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Bite Club (The Morganville Vampires, #10)
Bite Club (The Morganville Vampires, #10)
Rachel Caine | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.2 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book does something brand new in the series -- Shane's point of view is alternated with Claire's point of view. It is a very good thing that Rachel Caine decides to do this, as I do not think that Claire could have gotten such a good understanding of the lure of the vampire-themed fight club that Shane gets involved with.
We not only get to see into Shane's head, but we also get a fuller understanding of his anger and hatred towards vampires, as well as his internal battle with accepting his sister's death, followed by his mother's death, and his father's abuse and fanaticism. Honestly, it is amazing that Shane has any sanity left at all, considering the life he has lived up to this point. Claire has been like a bright star in his life, and it would be a real tragedy if he were to ever lose her -- which does not look like it will be happening any time soon.
On the flip side, Shane's drastic change in behavior due to the fight club puts Claire's heart through the ringer several times throughout the book and has her considering and reconsidering just how much she really wants to stay in Morganville -- especially when M.I.T., her dream school, starts calling. Luckily, Claire has always been a force to be reckoned with in Morganville, and her instincts are always right on par. Only she can stand up to Amelie, the Founder of Morganville, and come away unscathed, even if barely.
If a vampire fight club is not bad enough to be worthy of a book, a certain "big bad" comes back from the figurative dead to wreak havoc and death. Of course, my favorite character, Myrnin makes the final battle interesting with a few new toys and unforgettable one-liners. His rivalry with the new brain behind the town security system, Frank Collins, provides some fresh entertainment, too. This series just keeps getting better, and I can't wait for the release of the next book, Last Breath.
  
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JT (287 KP) rated A Good Year (2006) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020  
A Good Year (2006)
A Good Year (2006)
2006 | Comedy, Drama, Romance
6
4.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
This is certainly not your conventional Ridley Scott film, but it’s one that was well shot but not very well written. Investment broker Max Skinner (Russell Crowe) knows only one thing, how to make money. But when he inherits his Uncle’s chateau in Provence where he spent much of his childhood he must decide between the life he has in London or the life in France.

After arriving in Provence the only thing on his mind is to sell, but with childhood memories floating all around him as well as women it’s not long before the predictable is happening.It provides enough and features some telling performances but it’s simply not funny enough to register as the comedy it so desperately strives to be. The film most notably reunited Scott with Crowe and their first foray into a romantic comedy, with not a great deal of success.

A Good Year has scenery could not be more fitting for a romantic comedy, and the picturesque winery is paramount to the beautiful shots it creates. However, at times it looks more like a car advert than a film.

On the comedy aspect there are a few small laughs but they fall flat as Crowe is not able to deliver on them, you wonder if Hugh Grant might have done a better job. Crowe’s upper class English accent is out of place against the free flowing French that is predominant throughout and he’d probably feel more at home with large sword in his hand as opposed to a wine bottle.

The introduction of Uncle Henry’s supposedly long lost daughter throws a complicated spanner in the works which does more harm than good. It’s a heartwarming tale and it will tug on the heart strings of all the old romantics out there, but Scott and Crowe have never made a romantic comedy before and it certainly shows. It’s not got the characteristics of a fine wine, but may get past some peoples tastes.
  
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
1950 | Classics, Drama

"This is a film — and this is kind of going away from this relationship theme — but this is a film that, when I was little, I loved. I mean, I’ve loved it my whole life. I don’t know what that says about me, but I loved Sunset Boulevard. I was a big old-movie fan when I was, you know, older than most people should be when they’re older-movie fans. [Gloria Swanson is] just so spectacular in that film and it sort of formed my idea of that raw, dramatic acting. And the writing… The writing in that movie is unbelievable. So many incredible one-liners. It’s one of those movies that you can watch now and you’re just, like, “Damn, that was a good line,” you know? Like, God, that was some good writing back then. The thing is that movies written that way wouldn’t fit in, really, these days. It would sound strange, like you couldn’t really do it now. But thank God we have them."

