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ClareR (5721 KP) rated The Long Long Afternoon in Books

Mar 2, 2021  
The Long Long Afternoon
The Long Long Afternoon
Inga Vesper | 2021 | Crime, Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Long, Long Afternoon really gives a sense of time and place - and I loved that about this book. We’re steeped in the 1950’s suburban world of perfect housewives, dosed up on their happy pills, trapped in their blissful domestic lives, keeping a perfect home and looking their best at all times for their hardworking husbands. Meanwhile, they employ black maids for a pitiful wage, taking advantage of them and treating them appallingly.
Ruby Wright arrives to start her afternoons work at Joyce Hanley’s house, and instead finds her young daughter outside and a screaming toddler upstairs in her bedroom. When Ruby goes in to the kitchen, she is confronted with a room awash with blood and signs of a struggle.
When the police arrive, they arrest Ruby for murder. After all, she was the first person there - and she’s black.
Detective Mick Blanke takes on the case. It’s an interesting book, because not only is Mick solving the crime (with some considerable help from Ruby), he’s also showing the social divides in the USA at this time - rich and poor, black and white. He’s clearly not comfortable about the way that white people treat black people in Santa Monica, but he’s still not quite brave enough to call people out on their racism.
This is an engaging, quick read - or perhaps I read it quickly because I didn’t want to put it down. It’s a clever, unpredictable story. In all, it’s a book I’d recommend without hesitation!
  
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ClareR (5721 KP) rated Tall Bones in Books

Apr 6, 2021  
Tall Bones
Tall Bones
Anna Bailey | 2021 | Contemporary, Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Tall Bones by Anna Bailey is a beautiful, terrible, haunting book. This is not the USA of Soccer Moms and happy church gatherings. Whistling Ridge is a town with deep problems: domestic and child abuse, racism, corruption, drugs, homophobia and a Pastor who condones most of these things.
Abi and Emma are best friends, and when Emma leaves Abi, at Abi’s request, at a party at the Tall Bones, she expects to see her the next day. Except she doesn’t. Abi goes missing, seemingly without a trace. Everyone and no one is suspected of her disappearance. After all, her father, Samuel, is a thug and a bully, her mother is clearly beaten regularly, as are her children - why wouldn’t she run away?
To be honest, after reading this I couldn’t understand why any of the young people stayed in Whistling Ridge - unless their world view is like that of their, largely speaking, bigoted parents.
This book is shocking - a real kick in the guts type of story. And it’s not a one off kick. I hated 99% of the characters by the end: and this is the bit where I say how much I enjoyed reading it. Yes, here we are again with my love of the horrible characters. It’s easy to like nice characters, not so easy to get enjoyment out of the dark and evil types (or is it?!😈).
Either way it’s an atmospheric, dark, fascinating novel. And I loved it.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this fabulous novel.
  
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Rob Halford recommended Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy in Music (curated)

 
Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy
Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy
1976 | Rock
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Phil Lynott. Genius. And a bass player as well. Have you noticed that most of the music normally comes from guitarists? But he was the driving force in this band. He was a skinny black guy, who was writing great songs and dealing with the consequences of racism in the UK at that time. He was always the main attraction to me. A real rock star and you'd feel that whenever he walked into a room. You can instantly recognise Phil's voice, and he had a really cool way of creating melody on songs like 'Jailbreak'. This album is distinctly Irish, and I'm not sure why I think that to be honest but it definitely makes it special. At the time they were about as unique as they could be. And it was quite successful in the charts, which, along with seeing bands like them on Top Of The Pops, was another important factor. After Phil died and Thin Lizzy came back a few years ago we took them out on tour but that's partly because the songs have held together so well even to this day. It was a real joy to do that and to be able to hear those songs played every night, and played so well. And to be honest I think that's enough, because the songs are really what matter. They're still playing together, but I think they're called Black Star Riders now. The last record was very good, but nothing compared to this."

Source
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) in Movies

Jul 4, 2021  
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
1961 | Classics, Comedy, Drama
6
8.1 (31 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
I'm sorry, I tried my best - but I couldn't resist its charms. I loved all the characters (minus Mickey Rooney's third-rate impersonation of what dumbass white people in the 60s thought Asian people were like), the music is beautiful, its aesthetic is every bit as iconic as reported (naturally the outfits being the highlight), and this entire movie is carried so heavenly by George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn's wondrous performances. The chemistry these two have is simply out-of-this-world, I have no problem ranking it as one of the most affecting Hollywood romances ever to grace the screen. That being said, that is also close to all this movie has going for it. It has great scenes but even at its best it seldom ever rises above too much more than escapist fluff where story elements abruptly intrude on the romance rather than flow nicely with it (am I high or did some old dude come in about halfway through to talk about marrying a 14 year old girl?). It also dons some regressive 60s thoughtpoints on ownership in relationships and pointless racism that sticks out like a sore thumb - but that stupid shit is barely in the film for two minutes meanwhile most of your faves are probably problematic for longer, anyway. Idk man, I cherish the romance but the rest of the film is so jarring in comparison to it - it ain't really all that. Super cute but not as good as the Deep Blue Something song.