Search
All the Names They Used for God: Stories
Book
Spanning centuries, continents, and a diverse set of characters, these alluringly strange stories...
The Room on Rue Amélie
10.0
Rate It
Book
For fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale and Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls, this powerful...
Merissa (14190 KP) rated Rally Point Zero (Team Oh Sh!t #2) in Books
Apr 10, 2026
RALLY POINT ZERO is the second book in the Team Oh Sh!t duology, and is also a book of two halves. The first half talks about what isn't always shown in the disaster movies - just how hard it is just to survive following an apocalypse! Gabriel and Blake are still together, but their paths are taking them further apart from each other. Both of them have PTSD in different, but equally traumatic, ways. The second half is what happens when stubborn humans decide to fight back. There is more action and plenty of drama as they devise a crazy plan to retake D.C.
This was a brilliant follow-up to the first book, delivering just as much emotion and action as the first, while continuing to move the story along. I loved Gabriel and Blake's relationship, so full of heart at such a difficult time. Once again, the supporting characters are amazing and help move the story along. I was literally biting my nails as I read, hoping and praying that no one died that I had become attached to.
I know this is a duology, but there are characters here that need their story told. I'm looking at Judd/Victoria, Alvarez/Beaumont, and absolutely not forgetting Phin/Tommy. This was an amazing, not easy, read, but well worth it. I loved every moment spent with Team Oh Sh!t, and hope to return to this series at some time in the future. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED by me.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 10, 2026
This was a brilliant follow-up to the first book, delivering just as much emotion and action as the first, while continuing to move the story along. I loved Gabriel and Blake's relationship, so full of heart at such a difficult time. Once again, the supporting characters are amazing and help move the story along. I was literally biting my nails as I read, hoping and praying that no one died that I had become attached to.
I know this is a duology, but there are characters here that need their story told. I'm looking at Judd/Victoria, Alvarez/Beaumont, and absolutely not forgetting Phin/Tommy. This was an amazing, not easy, read, but well worth it. I loved every moment spent with Team Oh Sh!t, and hope to return to this series at some time in the future. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED by me.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 10, 2026
Bong Mines Entertainment (15 KP) rated Wishful Thinking by Augustine in Music
Jun 17, 2019
Augustine is a 22-year-old singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Sweden. Not too long ago, he released a lovely debut EP, entitled, “Wishful Thinking”, which reveals his deepest fears.
“The first song I released as an artist that changed so much about my life. It’s a memory of the contrasts in a relationship, thinking that it’s a bit scary if the current moment is the highlight of your life. You are high on life but so afraid to lose the feeling that you somehow lose yourself instead.” – Augustine
‘Luzon’ is Augustine’s debut single. Shortly after its release, it skyrocketed to #1 on Hype Machine.
The likable tune contains a lighthearted storyline, beautiful falsetto vocals, and cinematic instrumentation flavored with an alternative-pop aroma.
Augustine – “Viola”
“I was a little angry with the world when I wrote ‘Viola’. Much of that anger was due to feelings of anxiety, guilt, and other boring things. The line ‘I’ll be your biggest disappointment if you sum up the years of adolescence’ is really about being scared of not being enough.” – Augustine
‘Viola’ contains a relatable narrative, likable vocals, and warm instrumentation pulsating with mellotron tones and distinctive drums.
Augustine – “Wishful Thinking”
“I’m weak for synth-pop songs that are so big that you just lose yourself in them. So I wanted to try one myself. ‘Wishful Thinking’ is a twisted love story about looking back at something with both regret and lack. But mostly with a fear of forgetting how a certain person is, looks and sounds.” – Augustine
The title track “Wishful Thinking” tells a twisted love story about looking back at something with both regret and lack. But mostly with a fear of forgetting how a certain person is, looks and sounds.
This reminiscence is juxtaposed with exhilarating energy which builds throughout the song, emulating a windows-down late night drive and overwhelming liberation.
‘Wishful Thinking’ contains a relatable storyline, pleasing vocals, and enjoyable instrumentation which takes listeners on a bombastic synth-pop thrill ride.
The likable tune reveals Augustine’s penchant for massive synth-based productions like Lana Del Rey‘s “Summertime Sadness” and Future Islands’ “Seasons”.
Augustine – “A Scent of Lily”
“This was initially an attempt to write a pop song, with inspiration from the chorus of Ariana Grande’s ‘Into You’. ‘Lily’ eventually became much more alternative. It’s about powerlessness in a relationship, when you buy into everything about the other person, to the point that you stop thinking your own sensible thoughts.” – Augustine
‘A Scent of Lily’ is another critically acclaimed tune which made Augustine one of 2019’s most talked about new artists.
