![]() Next time, I will.īut the worst part is the end, going to spoiler mode. How does a book get published in 2019 with rape as a plot device? I should have stopped right there. So the tech is a mess, the characters are mostly brightly-painted cardboard, the plot varies between boring and convenient surprises, then the ending is a big reveal of something the author just kept hidden. That is an overweight, oversized load that is inspected at every opportunity. ![]() I know someone who collected armored fighting vehicles. * No, you can't just get a Soviet T-72 tank to your Indiana compound. * How do you walk across the middle of the US from June to October and only have one rainstorm? Of course, that one only exists to extract a plot point from the machine. * On a 2-lane blacktop in Nebraska on the 4th of July, why is nobody baking in the heat? * What happens to clothes that are worn for four months while walking 24 hours per day? * Where exactly do they get the energy to walk 2000 miles with no food or water? Really. Look if you are going to pin your plot on some fancy realistic tech, then you can't just phone in the everyday stuff. The more I read, the fewer stars it deserved. ![]() ![]() ![]() Everything here just feels recycled, stuff that has been beaten to death by better writers. Reading this book about a pandemic during the early weeks of the novel coronavirus, this should have felt freshly topical. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() Giap and the VPA General Staff accepted the challenge of a major positional battle through a total mobilization of national resources, and with Chinese logistical help, they assembled a siege army of 58,000 regular troops, equipped for the first time with 105mm artillery and 37mm AA guns. Elite French paratroopers captured Dien Bien Phu, which was reinforced between December 1953 and February 1954 with infantry and artillery, a squadron of tanks and one of fighter-bombers, to a strength of 10,000 men. In late 1953, the seventh year of France''s war against the Viet Minh insurgency in its colony of Vietnam, the C-in-C, General Navarre, was encouraged to plant an ''air-ground base'' in the Thai Highlands at Dien Bien Phu, to distract General Giap''s Vietnamese People''s Army from both Annam and the French northern heartland in the Red River Delta, and to protect the Laotian border. A highly illustrated study of the battle at Dien Bien Phu, the 56-day siege that eventually led to the surrender of the remaining French-led forces, this iconic battle provided the climax of the First Indochina War. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() As an Anglican dean, Jonathan Swift would have been addressed as "Reverend," or some version.) Also, “river run:” a pre- FW term meaning either the natural course of a river or of a voyage taken on it. (Some other candidates: French reverrons (we’ll see, or meet, again) French r ê vrons (we will dream) German erinnerung (memory: echoing “mememormee” (628.14)) “Reverend,” in some versions the beginning of the FW letter. river: French for “to join.” FW is a book of “Doublends Jined” (20.16). ![]() ![]() His actions throughout the book are a wonderful depiction of what a street-level hero does on and off the clock. ![]() This book takes Hawkeye, an often unappreciated and underutilized character, and shows that he is one of Marvel’s most charming and lovable heroes. 1: My Life as a Weapon, by Matt Fraction, is a downright pleasure to read. If you’ve ever thought about reading a Hawkeye book or are just looking for a good read from this era, this is a solid place to start. Meanwhile, an atypical approach to humor and visuals define the comic as something unique and different from the competition. It has entertaining action, wonderful characters, and a compelling narrative to hook the reader in and keep them hooked until the end. Overall: This is a highly enjoyable comic that can instantly turn anyone into a Hawkeye fan. The artwork is, mostly, a fantastic complement to the narrative.Ĭons: One of the chapters is just lackluster. ![]() The volume builds anticipation for its sequel. Humor enhances both the character and action-focused moments. The action and suspense keep things exciting. Pros: The entire read handles Hawkeye wonderfully and makes him an even more compelling character. ![]() ![]() In my parents’ satiny wedding photographs, Grace stared at Bud. ![]() He nudged Gram in the ribs, as if she were in on the joke, and, instead of his name, wrote: I make no promises. ![]() When the priest presented Dad with a contract to raise his children within the Catholic faith, Dad signed in Arabic. My parents were married in Gram’s church. ![]() “I don’t know how you people would celebrate Christmas if I wasn’t around. “Only higher civilizations bake cookies,” she says to me, raking fingers through the shrubbery of my hair. Bud dunks them in his demitasse of ahweh and calls them “Catholic cookies.” Her eyes tighten as she watches him eat. Her Wurstcakes are slim as Communion wafers. All part of Grace’s arsenal: she’s engaged in an internecine war with my father, Bud, over the loyalties of the children. A universe of cookies: chocolate-planted peanut butter sinus-kicking bourbon balls leaping reindeer and sugar bells German press-form cookies from her grandparents’ Bavarian village- Springerle- green wreaths, candy berries and a challenging, grown-uppy variety named for the uncut dough’s sausage shape: Wurstcakes. Tables and chairs are covered with racks of cooling cookies, eight baking sheets slip in and out of the oven-as tiny as something in a troll’s house. ![]() Every year between Halloween and Christmas, my grandmother Grace transforms her apartment into a bakery. