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Beth Orton recommended Cut by The Slits in Music (curated)

 
Cut by The Slits
Cut by The Slits
1979 | Rock
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I first started listening to The Slits when I was about 8, with my friend Antonia, and we stole all her brother's Slits records and used to dance around the room pretending we were the Slits. I just picked this because I'm sure it was a huge part of my life. If I could have been any kind of singer, I would have been a punk - I thought I was a little punk growing up! I wanted to be in The Slits, I wanted to be that kind of a woman, but I grew up to be a folk singer, and that's alright too - I like that. It's just the attitude - I hear The Slits and I'm immediately back in that time. It was a one-off period, it was an exciting time and they kind of encapsulated a sense of anarchic joy. The songs are fucking fantastic as well. There's that ska element, punk, reggae and they're British and they're fantastic. I don't know if there's ever been anyone like them since."

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Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2 (1973-1985) by Billy Joel
Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2 (1973-1985) by Billy Joel
1985 | Rock
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"’She’s Always a Woman’ is a good complement to ‘Something’ I think and lyrically they compare to each other. For me, Billy Joel is hands-down one of the best lyricists of all time. He came up singing in bars and he’s about to have his 100th sold-out show in Madison Square Garden, which I hope to go to! “When I listen to this song I obviously think about the closest women in my life, the people that I respect the most, but especially my Mother. Me and my mom would listen to this song together when I was growing up. It’s one of those songs that I can remember the exact place I was when I first heard it, and it was in the kitchen with her. “Thinking about my mom when I was a kid, she would go through all the different contrasts described in the lyrics - she’d be hot and cold and angry, but then soft. For me, the title lyric reflects how she’ll always be amazing in my eyes. It’s a really respectful but playful song."

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The Millers children seem close to the Colberts. Their time would in the United States is coming to a close. It all starts with a mystery valentine that Lucy does not know who it from. Though that time seems like it takes a while for them to go back to school.

The adventures continue into the summer. The children seem to plan their time with friends though out the summer. There seems to be a family trip to the lake. Lucy seems quite scared. She seems to have family support and Simone as a friend. Could Lucy be scared of something else other than swimming and being alone?

Who has a secret sweetheart? Jon seems more grown-up. He will solve this problem or will he miss his chance? This book and about friendships, growing up, and family. I enjoy the way it was written. You do learn some French. Children will enjoy this book as well as learn a bit about what it was like in 1960.
  
Where the Crawdads Sing
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
6
8.9 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
Delia Owens delivers us the story of Kya the "Marsh Girl" abandoned by her family in Barkley Cove, North Carolina.

The novel switches between times, something I always struggle a little with when reading a novel of this type. Following Kya growing up, being left in the marshes, finding and losing love and learning important life lessons along the way.

It then switches to the discovery and investigation of Barkley Cove's celebrity and much loved football player Chase Andrews. The locals decided that Kya is most likely to be the murder suspect.

Whilst beautifully written, and weaving joy and sadness through what is a very descriptive novel, I did struggle to read through this story, putting it down more times than continuing to read, and at one stage almost considered not finishing the story. I feel that perhaps the ratings and attention this book has had are perhaps over rated. Its a nice story, a little too wordy in places, but worth a read, but do not expect it to live up to the hype.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) May 30, 2020

I really loved this book. <3 It was one of those books where I had seen it around, but it didn't seem like my type of book, but once I read it, I ended up loving it.

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BookishWoo (317 KP) May 30, 2020

I loved Crawdads!

Kinsey and Me: Stories
Kinsey and Me: Stories
Sue Grafton | 2013 | Biography
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Short Stories and Essays
This book breaks down into two unequal sections. The first roughly 70% is made up of nine short stories featuring Kinsey Millhone, PI in Santa Teresa. She solves a murder with a disappearing body and a case of a man who fell off his roof. She also gets involved when an actor gets kidnapped.

The back section featuring thirteen vignettes as author Sue Grafton reflects on her life growing up with a functioning alcoholic father and a destructive alcoholic mother. While she admits they are autobiographical, she frames them around a character named Kit.

Fans of Kinsey will delight in these nine stories, all previous published, but decades ago so hard to track down outside this collection now. Personally, I found the back section depressing, but I suspect these stories were theopoetic for Ms. Grafton to write, and I can see others benefiting from them, too.

Overall, fans of the series will enjoy the collection. If you are new to the series, you can jump in here, too, and meet Kinsey without ruining any of fun of the novels.
  
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
2014 | Action, Sci-Fi
Epic fight scenes (2 more)
Detailed character building
Great casting
Excellent follow on
MCU takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions as you follow Steve Rogers trying to settle into modern day life. We are introduced to Sam AKA Falcon who becomes a major character in the MCU and an old face is brought back.
Steve has to decide who he can trust, while dealing with the reveal of who the Winter Soldier actually is.
While Bucky Barnes was Steve's oldest friend and protector while growing up in the first movie, we see Steve gain a supportive and understanding friend in Sam, someone who can see beyond the superhero, to the man behind the shield.
The ending of this one, while leaving a few loose ends naturally, has a much better overall feel to it