Jace's Trial
Book
Life is a trial full of obstacles that stand between you and your goals. Do you have the courage to...
“K” is for Killer
Book
Lorna Kepler was beautiful and willful, a loner who couldn't resist flirting with danger. Maybe...
Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman | Childbirth | Pregnancy
Podcast
Welcome to Fear Free Childbirth podcast, with Alexia Leachman, the podcast to help...
Tor (The Hawks #4)
Book
What is it about her that makes him lose his mind? Every. Damn. Time. Tor’s world is falling...
Adult Fantasy Romance
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated Gone for Gouda in Books
Jan 9, 2023 (Updated Jan 9, 2023)
I enjoyed the first book in the series, but this was even stronger. We meet Phoebe long enough to know what a pain she is before she dies, but then we learn even more, opening up the suspect pool. The climax becomes a race to figure things out, and I was along for the twists that kept coming at that point. I was thrilled that the supporting players got a bigger role this time around. They are fantastic, and I enjoyed spending time with all of them. I grew up in Sonoma County, so I have a special connection with the setting even if I did have to move my mental map of the fictional town where most of the action takes place. This book will leave you hungry for cheese, so the three recipes at the end will be welcome. I’m already anxious to see what happens to Willa and the others in the next in the series.
Jasmine's Journey to Jesus
Book
Jasmine’s Journey to Jesus is a powerful and inspirational story of survival, hope, growth and...
Fiction Coming of Age Christian Fiction
Debbiereadsbook (1166 KP) rated Little Treasure He Hides (Little Paws Haven #1) in Books
Aug 18, 2022
This is the first in a new series between this pair of authors, and by gosh, it's so good!
Gabai wasn't too impressive when he first meets Asher, but the big bear Daddy does redeem himself once he gets his head out his ass and realise just what Asher needs, not what Gabai does.
Asher's pain is so deep, you can almost taste it. Once we get the full story about why Ash (and I loved that Gabai shortened his name, but no one else could get away with that!) you can understand why he doesn't like to be touched, and just why he hates being called boy.
The way Gabai deals with the perpetrator of the damage to the club shows how much he cares about the Littles in his club, even if he can't be their chief hugger now Ash is about.
I loved that, once he gets Ash, Gabai lets Ash set the pace to bring his little out once more. The little steps are important, they start a big journey, and Ash and Gabai have a wonderful start to that journey now.
Lots of characters who need stories, there is bit at the end of this one for the next story, but I'm not sure if I put things together right so we'll wait, very impatiently, for the next book!
5 full and shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Divine Ecstasy (Guardians of the Realms #8)
Book
The slave of demented Gods, Sacha knew only a life of anguish and suffering until she was reborn as...
Paranormal Erotica Romance
Cruising Right into Love
Book
À new life brings hope. But will it also bring Victor pain - or the love he craves? A chance...
Contemporary MM Romance
Ryan Hill (152 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies
May 11, 2019
I remember years ago I read a book about the cultural significance of various comic book locales, and the Wakanda entry struck me as uniquely sad and inspiring. Wakanda, a place busting with innovation, tradition, and pride...hidden from the world. Sort of an alternate-timeline Africa which wasn't poisoned irreparably by colonialism and all its horrors. There's a sad duality obvious in this Wakanda, that being for it to exist, it must be hidden. Must be quietly nurtured, developed and treasured. It's an apt metaphor in relation to black pride, culture, and history; something constantly being reworked, reshaped and reimagined to put a sordid past (and present) in the rear-view mirror by those who perpetrate it, knowingly or not. This idea, that for something to thrive it must be isolated, is at the heart of Black Panther. You can understand why T'Challa, and generations before him, sacrificed anything to preserve the myth of Wakanda. But you can also understand Killmonger's feeling of betrayal. The profound moral objections inherent in a small community turning it's back on a larger suffering population in the name of self-preservation. There's no heroes and villains when Black Panther is at it's best, just two sides to a terrifying moral question *loaded* with historical weight.
Because Killmonger isn't really a villain. The best illustration of this is the contrasting "dream" sequences, in which T'Challa shares a promise with his father within a transcendentally beautiful African landscape, and Killmonger is confronted by all his pain, suffering and moral rigidity in the vast concrete jungle of Oakland, in the tiny apartment where his father was murdered for trying to make a difference. They both wake up with tears in their eyes, some from pain and some from catharsis. Coogler marks the chasm between T'Challa's and Killmonger's pasts so perfectly, and illustrates exactly why they feel the way they do with such wisdom. Black Panther so clearly empathizes with Killmonger and understands where his pain was born, and the horrors that nurtured it.
And so there's no hero and no villain to this movie. Just two men in nearly identical black panther suits, clashing over how Wakanda ought to venture into a new era. Nobility and passion, conservation and sacrifice, incremental change against a vengeful redistribution of power and oppression. Both men are correct in their aspirations, being "right" here doesn't matter. it's tough for a good man to be king. Killmonger made T'Challa the hero he is, by instilling in him a mission, a perceived duty to turn around, face an oppressed people and finally lend a hand. But more than that, there's something miraculous here. An apology from a good man. A recognition of a sin even when it's perpetrator was, until now, helpless to prevent it. A declaration that not contributing to hate and prejudice doesn't equate to actively working to prevent it. A plea for a humble brand of superheroism, for countless ghosts of the past to be heard and change to erupt in their name. Divides to be bridged, chasms to be crossed and wrongs to be righted.
Black Panther has a complex, meaningful and profoundly challenging thematic framework; offering a fresh dissection of what it means to grapple with the sins of those who came before. Sure, there are some technical issues along the way, the machinations of Marvel storytelling are evident and errors could be found; but if you understand that superhero stories were meant to ask these sorts of questions and push boundaries since their inception; Black Panther is a dream.