6/26/2023 0 Comments Death Masks by Jim Butcher![]() It’s great fun and tons of action, I strongly recommend both this book and the series! The plot is great and you can really see him bringing the series into maturity. ![]() His writing gets into full gear and he tones down on the overdriven amounts of battery and damage his hero must somehow survive to levels that someone might actually survive. In Death Masks, I personally feel that Jim Butcher really gets things into full gear. ![]() They are worth reading, don’t misunderstand, but they are nowhere near as good as the books which came later. I agree with him, the first two books where really raw. Jim Butcher himself admits that the Dresden Files series, the first volume of which was a writing exercise in the creative writing class he was in, really starts coming into it’s own in the third volume, Grave Peril. Review 1: Death Masks audiobook by Alan The Series Really Gets Into Gear Here are the top 3 reviews and comments that readers love about this fascinating book. A duel with the deadly champion of the Red Court, who must kill Harry to end the war between vampires and wizards. Harry Dresden is the only practicing professional wizard in Chicago, doing pretty good business for change. ![]() Death Masks is the 5th science fiction novel in The Dresden Files series by author Jim Butcher. ![]()
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6/26/2023 0 Comments The Gay-Cat by Patrick Casey![]() ![]() He has made over 100 appearances as a guest or a recurring player from soap operas to “The Sopranos” and everything in between. Mark has worked extensively in film, television, and commercials. Most recently he appeared in the premiers of three new American plays, including the hit Smart Blonde, Tech Support, and Drift, which was shut down by the pandemic. He has worked in regional theater, on national tours, and off-Broadway for over thirty-five years. He is proud to have had the honor of working three times with the late, great director Gerald Gutierrez and twice with the esteemed David Leveaux. He also appeared in The Producers, having the opportunity to perform the role of Max Bialystock. ![]() Original productions include: The Most Happy Fella, Victor/Victoria, Betrayal, Marie Christine, The Smell Of The Kill, The Boys From Syracuse, Dinner at Eight, Fiddler On The Roof (performing the role of Tevye) and Jersey Boys, originating the role of Gyp DeCarlo. Mark Lotito is a veteran of ten Broadway shows. ![]() 6/26/2023 0 Comments Coraline original book![]() When Coraline returns home from the parallel universe, she finds that her parents have gone missing. The universe even has an alternate family with the Other Mother and the Other Father, who look exactly like Coraline’s real parents. Further into the corridor, Coraline chances upon a parallel universe that looks exactly like the one she just left behind. ![]() Mysteriously, the brick wall vanishes the next day and the door leads to an eerie corridor. ![]() One rainy day, Coraline becomes interested in a strange door that opens up to a brick wall. As a curious and adventurous 9-year-old girl, Coraline quickly becomes bored of her new surroundings even though she has some eccentric neighbors to keep her company. She learns many valuable lessons along the way and grows into a quick-thinking and courageous girl who finds beauty and magic in everyday life.Ĭoraline Jones moves into a new apartment with her parents during school break. ![]() Stuck in a parallel universe with only her wits and courage to help her, Coraline is forced to undergo several terrifying adventures in her quest. Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a short novella that focuses on 9-year-old Coraline Jones as she fights to restore her family from the clutches of the evil Other Mother. ![]() 6/25/2023 0 Comments Too many crooks spoil the broth![]() ![]() As Magdalena herself, overcome by emotion, says: ``Gosh darn!'' Despite a strained, obvious mystery: a welcome debut for tart Magdalena, who's under no illusions about her bare-bones inn's appeal (``You'd be surprised how much people will pay for abuse, provided they can view it as a cultural experience''). ![]() And that's before Magdalena's manic sister Susannah discovers that the lacto is secretly the Congressman's daughter, and before two of the guests are poisoned by two independent malefactors. No wonder the recondite dietary requirements of a company that includes a vegan, a lacto, an ova, and several carnes send Magdalena's cook, Freni Hostetler, into repeated spasms of quitting (``Freni either needed to see a therapist or to seriously consider becoming a Baptist''). Half the guests for her PennDutch Inn, the pride of Hernia, Pennsylvania, are animal-rights activists out to harass the other half-a hunting party headed by up-and-coming Congressman Garrett Ream. A tough week for Mennonite innkeeper Magdalena Yoder. ![]() 6/25/2023 0 Comments Not so pure and simple![]() ![]() But as he plots and plans, he neglects to ask the most important question: What does Kiera want? He can’t think about that too much, though, because once he gets the girl, it’ll all sort itself out. With other boys circling Kiera like sharks, Del needs to make his move fast. In exchange, Del just has to get answers to the Pledgers’ questions…about sex ed. ![]() But Del’s not about to lose his dream girl, and that’s where fellow pledger Jameer comes in. His dad thinks his wires are crossed, and his best friend, Qwan, doesn’t believe any girl is worth the long game. Though he quickly realizes he’s inadvertently signed up for a Purity Pledge. So when Kiera volunteers for an opportunity at their church, Del’s right behind her. And now, during their junior year, she’s finally available. ![]() Two-time Edgar Award finalist Lamar Giles spotlights the consequences of societal pressure, confronts toxic masculinity, and explores the complexity of what it means to be a “real man.”