Like “Luzon”, it peaked at #1 on Hype Machine. Also, it placed Augustine in a conversational comparison with iconic voices like Bon Iver, Mark Foster, James Blake, and Ezra Koenig.
‘A Scent of Lily’ contains a relatable storyline, ear-welcoming vocals, and lush instrumentation flavored with electro-pop and modern dance elements.
Augustine – “Slacks”
“The most personal song of the EP. It’s about how a lovely relationship didn’t last because of the distance. We moved to different cities, and I became so self-absorbed. I started suffering from agoraphobia that made it hard for me to even go outside. A little crazy in hindsight.” – Augustine
‘Slacks’ possesses a bittersweet storyline, heartfelt vocals, and stripped instrumentation perfumed with a nostalgic scent.
Get acquainted with Augustine’s “Wishful Thinking” EP by streaming it via Spotify.
“Hearing the EP from a distance, it became clear that this music grew out many years of me being afraid of being a disappointment to others. All the lyrics were inspired by being afraid of people, the world and leaving things behind.” – Augustine
All five songs featured on “Wishful Thinking” are collaborations between Augustine and producers Rassmus Björnson and Agrin Rahmani (LÉON, Skott).
https://www.bongminesentertainment.com/augustine-wishful-thinking/
“The first song I released as an artist that changed so much about my life. It’s a memory of the contrasts in a relationship, thinking that it’s a bit scary if the current moment is the highlight of your life. You are high on life but so afraid to lose the feeling that you somehow lose yourself instead.” – Augustine
‘Luzon’ is Augustine’s debut single. Shortly after its release, it skyrocketed to #1 on Hype Machine.
The likable tune contains a lighthearted storyline, beautiful falsetto vocals, and cinematic instrumentation flavored with an alternative-pop aroma.
Augustine – “Viola”
“I was a little angry with the world when I wrote ‘Viola’. Much of that anger was due to feelings of anxiety, guilt, and other boring things. The line ‘I’ll be your biggest disappointment if you sum up the years of adolescence’ is really about being scared of not being enough.” – Augustine
‘Viola’ contains a relatable narrative, likable vocals, and warm instrumentation pulsating with mellotron tones and distinctive drums.
Augustine – “Wishful Thinking”
“I’m weak for synth-pop songs that are so big that you just lose yourself in them. So I wanted to try one myself. ‘Wishful Thinking’ is a twisted love story about looking back at something with both regret and lack. But mostly with a fear of forgetting how a certain person is, looks and sounds.” – Augustine
The title track “Wishful Thinking” tells a twisted love story about looking back at something with both regret and lack. But mostly with a fear of forgetting how a certain person is, looks and sounds.
This reminiscence is juxtaposed with exhilarating energy which builds throughout the song, emulating a windows-down late night drive and overwhelming liberation.
‘Wishful Thinking’ contains a relatable storyline, pleasing vocals, and enjoyable instrumentation which takes listeners on a bombastic synth-pop thrill ride.
The likable tune reveals Augustine’s penchant for massive synth-based productions like Lana Del Rey‘s “Summertime Sadness” and Future Islands’ “Seasons”.
Augustine – “A Scent of Lily”
“This was initially an attempt to write a pop song, with inspiration from the chorus of Ariana Grande’s ‘Into You’. ‘Lily’ eventually became much more alternative. It’s about powerlessness in a relationship, when you buy into everything about the other person, to the point that you stop thinking your own sensible thoughts.” – Augustine
‘A Scent of Lily’ is another critically acclaimed tune which made Augustine one of 2019’s most talked about new artists.
Like “Luzon”, it peaked at #1 on Hype Machine. Also, it placed Augustine in a conversational comparison with iconic voices like Bon Iver, Mark Foster, James Blake, and Ezra Koenig.
‘A Scent of Lily’ contains a relatable storyline, ear-welcoming vocals, and lush instrumentation flavored with electro-pop and modern dance elements.
Augustine – “Slacks”
“The most personal song of the EP. It’s about how a lovely relationship didn’t last because of the distance. We moved to different cities, and I became so self-absorbed. I started suffering from agoraphobia that made it hard for me to even go outside. A little crazy in hindsight.” – Augustine
‘Slacks’ possesses a bittersweet storyline, heartfelt vocals, and stripped instrumentation perfumed with a nostalgic scent.
