'Once in a while, I discover an author who changes everything. And Max soon discovers it's not just History she's fighting.īOOK 1 IN THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING CHRONICLES OF ST MARY'S SERIESįor fans of Jasper Fforde, Doctor Who, Genevieve Cogman and Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club When Dr Madeleine Maxwell is recruited by the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, she discovers the historians there don't just study the past - they revisit it.īut one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. If the whole of History lay before you, where would you go? Meet St Mary's - a group of tea-soaked disaster magnets who hurtle their way around History. 'A great mix of British properness and humour with a large dollop of historical fun' ***** Her books are a swashbuckling joyride through History' C. 'Jodi Taylor is quite simply the Queen of Time.
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We leave the Stones taking off from Mars "outward bound to the ends of the Universe".Īre we not men? We are-well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).Ī zombie apocalypse is one thing. The twins buy Buster a "flat cat", a charming animal which unfortunately breeds as fast as a hamster. Once arrived Grandma and five-year-old Buster are almost lost in outer space. Stone, transfers to another space ship to be of help in a mysterious epidemic. Accordingly, the family buys a second-hand space ship and starts out for immeasureable space as casually as the average family embarks on a picnic. Headed by Hazel, a pistol-toting grandma, most of the interest centers around Castor and Pollux, the fifteen year old "unheavenly twins", a mischievous brace who want to go to Mars to sell second-hand bicycles, at a smart profit. The Stones are a space-minded family of pioneer earth people who came to the moon to live. Booksellers and librarians can suggest this one with an easy conscience, even for the timid. Heinlein wonder of wonders- has turned out a WHOLESOME book on outer space. Polk elucidates the contemporary ethical principles now in place to protect both subjects and science, but admits that with every new technological and scientific advancement, there also comes a new set of ethical conundrums for researchers to grapple with. The collected data has the potential of providing vital insight into the human experience, but can the scientific community explore the psychosocial experience of humanity without making victims of us all? Professor Thad Polk, of the University of Michigan, invites you to join him for Shocking Psychological Studies and the Lessons They Teach, a six-lecture course exploring a range of shocking psychological experiments from the past that have nonetheless contributed significant insight into the human condition. Virtually every aspect of human behavior is tracked millions of times a day through the technology that we all, often without giving it a thought, use every day. We live in a time of amazing new technologies-and an unparalleled level of surveillance. This book goes out of it's way to have a nonviolent protagonist. I like reading nonviolent books on occasion. To put this review/study in proper context, you must know my starting point. I default to giving books 3 stars, so this having 5 stars is a sign of how much I enjoyed it. They are a measurement of how well this book fits *me* as a specific reader with unique biases, and how well I synched up with this story. Note: MY STAR GRADES ARE NOT A MEASUREMENT OF QUALITY. Overall, I give the story's Emotional Resonance: (5/5 Stars) I've never read anything like this before, and I value this more as a result. It was at moments tense, and I felt empathy for the characters. IF YOU ARE IN THE TARGET AUDIENCE, OR THE GENRES/TROPES SOUND INTERESTING TO YOU, SHOULD YOU READ THIS? WHAT IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE? WHAT GENRES? WHAT MAJOR TROPES?Īdventure Questing Fantasy (Tropes Inverted) But I found this book to be occasionally stressful- which is good, meaning this book is nonetheless tense despite it's coziness. This book is very cozy, having a found family vibe. This book is marketed as being 'Of High Fantasy and Low Stakes,' and that's true. It's well written, with homey characters. I'm writing this review as an author critiquing another author's book, in an attempt to improve my own writing and editing skills. Of course, the brother has always resented Angelique because he hated her mother, who actually died at her birth. The 18 year old daughter of a Duke, Angelique, is left at the mercy of her half brother upon her father's death. We are told repeatedly of this extraordinary beauty and near genius like intelligence on a regular basis. Of course, the heroine, as is the case with every Steel heroine, possesses beauty and intelligence that defies human expectations. I don't even know where to start with my complaints. But once I started reading, much like watching a train wreck, I finished the whole book. I should have just went with my first inclination and just stayed away. If I were to buy the book on Amazon it would be $14.99 so why not take the opportunity to borrow. I figure what the heck, perhaps I should give Steel another chance. However, I see this historical (almost always my first choice) highly rated (GR: 4.21 and Amazon over 4 stars) novel available to borrow as an e-book from Overdrive library. The last time I read a Danielle Steel book has to be at least 25 years ago. OMG.I am half embarrassed to even admit I read this book but here goes. While Filipino ballads fill the chilly Northern California air, hearts throb and passions ignite as six remarkable couples find love in all the right-or wrong-places. And it's all to honor family, tradition, and the very essence of that thing called love. Celebrities and politicians make merry, fine dresses and barong Tagalogs shimmer, and food and drink flow freely. A Filipino American woman of courage, strength, and heart, Lola Naty has touched the lives of many. 