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Dumfries House: An Architectural Story
Book
On 18 July 1754, William Crichton Dalrymple, the 5th Earl of Dumfries, laid the foundation stone of...
Garrison Life at Vindolanda: A Band of Brothers
Book
The ink writing-tablets, first indentified at Roman Vindolanda, just south of Hadrian's Wall, in...
This is the fourteenth book in my #atozchallenge! I'm challenging myself to read a book from my shelves that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Let's clear those shelves and delve into that backlist!
Driving home to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets stuck in a terrible snowstorm. It forces her to stop at a rest area in Colorado. There she finds four other strangers stranded as well. When going back out to her car to try to get a cell signal, Darby makes a horrible discovery: in the van next to her vehicle, there's a little girl locked in a crate. Darby has no cell signal, there's no phone at the rest stop, and no way of knowing which of the four strangers has abducted this child. She's trapped and must find a way to rescue the kid. But how?
When I first picked up this book, I found it a little slow. Honestly, I think it's just because it stressed me out completely. One young college student trapped in the snow, trying to save a kid. It's a lot. I will say that Darby Thorne is a total badass (much like my hero, Darby Shaw, of The Pelican Brief).
This book is basically just a horror show, filled with violence, terror, and suspense. You don't know who Darby can trust, or what on earth will happen next. Adams packs a lot of tension into a book set in a rest area, and into a story that spans over less than half a day. It's pretty impressive.
Overall, while I can't say I completely enjoyed this book, because I was constantly worried, it's very well-done and suspenseful. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 here.
Driving home to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets stuck in a terrible snowstorm. It forces her to stop at a rest area in Colorado. There she finds four other strangers stranded as well. When going back out to her car to try to get a cell signal, Darby makes a horrible discovery: in the van next to her vehicle, there's a little girl locked in a crate. Darby has no cell signal, there's no phone at the rest stop, and no way of knowing which of the four strangers has abducted this child. She's trapped and must find a way to rescue the kid. But how?
When I first picked up this book, I found it a little slow. Honestly, I think it's just because it stressed me out completely. One young college student trapped in the snow, trying to save a kid. It's a lot. I will say that Darby Thorne is a total badass (much like my hero, Darby Shaw, of The Pelican Brief).
This book is basically just a horror show, filled with violence, terror, and suspense. You don't know who Darby can trust, or what on earth will happen next. Adams packs a lot of tension into a book set in a rest area, and into a story that spans over less than half a day. It's pretty impressive.
Overall, while I can't say I completely enjoyed this book, because I was constantly worried, it's very well-done and suspenseful. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 here.
Lindsay (1717 KP) rated Lost Locket (The Magic Magnifying Glass #1) in Books
Jul 29, 2021
Are you looking for a good clean book for your middle-grade children? The Magic Magnifying Glass is a good one. The first book is called “Lost Locket” by Wendy Ann Mattox. This book introduces you to a boy that loves to solve mysteries.
This book also is clean and talking about God helping him along the way. Your child or children will meet some new characters along the way. I enjoy the fact that this book does center around a boy named Finley. Though he needs the help of friends,
Will he learn that God made me the way he is for a reason. Will he know that having new friends might be able to help when he needs it? The way the author puts nature animals in this story. I enjoyed how they come to help or do as they would typically do in natural wildlife.
Children will learn about nature and the wild animals in their backyard. We learn along the way some of the friends that Finley meets as he tries to solve the tricky case. Will he figure out how he got so tiny? Will he learn to trust God?
This book is excellent. Will Finley find the missing locket? This adventure book is ideal for girls and boys. Parents can read it to their children. Children can pick this book up and read it themselves if they want. I was pleased with it. Children learn about nature and animals in their backyard. Some of the animals are common.
Parents could add more activities or learning activities with their children once they have read this book. Children will learn some animal facts about some of the new friends Finley meets in this book.
This book also is clean and talking about God helping him along the way. Your child or children will meet some new characters along the way. I enjoy the fact that this book does center around a boy named Finley. Though he needs the help of friends,
Will he learn that God made me the way he is for a reason. Will he know that having new friends might be able to help when he needs it? The way the author puts nature animals in this story. I enjoyed how they come to help or do as they would typically do in natural wildlife.
Children will learn about nature and the wild animals in their backyard. We learn along the way some of the friends that Finley meets as he tries to solve the tricky case. Will he figure out how he got so tiny? Will he learn to trust God?
This book is excellent. Will Finley find the missing locket? This adventure book is ideal for girls and boys. Parents can read it to their children. Children can pick this book up and read it themselves if they want. I was pleased with it. Children learn about nature and animals in their backyard. Some of the animals are common.
Parents could add more activities or learning activities with their children once they have read this book. Children will learn some animal facts about some of the new friends Finley meets in this book.
Debbiereadsbook (1166 KP) rated Cypher (The Dragon's Bidding #2) in Books
Aug 9, 2021
read book 1 first!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This is book 2 in The Dragon’s Bidding series, and it cannot be read as a stand-alone. You NEED to read A Hero For an Empire before this one and I would recommend you read them back to back. It’s been 4 years since I read the first one, and I think that’s why I feel as I do about this one. I did not have time to reread book one before reading this one!
I found this a much more difficult read, to follow. It’s heavy on the technical stuff and at times I struggled to keep up.
