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Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook
Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook
Martha Stewart | 2006 | Home & Garden, Reference, Technical
10
9.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
It contains EVERYTHING (0 more)
The essential homekeeping encyclopedia
So first off, this is NOT a read-cover-to-cover kind of book. This is an encyclopedia. This is a you-spilled-red-wine-and-barbecue-sauce-on-Grandma’s-handmade-lace-doily-tablecloth-and-need-to-know-how-to-get-the-stain-out kind of book. And it’s AMAZING. If you have a question about homekeeping, the answer is in here.

How to take care of 12 different possible kinds of countertop materials? It’s in here.

What is this weird shaped scrub brush and what is it used for? In here.

Components of a staircase, pros and cons of carpeting a staircase, and how to do it if you choose to? In here.

How to read a Consumer Confidence Report provided by your water supplier? Different kinds of heating and cooling systems, and how to maintain them? Need to know all sixteen types of spoons? How to clean and maintain most small (and large) kitchen appliances? All in here, along with so much more.

It’s a huge book, with an incredible amount of information. It also features lots of pictures, charts, and the occasional inspirational quote. I checked this book out from the library once and immediately put it on my wish list to own, because I wanted a reference copy in the house! (I finally bought my copy almost a year ago.) If you have a passion for housekeeping (or even if you don’t but it’s still a responsibility of yours) this is a fantastic book to have in your arsenal. Yes, you can find most of this information through Google – but it can be hard to decide how reliable that information is. Martha’s not going to lie to you! You know she’s tested this stuff.

There’s more than just cleaning and maintenance – there’s also suggestions for home layout, how to make a house more convenient and comfortable for everyone living in it, hints for storage and workflow. This book really has everything.

I 100% recommend this book for homeowners, and renters can get a lot out of it, too.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
  
TI
The Ice Twins
S.K. Tremayne | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.1 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
This was literally the most depressing book I’ve ever read. Like, literally. The writing was lyrical and descriptive (almost too much so), and it was hard to listen to because of the emotional devastation of the characters. It was a rollercoaster because out of the three main characters (daughter, husband, wife) you loved all of them, you hated all of them, but you weren’t sure which one was the bad guy (and there was definitely a bad guy). And then once you figured out which one you hated the most, it would switch on you. Suffice to say, this made it an emotional trip.

As I said, the writing was almost so descriptive that it was annoying. And it wasn’t all of it, there were just some parts where I thought “Okay, I get it, move on with the story please.” Another thing was some of the dialogue was redundant. I realize you’re dealing with a traumatized child here, and they tend to repeat themselves and not elaborate, but there are artful ways of writing that without driving your reader crazy. (Example, thought not a direct quote: “tell me what happened?” “Nothing.” “Tell me?” “no. nothing.” “Please?” “Nothing.” “Please sweetheart.” “No! Nothing.” and on and on we go.)

But the story itself wrapped up with an intensely confusing and fulfilling climax, and even a week later it is still haunting me… the ghost may never go away.

The narration was combined: there were three people reading. Rawlins for the voice of Sarah, the mother; Duncan for the voice of Angus before the climax; King for the voice of Angus after the climax (which I thought was really weird, honestly). I liked Rawlins and King, but not Duncan at all. I also would have liked Rawlins to do the voice of the daughter for the whole thing, not just her chapters, since her voice was really good for it. It would have been so much editing though.

The Ice Twins was an overall good reading experience and despite it’s minor flaws I would recommend it to anyone who likes drama, romance, or general fiction.
  
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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated You in Books

Apr 27, 2018  
Y
You
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
While reading—and after finishing—You, I really had no idea what to say about it. I let it sit in my brain for a while, and I think I’ve decided how I feel. It’s a funny book though, because honestly, you have to be the right kind of reader for it. I’m not yet sure what that kind of reader is.

First, as you can see above, I can’t really say what genre it was. It wasn’t really young adult, though I’m sure some young people will enjoy it. It’s not really adult either though, because it’s about a group of people who play videogames for a living. So I wasn’t sure what category to put it into for my brain.

There was some fantasy aspects, because the videogame they made was fantasy. The videogame characters would come to visit Russell, the main character, in his dreams or daydreams. Once he took one of them on a date. That was kind of weird.

