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Vodka: A Global History
Book
A tasteless, odourless and colourless liquid, vodka is the most versatile of spirits. It can be...
Kristina (502 KP) rated Bared to You (Crossfire, #1) in Books
Dec 7, 2020
I loved Bared to You. It’s a seductive story about two completely broken people who come together; I love these particular kinds of books because it’s inspiring to watch the characters slowly begin to heal, through each other. Eva is so completely relatable to me, it’s almost scary. Gideon, despite being rich and hot, seems more obtainable because of the simple mistakes we watch him make. This is probably my favorite part about the whole book, that both characters seem real. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help but make several connections to Fifty Shades of Grey. This kind of set me off, because most of the stories that follow this trilogy involve almost the exact same contents, but I soon realized that Sylvia has her own twists. These differences are what spurred me on and convinced me to keep reading. I immediately fell in love with Cary and, once I realized he wouldn’t be an obstacle, I quickly decided I liked Mark (despite the goatee). Eva’s and Gideon’s adventure is full of scorching heat, broken hearts, and a healing of sorts. As soon as I finished Bared to You, I was scrambling around to get the sequel, Reflected in You. I’m excited to see what Sylvia has in store for these two!
Beneath a Steel Sky: Remastered
Games
App
When orphaned Robert Foster is seized at gunpoint from the peaceful village he calls home and flown...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Inception (2010) in Movies
Aug 17, 2020
It's possible that Inception isn't the best film of the 21st century so far, but I'm blowed if I can think of a better candidate. What starts off looking like a slick thriller with SF trimmings - expert psycho-thief takes on one last job, breaking into a businessman's subconscious mind to implant a suggestion - turns into a dizzyingly complex and astonishingly self-assured examination of memory, reality, and the medium itself, with the execution matching the strength and ambition of the concept.
Consider: the film is based around a whole series of concepts and rules created out of whole cloth, which have to be explained to the audience. Most movies would really struggle to do only this. But Christopher Nolan not only succeeds, he uses it simply as the basis for a story rich in other layers of metaphor and emotion, while also playing with the rules of cinematic grammar and genre - the dreamscapes are implicitly likened to film narratives, with the successive levels resembling increasingly outlandish thriller sub-genres (gritty urban action, Mission Impossible, Bond) the further removed from the real world they are. But what is cinema if not a chance for people to share a dream together? Dreams as good as this one are vanishingly rare, alas.
Consider: the film is based around a whole series of concepts and rules created out of whole cloth, which have to be explained to the audience. Most movies would really struggle to do only this. But Christopher Nolan not only succeeds, he uses it simply as the basis for a story rich in other layers of metaphor and emotion, while also playing with the rules of cinematic grammar and genre - the dreamscapes are implicitly likened to film narratives, with the successive levels resembling increasingly outlandish thriller sub-genres (gritty urban action, Mission Impossible, Bond) the further removed from the real world they are. But what is cinema if not a chance for people to share a dream together? Dreams as good as this one are vanishingly rare, alas.
City of the Beasts
10.0
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Book
An ecological romance with a pulsing heart, equal parts Rider Haggard and Chico Buarque -- one of...
Dear Los Angeles: The City in Diaries and Letters, 1542 to 2018
Book
A rich mosaic of diary entries and letters from Marilyn Monroe, Cesar Chavez, Susan Sontag, Albert...
Spinning Silver
9.3
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Book
Will dark magic claim their home? Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but...
Retelling Fantasy Fairy Tales Magic
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2676 KP) rated Lady Darling Inquires After a Killer in Books
Oct 10, 2025 (Updated Oct 10, 2025)
Hunting a High Society Killer
While Lady Darling, a rich widow of a certain age, enjoys her life in the country, she agrees to spend the season in London to be chaperone for a friend’s daughter. But when their host turns up dead at the first dinner party they attend, Lady Darling decides to investigate. Can she find the killer?
Having enjoyed some other books this author has written, I was looking forward to this one. I felt the book was over written, which is often the case with the author, but it was a bit more than some of her others. The story took a little time to get going, but once it did, I enjoyed it and was along until we reached the logical end, although it did feel like there was a leap or two. Lady Darling is lots of fun and I did enjoy getting to know the rest of the cast. My biggest issue was something in Lady Darling’s backstory. I can understand the justification for it, but it still didn’t sit right with me. Plenty of people are enjoying this book, so if the time and place appeal, give it a chance and see what you think for yourself.
Having enjoyed some other books this author has written, I was looking forward to this one. I felt the book was over written, which is often the case with the author, but it was a bit more than some of her others. The story took a little time to get going, but once it did, I enjoyed it and was along until we reached the logical end, although it did feel like there was a leap or two. Lady Darling is lots of fun and I did enjoy getting to know the rest of the cast. My biggest issue was something in Lady Darling’s backstory. I can understand the justification for it, but it still didn’t sit right with me. Plenty of people are enjoying this book, so if the time and place appeal, give it a chance and see what you think for yourself.
ClareR (6256 KP) rated Enlightenment in Books
Mar 29, 2025
I sank into Enlightenment, and I really didn’t want to resurface. The way Enlightenment is written could be described as Dickens-esque perhaps, but whatever it is, it’s rich in the type of description that I truly love about reading. I would lose myself for an hour or so (or more!) taking my time over the story of Thomas Hart, Grace Macauley, the Baptist church and a 19th century female astronomer.
My heart ached for these characters, especially for Thomas who felt that he couldn’t live an authentic, true life, because he would be rejected from his church. He’s a lovely man, who fills his time with the search for the astronomer, and his love for Grace Macauley.
Grace is a young girl, learning to live the life she wants to live and not that dictated by her father and her church. Faith plays a big role in this novel: both religious faith and the faith we have in others. Grace and Thomas have a disagreement and have to find their way back to one another. Despite the age difference, they are true friends.
I didn’t think I could find astronomy as interesting as I did, but the writing teamed with a ghostly astronomer and Thomas, certainly helped.
A beautiful book!
My heart ached for these characters, especially for Thomas who felt that he couldn’t live an authentic, true life, because he would be rejected from his church. He’s a lovely man, who fills his time with the search for the astronomer, and his love for Grace Macauley.
Grace is a young girl, learning to live the life she wants to live and not that dictated by her father and her church. Faith plays a big role in this novel: both religious faith and the faith we have in others. Grace and Thomas have a disagreement and have to find their way back to one another. Despite the age difference, they are true friends.
I didn’t think I could find astronomy as interesting as I did, but the writing teamed with a ghostly astronomer and Thomas, certainly helped.
A beautiful book!