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Orange is the New Black: My Time in a Women's Prison
Orange is the New Black: My Time in a Women's Prison
Piper Kerman | 2016 | Biography
8
7.4 (18 Ratings)
Book Rating
Brutally honest and well structured (0 more)
Could be slow at times (0 more)
Better that the netflix series
When I lifted this book from the shelve I thought it had been put in the wrong section as I was looking for memoir. I was delighted however, when I turned the book over and the blurb revealed that is was in fact a memoir. I had just finished watching all three series of 'Orange is the New Black' on Netflex and had quickly become a fan. The TV program is very thinly based on Kerman's actual experience and because of this I cannot make comparisons. The novel stands alone as an intelligent and well structured memoir that reads like fiction. The author portrays her time in prison through her connection with the other female prisoners and the way in which they were/are forced to endure prison life. The book is emotional, funny and heartbreaking. Kerman has captured a time in her life with precision that only a true writer can. I feel like I could have been there with her. Well done.
  
OO
Objects of My Affection
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was a really enjoyable book. It took a few chapters before I was really able to get in to it which is why it gets a 4 instead of a 5. It is not at all that it was boring, it just took me a few pages to get invested in the characters.
This book tells the story of Lucy, a personal organizer who is hired on to help clear out the home of Marva Meir Rios, a hoarding artist. Lucy son also happens to be in drug rehab which has forced her to sell her home & most of her possessions in order to be able to afford the program. The plot is a bit predictable...a reclusive, old, crabby artist; an amiable out to please everyone mother; a handsome younger man; a spurned lover. You get the drift. But the story itself was not always as predictiable as it sounds. Made for an interesting read & an intimate look into the characters' lives, losses, and realizations.
  
The Librarians  - Season 1
The Librarians - Season 1
2014 | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Love the new librarians. (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
While watching this season it became apparent very quickly that it was a story that in some ways branched off from the film. The original librarian was off on his own adventure and this season was very much about the the three new ones and the guardian. There is a math wiz with a grape in her brain that gives her a 3D out of brain view of all things math which makes it easier to solve puzzles, there is a thief that can get in any where and also a architect/art history buff that can tell you what anything art related is or where it came from. Basically they have gotten the key aspect of the original librarian and split it in to three people and enhanced it by a thousand. If you like love mystery, action or just a good laugh there is every thing in this program.
  
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Connie (244 KP) rated Discord in Apps

Jun 14, 2018  
Discord
Discord
Communication, Games, Social Networking
9
7.8 (55 Ratings)
App Rating
Pretty good for gaming
I have been using Discord for some time, and I have to say that this app helps me get together with my gang as we play games in different areas of the world. It's a free program with a paid option, and it's easy to create your own servers or to join others that interest you.

It should be noted that both text AND voice channels are accessible through the free version of the app. Also, Discord is accessible through your web browser, much like Telegram.


The paid service is called Nitro, and it runs $50 for a year or $5 per month. I've no information about how well this service works, but I intend to try it out and will update once I have done so.
  
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Rebecca Billcliff (2409 KP) rated Hey Duggee in TV

Nov 12, 2019 (Updated May 23, 2021)  
Hey Duggee
Hey Duggee
2014 | Animation, Family
Some subtle humor (0 more)
Duggee is one of those programs for small children that knows adults are stuck watching it over and over. To help combat parental insanity, they throw in the odd grown-up joke, and I live for it.
When my lad decides to put Duggee on instead of some of the other inane crap there is for babies out there (and yes, he chooses, because he is a lockdown baby who at 18 months knew the code to the ipad, and how to put Netflix on, and chose the "kids" profile!), it makes my day.
I have honestly found it hard to get sick of this program, each time it comes on, I spot something new, a joke I missed, some subtle detail, it has (so far) not got old.
Now give me a Duggee hug!
  
Dying Light (Logan McRae #2)
Dying Light (Logan McRae #2)
Stuart MacBride | 2006 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
8
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
A successful return of this gritty Scottish police procedural.
I feel I could just copy a lot from my review of the first book in this series; Cold Granite. This was like tuning in to the second series of a program you liked and they haven’t changed much - thankfully. We still have a gloomy atmosphere but this time we are facing an arsonist and a dog killer so still horrific on the crime front. We have a police investigation, some internal politics and a bit of banter. All feels very BBC post 9pm drama and I loved listening to Steve Worsley’s narration in the audiobook version.

We do get a lot more of DI Steel in this book and this is welcome as she’s a vivid character. Can’t wait for the next season oh wait book I meant next book……….
  
4.5/5

Roberta Lee has put a name to the layers upon layers of stress that eventually break down our bodies and ruin our lives—it’s called SuperStress. She tells of the physical and mental affects that this SuperStress has on us. She also gives us ways to fix it—without drugs.

