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A journal in which you are given different activities to improve your happiness.
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
Everyone, including me, can use some more happiness in their lives so I requested to read The Happiness Diary: The Practice of Finding and Savoring Things to Be Joyful About by Barbara Ann Kipfer.
The Diary is not a book to read in one sitting. It is a journal in which you are given different activities to improve your happiness. Some are reflective exercises. Other suggest an journal prompt to complete then review after a specific time period - days, weeks, months, or more. Rereading your entry allows you to see how your life, goals, and happiness have changed during that time period.
It offers different ways to help express your happiness. It encourages you to try all of the techniques to find which one or ones are preferable to you.
One of the entries I have been doing for years. For homework for a Positive Psychology class, you needed to think of 3 good things that happened that day. It is a great exercise.
One of my favorite entries is the Newness Challenge. It suggests you try something new every day for a month. I have been trying to learn something every month for years. It is challenging but fun.
Review published on Philomathinphila.com on 3/17/19.
Everyone, including me, can use some more happiness in their lives so I requested to read The Happiness Diary: The Practice of Finding and Savoring Things to Be Joyful About by Barbara Ann Kipfer.
The Diary is not a book to read in one sitting. It is a journal in which you are given different activities to improve your happiness. Some are reflective exercises. Other suggest an journal prompt to complete then review after a specific time period - days, weeks, months, or more. Rereading your entry allows you to see how your life, goals, and happiness have changed during that time period.
It offers different ways to help express your happiness. It encourages you to try all of the techniques to find which one or ones are preferable to you.
One of the entries I have been doing for years. For homework for a Positive Psychology class, you needed to think of 3 good things that happened that day. It is a great exercise.
One of my favorite entries is the Newness Challenge. It suggests you try something new every day for a month. I have been trying to learn something every month for years. It is challenging but fun.
Review published on Philomathinphila.com on 3/17/19.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated What She Saw in Books
Jun 15, 2019
Slow burn, debut novel
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
In What She Saw by Wendy Clarke, you meet Leona, a loving and extremely protective mother of teenaged Beth. They do everything together, absolutely everything. They seem to be perfect and have the perfect life. Of course, things are not always what they seem. Leona and Beth both have secrets which they keep from each other and from everyone else. The question asked is, "how far will a mother go to keep her child safe?"
What She Saw is a slow burn which I had difficulty getting into. However, since I did, I could not put it down. I was a Psychology major and am a sucker for when a character meeting with a psychologist partly reveals the story.
The story uses flashbacks and the present. It starts slow but is suspenseful and well-written.
According to Goodreads, Clarke has published over three hundred short stories published in national women's magazines, and this is her debut novel. As of 6/13/19, it has a rating of 4.25 out of 5. Most of the ratings are 5 stars, and none are 1 star. For a debut novel, that is quite impressive.
I am looking forward to reading more by Wendy Clarke.
This review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 6/15/19.
In What She Saw by Wendy Clarke, you meet Leona, a loving and extremely protective mother of teenaged Beth. They do everything together, absolutely everything. They seem to be perfect and have the perfect life. Of course, things are not always what they seem. Leona and Beth both have secrets which they keep from each other and from everyone else. The question asked is, "how far will a mother go to keep her child safe?"
What She Saw is a slow burn which I had difficulty getting into. However, since I did, I could not put it down. I was a Psychology major and am a sucker for when a character meeting with a psychologist partly reveals the story.
The story uses flashbacks and the present. It starts slow but is suspenseful and well-written.
According to Goodreads, Clarke has published over three hundred short stories published in national women's magazines, and this is her debut novel. As of 6/13/19, it has a rating of 4.25 out of 5. Most of the ratings are 5 stars, and none are 1 star. For a debut novel, that is quite impressive.
I am looking forward to reading more by Wendy Clarke.
This review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 6/15/19.
HLD (99 KP) rated The Alienist - Season 1 in TV
Aug 22, 2018 (Updated Aug 22, 2018)
Superb scenery (2 more)
I imagine a close representation of the time period
Character development is slight in some of the main cast, but it is there
Dakota Fanning never smiles. Not once (1 more)
For all the terrible things that happen, I don't feel, as a viewer, the terrible people got what they deserved
Engaging and thrilling
Much like 'Hannibal', or 'Mindhunter', this show attempts to put our protagonist in the mind of the monster he is hunting. Although it takes him a while to realise that is indeed what he is doing.
This is in interesting idea for a show. Before Psychology was a respected field of medicine, you have alienists. Essentially doing the same job, but categorised differently.
Every character appears to have demons of their own. By the end of the season, they confront those demons simply by talking about them aloud to another person.