ĭel has had a crush on Kiera Westing since kindergarten. Reynolds)Ĥ starred reviews! * An Indie Next List Pick! * Named one of Bank Street College of Education's Best Children’s Books of the Year! Jackson) "Heartfelt and hilarious on every page!" (Justin A. I couldn’t put it down.” (Nic Stone) "I laughed, I gasped, I church grunted through every chapter." (Tiffany D. ![]() 6/25/2023 0 Comments The secret history 1992![]() ![]() ![]() Springs of honey bubbling from the ground. But how glorious to release them in a single burst! To sing, to scream, to dance barefoot in the woods in the dead of night, with no more awareness of mortality than an animal! These are powerful mysteries. ![]() And what could be more terrifying and beautiful, to souls like the Greeks or our own, than to lose control completely? To throw off the chains of being for an instant, to shatter the accident of our mortal selves? Euripides speaks of the Maenads: head thrown I back, throat to the stars, "more like deer than human being." To be absolutely free! One is quite capable, of course, of working out these destructive passions in more vulgar and less efficient ways. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it. “It's a very Greek idea, and a very profound one. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() But all these precautions came late in the day, so that Gilman had some terrible hints from the dreaded Necronomicon of Abdul Alhazred, the fragmentary Book of Eibon, and the suppressed Unaussprechlicken Kulten of von Junzt to correlate with his abstract formulae on the properties of space and the linkage of dimensions known and unknown. Plagued by insane nightmare visions, Walter Gilman seeks help in Miskatonic Universitys infamous library of forbidden books, where, in the pages of Abdul Alhazreds dreaded Necronomicon, he finds terrible hints that seem to connect his own studies in advanced mathematics with the fantastic legends of elder magic. Moreover, they had stopped him from consulting the dubious old books on forbidden secrets that were kept under lock and key in a vault at the university library. The professors at Miskatonic had urged him to slacken up, and had voluntarily cut down his course at several points. Something in the air of the hoary town worked obscurely on his imagination. ![]() Gilman came from Haverhill, but it was only after he had entered college in Arkham that he began to connect his mathematics with the fantastic legends of elder magic. Non-Euclidean calculus and quantum physics are enough to stretch any brain, and when one mixes them with folklore, and tries to trace a strange background of multi-dimensional reality behind the ghoulish hints of the Gothic tales and the wild whispers of the chimney-corner, one can hardly expect to be wholly free from mental tension. ![]() Possibly Gilman ought not to have studied so hard. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Then the Lady of Shalott says to herself, “I am half sick of shadows.” Regardless, she weaves and delights in her creations of the mirrors’ “magic sights.” Sometimes there is a general procession or two young lovers newly wed. Sometimes she will see an abbot, or a group of damsels, or a page clad in crimson, or knights riding in twos. Through her mirror she sees the shadows of the world, the highway and the river eddy and the young men and women passing onward from Shalott. She weaves steadily and thinks of little else. In the tower she weaves day and night her “magic web with colours gay.” She knows there is a curse upon her if she looks down at Camelot, although she does not know what the curse is. The reapers pile up their sheaves and whisper that it is the fairy Lady singing. Only early morning reapers hear her cheerful song that reaches down to the river that winds to Camelot. Heavy barges followed by slow horses pass by the island, but no one has ever seen the Lady wave or stand at the window. On the island are four gray walls and four gray towers, and within is the Lady of Shalott. ![]() The willows “whiten,” and little breezes blow forever around the island. The people gaze at the way lilies blow around the island of Shalott. On either side of the river are fields of barley and rye, and through them a road winds to Camelot. ![]() 6/24/2023 0 Comments Fred gipson books![]() ![]() His cousin Jay was the sparkplug of the things that happened Aaron Blood, a lonely bitter man who found companionship in boys who treated him like a human being, got back at his enemies when Jay suggested he race his bull in the horse ring Hopper's pet possum took on a tom cat with dire results raiding a peddler's wagon of fresh fruit brought its own punishment Jay brings a wasps' nest about his own ears and, throughout, Hopper's irresistible grandfather carries on his feud, to the death, with the giant turkey gobbler. Hopper Creech tells the stories, as they appeared to him- aged nine. Once again, Fred Gipson's magic gives the reader a sense of folkways in tales of youth pitted against rather tenuous authority, free to roam woods and fields. ![]() Short stories strung together on the thread of common characters and background - a year in the lives of the people in "Recollection Creek" - not too far from San Antonio. ![]() 6/24/2023 0 Comments No fixed address novel![]() ![]() ![]() You can also check out the unabridged audiobook version. Susin Nielsen deftly combines humor, heartbreak and hope in this moving story about people who slip through the cracks in society and about the power of friendship and community in making all the difference. Winning the cash prize could make everything okay again. He is determined to get a spot on the show. ![]() If he does, she warns him, he’ll be taken away from her and placed into foster care.Īs their circumstances go from bad to worse, Felix gets a chance to audition for a junior edition of Who What Where When. Astrid swears him to secrecy he can’t tell anyone about their living arrangement, not even Dylan and Winnie, his best friends at his new school. His mom Astrid is loving, but can’t hold onto a job. When they get evicted from their latest apartment, they move into a Westfalia van. ABOUT THE NORTH AMERICAN EDITION | ABOUT THE UK EDITION PEEK INSIDE THIS BOOK I READ ABOUT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE BOOKġ2-and-three-quarter-year-old Felix Knutsson has a knack for trivia, and his favorite game show is Who What Where When he’s even named his gerbil after the host. ![]() |