Then there was the plot. They’re making this game, another game in the series, and there’s a bug that’s causing all sorts of problems. They have to play the game to get rid of the bug. Now I’m not a game designer but that doesn’t seem very probable to me personally. I’d do a control search for the line of problem code, and just take it the hell out. But like I said, I’m not a designer.

The subplot to the bug mystery had something to do with the past, the founder of the company, a mysterious death, and an “ultimate game.” It was all very vague, and not a lot of it was wrapped up.

Finally, I didn’t particularly like the conclusion. Suffice to say I thought the whole novel would take a different turn than it did, and it wasn’t what I wanted.

But the good parts were good! The writing was funny and descriptive, the characters were well developed—I loved Lisa so much!—and it was fast paced.

Personally, I liked it. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, but I probably wouldn’t read (or listen to) it again.

Content/recommendation: some language, no sex. Ages 16+
  
The Postmistress
The Postmistress
Sarah Blake | 2010 | History & Politics
2
3.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Genre: Fiction
Rating: DNF


(No Summary.)

The thing about reading is that you need to pick up the book, and be wrapped up in it. It needs to flow well. It must be readable. It must be understandable. Words create sentences and sentences create paragraphs, etc.

When I started reading The Postmistress, I felt like I’d jumped into the middle of a book, in the middle of a series, with no idea who was who or what was happening or even who the narrator was. The sentences didn’t make any sense. It was like reading sentences backwards. Have you ever tried that? Do it. Ok now that you’ve tried it, you know how I felt. It felt like a bunch of jumbled words.

The style was strange, there was weird punctuation that made what little clear sentences there were choppy and difficult to read. I kept reading the same phrase over and over and eventually giving up.

The point of view isn’t first person, nor is it third. And whatever person it was, it kept switching mid-chapter so I couldn't keep up. The dialogue felt out of place, like people from that time period shouldn’t be speaking like that (Or maybe I’m just not educated on WWII culture, which is more likely than not. I’ll give the author the benefit of the doubt).

And by page 15 I still had no clue who was who or what was going on. I felt no desire to continue reading, and trying to decipher the paragraphs felt like a chore.

And honestly, reading should not be a chore. I won’t finish a book if I could be reading better things.

I’m sorry to be so negative, I hate writing negative reviews. But I could not read this book. I couldn’t tell you what the plot was or what the characters were like if I tried.

As always, please remember that this is my personal opinion. Never decide to read or not to read a book based on one person’s views.

This was the second stop for Katrina’s Borrow My ARC Tour at Bloody Bad. Check the other tour stops here for other reviews, or see Amazon.com reviews.
  
All I See Is You (2017)
All I See Is You (2017)
2017 | Drama
5
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Decent acting (1 more)
Beautiful visuals
Confusing storyline (3 more)
Doesn't deliver
A lot is implied
Weird sexual parts that make no sense
A Poor Attempt at a Romantic Thriller
Contains spoilers, click to show
I'd never heard of this until it popped up on my Stan account. The summary sounded like it was going to be a gritty romantic thriller - boy was I wrong! While the acting was decent and the 'blind' effects were gorgeous, the storyline left something to be desired. Their marriage was clearly a disaster, the husband is needy and posessive and her complete personality change when she was able to see with one eye was jarring to say the least. The doctor was able to restore her sight in her right eye, but not once did they touch on how difficult it is to just see with one eye. Your balance is off, your perception is off - it's a complete disaster until you become used to it, yet they gave her the ease and impression that she could see with both eyes again. A lot is heavily implied (him messing with her eyedrops to cause blindness again, him staging a break in to get rid of her dog Ginger, her cheating on him with Daniel, her lying about being able to see etc.), there is never a confrontation between the pair about any of it. At the end you get the impression he's dead and she has the baby, but none of it is actually confirmed. It's just an utter mess. Nothing comes together and the story falls flat. There's also a lot of very unsettling sexual overtones from the get go which are never explained or understood. It feels like these were added as part of the story that was never revealed - maybe left on the editing floor - so they don't make much sense. The movie could have easily happened without them so why have them there when they didn't serve an actual purpose? Overall, it was a confusing, slightly disturbing mess that just - didn't work. It had a lot of potential but just didn't deliver. I wouldn't bother with it if you're looking for something good to watch, it just isn't there with this one.
  
