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Lying and Dying (Josef Slonsky Investigations #1)
Lying and Dying (Josef Slonsky Investigations #1)
Graham Brack | 2018 | Crime, Mystery
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Prague police procedural
Josef Slonsky is a detective in the Prague police force. He is called to the body of a woman who is discovered at the train station, murdered. His partner, Navratil, is a probationary officer, and seems a little bewildered by Slonsky's methods. To be fair, he has every right to be. Slonsky is irreverent, seems to be incredibly lazy, and therefore does as little as possible. But I think this is all very misleading. Underneath all this is a man who knows exactly what he is doing. He has served on the police force whilst Prague was the capital city in a communist country, and knows all about the systemic corruption.
He's an amusing character though, and seems to have a (usually sarcastic) answer to everything. It's not until the near the end that we see another side to Slonsky. I still can't make up my mind as to whether the ending was rushed, or whether Slonsky really had just had enough. I hope it's the latter - it gives him a bit of an edge.
I enjoyed this book, and I will be reading the next one.
Many thanks to Sapere books for my copy to read and honestly review.
  
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Thundercat recommended Journey to Love by Stanley Clarke in Music (curated)

 
Journey to Love by Stanley Clarke
Journey to Love by Stanley Clarke
1975 | Jazz
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is when I first started taking my bass seriously. This was this was a when I got hungry to understand what it meant to play bass. I thank God that there was a Stanley Clarke as a frame of reference to what to what is possible with the bass, along with Jaco [Pastorious] and Marcus Miller. There was a period where I stopped liking the practice, I was like 'uh I don't wanna practice', and my mom was really clever about it. She offered to pay me to transcribe Stanley Clarke's School Days. And of course, I'm like, 'I want to buy comic books and Marvel cards', so of course I transcribed School Days. Journey to Love and School Days became really personal to me. It was just like, I felt like this was my n**, and I felt like this was who I am; I identified with those two albums. I didn't even discover the self-titled album until later in life; I was very much married to School Days and Journey to Love. I think that Journey to Love is still very much a story to me that I feel resonates in my mind and body. I don't know what you would call it musically, but I paraphrased the album on my very first album, sonically."

Source
  
Idle Gossip
Idle Gossip
Renee Patrick | 2022 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Can Lillian and Edith Find the Deadly Truth in Some Gossip?
Lillian Frost and Edith Head have been summoned to the office of famed gossip columnist Lorna Whitcomb. Her “leg man,” someone who goes out and gathers the gossip for her column, is the police’s prime suspect in the death of Glenn Hoyle, one of his sources. But Sam Simcoe says he is innocent and only found Glenn’s body. Lorna all but blackmails Lillian and Edith into helping clear Sam’s name of the crime. The pair intend to do as little as possible, focusing on the names on a list found in Glenn’s trashcan. Does one of those names hold the key to unraveling the murder?

As always, this was a great trip back in time to the Hollywood of 1940. Real people and fictional characters rub elbows on these pages. I suspect that a few more of the characters might be real people I just didn’t recognize, but I don’t mind since it helps keep the line between real and fictional blurry. And they are all great characters that kept me engaged. The plot is strong, with several revelations before we reach a surprising yet perfectly logical climax. If you enjoy old Hollywood, this series is a must read, but anyone who appreciates a great mystery will be glad they picked it up.
  
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The Wolfs Heir ( The Wild Rites saga 3)
By Anna McIlwraith
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Of all the shapechanger races Emma's met so far, the wolves are the most loyal - and the least tame. When the Russian wolves beg Emma for help, she jumps at the chance to use her burgeoning powers for good, in spite of the misgivings of those who would rather she stay safe and untouched under their protection. After all, Emma Chase is the Caller of the Blood, destined to command the magic of all shapechanging races - and if her power can't save one innocent kid, what the hell is it good for? Besides, the Russian wolves might be able to help her solve the mystery of her own stray wolf's origins, or at least give her some tips on how to stop him chewing up the furniture.

But old enemies have been biding their time, and Emma's promise to the wolves sets events in motion that will push her to the limits of her mind, body and soul, and finally awaken the ancient powers that have, until now, lain dormant within.

Can she save the wolf's heir - and herself?

This is my favourite so far! Fast paced loved the story development and oh my am I a little bit in love with Alexi!! This is a pretty decent shifter series!
  
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
2017 | Drama, Romance
The pace is supposed to feel languid like the summer vacation they are having. (11 more)
The characters are developed early on, like Oliver's knowledge of etymology that would be a cliché of the "protagonist as genius" had it not been a simply test.
Elio's name comes from 'helios' or sun and fits his personality in the sense that he is generous with his time, brilliant by definition of his current state of youth in mind and body, and he is restless in love.
The peach scene is heartbreaking.
The fireplace is a cinematographic style we don't see a lot as an Ameeican audience, where the camera stays in one place and we look through Elios for a long time. It should feel discomforting.
Elios' girl approaches him first even though she recognizes he used her and even when she said she was most afraid of getting hurt. She tells him she's sorry to see him sad, that she loves him, and then extends her hand for a reconciliation.
Elios takes her hand only when she promises her friendship is forever. So while romance is fleeting and he has the courage to proceed, he cannot give up the commitment of duration as prerequisite in a friendship.
The flies throughout the movie feel natural to the countryside but can also signify the attraction to: the sweetness of fruit, the rotting of fruit, and the indiscriminatory chances that warmth gives to living things.
These flies deserve an additional block for their amount of screentime, a motif of desire that obstructs the viewer's sight and buzzes us into a haze. We are, unbeknownst to ourselves, directed towards empathy for the characters.
Romance should be prolonged. Teased until it hits a climax and cannot be resisted anymore. Elio and everyone else hits a note of ecstasy once Oliver gives into the beauty of a body.
It's amazing how this story is founded on and driven by the conversations between Greek philosophy and Roman conquests. The Greeks thought sculpture could answer their question about knowledge/beauty.
Romance, because it ends, remains so good, nostalgic, and desirable.
Summer love