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The book that introduced traders everywhere how to unleash the awesome power of Japanese Candlestick is now better than ever! Written by the visionary who introduced candlesticks to traders in the West, this new edition of the international bestseller has been fully updated and revised for today’s more competitive and fickle markets. From the introductory concepts through sophisticated applications-the most thorough, authoritative guide to harnessing the power of Japanese candlesticks ![]() ![]() ![]() Order may come in multiple shipments, however you will only be charged a flat fee.Ģ-10 days after all items have arrived in the warehouse Items in order will be sent as soon as they arrive in the warehouse. A woman who far from being a lonely spinster in fact had at least five marriage prospects, but who in the end refused to settle for anything less than Mr Darcy. Jane famously lived a 'life without incident', but with new research and insights Lucy Worsley reveals a passionate woman who fought for her freedom. ![]() It wasn't all country houses and ballrooms, but a life that was often a painful struggle. This new telling of the story of Jane's life shows us how and why she lived as she did, examining the places and spaces that mattered to her. On the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death, historian Lucy Worsley leads us into the rooms from which our best-loved novelist quietly changed the world. Lucy Worsley 'is a great scene-setter for this tale of triumph and heartbreak.' Sunday Times ![]() 'A refreshingly unique perspective on Austen and her work and a beautifully nuanced exploration of gender, creativity, and domesticity.' Amanda Foreman 'This is my kind of history: carefully researched but so vivid that you are convinced Lucy Worsley was actually there at the party - or the parsonage.' Antonia Fraser ![]() ![]() Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew… ![]() ![]() But Q soon learns that there are clues – and they’re for him. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life – dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge – he follows. Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. Goodreads Synopsis: Who is the real Margo? Genre: Young Adult/Romance/Adventure/Mystery ![]() Paper Townsby John Green, published January 2014 by Bloomsbury. ![]() ![]() ![]() There are passages that are beautiful and moving, but the tone is quite a bit darker and more serious. If you liked McCammon's whimsy, humor, light heartedness, or magical realism you won't find any of those in Ordinary Grace. Which brings me to my next point of this is a much darker book than Boy's Life. This is much more to the point and focused on the protagonist growing up amongst an upheaval of death and family struggles. First of all Ordinary Grace is quite a bit shorter so a lot of slice of life stuff of 13 year old kids in the summer is not going to be present here. I do think it's important to acknowledge though if you go in expecting Boy's Life 2.0 you may be disappointed. Those things are certain to be enough to draw in Boy's Life and fans of Stephen King's The Body (or Stand By Me if you're a movie person). ![]() Both books involve a type of murder mystery. ![]() Both books are told from the POV of a 12-13 year old boy in the summer of 1961. Let's get into it.įirst of all I definitely see why the comparison is drawn here. Of course, the down side of that is when you set up a comparison with one of my favorite books of all time it's going to be pretty rough on the book being compared to it. This book was sold to me with the pitch of "If you're a fan of Boy's Life by Robert McCammon this is a book that has similar vibes." Well Boy's Life is one of my favorite books of all time so that caught my attention. ![]() ![]() In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must seek the answers that will unlock the puzzle of her past. ![]() There she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic, one that is bound to her own identity. Serafina's hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak's true identity before all of the children vanish one by one. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of Biltmore's owners. During the course of the narration, she solves two mysteries: the identity of the Man in the Black. ![]() ![]() She is a curious, stubborn, tenacious, and feisty girl who loves her father, but has a lot of questions about her life. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists she and her pa, the estate's maintenance man, have secretly lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember.īut when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows who the culprit is:a terrifying man in a black cloak who stalks Biltmore's corridors at night. She secretly lives in the basement with her father at the Biltmore Estate. Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of Biltmore Estate.There's plenty to explore in her grand home, although she must take care to never be seen. "Never go into the deep parts of the forest, for there are many dangers there, and they will ensnare your soul." ![]() |