Also, was paedophilia as accepted 118 years ago as this show portrays? Is it merely an exaggeration of some historical accounts? Who knows, but it definitely created an unhealthy dynamic within society.
Everyone cares so much about the murders of these young men, but nobody cares about the children living on the streets. Or the people having sex with them.
The filming of the show does out-perform some of the acting, but the scenery added to the storylines that occur are sure to keep you entertained until episode ten.
This is in interesting idea for a show. Before Psychology was a respected field of medicine, you have alienists. Essentially doing the same job, but categorised differently.
Every character appears to have demons of their own. By the end of the season, they confront those demons simply by talking about them aloud to another person.
Also, was paedophilia as accepted 118 years ago as this show portrays? Is it merely an exaggeration of some historical accounts? Who knows, but it definitely created an unhealthy dynamic within society.
Everyone cares so much about the murders of these young men, but nobody cares about the children living on the streets. Or the people having sex with them.
The filming of the show does out-perform some of the acting, but the scenery added to the storylines that occur are sure to keep you entertained until episode ten.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated Recursion in Books
Jul 8, 2019
Wow! A well-thought-out and well-executed story with great writing. Just wow!
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
Wow! Wow! Wow!
I write 200-word reviews. They are exactly 200 words. For Blake Crouch's Recursion, my review could be just writing the word "wow" 198 times and to end it with "read this!".
I rarely rate a book 5 stars. They have to be extraordinary, either extraordinarily written or be an extraordinary story. This was both. I also usually write my reviews soon after finishing a book but I needed time to decompress and process this story.
I was a Psychology major and had several people close to me suffer from Alzheimer’s so I am fascinated by memory. In Recursion, in 2007, a scientist works to create technology to preserve our memories to help her mother who has Alzheimer’s. In 2018, people suffer from False Memory Syndrome, an affliction that drives people mad with memories of living an entirely different life, a life they never lived.
Recursion asks, "what if you could go back through your memories and “fix” them? Change events in order to protect children, countries, civilizations." Would you?
I have wanted to read Blake Crouch for more than a decade but did not get around to it. I am annoyed I did not read him sooner.
This review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 7/2/19.
Wow! Wow! Wow!
I write 200-word reviews. They are exactly 200 words. For Blake Crouch's Recursion, my review could be just writing the word "wow" 198 times and to end it with "read this!".
I rarely rate a book 5 stars. They have to be extraordinary, either extraordinarily written or be an extraordinary story. This was both. I also usually write my reviews soon after finishing a book but I needed time to decompress and process this story.
I was a Psychology major and had several people close to me suffer from Alzheimer’s so I am fascinated by memory. In Recursion, in 2007, a scientist works to create technology to preserve our memories to help her mother who has Alzheimer’s. In 2018, people suffer from False Memory Syndrome, an affliction that drives people mad with memories of living an entirely different life, a life they never lived.
Recursion asks, "what if you could go back through your memories and “fix” them? Change events in order to protect children, countries, civilizations." Would you?
I have wanted to read Blake Crouch for more than a decade but did not get around to it. I am annoyed I did not read him sooner.
This review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 7/2/19.
Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated Glow in Books
Jun 24, 2019
This is just going to be a quick review of the book I finished last week, Glow. I found it and borrowed it from my local library on a whim because it looked interesting, but I was sort of disappointed. Although I love the scientific references throughout the book I just found it a bit boring, honestly. It was meant to be thrilling and gripping... I just didn't feel that way.
Raf manages to get caught up in some major business involving a new drug, Glow, and a massive corporation called Lacebark. Somehow the mysterious girl he met at a party is also tied up in it, as is the friend of Raf's who recently went missing.
Somehow Raf also meets all the right people along the way, and gets accepted into helping them with their cause. I found this rather unplausable but that's just me, I suppose. My main problem was having no investment in Raf as a character, and not feeling any of his relationships with any other characters to any degree whatsoever. He just didn't feel real enough.
I honestly don't quite get what even happened. Why was Lacebark killing people? Why was Win working for them? I just got a bit lost in the end. It's a shame, because I really liked the amount of biological vocabulary scattered throughout - it made me feel like I'm actually learning things in my Psychology A-Level!
2 to 2.5 stars at a push.
Raf manages to get caught up in some major business involving a new drug, Glow, and a massive corporation called Lacebark. Somehow the mysterious girl he met at a party is also tied up in it, as is the friend of Raf's who recently went missing.
Somehow Raf also meets all the right people along the way, and gets accepted into helping them with their cause. I found this rather unplausable but that's just me, I suppose. My main problem was having no investment in Raf as a character, and not feeling any of his relationships with any other characters to any degree whatsoever. He just didn't feel real enough.
