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Simply Crazy
Simply Crazy
Jenn Hype | 2017 | Humor & Comedy, Romance
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Amazing
If you like your books with a sassy heroine, brooding hero and awesome side characters that will take you on a roller coaster of emotion then this is the book of you.
Hype is a pro at the sarcastic witty and insane characters but this book she has delved further to bring you a laugh out loud comedy packed with action and all the feels.
Join Blake and CJ on their road from casual acquaintances to learning to accept who they are and who they need
  
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Nick Cave recommended Here I am in Books (curated)

 
Here I am
Here I am
Jonathan Safran Foer | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"“I fled through Jonathan Safran Foer’s Here I Am and halfway through I was in tears and again a bit further on, more tears – as a father, as a son and as a husband. The last book that did this was Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and in some way this book is not dissimilar – there is a family in crisis and there is an apocalypse – but The Road is all darkness with brief spasms of light, and although Here I Am is also a deeply melancholy book about a doomed family, it is wickedly funny, so that you are laughing too, as it all goes to hell. A book with an enormous and furious heart. I loved it.” -NC"

Source
  
Road to Winter (Fae’s Captive #2)
Road to Winter (Fae’s Captive #2)
Lily Archer | 2021 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
180 of 250
Kindle
Road to Winter ( Fae’s Captive book 2)
By Lily Archer

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

The fae king is growing on me. Every touch, look, and night spent in his arms is slowly melting my resistance. When his feral side takes over, something inside me wants to let go and give him everything. With each passing day, the pull is getting harder to deny. But the road to the winter realm is full of danger, and I need to concentrate on finding my way home, not on the promises of pleasure Leander whispers in my ear at night. Even so, how long can I resist the intoxicating kiss of winter?


These books are so bloody frustrating! I’d love to give it 4 or even 5 stars but as soon as you get into the story the book ends! Also ends on a little cliffhanger and yes I could go straight to the next book but I have a huge tbr pile to get through and have ocd about reading in a certain order. I’ll say what I said in the book 1 review it shows so much promise! They also read as novellas rather than a full book.
  
Tokyo Highway
Tokyo Highway
2016 | Action
Living in Iowa/Illinois, the saying is that we only have 2 seasons: winter and road construction. Our winters can certainly be brutal, and our road workers and civil engineers deserve major props for the work they do for our communities! Let’s put ourselves in their shoes for a minute. Can you design a structurally secure overpass? How about figuring out the logistics to create an underpass? If a part of your roadway is damaged, can you fix it without causing further harm? These are all things that you must consider in the minimalistic game of Tokyo Highway.

Tokyo Highway is a dexterity game of route building in which players are trying to create a roadway on which their cars will travel. The first player to place all of their cars on the highway is the winner. Originally, Tokyo Highway was for only 2 players, but an expansion has come out to accommodate up to 4 players. This review will address all player counts! To begin the game, hand out components and set up as described in the rulebook for your chosen player count. Select a starting player, and you are ready to begin.

On your turn, you will perform 3 actions: build a column, build a road, and place a car. When building a column, there are 2 things to remember – the column must create a continuation of your existing road, and it must be built exactly 1 level above or 1 level below the column from which it is based. For example, to play off of a column with a height of 2, you must either play a height of 1 or a height of 3. To build a road, take one of your road sticks and place it on the columns so it connects the newly built column to its predecessor. The last part of your turn is to place a car on your road stick, if you have met the placement requirements. The requirements for placing a car are that your new section of road must cross an opponent’s road, either by being the first road to cross over it, or being the first road to cross under it. You may place additional cars on your road stick for additional roads that your segment crosses above/below.


There are a couple of twists in the game, though! First, each player begins the game with a certain amount of Junctions. When you choose to play a Junction, you are allowed to create a column of any height, regardless of the height of its predecessor. Another special power of Junctions is that once you place a Junction, you have the option to branch 2 roads from that single point, instead of only 1 like with regular columns. The other twist? If at any point during your turn, you knock over an opponents’ cars, roads, or columns, you are penalized and must give that opponent the number of equivalent pieces that were toppled from your own personal supply. You then fix the damage, and continue your turn as normal. The game end is triggered when either 1 player has placed all of their cars, or when a player runs out of construction components. The player who places all of their cars first is the winner, or a player that runs out of components loses the game and the other players continue until the game end is triggered again.
For such a seemingly simple game, Tokyo Highway challenges players on 2 fronts: dexterity and strategy. Obviously, your dexterity is put to the test as you try to move steadily, build secure roads, and not topple over any other components in play. It really is harder than it looks, and creates a good physical challenge for players. Strategy comes into play because you have to plan turns in advance and try to anticipate your opponent’s movements in order to create opportunities to place your cars. You’ve got to strategize where you want to build under or over, and then set yourself up for those builds. But you’ve also got to keep an eye on your opponent, because they might unknowingly (or purposefully…) disrupt your strategy with a placement of their own. Players are never idle in this game, everyone is engaged throughout as they plan ahead for success.