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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated What We Do In The Shadows (2014) in Movies

Feb 5, 2019 (Updated Feb 5, 2019)  
What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
2014 | Comedy, Horror
Reliable, consistent laughs (1 more)
Even funnier than I remembered
Bitingly Funny
I recently re-watched this vampire mockumentary from the very talented Taika Waititi and had a great time revisiting it. Waititi has gone on to do bigger things since, but it is nice to go back and see where he was at as a filmmaker a few years ago. Watching a comedy for a second time is an interesting test of its quality. It is a good way to determine if the movie can still make you chuckle even when you already know what's coming. Thankfully, this movie passed that test with flying colours and had me splitting my sides throughout.

Waititi co wrote, directed and starred in this thing and he pulls all of it off phenomenally. His comedic timing is absolutely fantastic and is really what pulls this whole film together. The now widely known genius of his writing is also present here and is pertinent to so many of the movies major laughs. The slightly offbeat, awkward style of comedy that we have come to expect from his movies is also prevalent here and gives the movie a style and feel that is as unique as it is hilarious.

The supporting characters also nail their roles and bring their own fair share of laughs to the movie respectively. Also, (although this feels a tad weird to mention in a review for a comedic movie,) the solid cinematography and clever editing and sound mixing also work beautifully to add to the project's overall appeal. These technical elements, - which are never normally given much thought in the majority of comedies, - add a class to the film that sets it apart from any other comedy that I have seen.

Overall, this is a side splittingly hilarious, fantastically well made movie that owes everything to it's writer, director and main star. It is well written, well shot and joyously acted by it's cast with an extreme level of quickness and wit. If you are looking for a unique laugh, you would struggle to better than What We Do In The Shadows
  
NR
Night Rising (Vampire Babylon, #1)
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I'm having a hard time formulating my thoughts on this book. I did like it and will read the next one, but there was just something off about the whole thing. Maybe because there were a bunch of loose ends at the end of the book than was necessary, but who knows. I didn't get the whole promiscuous thing, mostly because it didn't feel like it belonged in the book and really came out of nowhere; it felt like it was added for the whole "sex sells" concept. I mean that thing with "the Voice" was just plain weird and creepy. Quite few times I thought Dawn needed to get over herself and quit whining about her mother. She's twenty-four, she needs to act like it, not like some angsty teenager. I get it - it's hard to grow up with a beautiful mother who died too young and being compared to her when you're only average looking is hard (Although the cover model is above average looking. Marketing? I think so. :P), but deal with it already. I really didn't care about her and thought overall that Kiko was the best character of the bunch. Hopefully in the next book they are all developed better and Dawn grows up.

You can tell the author has taken some things from other medias: The Crow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, especially with Dawn being the "key" and probably from other things I haven't seen or read so can't compare. I think that detracted from the book because I don't want to compare the stories; I'd rather the book stood alone as it is.

Nearer the end it had me wondering about a certain character and if that was a hint to what's to come in future books. That's probably the main reason I'll read on, although there are some interesting concepts in the book too. The most interesting is the the vampire world, in which there are some varying degrees of good and evil - like humans - and they're just trying to survive without being found out - at least that's how I took it. All in all it was a decent read, but just an average urban fantasy book.
2.5 stars
  
Quantum
Quantum
2013 | Dice Game, Fighting, Science Fiction, Space
Fun (6 more)
Replayable
Innovative
Easy to learn
Strategic
Deep
Visually Appealing
Out Of Print (1 more)
A little too strategic for older folks
Space Battle-Yahtzee
We rented Quantum from our local card shop, and ended up playing it every day. Its out of print, so it was a stroke of astounding luck that the shop was willing to sell it to us.

Quantum plays somewhat like risk, where you advance units to positions to capture objectives. The catch is that your units are dice- higher numbers can move further, but lower numbers are better in combat, and each has a special ability.

The game revolves around placing "Quantum Cubes", which your units build on planets. Each planet has a number and an amount of slots for quantum cubes to be placed, and to build a cube your units (which are literally dice) must add up the the number on the planet they are on.

