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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Digging Up Mother: A Love Story in Books

Oct 14, 2017 (Updated Oct 15, 2017)  
Digging Up Mother: A Love Story
Digging Up Mother: A Love Story
Doug Stanhope | 2016 | Biography, Humor & Comedy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Crude, hilarious, and sombre at times
Listened to on Audible.

For all lovers of gonzo, Doug Stanhope reaches the top of the list of crude humour, insane experiences muddled in with bittersweet memories.

This autobiography is hilarious, and the only way to read it, is to listen to it, given there are so many 'director's comments', in which Doug and his friends discuss the incident at hand. Also the fact that he is drunk at times and will loudly burp just adds to the book so much more than skimming through the pages. While the majority is about him, it premises around his mother's life and death which have ultimately shaped him. She's no ordinary mother that's a fact.

From being a pyromaniac as a child, a teen male prostitute to telephone salesman, Stanhope has had an interesting life mixed in with drugs, alcohol, women and stand up comedy. And while you do think he's a bit of a so-and-so, it's still very funny. A great listen.
  
The Rules of Magic
The Rules of Magic
Alice Hoffman | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.6 (14 Ratings)
Book Rating
How I loved this book! I’ve read it in completely the wrong order - I know that Practical Magic should have been first, but I got caught up in the heat of the moment, and ordered this from the library when it came out. I’m glad I did though. It’s a lovely story, nothing like how I expected it to be. I expected it to be more stereotypically ‘witchy’, but it was much more subtle. This prequel follows two sisters and their brothers as they grow up and recognise that they are different to their peers - they are witches. Their mother encourages them to hide their abilities, to ignore them, but they know that they can't, and when they spend a summer holiday with their aunt they are encouraged to do the opposite of their mother's instructions. They also don't follow their mothers' instructions when she tells them not to fall in love - because of the family curse they are told that it will end badly.
 Well worth a read!!
  
Fire in Frost (Crystal Frost, #1)
Fire in Frost (Crystal Frost, #1)
Alicia Rades | 2015 | Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received a free copy of this book from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for a review. I did not receive any compensation nor did I guarantee a favorable review.

I must admit that during the first few chapters I was asking myself if I would ever finish reading this book. I can honestly say that continuing to read it was well worth it!! Crystal is at the cusp of womanhood and while at school one day she thinks she sees Olivia but that's hard to believe because her classmate was dead. One night she stumbles upon a secret that will alter her life and her perception of the world around her will suddenly change.

With the help of her mother and her two best friends, Emma and Derek, she will embark on a paranormal journey that will bring many revelations. This is the first book I've read by this author and I am looking forward to reading more of her books as she made a believer of her talent out of me.
  
The White Book
The White Book
Han Kang | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The fragility of life
This is a heartbreaking, autobiographical account surrounding the death of the author's newborn sister, and the subsequent grieving process she goes through, seeing 'white' throughout her life.

Unlike @The Vegetarian: A Novel and @Human Acts, this book is not designed to have the narrative reach of those two novels. Instead, it is a fragmented meditation on the death of the unnamed baby sister, who died two hours after her birth. Han wisely gives as much value to those heightened two hours of life as she does to her death. The story of her birth, as narrated from the point of view of the mother, who is 22 when she is obliged to deliver the premature baby herself, is simply told.

The book is structured around the white things that become part of the rituals of mourning and remembering. The dominant theme is of transience, of fleeting life and the acceptance of human fragility. It feels mysterious and abstract at time, which seems to reflect the death itself. Hats off to Han Kang and @Deborah Smith for another wonderful translation.
  
Mass Effect Andromeda Deluxe Edition
Mass Effect Andromeda Deluxe Edition
Role-Playing
Interesting story (2 more)
Beautiful environments
Great voice acting
Enjoyable Game and Addition to the Series
I love the Mass Effect series so I was excited to play this latest game in the series. I liked the story a lot because it was interesting and there were some great characters. The romance options were fairly decent and I did like the introduction of a new alien race and one of them became my favorite character in the entire game. The environments are beautiful and the game play is pretty good. I did have fun playing it. I just wish they had worked on the facial animations more because during cut scenes the expressions barely emote and appear wooden and robotic. It was also frustrating just how many bugs were in the game ranging from a character not showing up in a cut scene to the game freezing up. That aside, this is an enjoyable game and a good addition to the series, so it's worth checking out.

