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Heidegger, Philosophy, and Politics: The Heidelberg Conference

Jacques Derrida, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Mireille Calle-Gruber

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In February 1988, philosophers Jacques Derrida, Hans-Georg Gadamer, and Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe...

Bolshoi Confidential: Secrets of the Russian Ballet from the Rule of the Tsars to Today

Simon Morrison

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On a freezing night in January 2013, an assailant hurled acid in the face of the artistic director...

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The Hunter (Boston Belles, #1) in Books

Jan 8, 2021

3.5 stars.

I picked this up for 99p back in July since I do enjoy me an L.J. Shen book now and then.

This starts with Hunter waking up to find he's starred in his own porn film after having an orgy with some girls and a random guy ended up filming it when he joined in. Hunter is now in deep sh*t with his family after a scandal too many and he is forced to move in with a room mate of his dad's choosing - Sailor Brennan. Sailor is an Olympic archery hopeful who has done nothing but train to make the team for years up to the point of neglecting everything else. Tasked with setting Hunter on the straight and narrow they lock horns for a long time before one night changes everything between them.

I don't know with this one. I liked a lot about it - the romance and how it blossomed from something a little unwanted (but super hot) to all hearts and flowers and public declarations. Hunter's progression from manwhore extraordinaire to a one woman man was cute reading. It was the other half of it, Hunter's family and all that drama, that just seemed unnecessary and way OTT. I do - in a way -understand why they did what they did but it was odd to say the least. They are a strange family apart from Hunter and Aisling.

I feel I have to mention Cillian. He is an enigma. One minute he's being a complete d*ck, the next he's being a rather decent guy. I'm intrigued to see inside his head and I'm assuming his romance with a certain Boston Belle - Emmabelle - may be the next book in the series since he couldn't seem to stop staring at her/talking crap about her.

Kudos

ClareR (5859 KP) rated Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife in Books

May 23, 2021

Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife

Alison Weir | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics

9.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Katherine Parr’s book in this series of Henry VIII’s six wives was a really immersive read. She’s always seen as the wife who made it: the wife who escaped, lived after Henry died. And she’s certainly portrayed as a genuinely nice person - someone who I’d certainly be happy to sit down and talk to. She’s approachable, mature beyond her years as a young woman, and constantly loyal to all of her husbands (but they did have a habit of dying on her).

It’s clear that Alison Weir did loads of research on Katherine’s childhood and early years, and it was so interesting to learn more about that part of her life. Usually, any of Henry VIII’s wives are only spoken about in relation to their marriage. But Katherine Parr certainly lived in the years before Henry. She was a dutiful, supportive wife to both of her husbands before Henry, and had happy marriages - but no children. She didn’t have children with Henry either. It must have been a great sadness for her. I loved reading about the relationships she had with all of her stepchildren, and how she convinced Henry to re-establish Mary and Elizabeth in the succession. Not so good in Mary’s case (she wasn’t nicknamed Bloody Mary for nothing), better in Elizabeth’s. Indeed, Mary and Elizabeth seem genuinely fond of Katherine, and both even live with her for a time.

Things don’t run smoothly for Katherine - the knives are out for her whilst she is Queen, and remain out after Henry’s death. So when she marries the man that she truly loves after Henry’s death - without permission - there is scandal.

This is a captivating chunk of a book. I do enjoy a big, historical book, and this delivers in spades. I loved it!

Many thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for my ARC of this book.

Kudos

Andy K (10823 KP) rated The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) in Movies

Sep 22, 2019

The final installment of the Creature trilogy finds another expedition headed out to detain and capture the newly freed creature with a yacht full of doctors and a doctor's wife. After a long journey, the creature in finally located and captured.

The beast is badly burned in a freak fire accident, but afterwards begins to transform. He sheds his webbed appendages and facial gills and starts to look more human and less like a fish. He also can no longer breathe underwater and appears to be becoming more aware of the world around him.

Meanwhile, the doctor's wife is having a rough time of her situation having to deal with not only her abusive husband, but the unwanted advances of other men. Events come to a boiling point among the love triangle and the beast appears to have gotten the blame for something he didn't do.

Aware of the situation he lashes out again for his very survival.

I liked this film better than "Revenge of the Creature", but both films are far inferior to the original classic. Having the creature change so he could walk on land was not a good idea since his ability to swim around and sneak up on the tourists was one of his most endearing qualities!

His transformed look was also a step down from his original appearance. His more human look reminded me of the way Louis Gossett Jr. looked in the movie "Enemy Mine". They may have been trying for something different, especially since this was the 3rd Creature film in 3 years, but it was largely not successful.

Not sure why they chose to have another love scandal either. Why not just focus on the creature and doing something there rather than something you've seen 1000 times before?