obscure British SF novel. Eerily prescient in some ways: written in 1939 but set from 1945 onward, the story is told by Edgar Hopkins, a retired schoolteacher and champion poultry-breeder who is one of the first men in the country to learn of an impending cataclysm - the moon has been knocked from its orbit and will collide with the Earth in a matter of months. Hopkins' ability to tell the story is impaired by his own pompousness, powerful sense of self-regard and unerring ability to miss the significance of anything going on around him.
Initially it reads like a very black, absurdist comedy, but as the book progresses it becomes genuinely poignant and moving - almost a eulogy for an idea of England soon to be wiped away forever. I have no idea how much the author was motivated by fears of the coming Second World War, but its presence hangs inescapably over the book. The actual science in the book is rather risible, and (like much other mid-20th century British SF) the film also contains race-related elements that some modern readers could find problematic, but the core of the book remains as significant and thought-provoking as ever.
Initially it reads like a very black, absurdist comedy, but as the book progresses it becomes genuinely poignant and moving - almost a eulogy for an idea of England soon to be wiped away forever. I have no idea how much the author was motivated by fears of the coming Second World War, but its presence hangs inescapably over the book. The actual science in the book is rather risible, and (like much other mid-20th century British SF) the film also contains race-related elements that some modern readers could find problematic, but the core of the book remains as significant and thought-provoking as ever.
Cyn Armistead (14 KP) rated Ink and Steel (Promethean Age, #3) in Books
Mar 1, 2018
If I had it to do over again, I'd read this and <i>Hell and Earth</i> first, then the "first" two Promethean Age novels. That would put them in chronological order, which is how I prefer to read.
Normally, I'd be terribly unhappy with the fact that this book leaves so many loose ends. Since it is clearly marked "The Straford Man, Volume I," and the author's note states that it is one of two closely-linked novels, I don't feel cheated. It helps that this and <i>Hell and Earth</i> were released very close together.
Bear's mastery of the language is always a pleasure. The book is well-plotted, and while I struggled a bit to keep up with all the similarly-named people in Elizabethan England, I can hardly blame the author for the fact that there really were three "Will's" in the same company of players, or several plotting Richards in association. I'm not well-educated enough with regards to that period in history to know how much of the intrigue is pure fiction, and how much may have historical basis. I look forward to the promised explicatory note at the end of H&E for that.
Normally, I'd be terribly unhappy with the fact that this book leaves so many loose ends. Since it is clearly marked "The Straford Man, Volume I," and the author's note states that it is one of two closely-linked novels, I don't feel cheated. It helps that this and <i>Hell and Earth</i> were released very close together.
Bear's mastery of the language is always a pleasure. The book is well-plotted, and while I struggled a bit to keep up with all the similarly-named people in Elizabethan England, I can hardly blame the author for the fact that there really were three "Will's" in the same company of players, or several plotting Richards in association. I'm not well-educated enough with regards to that period in history to know how much of the intrigue is pure fiction, and how much may have historical basis. I look forward to the promised explicatory note at the end of H&E for that.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Wicker Man (1973) in Movies
Feb 18, 2018 (Updated Feb 18, 2018)
British folk-horror film is part of the mini-boom in 'British civil servant travels by seaplane to sun-obsessed Christopher Lee's remote island in search of missing girl, discovers Britt Ekland waiting for him' movies that happened in 1973-4. Devout Christian copper (Woodward) visits Summerisle (off the Scottish coast) after receiving a tip-off about a vanishing schoolgirl, is appalled by what he sees as the immorality of the islanders. The lord of the place (Lee) assures him that there's nothing to be worried about, they just have different ethical standards (they're all Pagans), but Woodward is not convinced. Is something nasty lined up for May Day?
Books have been written about the tortuous distribution endured by The Wicker Man and its producers; rumours persist that the original much longer version is buried under a motorway somewhere in England. But all the available cuts are excellent, if not superb: the film is not particularly scary per se, more a queasy examination of how society, morality and religion intersect with one another; manages to make moral relativism seem more disturbing than devil-worship, somehow. Has one of the greatest non-endings in cinema history. Great performances, banging tunes, thoughtful and playful script; a film for all seasons, but goes especially well with a barbecue.
Books have been written about the tortuous distribution endured by The Wicker Man and its producers; rumours persist that the original much longer version is buried under a motorway somewhere in England. But all the available cuts are excellent, if not superb: the film is not particularly scary per se, more a queasy examination of how society, morality and religion intersect with one another; manages to make moral relativism seem more disturbing than devil-worship, somehow. Has one of the greatest non-endings in cinema history. Great performances, banging tunes, thoughtful and playful script; a film for all seasons, but goes especially well with a barbecue.
ClareR (5686 KP) rated The Illumination Of Ursula Flight in Books
Jul 30, 2018
A bit of feminism in post Puritan England!
Ursula Flight's story takes us from her birth during the time of Charles II, all through her early years and her life as a married woman. She comes from an affluent family, is taught to read, write, speak classic and modern languages, and she loves the idea of writing plays and the theatre (although she has never been). She marries at a very young age, just after her beloved father dies, and her husband couldn't be more different to her own father and family. He is dull, Puritanical (in the true sense of the word), ugly and controlling. Ursula wants more from her life than sewing and bible study (which she shouldn't be reading either - it's not the done thing for a woman to be able to read). And she sets about getting it after she arrives in London.
I loved this book: a bit of feminism set in the latter half of the 1600s. Ursula grabs hold of life and makes it what she wants (partly it's thrust upon her, but she makes the best of it). It's very funny in places and also incredibly moving. A really well-rounded, excellent book, frankly!
I loved this book: a bit of feminism set in the latter half of the 1600s. Ursula grabs hold of life and makes it what she wants (partly it's thrust upon her, but she makes the best of it). It's very funny in places and also incredibly moving. A really well-rounded, excellent book, frankly!