True Yankees: The South Seas and the Discovery of American Identity
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With American independence came the freedom to sail anywhere in the world under a new flag. During...
Shelly and the Golden Shell
10.0
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Uncover the magic of self-discovery with Shelly, the turtle who finds her true colors in a world of...
Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis
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A New York Times bestseller and "a passionate, urgent" (The New Yorker) examination of the growing...
Alchemy of Bones: Chicago's Luetgert Murder Case
5.0
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On May 1, 1897, Louise Luetgert disappeared. Although no body was found, Chicago police arrested her...
Karate-Do: My Way of Life
5.5
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Linking the time when karate was a strictly Okinawan art of self-defense shrouded in the deepest...
We All Dance to a Mysterious Tune: Stange Stories, Poems and Essays, the Confessions of a Feminine Man
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An intimate autobiography describing the personal and sexual life of a poet working in the retail...
The Good People
8.0
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Shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize 2017 County Kerry, Ireland, 1825. NORA, bereft after the...
Elli H Burton (1288 KP) rated Bridgerton in TV
Feb 17, 2021
Firstly, one thing we all will notice that there is HUGE difference to other shows set in the 1800s. Usually the cast would be predominantly white. Lets not skirt around it. However, this amazing show not only has fabulous characters of all race and cultures, the first I've seen where a mixed race couple in the 19th century is the norm. Obviously historically speaking this would have been illegal, a queen of England being anything but white unheard of. This show breaks that barrier, creating a world we could only wish was actually our true history.
The stories run together so well it feels natural, where some shows can struggle to keep up with multiple storylines going. It's never confusing or hard to follow, it flows so well.
I could go on but genuinely do not want to spoil the show for anyone that may want to give it a go, so I'll leave you with this:
I honestly think this show is the best to have come about in a VERY long time, certainly worth the 8 hour binge.
ClareR (5726 KP) rated Star of the North in Books
May 3, 2018 (Updated May 3, 2018)
Twelve years after her sister was kidnapped on a South Korean beach, Jenna, a Korean-American and a well-respected lecturer in North Korean studies, joins the CIA. She thinks that she may be able to track down her sister, who she believes is alive. Mrs Moon is a North Korean peasant, who builds a business after finding contraband food that was sent over by balloon from South Korea. Cho is a high ranking North Korean official who is found to have undesirable ancestors and is punished. These three storylines end up coming together so cleverly, in a story that is exciting and told at a breakneck speed. I loved it. This is one of those ‘un-put-downable’ books. The ending is so unexpected and explosive - just wow!! Honestly, this has ‘movie adaptation’ written all over it. And when you realise that this is all based on fact and true stories...
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for my copy!!
David McK (3425 KP) rated Robin Hood and the Caliph's Gold in Books
Mar 26, 2020
As such, this starts with Robin and his men trying to make their way back to England from the Holy Land, with the entire story told (as are all the others) in first person narrative, and from the point of view of Alan a Dale, the true protagonist of these stories (let's face it, Robin isn't always a very nice man...)
Shipwrecked on the way home, this sets off a series of circumstances and encounters that sees Robin and his men hatching a plan to steal the Caliph's Gold (it's all there in the title!), with many a ferocious battle and deeds of derring do throughout.
Having recently just having read one of Angus Donald's other historical works (the Blood series: last one I read was Bloods Campaign), I have to say: I think I prefer the medieval setting of these novels better, with Alan a Dale coming across as a more relatable character than Holcroft Blood.