I honestly don't quite get what even happened. Why was Lacebark killing people? Why was Win working for them? I just got a bit lost in the end. It's a shame, because I really liked the amount of biological vocabulary scattered throughout - it made me feel like I'm actually learning things in my Psychology A-Level!
2 to 2.5 stars at a push.
Lowri Catryn (229 KP) rated Killing Eve - Season 1 in TV
May 7, 2020
Thrilling (4 more)
Acting
Characters
Storyline
Filming locations
Gripping!
Contains spoilers, click to show
An absolutely gripping series, with Jodie Comer's superb acting and her ability to change into different accents, characters and the fluidity of her character is excellent. We get to know the devastation that Villanelle can create and her gruesome ways of killing. Jodie Comer is able to portray the evil of the assassin, but also delve deep into the character to unveil the psychology behind her, as well as the soft side of the character.
I do love Sandra Oh as I had previously seen her work in Grey's Anatomy, so I was very excited to watch her in this. Again, to see her character become obsessed with her career (as in Grey's) gave her some continuation as an actress. However she surprised me when she was able to show a loving side towards Villanelle, emotions and affections that she did not perhaps show towards her husband.
As weird as it was I found myself wishing that the Good would fall in love with the evil vice versa and that the evil would be transformed into good because of the influence.
We were able to view amazing scenery in which different scenes and episodes were filmed.
What is also fascinating and exciting that some of the kills in the series are based of real life assassinations and murders, which I read up on today! They were able to capture these brilliantly.
I do love Sandra Oh as I had previously seen her work in Grey's Anatomy, so I was very excited to watch her in this. Again, to see her character become obsessed with her career (as in Grey's) gave her some continuation as an actress. However she surprised me when she was able to show a loving side towards Villanelle, emotions and affections that she did not perhaps show towards her husband.
As weird as it was I found myself wishing that the Good would fall in love with the evil vice versa and that the evil would be transformed into good because of the influence.
We were able to view amazing scenery in which different scenes and episodes were filmed.
What is also fascinating and exciting that some of the kills in the series are based of real life assassinations and murders, which I read up on today! They were able to capture these brilliantly.
David McK (3233 KP) rated Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron (Alphabet Squadron #1) in Books
Dec 23, 2019
During the mid-to-late 90s (prior to even the Prequels), there was an explosion of Star Wars Expanded Universe novels.
Most of those novels concentrated on Han, Luke, Leia and co.
Most, but not all.
Alongside those, there was also two separate series of books, initially taking Wedge Antilles as a key character, concentrating instead on the fighter pilots of (initially) Rogue Squadron and (later) Wraith Squadron, taking inspiration for the X-Wing and TIE fighter computer games of the time.
And those novels themselves - now considered 'Legends' i.e. no longer canon - could very well have provided inspiration for this, the first of a spin-off trilogy (I think) from a series of graphic novels.
Whereas Rogue and Wraith squadron both had their pilots flying the same type of fighter craft, and both were very cinematic in their presentation, this novel - definitely in the first half (which, I felt, dragged somewhat) - concentrates more on its members psychology, with the so-called Alphabet squadron headed up by an ex-Imperial keen to prove her loyalty to the New Republic. And why is it called Alphabet Squadron? Because the pilots fly a mix of starfighter, from an A-Wing (i.e. that which crashes into the Star Destroyer bridge in Return of the Jedi) to a B Wing (the cross-shaped bomber glimpsed in flight), to an X-Wing (the type Luke Skywalker flies) to a U-Wing (The personnel carrier introduced in Rogue One) to a Y-Wing (the initial bombing run on the Death Star).
Most of those novels concentrated on Han, Luke, Leia and co.
Most, but not all.
Alongside those, there was also two separate series of books, initially taking Wedge Antilles as a key character, concentrating instead on the fighter pilots of (initially) Rogue Squadron and (later) Wraith Squadron, taking inspiration for the X-Wing and TIE fighter computer games of the time.
And those novels themselves - now considered 'Legends' i.e. no longer canon - could very well have provided inspiration for this, the first of a spin-off trilogy (I think) from a series of graphic novels.
Whereas Rogue and Wraith squadron both had their pilots flying the same type of fighter craft, and both were very cinematic in their presentation, this novel - definitely in the first half (which, I felt, dragged somewhat) - concentrates more on its members psychology, with the so-called Alphabet squadron headed up by an ex-Imperial keen to prove her loyalty to the New Republic. And why is it called Alphabet Squadron? Because the pilots fly a mix of starfighter, from an A-Wing (i.e. that which crashes into the Star Destroyer bridge in Return of the Jedi) to a B Wing (the cross-shaped bomber glimpsed in flight), to an X-Wing (the type Luke Skywalker flies) to a U-Wing (The personnel carrier introduced in Rogue One) to a Y-Wing (the initial bombing run on the Death Star).
