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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The Guy Not Taken: Stories in Books
Jan 15, 2018
I had a hard time thinking about what to write as a review for this book. It is a series of stories about life & love. The stories are well written, but I had a hard time with finishing some of them because they were left unfinished. I found myself wanting to know what happened to the characters. I hate when that happens! That is what led me to the 3 star review...I just couldn't get over the fact that so many of the stories felt like they left me, the reader, hanging.
Don't get me wrong, the stories were creative with engaging characters & the writing was impeccable. The engaging characters is where my hang up really comes in. I'd just get invested in them & then nothing...no ending, no conclusion. What happened to them? Did things work out? That is so frustrating! I guess that's why I'm not a big fan of books such as this one.
Don't get me wrong, the stories were creative with engaging characters & the writing was impeccable. The engaging characters is where my hang up really comes in. I'd just get invested in them & then nothing...no ending, no conclusion. What happened to them? Did things work out? That is so frustrating! I guess that's why I'm not a big fan of books such as this one.
I’m not a huge fan of short stories: I like to really get into the characters lives and the anticipation and the crescendo of a novel. Short stories, to me, feel like I’m thrown into a story, see a snippet of it, and am then jerked out. But one thing that really helped this collection not feel like that was how all the stories were about the same thing. Not the same plot, not the same people… but the same concept. A machine that tells you how you will die, and is absolutely never wrong? That’s a sticky situation. And each person had to figure out how to deal with it and it revealed a lot of humanity.
I was very pleased with this collection as a whole. I didn’t read the first one, and I don’t think you’d need to in order to enjoy it. I definitely liked some stories and some writers better than other, but all in all, it was very satisfying.
I was very pleased with this collection as a whole. I didn’t read the first one, and I don’t think you’d need to in order to enjoy it. I definitely liked some stories and some writers better than other, but all in all, it was very satisfying.
Heathski (173 KP) rated The Closer We Are To Dying in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Well written and easy to read (2 more)
Full of wonderful stories
Family
Poignant beautiful memoir that I will always remember.
I read this a long time ago. I'm not that into reading biographies but I will always remember this book. It's about the memoirs of the father of the author and their family. His father is dying and Joe recounts the story of their reconciliation while he stays by his beside. Stories are told about the past, both happy and sad, humorous and at times violent. I grew up listening to stories from my older generation, which might be why I enjoyed this so much. It also reminded me a little bit of my uncle's, they always looked Italian and were mischievous. The way it is written is beautiful and engaging, and the stories are emotional, captivating and sometimes shocking. If its still available, it is a book I highly recommend you pick up and read.
Inspired by the 25th anniversary of The Princess Bride, Cary Elwes, better known as Westley, sat down to share his memories of making the film. He goes from being cast at the age of 23 to meeting his cast mates and stories from filming on sound stages and on location. Helping him out, we get sidebars from his co-stars, the director, and the writer.
And any fan of the movie will love the stories told here. It is obvious that everyone has fond memories of their time on set, are proud of the results, and thrilled that so many people love the movie as much as they do. Even the stories that aren’t completely positive are amusing. I know I’ll watch a couple scenes differently as a result of the stories shared here.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-as-you-wish-by-cary-elwes.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
And any fan of the movie will love the stories told here. It is obvious that everyone has fond memories of their time on set, are proud of the results, and thrilled that so many people love the movie as much as they do. Even the stories that aren’t completely positive are amusing. I know I’ll watch a couple scenes differently as a result of the stories shared here.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-as-you-wish-by-cary-elwes.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Akward (448 KP) rated Above and Below in Tabletop Games
Aug 4, 2018
Design is awesome (2 more)
Mechanics are fun and easy to teach
Mechanics have lots of replayability
Above and Below is a great introductory game to adventure mechanics. Nothing in the game is difficult, and players can feel accomplished, even in their first game. But there is also enough variety to allow for great replay ability and to still keep the game interesting for experienced tabletop players.
And oh man, is the design awesome. You'll be amazed at the level of detail that went in to the cartoony graphic design.
Ultimately, the biggest downfall is the lack of adventure stories. You might think I'm crazy, because there are 208. But in just a few games, we managed to replay quite a few stories. This is less than ideal, because not knowing the outcomes of the stories is integral to the gameplay. Perhaps this is something that the expansions fix, but I have not played them.
And oh man, is the design awesome. You'll be amazed at the level of detail that went in to the cartoony graphic design.
Ultimately, the biggest downfall is the lack of adventure stories. You might think I'm crazy, because there are 208. But in just a few games, we managed to replay quite a few stories. This is less than ideal, because not knowing the outcomes of the stories is integral to the gameplay. Perhaps this is something that the expansions fix, but I have not played them.
David McK (3728 KP) rated Cúchulainn & The Crow Queen in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Honestly?
I'm not really sure how this fits into the categories I have set up on my Goodreads account.
This is a re-telling of the stories of 'The Hound of Ulster', of Cuchulainn, from his birth through to the cattle raid of Ulster and his final death at the hands of the Morrigu, the Crow Queen.
It's also a straight re-telling, which is both its strong point (there's no trying to fit modern sensibilities / political statements into it) and it's weak point (these stories were originally intended to be told orally).
I have to say, I did find that most of the chapters didn't really 'flow' into each other; that there was no connection to the stories other than (occasionally) having Setanta (Cuchulainn's real name) himself appear in them every so often: for my money, Neil Gaiman's Norse Myths is a better retelling of stories that have helped shape modern society.
(Oh, and in the end, I opted for shelving this as Educational)
I'm not really sure how this fits into the categories I have set up on my Goodreads account.
This is a re-telling of the stories of 'The Hound of Ulster', of Cuchulainn, from his birth through to the cattle raid of Ulster and his final death at the hands of the Morrigu, the Crow Queen.
It's also a straight re-telling, which is both its strong point (there's no trying to fit modern sensibilities / political statements into it) and it's weak point (these stories were originally intended to be told orally).
I have to say, I did find that most of the chapters didn't really 'flow' into each other; that there was no connection to the stories other than (occasionally) having Setanta (Cuchulainn's real name) himself appear in them every so often: for my money, Neil Gaiman's Norse Myths is a better retelling of stories that have helped shape modern society.
(Oh, and in the end, I opted for shelving this as Educational)
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