Read full Mother Gamer review here: http://lorrie28-mothergamer.blogspot.com/2017/04/mass-effect-andromeda-fun-adventure-in.html
  
The Sunshine Sisters
The Sunshine Sisters
Jane Green | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
7.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received an ARC from NetGalley for an unbiased opinion.

From the very beginning of the book, we are told the outcome. Green uses the rest of the book to take us through the lives of the Sunshine sisters in relationship to their mother, Ronnie Sunshine.

I cannot suggest a "faster" way to get all the women to the point where they know the eventual outcome, but there was something disheartening about being just over 80% into the book when Ronnie tells her daughters why she has asked them to come home. At the same time, Green, in her ever present style, does a great job of wrapping all the pieces together up so there are no loose ends.

Green is very good, as an author, at reminding us that what the characters see/perceive is not always the case. What a person takes as neglect can, from the other character's viewpoint be an assumption of strength, for example. And when enough people are trying to survive the same demon, in different ways, it becomes easy to look out just for oneself.
  
HA
Hope: A Tragedy
6
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book tells the story of a couple who buys an old farmhouse in upstate New York to esacape the craziness of life in NYC. The husband has major issues...the basis of which begin with his father leaving & the fact that his mother is a Jew who was born & raised in America. Yet she still manages to convince herself that she suffered through concentration camps in Nzi occupied Germany. The story gets interesting when Sol discovers an old, stooped over woman living in their attic. Big deal? Well, yeah. She claims to be Anne Frank.
Sounds like a great idea for a story, but to me it fell flat. At times I was interested & couldn't wait to see what would happen. Then it would just sort of ramble on for page upon page of nothing really happening. To me, the author was working way too hard at an attempt to be deep & philosophical. That ruined the promise of an intriguing plot line. It was okay, but I wouldn't read it again.
  
American Pastoral (2016)
American Pastoral (2016)
2016 | Drama
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Ewan McGregor is brilliant (2 more)
Incredibly sad
Not bad adaptation of Philip Roth's book
There was something missing (0 more)
Harrowing, tragic and moving
Philip Roth's tragic drama about the perfect high school couple and the disintegration of a family has finally made it on to the big screen. Set in the 1960's during massive political upheaval in America, it follows the story of a daughter who disappears after allegedly bombing a store, killing a clerk as part of a 'revolutionary' movement. Her father, played by Ewan McGregor, believes that she has been manipulated and that she is truly innocent throughout, even in the face of all opposing evidence. It's horrific seeing the mother and father's complete breakdown and it seems apparent the daughter Merry is suffering from a mental illness. There's hints of sexual abuse thought to have triggered her stutter, but it is extremely subtle.

It's really quite a sombre watch, especially given that the film begins with the father's funeral. Beautiful acting, but the daughter's character was extremely irritating.
  
The Great Alone
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
10
8.5 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
Extremely well written. (1 more)
It's Kristin Hannah
Repetitive (0 more)
Phenomenal
As always Kristin Hannah does it again. I swear I can not read one of her books without becoming a blubbering baby. Ugh Why??????

Anyway. I love The Great Alone. The story of a family moving to rugged Alaska. The father, Ernt, a flakey, unpredictable, POW. The Mother Cora timid, loving, and clueless. Then Lenora. The teenage girl who throughout the story is tried and tested. She has to navigate not only the rugged world of Alaska. Also the tumultuous home and family life. You will love all the character's. Reading this book will have you googling Alaska. Dreaming of trips to the Kenai Peninsula.

You really can't go wrong with anything Kristin Hannah. I can't seem to get enough. The worst part is waiting for the next one. Please not so long this time Ms. Hannah. I know you are busy. But writing like yours doesn't come along very often. Your books transcend time and place. They transport us into the world you create. Please just never stop writing.
  
Jade was positive she was just an average girl, until she fell asleep in her bath, inhaled some salt water, and sprouted a mermaid tail. Soon the truth comes out that her mom was a mermaid. But then how did her mom drown last summer? Jade works to come to terms with this new side of herself, maintain her close friendships without spilling her secret, attempt to keep her dignity around her adorable crush, and figure out the mystery behind her mother.

 

I enjoyed every second of this story. I instantly liked Jade and her slight sarcasm. Although the events were, in reality, absolutely ridiculous, they worked in the context of the book, and it was easy to get lost in the story and believe in mermaids for a while. It was much more of an exciting and thrilling adventure than I originally imagined it to be. The twist at the end was perfectly wonderful! I read it twice I liked it so much. (*grins ecstatically*) I would recommend this book in a heartbeat.

 

Content/Recommendation: Clean, ages 10-16