It moves fast, and even though I had to slow down my reading (which is usually a good thing!) I still struggled a bit.
Fitz and Wolf’s relationship is intense in book one, and that flows over into this one. That fact, and the fact we meet Cypher here, are what made me able to finish this book.
Cypher takes over Wolf’s body, his muscles and his bones but not his mind. He can see what Cypher is doing and is helpless to stop it. He has to trust his love for Fitz, Ari and the others in his life will tide him through and THEY will get to the bottom of it all.
It is HEAVY on the fighting/violence scale. While I enjoyed that in book one, it was a not so much here.
Things are still not where Wolf, Fitz and Ari want them to be, and I expect it may take more than one more book to make it so.
I have Cypher’s book to read next, and given what happens here, I’m looking forward to that.
3 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
This is book 2 in The Dragon’s Bidding series, and it cannot be read as a stand-alone. You NEED to read A Hero For an Empire before this one and I would recommend you read them back to back. It’s been 4 years since I read the first one, and I think that’s why I feel as I do about this one. I did not have time to reread book one before reading this one!
I found this a much more difficult read, to follow. It’s heavy on the technical stuff and at times I struggled to keep up.
It moves fast, and even though I had to slow down my reading (which is usually a good thing!) I still struggled a bit.
Fitz and Wolf’s relationship is intense in book one, and that flows over into this one. That fact, and the fact we meet Cypher here, are what made me able to finish this book.
Cypher takes over Wolf’s body, his muscles and his bones but not his mind. He can see what Cypher is doing and is helpless to stop it. He has to trust his love for Fitz, Ari and the others in his life will tide him through and THEY will get to the bottom of it all.
It is HEAVY on the fighting/violence scale. While I enjoyed that in book one, it was a not so much here.
Things are still not where Wolf, Fitz and Ari want them to be, and I expect it may take more than one more book to make it so.
I have Cypher’s book to read next, and given what happens here, I’m looking forward to that.
3 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
ClareR (5681 KP) rated The Golden Rule in Books
Jun 3, 2021
I really enjoyed The Golden Rule, and I was intrigued as to how it was going to link to Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train AND Beauty and the Beast. Well, the first of those was obvious. Hannah, whilst travelling to Cornwall to see her terminally ill mother, is convinced by a woman in First Class to sit with her and drink a bottle of wine. Whilst drinking, they swap stories of their terrible husbands (and Hannah’s husband really does come across as an abusive and thoroughly unpleasant person), and Hannah’s fellow traveller, Jinni, comes up with the idea that they should kill each other’s husbands. Two problems would be solved. Now this is the part of the book that made me pick it up in the first place. After all - how intriguing is this idea? Could Hannah trust that a complete stranger would stick to her side of the bargain? And what’s more, Hannah seems so nice - could she kill a complete stranger? Well. That was ME hooked!
This is a novel that not only looks at abusive partners and the effects their behaviours have on those around them, but also brings in such topics as Brexit, and why certain regions in the UK (i.e. Cornwall) voted for it, when it was clear that they’d get nothing out of it. It looks at poverty in London and the South West, and how the rich seem to asset strip the poor areas of the country even more, even under the pretence that they’re adding value. It’s about how a person can reinvent themselves despite the hurdles put in front of them.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and finished the last page feeling as though I’d just read a really good, satisfying book. I’d most definitely recommend it!
This is a novel that not only looks at abusive partners and the effects their behaviours have on those around them, but also brings in such topics as Brexit, and why certain regions in the UK (i.e. Cornwall) voted for it, when it was clear that they’d get nothing out of it. It looks at poverty in London and the South West, and how the rich seem to asset strip the poor areas of the country even more, even under the pretence that they’re adding value. It’s about how a person can reinvent themselves despite the hurdles put in front of them.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and finished the last page feeling as though I’d just read a really good, satisfying book. I’d most definitely recommend it!
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Annabelle Comes Home (2019) in Movies
Oct 26, 2020 (Updated Oct 26, 2020)
Incompetent, one of the worst horror movies I've ever seen. No film with a 70s soundtrack this cool should suck this hard, just as a bylaw from now on. Gives you false hope by starting off with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga's charming Warren couple (after rehashing that first 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 scene for the third goddamned time in three different movies) then violating your trust by immediately veering into pure shit. Not even remotely scary, just really loud and irritating - somehow even less frightening than 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦: 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 and that useless spinoff wasn't scary either. The same tropes with increasingly less charm, wit, originality, and purpose with each subsequent entry - this one having the added facet of looking like total ass now too! You'd think a beloved multi-million dollar franchise would be able to produce a film that doesn't look like a cheap Halloween section at a Party City with only like one and a half cool shots lmfao. At first you may think that maybe its lack of polish is supposed to add into a nostalgic, old-school Hollywood horror vibe but no - they just didn't care. For a now defaced series so adamant on overstuffing itself with intertwining lore (like so many films feel the need to nowadays during this unholy "just wait for the good stuff... it's building for now..." franchise kick) to the point of losing all sense of singularity they really put nothing into this writing to justify any of that. They really just turned this into some disgraceful, borderline unwatchable, generic drek that'd feel right at home in 2011/2012's rotten horror catalogue. A sequel to a prequel of a prequel to a main entry which has its own sequel that has *its* own spinoff. The pits.
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