Source
  
Precious and Grace
Precious and Grace
Alexander McCall Smith | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Don't read this if you haven't read the others
So I probably shouldn't have started reading this series from the 17th instalment, as you have zero grasp of the characters and the context in which these women have set up this agency.

In this latest installment of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi help a young woman on a quest to find someone from her past.

A young Canadian woman who spent her early childhood in Botswana requests the agency's help in recovering important pieces of her life there. With only a faded photograph - and, of course, some good old-fashioned detective skills - to guide them, Precious and Grace set out to locate the house that the woman used to live in and the caretaker who looked after her many years ago.

The problem is that as a stand-alone book it seems rather bland and a bit of an anti-climax. However, I'm sure it's much more interesting having read the rest of the series.
  
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RəX Regent (349 KP) rated Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) in Movies

Feb 19, 2019 (Updated Feb 19, 2019)  
Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941)
1941 | Action
6
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Well, unfortunately, Jane did survive the last one…

…and by now, this Tarzan series has become a simplistic, cynical cash cow. Delivering yet another formulaic adventure, almost beat for beat what has come before, we now find that Cheeta, the never aging chimp, has become the star of the show. No longer just a bit of comic relief, entire scenes are handed over to her and “Boy”, Tarzan and Jane’s adopted son, in favour of appealing to the child market no doubt.

This has become unabashed family entertainment, no longer speaking to its audience as it once did. No longer discussing the differences of a simple life versus a civilized one, nor tackling the constraints of civilization on things such a sexuality or freedom of expression.

Her the jungle is funny and safe, only threatened by primitive tribes and greedy westerners, all of whom will be stopped by Tarzan and his Elephants in the end. Though the action is good and the finale it one of the best so far, so cynical or not, it still works.
  
I received this book from the publishing company through Goodreads for free in return for an honest review.

As a person who loves historical fiction I was excited to et my hand on a new book that was within a genre I enjoy.I have read previous books that Janette Oke wrote which I enjoyed immensely. At the core, Where Trust Lies, is about relationships. Relationships between mothers and daughters and sisters.

In general the character, Elizabeth, was boring but she made up for it with her kind and loving heart. I like seeing the relationships between the different characters and how their choices effected their life. At the end of the story the plot changed and not for the good but even still the family held on their strong faith in God.

One of my biggest frustrations in a book is when it is predictable. When a book is predictable I am easily distractible and do not want to finish the book. Oke did a great job of ending the book, especially is a nice romantic way.
  
Teahouse
Teahouse
Emirain | 2012
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
4.5 stars

 came across this book by accident after seeing it as a recommendation at the side of my page and I clicked on it, saw the link to the web-comic and clicked it and before I knew it, I was devouring this book/story/comic.<br/><br/>I was so easily drawn into it, flipping through the pages like it was going to last forever and then it just ended...the creators got caught up in real life, getting jobs and finishing school and the comic was no more. *sob*

I initially wanted to cry at finding this out; the comic was so good! It was funny in places, sweet in others, sexy at times, serious at others. I wanted to see how it was all going to end. Unfortunately that didn't happen but the creators did write an ending for each of the budding relationships in the story and I'm more or less happy with it.

I LOVED the artwork for this. The duo is very talented and I wish them luck in future endeavours!
  
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ClareR (5686 KP) rated Sunbringer in Books

May 20, 2024  
Sunbringer
Sunbringer
Hannah Kaner | 2024 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner.
I love the characters.
I love the world they live in.
I love the gods and goddesses of both the large and tiny details of everyday life within this world. I mean, just WHY would they want to get rid of them?!
Ok, ok, I did read the last book, I know the reasons!

There’s a lot more world-building in this novel than the first (until everything REALLY kicks off!), and the three main characters of Inara/ Skediceth (they come as a unit, after all), Elogast and Kissen are separated. And for very good reasons.

We can see the scope of the problem with these gods - or is it a problem with humans as well? I mean, power seems to corrupt both equally.

There are some cracking twists, and the end has left me greedy for more. I’m not one to rush an author (1. They wouldn’t listen; 2. I don’t want to mess up the process anyway!), but I can’t wait to find out what happens next - because it’s going to be BIG!!