Get acquainted with Augustine’s “Wishful Thinking” EP by streaming it via Spotify.
“Hearing the EP from a distance, it became clear that this music grew out many years of me being afraid of being a disappointment to others. All the lyrics were inspired by being afraid of people, the world and leaving things behind.” – Augustine
All five songs featured on “Wishful Thinking” are collaborations between Augustine and producers Rassmus Björnson and Agrin Rahmani (LÉON, Skott).
https://www.bongminesentertainment.com/augustine-wishful-thinking/
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Kingdom of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy #2) in Books
Apr 1, 2019
I....may have an unpopular opinion on this book. First, I LOVED the first book of this trilogy, The City of Brass. Absolutely loved it. It was one of my favorite books of that year. I like this one significantly less. I think that probably wouldn't be the case if I had read this in quick succession, but I read City of Brass when it came out, and had to wait a year for this one, in which time I read around 200 more books.
I expected a certain amount of backstory explanation in Kingdom of Copper - and it wasn't there. I think the book assumes you remember everything that happened in City of Brass - and I most certainly did not. I don't remember why we have the division between the djinn and the daeva, or really which is which. I know the shafit are part human, part...djinn? Daeva? See that's the problem. These are very politicky books and forgetting key parts of the political drama makes this book VERY hard to follow. I don't know WHY there's conflict between certain people, and I don't recognize missteps when characters make them because I've forgotten who has which opinions.
All the worldbuilding explanations are in the first book, and they aren't revisited in this one. Had I KNOWN that, I might have re-read City of Brass before this came out, as much as I dislike re-reading anything.
All of that aside, and despite my confusion, I mostly enjoyed this continuation of Nahri's story. We delved a little more into murky bloodlines, the more recent past of Daevabad, and the more ancient past of Nahri's healer ancestors, the Nahids.
I still love Nahri, I like Ali a little more, and I like Dara a little less. I am curious to see where the third book leads, especially after the cliffhanger ending of this one. I just might have to re-read both City of Brass and this one before reading the trilogy's conclusion.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
I expected a certain amount of backstory explanation in Kingdom of Copper - and it wasn't there. I think the book assumes you remember everything that happened in City of Brass - and I most certainly did not. I don't remember why we have the division between the djinn and the daeva, or really which is which. I know the shafit are part human, part...djinn? Daeva? See that's the problem. These are very politicky books and forgetting key parts of the political drama makes this book VERY hard to follow. I don't know WHY there's conflict between certain people, and I don't recognize missteps when characters make them because I've forgotten who has which opinions.
All the worldbuilding explanations are in the first book, and they aren't revisited in this one. Had I KNOWN that, I might have re-read City of Brass before this came out, as much as I dislike re-reading anything.
All of that aside, and despite my confusion, I mostly enjoyed this continuation of Nahri's story. We delved a little more into murky bloodlines, the more recent past of Daevabad, and the more ancient past of Nahri's healer ancestors, the Nahids.
I still love Nahri, I like Ali a little more, and I like Dara a little less. I am curious to see where the third book leads, especially after the cliffhanger ending of this one. I just might have to re-read both City of Brass and this one before reading the trilogy's conclusion.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Get Him to the Greek (2010) in Movies
Aug 8, 2019
Russell Brand created one of the more memorable characters of 2008 in Forgetting Sarah Marshall with his role as Aldous Snow. Get Him to the Greek is by and large an extension of his role in that movie, but ramped up in the “crazy rock star” department. Jonah Hill, playing the ambitious record company intern Aaron Green tries to bring Aldous Snow from London to Los Angeles to play a show at the Greek Theater. The problem with this simplistic plot is that it doesn’t lead to any character development, and only leads to more jokes. While surprisingly funny in some parts, the characters don’t really make a splash unless they’re doing something ridiculous, which happens quite often.
The main characters, drunk on absinthe in one scene, deliver truly cringe-worthy performances, and I’m not talking about funny cringes. Later on in the film, another scene with another drug is sure to be remembered as one of the funniest bits in the entire film. Unfortunately, this is representative of the entire film. There are hits and misses on nearly every metric you can think of. Rose Byrne and Sean Combs are fantastic in their respective supporting roles, Russell Brand is charmingly hilarious with his rock star attitude, and while Jonah Hill does a good job of showing the anxiety of a responsible guy just trying to handle an irresponsible rock star, he’s still miles away from his scene-stealing performance in Superbad.
