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Maas empire of storms7/6/2023 ![]() ![]() It’s not that I’m against including sex scenes in books – censorship shouldn’t be a thing for YA readers. The book gets more baffling as Maas presents us with constant horndog moments and then, finally, a 10-page highly graphic sex scene. ![]() However, it didn’t get much better at that point. Somewhere around the 200-page mark, I began to feel like there was some substance to the story. It definitely took its time to pick up in pace. As I said in that review, Queen of Shadows felt like it could have been the finale of the series, so I was already very wary about continuing with Empire of Storms. The book started off really slow, especially after the fast-paced climax of Queen of Shadows. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, hence the 3.5.Īs per usual, I’ll get what I didn’t like out of the way first. ![]() It was one of those books that I was highly excited to get to, yet confused when I actually got to it. This review might be all over the place as a reflection of my genuine thoughts while reading Empire of Storms. Apparently, I only ever reviewed Queen of Shadows on here, so check out that review! ![]()
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Books like cloud atlas7/6/2023 ![]() It's all full speed ahead for Mitchell's own incredible career, consciously referenced in yet another Mitchell novel where wandering characters from prior Mitchell novels make an appearance. ![]() "Half way along our journey to life's end I found myself astray in a dark wood," admits one of Mitchell's protagonists - invoking the opening of Dante's "The Divine Comedy" to describe his midlife crisis, which prominently features the decline of his once-promising career as a novelist. ![]() Count on David Mitchell - whose novels regularly suggest a Borgesian library - to invoke one of the most famous literary labyrinths of all in "The Bone Clocks," his extraordinary new novel: ![]()
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Around the world in the sloop spray7/6/2023 ![]() ![]() In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe non-stop. Some 46,000 miles and three years later, he completed the first single-handed circumnavigation of the globe in his 34ft sloop, the Spray. In 1895, Joshua Slocum set out to prove that a man could sail alone around the world. ![]() If you have any suggestions that you feel deserve a place on this list of best sailing books, please add them in the comments below. The below list is in no particular order. The list covers everything from epic voyages, tales of survival, investigative biographies and sailing manuals – with a few coffee table reference books thrown in. ![]() Fresh from a delivery of sailing bestsellers (and less-sellers), I’ve put together a list of the best sailing books. A list of the best sailing books including memoirs, novels and biographies, constituting the most fascinating nautical tales ever pennedĪfter recently compiling a list of the best sailing movies we’ve seen, I was prompted into some related reading. ![]()
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![]() ![]() How the waters lovingly embraced her and gave her peace. Near the end was a highly-romanticised account of a woman with an illegitimate baby committing suicide by drowning. ![]() The book is full of side-stories, none of them particularly interesting and some of them absolutely dire. One gets the impression that JKJ wouldn't at all mind being reincarnated as an immoral, street-fighting, anarchic dog in the care of very liberal and approving owners. There are also amusing incidents with the fox terrier Montmorency, whose chief pleasures in life seem to be fighting and hanging out with packs of street dogs. Bamm, down she goes, and hahaha, its just so funny, you have to laugh. Sort of like watching a very pompous-looking person talking loudly into their cell-phone and paying no attention to where they are going and therefore fails to notice the banana skin everyone else has been avoiding. Part of it is of a particular kind of obvious humour. ![]()
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The idiot book fyodor7/6/2023 ![]() ![]() In 1951 it received a Setting Update to Japan, in a film directed by Akira Kurosawa. The results are alternately tragic and darkly comic. Because of Myshkin’s innocence, nearly everyone assumes him to be a fool, and either immediately takes him into their confidence, or tries to exploit him outright. These people, with their crossed purposes and intrigues, are a keg of gunpowder, and Prince Myshkin’s noble qualities-his kindness, humility, and surprising forthrightness- are the spark that sets them off. He meets the brooding and passionate Rogozhin, the bitterly philosophical Ippolit, the possibly-mad femme fatale Nastasya, the capricious daughter of nobility Aglaya, and the vain but ordinary Gavrila. What Prince Myshkin finds within his very first day on Russian soil are people who, whether nobility or lower class, whether old Orthodox or young nihilists, are constantly struggling against each other: struggling for social status, for money, or for romantic conquest. ![]() He had received treatment for epilepsy and supposed mental deficiencies, and now that his treatments are at an end, he’s eager to “be with people” again. Petersburg after a several-year stay at a Swiss sanatorium. Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin returns to St. The Idiot ( Идиот) is a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky, originally published serially between 18. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in a letter to Apollon Maikov, January 12, 1868 ![]()