This handbook is holistic. Therapy means physical therapy, exercise, meditation and breathing control. Prescriptions means herbs and health foods and vitamins. Lee is not taking away the symptoms of stress-related bad health—she’s fixing the problem behind it.

The program outlined in this book is one you can follow with or without a doctor helping you along. She gives physical exercises and stretches that you can do, a two-week food plan to get you going on a better diet, journaling prompts to learn how to release your stress in words, and lots of other things.

I would recommend reading two parts of the book at once: Read through the first half, a little bit at a time, and learn about the science behind our stress, at the same time follow the program outlined in the back of the book. This way you’re reading and changing your lifestyle at the same time.

The only reason I don’t give it a 5/5 is because some of the meditation aspects in this book are self-centered, and by that I don’t mean prideful and greedy, I mean self-focused. I have learned that focusing on self will not release any stress, it will only pile on more. The only true way to release everything mentally is to lean on Christ. The journaling prompts in the book are in line with that, but some of the affirmations that are to be recited while meditating are so self-centered that I cannot see how any relief would come of it. That is coming from me as a Christian.

 The SuperStress Solution is a fantastic book for people who are in heavy stress and need a way out without the use of drugs or extensive therapy. Recommended for ages 16+.
  
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Karla Dee (6 KP) rated True, True in Books

May 27, 2023  
True, True
True, True
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book is an example of building your own seat at the table. I have seen the lip service to diversity irl life and it should be in our stories as well. Unfortunately we are living in a time where books that point out these inequalities are attacked an banned from getting into the hands of students that need to here these stories.

Gil uses the Sun Tzu's The Art of War to guide him in taking on racism at his school. When he first started going to Augustin Prep the popular kid started a fight over him being black on the first day and the school decided to punish Gil who is there on scholarship for the robotics program. Gil organizes with the other black students who have also been treated unequally. His involvement in school politics gets overwhelming for him and he has to decide what his priorities are...his family, his new relationship with a girl? Very good coming of age story <3<3<3
  
Geostorm (2017)
Geostorm (2017)
2017 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
I have written many times in the past how the Disaster movie has long been a staple of Hollywood. We had the Irwin Allen classics of the 70s that were loaded with stars and in recent years, we had Volcano and Asteroids to contend with along with a new wave of monsters and alien invasions.

In the new movie “Geostorm” we are given a threat lifted directly from the headlines, the weather. It is revealed that a series of natural disasters ranging from flooding, heat waves, and climate change have left humanity in serious peril. As such the leaders of the world agree on a costly and ambitious plan to save humanity.

The resulting program is called “Dutch Boy” and it is the brainchild of Jake Lawson (Gerard Butler), and his team of international scientists and technicians.

The project is a global satellite system that controls the weather, and when a threat is detected, it is able to stop it in its tracks.

All has gone well for years under the program and humanity is now safe from weather related threats and continues on as usual. Jake has run afoul of the politicians overseeing the project and is removed from it by his brother Max (Jim Sturgess), who is tasked as his replacement.

Years later as the U.S. prepares to hand over control of Duty Boy to the international community, a series of odd things happen from unexplained weather incidents to an accident on the space station overseeing the system.

With the clock ticking before the handoff and Election Year politics playing a factor, Jake is tasked with going to the space station and getting to the bottom of the system issues.

The film cleverly switches gears at this point as it soon becomes clear there is a conspiracy at work that wants the system to fail and when it is learned that this may result in a mega-storm called a Geostorm, Jake and Max must put aside their differences and find out who is turning the salvation of humanity into a weapon of ultimate destruction.

The film has some really good effects and the weather disasters bring out some impressive visuals as do the scenes set in space.

The film does take some serious leaps of logic and science that requires the audience to simply follow along for the good of the story, but the strong cast and winning effects make the film more enjoyable than I expected it to be and I was entertained from start to finish.

http://sknr.net/2017/10/20/geostorm/
  
I must say I really enjoyed continuing to read about the characters from the first book. Ella really deals with self esteem issues,but it was so nice to see her come out of her shell. The character of Dorothy was quite fascinating to hear about. I think bitterness over what had happened to her when she was younger really taken a little far. I really don't think that I have ever read another Amish character quite like her.
I also intrigue in reading more about Calvin and Lucy, and I great seeing things through young Katie's eyes.Her determination to get to the library and sign up for the summer reading program was so sweet. The scenes that take place in the Kaffi Haus really had me wanting to find out what going on there.
I also like the continuing story of Maddie and her health issues and Graham part of the story. Though I think Mattie has found her special someone but I am hoping she find out soon.