My biggest qualm with Tokyo Highway are the rules regarding knocking down roadways on your turn. According to the rules, if you knock anything down, you forfeit components from your supply, and then rebuild the destroyed area. However, as the game progresses and gets more intricate, with roads crossing very tightly together, one misstep could destroy nearly the entire structure. And it is difficult to rebuild since the highway placements vary with literally every turn, and unless you take a picture after every turn, chances are you can’t recreate it from memory. At that point, continuing the game is futile, and then who wins? You either have to restart the game, or just call it then and end it.


The components of Tokyo Highway are pretty great. Everything is sturdy and wooden, and will definitely withstand the test of time. They feel great in hand and are simply just fun to fiddle with between turns! It is a simple and minimalistic game overall, and the components reflect that wonderfully.
So overall, how is Tokyo Highway? I think it is a game with a nearly perfect balance of dexterity and strategy. You must employ both of those to succeed, because focusing on only one will get you nowhere. It definitely offers more than meets the eye, and that is a fun surprise. There is no set game board or layout, so literally every game will be different, allowing for seemingly infinite replayability. It is definitely a game that keeps players engaged and on their toes. Although there are a few issues regarding dexterity ‘accidents,’ the gameplay overall flows well and is logical. Purple Phoenix Games gives Tokyo Highway a speedy 8 / 12.
  
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David Sedaris recommended Revolutionary Road in Books (curated)

 
Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road
Richard Yates | 2007 | Fiction & Poetry
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"I read The Easter Parade or Revolutionary Road every year. Richard Yates is just a good word-for-word on-the-page writer. He couldn’t be more different than someone like Joy Williams or Raymond Carver. His sentences are very complex, the stories are complicated and he was such a miserable man. I always like people who would hate me. I don’t know what that’s about. But Richard Yates would definitely hate me"

Source
  
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David Sedaris recommended Easter Parade in Books (curated)

 
Easter Parade
Easter Parade
Richard Yates | 2008 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"I read The Easter Parade or Revolutionary Road every year. Richard Yates is just a good word-for-word on-the-page writer. He couldn’t be more different than someone like Joy Williams or Raymond Carver. His sentences are very complex, the stories are complicated and he was such a miserable man. I always like people who would hate me. I don’t know what that’s about. But Richard Yates would definitely hate me"

Source
  
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
1983 | Comedy
The dog went on the picnic basket!
The Griswolds!

Everyone's favorite adventurous family embarks on their inaugural journey together to go see Wallyworld in California and encounters creepy annoying relatives and all sorts of unsavory characters along the way.

I once had a long discussion with someone about which was better, the first Vacation or Christmas Vacation, this one being my favorite of the bunch. The family dynamic on the open road, for me, was slightly more entertaining than Christmas at home with the relatives which is also still a lot of fun.

Seemed like a liked the introduction of Randy Quaid, John Candy, Christy Brinkley and Imogeen Coca and just thought it was a lot of fun waiting to see what happened next.

  
RT
Remains To Be Scene (Polly Pepper, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Aging Hollywood star Polly Pepper finds the road to a comeback is dangerous when she steps into a role that lead to two murders on a movie set. Filled with Hollywood gossip and over the top characters, it's a fun debut that suffers from some rough writing.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/03/book-review-remains-to-be-scene-by-r-t.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
Can You Find It? Cars and Trucks On The Road
Can You Find It? Cars and Trucks On The Road
Alessia Girasole | 2021 | Children
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Can You Find It? Cars and Trucks on the Road is a fun and unique way for your child or children to have fun and learn to read and count. Cars and Trucks on the Road follow a purple car driving around town.

There are many things to find on each page. There are cars and trucks to count on each page; there are some mini-games for your child to play.

If you are looking for a book that will help teach your child or children their numbers. This one will do that. However, it adds more fun and enjoyment for your child or children to find the book. Children will keep themselves entertained for a few hours by finding and seeking different things throughout the book.

Can your child or children be able to help Mr. Giraffe find a few things at the end of the book on the last page? I have a feeling your child or children will want to pick up this book and reread it or have it read again and again. Parents can help by reading it to them though children can look at the pictures and try and find the objects or items.

It implies the book is for three-year-olds, but I think it could work for two-year-olds as well. That depends on the parents and if they choose it. Each child is different. This book will work for my young cousin who will be too soon. The pictures are colorful and done well.
  
Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle  (2004)
Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle (2004)
2004 | Adventure, Comedy
Crazy road trip for two stoners out to satisfy their post drug hunger pangs.
Full of nuts one liners and strange Cameo's, it's a fun one to catch if you have just come in from a night on the tiles and need something comedic and fun but forgettable to watch.
It's very close to that other nuts stoner movie Dude where's my car.