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A river enchanted cover7/6/2023 ![]() ![]() But it’s only then that he learns the true reason for his return. Now a scholar and teacher, he takes leave from his job to make the journey home to Cadence, crossing the treacherous, malevolent waters. ![]() When Jack Tamerlaine is summoned to the magical isle of Cadence, he returns to the island home he was forced to leave when he was just eleven years old. Its characters are fully realized and you will find yourself willingly-nay, eagerly-following them through dark, unsettling forests, and into the midst of those who may be friend or foe. It imaginatively explores classic themes of duty, honor, and going home again. ![]() A River Enchanted is an exhilarating journey into a richly realized world of myth, magic, and alliances-old and new-forged for good (and sometimes ill). ![]()
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Only One Mistake by Natasha Madison7/6/2023 ![]() ![]() On 16 June 2021, Imbruglia announced on her official Twitter page that her single " Build It Better" would be released on 18 June 2021. ![]() ![]() She has modelled for several brands, such as L'Oreal, Gap, and Kailis.Īmongst other philanthropic work, Imbruglia served as a longtime spokesperson for Virgin Unite and campaigns to raise awareness of obstetric fistula. Imbruglia has appeared in several films, including the 2003 release Johnny English and the 2009 Australian indie film Closed for Winter. Imbruglia's five subsequent albums have combined sales of three million copies worldwide, and her accolades include eight ARIA Awards, two Brit Awards, one Billboard Music Award, and three Grammy nominations. Her debut album, Left of the Middle (1997), sold seven million copies worldwide. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing career with her chart-topping cover of Ednaswap's song " Torn". In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( / ɪ m ˈ b r uː l i ə/ im- BROO-lee-ə, Italian: born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer and actress. ![]()
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The man in the brown suit book7/5/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() But I was very pleasantly surprised by this film, which turned out to be delightful – not least in the inventive ways it remained faithful to the story and spirit of the source material. Just… why would you do that? Why? To be honest, I’m still not sure. The novel is so very much a product of 1920s Britain that I just didn’t feel any desire to watch a version of the story updated in this way. Its characters’ nationalities (the good guys at any rate) have been pointlessly transformed from British to American and the action transposed to the late 1980s. I must admit, I’d never had any inclination to seek out this adaptation of the novel before now. Fortunately, it popped up on ITV over Christmas, so I was able to watch it after all. I didn’t think I’d be able to review this film as part of my trawl, due to its being very hard to come by on DVD and (as far as I can see) also unavailable on a certain popular video-streaming site. Stephanie Zimbalist, Edward Woodward, Rue McClanahan, Tony Rnadall ![]()
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Rainbow Jews by Jonathan C. Friedman7/5/2023 ![]() ![]() Their plaint was brought to Moses, who understood the predicament of these well-meaning Israelites, but did not know how to resolve it, and thus brought the case to God. And they knew that this impurity, which was beyond their control, precluded them from participating in a rite that was, in effect, an annual renewal of membership in the community of Israel. LEXINGTON BOOKS A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. But there were people who had recently contracted ritual impurity by contact with the dead, perhaps because they had buried deceased relatives. Jewish and Gay Identity in the Performing Arts Jonathan C. ![]() They were instructed by Moses to make the necessary preparations. The first anniversary of the Exodus (on the 14th of the first month of Nisan) was approaching for the recently freed Israelites, and they were reminded that the Paschal sacrificial rites were meant to be annual observances. The ninth chapter of Numbers tells a tale that results in a rule and an institution. ![]()
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Packing for Mars by Mary Roach7/5/2023 ![]() Insert both herself and the reader into the action. Whether she's "Supermanning" around in zero gravity or investigating theĬhallenges of mating in space, her strength as an author is her ability to From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA's new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Packing for Mars takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 4,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations - making it possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. ![]() |