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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Unspeakable in Books
Oct 22, 2017 (Updated Oct 22, 2017)
A biting outlook on American politics by a veteran journalist
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges and Salon founder David Talbot have a frank conversation about political taboos in this new series of books on 'forbidden' topics.
Hedges writes about politics with a principled fury and an eye to pointing out injustice, even at the cost of his own career as an acclaimed war correspondent. The book is a long-running commentary on the many issues Hedges confronts in his writing, including war, Occupy Wall Street, and the New York Times's relationship to organs of state power.
At times, he sounds like a bitter preacher, at other times, he is focused and forms excellent arguments against the establishment. His views on the pornification of society are liberating, finally addressing the underlying issues of economics invading the private space.
His observation that the today's ruling elites are out of touch with the country they govern and has borne out in the 2016 election cycle, shows that even the most stridently expressed views aren't necessarily wrong.
Hedges writes about politics with a principled fury and an eye to pointing out injustice, even at the cost of his own career as an acclaimed war correspondent. The book is a long-running commentary on the many issues Hedges confronts in his writing, including war, Occupy Wall Street, and the New York Times's relationship to organs of state power.
At times, he sounds like a bitter preacher, at other times, he is focused and forms excellent arguments against the establishment. His views on the pornification of society are liberating, finally addressing the underlying issues of economics invading the private space.
His observation that the today's ruling elites are out of touch with the country they govern and has borne out in the 2016 election cycle, shows that even the most stridently expressed views aren't necessarily wrong.
Hag 12 Down (6 KP) rated Night Film in Books
Dec 30, 2017
This Book is a challenge, but in a good way.
Brilliant, haunting, breathtakingly suspenseful, Night Film is a superb literary thriller by the New York Times bestselling author of the blockbuster debut Special Topics in Calamity Physics.
On a damp October night, the body of young, beautiful Ashley Cordova is found in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. By all appearances her death is a suicide - but investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. Though much has been written about the dark and unsettling films of Ashley's father, Stanislas Cordova, very little is known about the man himself. As McGrath pieces together the mystery of Ashley's death, he is drawn deeper and deeper into the dark underbelly of New York City and the twisted world of Stanislas Cordova, and he begins to wonder - is he the next victim?
This is a page turner that makes you want to be in the mystery. You will want to watch the Horror films yourself.
On a damp October night, the body of young, beautiful Ashley Cordova is found in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. By all appearances her death is a suicide - but investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. Though much has been written about the dark and unsettling films of Ashley's father, Stanislas Cordova, very little is known about the man himself. As McGrath pieces together the mystery of Ashley's death, he is drawn deeper and deeper into the dark underbelly of New York City and the twisted world of Stanislas Cordova, and he begins to wonder - is he the next victim?
This is a page turner that makes you want to be in the mystery. You will want to watch the Horror films yourself.
Paige (428 KP) rated The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain in Books
Jul 28, 2017
really great for building confidence and teaching basic exercises (2 more)
Perfect for people who think they "can't draw" (drawing is a skill, and perfectly learn-able)
Will help a whole lot if you are just starting
Will hold you back if you let it (1 more)
The neuroscience this is based on is sadly outdated
Great book, but FOR BEGINNERS ONLY
So this book is really, really good for beginners. I have bought multiple copies of it to give to people who are afraid to start drawing, and they loved how fast they improved. It also kind of helps you learn to learn more (if that makes sense)
If you cling to it afterwards, it will stunt you, though. It doesn't teach much in the way of perspective, color, composition, art historical precedents, or mastery of techniques and materials (but really, there are whole books and disagreeing theory families on each of those topics...)
To start drawing, I have yet to find something better. Just give it to someone else when you are done.
If you cling to it afterwards, it will stunt you, though. It doesn't teach much in the way of perspective, color, composition, art historical precedents, or mastery of techniques and materials (but really, there are whole books and disagreeing theory families on each of those topics...)
To start drawing, I have yet to find something better. Just give it to someone else when you are done.
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows in Books
Sep 13, 2017
Interesting, a little repetitive
I wasn't sure what to expect with this bizarrely named novel, and I was slightly worried it would be some Karma Sutra style book but it was nothing of the kind.
A group of old Punjabi women attend an English language class run by a British Asian young woman who mistakenly brings in an erotic book one day. It opens up a world of sensuous pleasure for the women, who are normally quite conservative about such topics.
While it's quite a novelty and funny at the beginning, the stories become repetitive and it becomes a little boring. The honour crime story was far more interesting and I wish there was more focus on that side instead of turning it in to a Gurinder Chadha type of novel. The stories are meant to open up other aspects of the community such as arranged marriages and the impact of honour - but it just doesn't seem to connect that well.
The protagonist Nicky is great though who reflects many British Asians growing up with dual cultures. Good but not great.
A group of old Punjabi women attend an English language class run by a British Asian young woman who mistakenly brings in an erotic book one day. It opens up a world of sensuous pleasure for the women, who are normally quite conservative about such topics.
While it's quite a novelty and funny at the beginning, the stories become repetitive and it becomes a little boring. The honour crime story was far more interesting and I wish there was more focus on that side instead of turning it in to a Gurinder Chadha type of novel. The stories are meant to open up other aspects of the community such as arranged marriages and the impact of honour - but it just doesn't seem to connect that well.
