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A is for .... Alibi
A is for .... Alibi
Sue Grafton | 2017 | Crime, Mystery
7
8.2 (17 Ratings)
Book Rating
Strong female P.I. lead (0 more)
Tiresome descriptions of unnecessary things (0 more)
Good time-killing mystery
This is the first book in the Kinsey Millhone "Alphabet" mystery series by Sue Grafton. I listened to the audio-book narrated by Mary Peiffer.

Kinsey Millhone is a Private Investigator based in the fictional city of Santa Teresa in California in the 1980s. In this outing she is hired by Nikki who is out on parole for her husband's murder and despite doing the time is still wanting to establish her innocence and find out the real killers identity.

The tough headed Kinsey goes head long into picking up the cold case digging up old secrets and ruffling a few feathers. I liked her as a strong female lead who, despite this being written and based in the 80s, is a lot more independent than many recent female leads I’ve read.

The main story isn’t the most exciting and the book suffers from a lot of unnecessary waffly descriptions and talk of her jogging (it’s a taboo word to me.)

I’ll be carrying on with this series as the audio-book was a pleasant distraction and I think Kinsey has a lot of potential to be a great character.
  
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AT (1676 KP) rated My Dark Vanessa in Books

Mar 31, 2020  
My Dark Vanessa
My Dark Vanessa
Kate Elizabeth Russell | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Obviously, this is a difficult subject to read about. However, it was told in the girl's point of view, and it really brought to light how she comprehended the situation, even when she was being abused. I liked the fact that there were opposing sides in this situation represented in the story, without dragging either side through the mud. I also really appreciated the fact that the author didn't do a sudden turn ending, like saying it was a dream or something. I can't stand that. She held true to the actual story all the way through the novel. It's a story about a young woman that had a sexual affair with her teacher when she was 15, however, the things that happened, emotionally, are relatable to many other types of poisonous relationships. Not just a man with a minor. I appreciated all of that, because it was much easier to be inside the story that way. As difficult as the subject matter was, it is a smooth read, and if you've ever been in any sort of toxic relationship like this, you might be able to relate to a lot of the feelings. Even if you haven't, it's worth reading! It's a well-crafted story about a taboo subject.
  
Mon oncle Antoine (1971)
Mon oncle Antoine (1971)
1971 | Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I emigrated to Canada with my mother the year Mon oncle Antoine debuted, the same time that the U.S. was doing nuclear testing on Amchitka Island, off the coast of British Columbia. The FLQ (Front de libération du Québec) was flourishing. Canadian radio was given a mandate to stop playing American bubblegum round the clock. In this era of radical identity building, along came a candle-lit holiday fable set in an undertaker’s home in rural Quebec. The nephew of Antoine is a young boy coming of age in a world that no one outside his cloistered family could imagine. Mon oncle Antoine is about the sexual, material, and death’s-end taboos in a small village—and the taboo against anyone outside of it ever learning of such things. Some people puzzle over why this film keeps being called Canada’s finest decades after its release, when so many other artists have surpassed its modest ambitions. It is because of this: It was the beginning of saying, “We are not the back forty of the U.S.; we are not a trinket of the queen’s; our land and generations have given us a purchase of our own.” It was the beginning of remarkable Canadian filmmaking."

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