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Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale #2) in Books

Nov 8, 2020  
The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale #2)
The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale #2)
Margaret Atwood | 2019 | Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry
6
8.6 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
An alright but unnecessary sequel
I very much enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale (the book, never seen the series) however I didn't read it and immediately want more. For me it was one of those books that had such a good open ending that a sequel would ruin it. And whilst The Testaments is a decent and enjoyable book at times, I was right in thinking it is an entirely unnecessary sequel.

The Testaments is set over 15 years after the events of the first book, and for me this is the main problem with this story. The ending of The Handmaid's Tale was so open that you'd expect a sequel to at least follow on from this in a way. However it was disappointing to find out that despite a small mention of Offred and a potential implied suggestion of how her life turned out, this book completely avoids any direct resolution of her story. It's not that the story of the three main characters in this book is uninteresting, as it's not. The story in this is at least interesting and enjoyable to a point, especially as we find out more about Gilead. The teenage girls get a tad irritating at times and I do feel like this drags on a lot longer than it needs to (I may have dozed off reading this on a few occasions), but overall the story is good.

It's just that this is not the story I wanted from a sequel, and I didn't want a sequel at all. Whilst overall it's a decent and entertaining read, it is just entirely unnecessary as a sequel.
  
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Hazel (1853 KP) rated Larry, Bush Pilot in Books

Mar 18, 2021  
Larry, Bush Pilot
Larry, Bush Pilot
Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, Lawrence Mierek | 2020 | Children
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jordan Mierek, also known as Jordan Elizabeth, usually writes for young adults, but after many requests, she has published her first children's book. Larry, Bush Pilot is a collaborative effort between Mierek and her father, Lawrence Mierek, who grew up on a dairy farm. Larry, a ten-year-old boy, also lives on a farm during the 1970s with his father, who owns an aeroplane. Despite his age, Larry's father taught him to fly, which came in handy when his father suffered an accident in the middle of nowhere.

This short story loosely reflects Lawrence Mierek's childhood. As a teenager, his father taught him to fly a plane on the airstrip behind their barn. The narrative is likely an imagined scenario, placing a young boy in a precarious situation, which many children would not have the means to solve. Only through extreme determination and courage is Larry able to rescue his father.

Larry, Bush Pilot is a short story intended for primary school children. The few illustrations between chapters make it an appropriate step between picture books and teenage novels. Larry's life on the farm allows modern children to learn about the world before digital technology and the importance of a family working together. The story also tells the reader that if they believe in themselves and their abilities, they can achieve great things.

Jordan Mierek has stepped into the world of children's literature and proved that she is more than capable of writing for several age groups. Larry, Bush Pilot is the first in a series called Flying Acres, and we look forward to joining Larry on his next adventure.
  
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Suggs recommended Harder They Come Soundtrack by Jimmy Cliff in Music (curated)

 
Harder They Come Soundtrack by Jimmy Cliff
Harder They Come Soundtrack by Jimmy Cliff
1972 | Rock
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"The film was shown at an all-nighter at the Screen On The Green at the Angel, and for teenage boys the film was great, a bit of James Dean-like rebellion… but the soundtrack, fucking hell, it’s just relentless! ‘Pressure Drop’, ‘Many Rivers To Cross’, ‘The Harder They Come’, ‘Johnny Too Bad’, on and on, every single track’s a winner. And that’s still an album I can put on, absolutely no problem, day or night. At one of our Madstocks we got Desmond Dekker and Toots (Hibbert) to come on and do ‘54-46 (Was My Number)’, and they were loving it, to the point that it’s a very hard song to end, cos it’s just a riff, so by the time we’d played it the fourteenth time, an hour and a half had gone by and they were still happily skipping around… Also, at the first Madstock, we were on the tour bus and our manager said “There’s a feller here who says he’s Prince Buster“. So we were like “Fucking hell, who knows, it might be him, let him on“, and it was! We’d got the name of our band from him, our first single was about him, we’d recorded his songs, but we’d never met him… and suddenly, at our revival in 1992, there he was! So we got him onstage to sing ‘Madness’ with us, and he was a charming man. I think for those chaps it’s a double-edged sword, because they were happy that we gave their music the oxygen of publicity, but at the same time we were making all the flippin’ dough out of it."

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