The protagonist Nicky is great though who reflects many British Asians growing up with dual cultures. Good but not great.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Wake of Vultures in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Wake of Vultures was an exciting, fast paced, interesting read. It was fun and different for me. It wasn’t phenomenal. I would probably read the next one in the series, but I wouldn’t spend money on it.
The biggest problem I had with the story was I felt that it tried to deal with too many things at once. Racism, sexism, sexual identity, slavery, nudity, and religion are all important and heavy topics. All of them together in one YA urban fantasy novel? It’s a bit excessive. Even though I of all people understand that sometimes when a story comes to you, as an author, you can’t change your character! That’s just who they are! And don’t get me wrong, the story was great and I enjoyed listening to it, and I was totally caught up in it. But there were times when I would listen and something would come up and I’d be like “this is too much. this is ridiculous.” It felt like overkill.
That aside, I enjoyed the book and look forward to the sequel.
The biggest problem I had with the story was I felt that it tried to deal with too many things at once. Racism, sexism, sexual identity, slavery, nudity, and religion are all important and heavy topics. All of them together in one YA urban fantasy novel? It’s a bit excessive. Even though I of all people understand that sometimes when a story comes to you, as an author, you can’t change your character! That’s just who they are! And don’t get me wrong, the story was great and I enjoyed listening to it, and I was totally caught up in it. But there were times when I would listen and something would come up and I’d be like “this is too much. this is ridiculous.” It felt like overkill.
That aside, I enjoyed the book and look forward to the sequel.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Hunt (2012) in Movies
Feb 24, 2019
Dark and disturbing
This is definitely not an easy film to watch, but it really is very good. It's a stark and difficult to watch tale about the repercussions of lies in a close knit Danish tale. It deals with some very heavy topics and yet doesn't shy away from the subject matter in question, to the point where it's almost too difficult to watch. But this is why this film is so good, it hasn't Hollywood-ised such a difficult subject and instead you can really believe everything that happens.
It's helped of course by a brilliant performance from Mads Mikkelsen. His quiet mild mannered Lucas is a million miles away from what he gets accused of, and Mads' performances itself is very restrained, which is exactly what this film needed. This paired with a subtle score and well done cinematography make for a very haunting watch.
This really has a stark point to make about the judgemental nature of society, and it makes it very well, even if it is disturbing to watch.
It's helped of course by a brilliant performance from Mads Mikkelsen. His quiet mild mannered Lucas is a million miles away from what he gets accused of, and Mads' performances itself is very restrained, which is exactly what this film needed. This paired with a subtle score and well done cinematography make for a very haunting watch.
This really has a stark point to make about the judgemental nature of society, and it makes it very well, even if it is disturbing to watch.
Sam (228 KP) rated Deadpool 2 (2018) in Movies
Mar 6, 2019
Hilarious (1 more)
Great Characters
Weird Choices for Music (1 more)
Overwhelming Music in Some Scenes
Looking Forward to the Next Movie
Everybody loves Deadpool and this film was a great continuation to the first film. Although the jokes got a little gimmicky at some points my biggest and probably my only real complaint to this film would be the music. In the last movie the music was spot on every single time, however in this second film the music overwhelmed many of the scenes and we rent good choices for the scenes playing out. I hated the addition of Annie during a serious scene, a different song choice could have made the scene but rather it made the whole thing awkward and broke the moment. I understand it was meant to be played over as funny in the spirit of Deadpool but rather it broke the scene and the magic of Deadpool, a true moment where they simply tried to hard. Beyond this the film was great, true to Deadpool and even as it tackled series topics it held a funny overtone just as Deadpool should
BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) rated Sadie in Books
Mar 26, 2019
Sadie freaking broke me.
“I wish his darkness lived outside of him, because you have to know it's there to see it. Like all real monsters, he hides in plain sight.”
Sadie freaking broke me.
I’ve never wanted to give up on a book and not put a book down so bad in my life.
This book was one of the few times I was really glad I didn’t know what I was getting into because if I did I probably wouldn’t have actually read it because of the subject matter (CW: pedophilia) it’s just one of those topics I really don’t like to read about. And while Sadie was a hard book to read it was amazingly written with characters you can’t help but feel for…. Whether those feelings are good or bad now that was what really made Sadie an amazing book.
I really liked the format of the book, switching between the podcast on Sadies POV was really unique and kept me reading because I was hooked on both POVs and could wait to get back to the other one.
Sadie freaking broke me.
I’ve never wanted to give up on a book and not put a book down so bad in my life.
This book was one of the few times I was really glad I didn’t know what I was getting into because if I did I probably wouldn’t have actually read it because of the subject matter (CW: pedophilia) it’s just one of those topics I really don’t like to read about. And while Sadie was a hard book to read it was amazingly written with characters you can’t help but feel for…. Whether those feelings are good or bad now that was what really made Sadie an amazing book.
I really liked the format of the book, switching between the podcast on Sadies POV was really unique and kept me reading because I was hooked on both POVs and could wait to get back to the other one.