In the end, however, Get Him to the Greek just had no closure. The ending was forced, like the director ran out of time, and the lack of character growth really forced the film to rely on a “moral of the story” type of ending, which ended up muddling the film’s ending further. Still, the ending doesn’t detract wholly from the movie. Much like watching a lesser version of Spinal Tap, this movie is still amusing to watch.
The main characters, drunk on absinthe in one scene, deliver truly cringe-worthy performances, and I’m not talking about funny cringes. Later on in the film, another scene with another drug is sure to be remembered as one of the funniest bits in the entire film. Unfortunately, this is representative of the entire film. There are hits and misses on nearly every metric you can think of. Rose Byrne and Sean Combs are fantastic in their respective supporting roles, Russell Brand is charmingly hilarious with his rock star attitude, and while Jonah Hill does a good job of showing the anxiety of a responsible guy just trying to handle an irresponsible rock star, he’s still miles away from his scene-stealing performance in Superbad.
In the end, however, Get Him to the Greek just had no closure. The ending was forced, like the director ran out of time, and the lack of character growth really forced the film to rely on a “moral of the story” type of ending, which ended up muddling the film’s ending further. Still, the ending doesn’t detract wholly from the movie. Much like watching a lesser version of Spinal Tap, this movie is still amusing to watch.
Dale Lawson (13 KP) rated Missing Link (2019) in Movies
Feb 29, 2020
Animation Style (3 more)
Character development
Voice Acting
Hilarity
An adventurous, family-friendly animation.
After winning the BAFTA for best animated feature, my interest in seeing this film rose. As it is conveniently found on Netflix, we watched it as a family for a ‘movie night’. I was prepared for a mediocre adventure in search of a missing link between man and ape. What you actually get is a heartfelt, quintessentially British, global adventure in search of a home for a lonely Sasquatch. The journey each character goes through is wonderful as they learn about family, friendships and individuality before conquering the villain.
With a high calibre cast, this film is full of seasoned voice actors. So much so that it is actually difficult to identify the owner of each voice until the credits roll. This, for the most part, makes the film even more enjoyable as you aren’t left guessing actors or imagining them in the role.
Beginning with two characters on a quest for the Loch Ness Monster, the story is full of mystery and myth. It then becomes a predictable one, when it gets into its flow. For an adult, this can make the film a little expected. However, for a child this film is filled with hilarity. When watching with my three kids, there was non-stop laughter. From the naming of the Sasquatch to him forgetting swimwear, the room was full of joy.
Animation has always been a passion of mine, since I was young: from hand drawn to computer generated. My favourite had always been stop motion. Missing Link is primarily filmed in stop motion, using new techniques that allow for smoother facial transitions. The film’s adventurous nature encourages for exciting sets and explosive additional CGI that makes the film feel incredibly polished.
Captivating the attention of adults and children, alike, Missing Link provides an animated, family friendly adventure that teaches morals and respect. I can see why it won so many awards and challenges Toy Story 4 for the top place.
With a high calibre cast, this film is full of seasoned voice actors. So much so that it is actually difficult to identify the owner of each voice until the credits roll. This, for the most part, makes the film even more enjoyable as you aren’t left guessing actors or imagining them in the role.
Beginning with two characters on a quest for the Loch Ness Monster, the story is full of mystery and myth. It then becomes a predictable one, when it gets into its flow. For an adult, this can make the film a little expected. However, for a child this film is filled with hilarity. When watching with my three kids, there was non-stop laughter. From the naming of the Sasquatch to him forgetting swimwear, the room was full of joy.
Animation has always been a passion of mine, since I was young: from hand drawn to computer generated. My favourite had always been stop motion. Missing Link is primarily filmed in stop motion, using new techniques that allow for smoother facial transitions. The film’s adventurous nature encourages for exciting sets and explosive additional CGI that makes the film feel incredibly polished.
Captivating the attention of adults and children, alike, Missing Link provides an animated, family friendly adventure that teaches morals and respect. I can see why it won so many awards and challenges Toy Story 4 for the top place.
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
6.0
Rate It
Book
Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein is an astonishing journey through the mind, and secrets of...
Head of State
Games and News
App
PLOT YOUR RISE TO POLITICAL DOMINATION! Frustrated by the pathetic dummies ruling the country?...
The Mark of Cain: Guilt and Denial in the Post-war Lives of Nazi Perpetrators
Book
The Mark of Cain fleshes out a history of conversations that contributed to Germany's coming to...