Scott Tostik (389 KP) rated 1408 (2007) in Movies
Jan 20, 2020
The original story (1 more)
John Cusack is a fucking God
John.... Sam.... Stephen.... What could go wrong??
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages... Well... Not all... Kids should definitely not watch this one.
John Cusack stars as a writer who specializes in debunking alleged haunted locations.
He heads into the city to stay at the famed Dolphin Hotel. One room has had more deaths in it since the place cracked its doors nearly 100 years before.
The writer heads in with a skeptics attitude. But within minutes his attitude changes. And so does the viewers.
Sam Jackson is phenomenal as the manager of the hotel... All but climbs inside Cusacks head and fills him full of personal doubt and failure.
What follows is one helluva roller coaster ride that takes you from the past to the present to all points in between.
And just when you think you have it figured out... The room turns on you and tries to swallow your soul whole.
King left an easy road map to follow for a successful film. And the crew took the ball and ran through the defense for the easy score.
A good little film that leaves you impressed and amazed... All be it a little bored during the second act. But the climax is worth the payoff.
Talk about your mind fucking psychology damaging portions of the ending.
Good job ladies and gentlemen... You left me sasified
John Cusack stars as a writer who specializes in debunking alleged haunted locations.
He heads into the city to stay at the famed Dolphin Hotel. One room has had more deaths in it since the place cracked its doors nearly 100 years before.
The writer heads in with a skeptics attitude. But within minutes his attitude changes. And so does the viewers.
Sam Jackson is phenomenal as the manager of the hotel... All but climbs inside Cusacks head and fills him full of personal doubt and failure.
What follows is one helluva roller coaster ride that takes you from the past to the present to all points in between.
And just when you think you have it figured out... The room turns on you and tries to swallow your soul whole.
King left an easy road map to follow for a successful film. And the crew took the ball and ran through the defense for the easy score.
A good little film that leaves you impressed and amazed... All be it a little bored during the second act. But the climax is worth the payoff.
Talk about your mind fucking psychology damaging portions of the ending.
Good job ladies and gentlemen... You left me sasified
TravelersWife4Life (31 KP) rated Freedom in the Mountain Wind (Call of the Rockies, #1) in Books
Feb 23, 2021
Where do I start with this book?
Misty M. Beller wrote a beautiful story of adventure, love and exploring the great frontier. I believe that this is the first book in a series and let me tell you I will be reading the rest of the books in this series (Can I pre-pre- order it somewhere I wonder?). This book was so good, it is one of those books that feels like you are right there with the characters. Probably something to do with the psychology of the characters that touches something inside of you, and wow did this one work that for me.
The characters in this book were very well developed and had a clear sense of purpose right from the beginning. Misty M. Beller gives us some great father-daughter interactions as well as giving us French, Spanish, Southern and Native Americans all together to make some great moments around the campfire. The main characters in this book have things to work through, some together and separately and Misty M. Beller makes them do it quite believably. One of my favorite things about the book is the way Misty M. Beller shares the gospel throughout this book. She even worked in underlying themes of grace, forgiveness, grief over loss, and perseverance.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars for the plotline, the cool adventures the characters go on (I mean who hasn’t imagine going along Lewis & Clark’s trip up the Mississippi river?), and for grabbing hold of my emotions right from the start.
Misty M. Beller wrote a beautiful story of adventure, love and exploring the great frontier. I believe that this is the first book in a series and let me tell you I will be reading the rest of the books in this series (Can I pre-pre- order it somewhere I wonder?). This book was so good, it is one of those books that feels like you are right there with the characters. Probably something to do with the psychology of the characters that touches something inside of you, and wow did this one work that for me.
The characters in this book were very well developed and had a clear sense of purpose right from the beginning. Misty M. Beller gives us some great father-daughter interactions as well as giving us French, Spanish, Southern and Native Americans all together to make some great moments around the campfire. The main characters in this book have things to work through, some together and separately and Misty M. Beller makes them do it quite believably. One of my favorite things about the book is the way Misty M. Beller shares the gospel throughout this book. She even worked in underlying themes of grace, forgiveness, grief over loss, and perseverance.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars for the plotline, the cool adventures the characters go on (I mean who hasn’t imagine going along Lewis & Clark’s trip up the Mississippi river?), and for grabbing hold of my emotions right from the start.