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all 'round Hacienda Luz bustled in celebration of Natividad Luz Moore's 100th birthday. įamily, heart, and a Merry Christmas Happily Ever After. Family, heart, and a Merry Christmas Happily Ever After. But how does one persevere when in the clutches of a Monster? Stupidly I follow him down the blinding darkness of his euphoric hell.”Ĭircumstance forced Eden Mercer to sell herself to Dominic Armstrong for half a million dollars and in return she is to play the dutiful wife in public and submit to him completely behind closed doors.ĭominic is Ruthless, manipulative and sadistic but Eden is determined not to break under his cruelty. “He lays a path of pleasure laced agony for me to follow and I do. But escape is something she finds that she no longer wants. In doing so he allows her into his world, a world she quickly realizes is void of any light and hope for escape is utterly elusive. She goes to Knox willingly offering him the only valuable thing she has. But a family member’s careless mistake derails her plans and now she must pay a price in order to save him. Medical school is the end game and she is determined to get there by any means necessary. It is an unrelenting cycle that he constantly craves and can never quite satisfy.Įighteen year old Lacey Barnes distributes her assets to fund her dreams. So he goes where he is needed and does what he is told. Allegiance to the man who saved his life when he was a child. Knox Bishop has done a lot of horrible things, all at the command of the man who holds his leash. That’s the only memory he carries from a childhood he does not remember. “You are this beautiful thing I want to destroy.” He learns that the school has brought in harsh security measures allowing the police officer assigned to the school to perform random locker searches. Moss’s feelings become even more insurmountable when he starts his sophomore year at his dilapidated, underfunded high school. While traveling back from the mall with Esperanza, Moss meets Javier, a gay Latino undocumented immigrant, and the two hit it off they exchange numbers despite Moss having a panic attack at the train station when confronted with a demonstration against police brutality. As he battles panic attacks and heightened anxiety, he is supported by his mother, Wanda, and his close friendship group of queer and marginalized teenagers, especially his best friend Esperanza, a Puerto Rican immigrant with white adoptive parents. He struggles daily with the trauma of witnessing his father’s murder by police officers six years earlier in a case of mistaken identity. Moss is a gay Black teenager living in West Oakland. Written during the Trump presidency and a rise in the Black Lives Matter movement, Anger Is a Gift offers young readers a means to conceptualize their American experience and illuminate others’, as well as a lens through which to understand the various privileges (or, conversely, lack of agency) offered by their affinity groups. From the sneer Holly gave Ellie, it was clear the feeling was mutual. I remembered instantly that Ellie didn’t like her. She had pale, almost white, blonde hair, huge blue eyes, long limbs and a full pouty mouth. “And you’ve met Adam and Braden.” Her smile slipped a little as she looked at the woman sitting pressed up against Braden. Ed, the short blonde guy who made geeky stylish, was Jenna’s fiancé. Jenna, the cute blonde with the quirky glasses and diamond engagement ring was Ellie’s best friend and fellow PhD student. I’d gotten the run down in the cab down here. “Everyone, this is my new flatmate Jocelyn.” She turned to me. Ellie had taken forever to get ready, and as she shot Adam a smile, I began to understand why. Braden had called two hours ago asking us to meet them all here. They were seated on sofas around a low coffee table in a bar on George IV Bridge. I stared down at Ellie and Braden’s friends in a dress I’d borrowed from her wardrobe. I don’t know how, but Ellie had managed to convince me to go out with them. She answered it immediately, but without her usual cheer. Sorry.”Īs though he’d heard his name, Ellie’s cell lit up and his name flashed across the screen. If you could have dinner with one person living or dead, who would it be? Movie(s): The Thing, Memento, Lake Mungo.īand(s): (then) Husker Du, (now) Future of the Left. I tried having that happen through the guitar first, but I quickly found out that I was a better writer than a musician.īook(s): House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Made me dare to think I might have something to say worth listening to. Punk/Hard/Heavy/Indie whatever music helped save me. Reading Kurt Vonnegut then made me want to be a better person. Then in graduate school I read all of Stephen King, Peter Straub, Clive Barker, and Shirley Jackson, and emerged with a degree and a want to try writing a story. Reading Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” stopped me in my mathematics-major tracks senior year of college. I’m going to be really annoying but I can’t pick a biggest or favorite for anything. Who is your biggest influence as a writer? Then check out the interview, to see how such a nice man can imagine such great terrors. Now, with his latest, Tremblay has his sights set to scare us even more, with Disappearance At Devil’s Rock. He’s been around a fair bit now, but his recent novel, A Head Full of Ghosts won acclaim and awards. Whether or not you realise, he’s one of the best names out there, writing innovative horror. It’s a great time to be a Paul Tremblay fan. |