Building quantum cubes allows you to select an "advancement card", which contain either permanent upgrades to your turns and abilities, or one-time powerful bonuses. All advancement cards feel meaningful and powerful, and which ones you select determine a lot of how your game will play out. You can "build" for combat, research, mobility, and even some weird other things like being able to change one of your dice once per turn either up one number or down one (and thus changing its abilities).

The game board is configurable tiles, so the "map" can be different each time, and support a faster or slower game, or more or less players (the game only comes with pieces for 4 players, but if you had the dice it wouldn't be hard to play extra with improvised pieces).

The game pacing is really well done; if all players know what they're doing, the race to place the final cube can be intense and exciting, as each player will end up with different strengths as they implement unique strategies to win.

We love quantum and have had a blast every time we've played it- we're expecting it to become a family favorite and for our copy to end up very well loved.
  
Falling for the Beast
Falling for the Beast
Skye Warren | 2019 | Erotica, Romance
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Character development (0 more)
**I Received this book in exchange for an honest review**

Falling for the Beast is the second novella in the “A Modern Fairy Tale Duet.” I rated the first book, Beauty and the Professor, 3 1/2 Caffeinated Stars, and though there were some faults, I was excited to continue on in the series. I love Skye Warren as an author & I’m a huge fan of Beauty and the Beast, so I really thought this duet would be perfect for me. Unfortunately, I really did struggle with this series.

Going into part two, I was hoping for more character development but I never really got that. The characters though likable were not my favorite. I liked that both characters were open and honest with each other, but I also struggled with their relationship. It seemed that every time there was a conflict it was solved by sex. Don’t get me wrong, sex is fantastic, but it shouldn’t be used as the sole way to resolve a conflict.

Something else that struck me as weird and out of place was being blindsided by specific characteristics. We have the entire first novella where PTSD isn’t really mentioned, and then, we’re hit with him having PTSD nightmares. It was a little off-putting to me that we’re just now learning about his nightmares. The same thing can be said about him “holding back” his need for rough sex.

Though I had a few things that I didn’t like about his novella, I had some stuff I loved. I really liked that Blake always had Erin’s back. He constantly wanted to be there for her and supported her in whatever way he could. I loved that though they both had insecurities, their relationship wasn’t one of them. They both were willing to fight for what they had & shut down some of the antagonists in this book.

Even though this book wasn’t perfect, I did enjoy it. I do recommend reading some of Skye Warren’s latest books instead of this series. You can tell that her writing has grown & improved since this book was first released. One of my personal favorites of hers is Prisoner.
  
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
2003 | Mystery, Sci-Fi
The car chase scene saved it
I remember when the Matrix Reloaded was released in 2003. The hype train could not have been going any faster and full throttle. The fact that both parts 2 and 3 were filmed back to back and released the same year meant Warner Brothers was betting the farm that the movies would be huge successes and may continue to build a historic franchise for them.

The story continues kind of where the first truly exceptional groundbreaking first film leaves off; however, the tone is much different. I didn't think very much interesting exposition even occurs. The heroes and villains are pretty much the same as the first film. There is some strange Zion dance sequence where you get to see too many nipples and the story is kind of confusing and hard to follow.

When they started talking about the keymaster and gatekeeper, I started thinking of Ghostbusters and kind of laughed about it. They meet some French guy, his girlfriend some some weird twins with white dreadlocks who turn to ghosts whenever they are threatened.

And then comes the highway chase scene...



One of the great film car chases, the sequence goes on forever it seems (like over 30 minutes) and took months to film I had read. Having not seen the film in a while, I was drawn to the edge of my seat as some of the nuances were fresh to me as some of the details faded over time.



I had always thought one of the most the interesting parts of the original film, other than the groundbreaking special effects, was more cerebral meaning we are all sitting in these globules hooked up to the master machine looking like some sort of Borg creature powering the enemy Matrix while drowning in our dreams.

This movie takes a different direction and becomes more of an interesting sci fi drama with one killer car chase scene. The Smith battle at the end I felt was too forced and processed to be epic or interesting.

To be continued... in the Matrix Revolutions
  
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Dean (6926 KP) Jun 3, 2019

You seem to rated this twice?