Quick Book Reviews
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010Against Love by Laura Kipnis: Despite its tedious reading at times and over-the-top generalizations, Ms. Kipnis has achieved her goal which she states at the beginning: “it’s just supposed to shake things up and rattle a few convictions.” Reading this book will force you to think about the relationships in your life. You may not agree with her arguments or assertions, but you can’t deny that she’s engendered new thoughts about beliefs you probably hold dear. As a polemic, Against Love succeeds in providing a conviction-rattling read.
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown: While some judicious editing might have made it a tighter and more focused novel, Angels & Demons is still a highly enjoyable read. For those who love plot-driven novels, and for those who love thrillers and mysteries full of strange bits of information that tie everything together, grab a copy of Angels & Demons and find a comfortable chair. It’s time well spent.
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes: Arthur & George succeeds on many levels. Besides the unfolding of the lives of these two men and the depiction of England a century ago, Julian Barnes touches on timeless themes. George’s conviction based on circumstantial evidence is chilling when it is shown how any behavioral trait can be used to explain criminal intent or guilt. George was convicted more for who he was than any evidence that pointed to his guilt. Arthur struggles with love and responsibility. Julian Barnes ties it all together, weaving their stories within the confines of the era and the universal challenges of life, love, and family. It’s an engrossing story, expertly told, and enthused with the idea that with men like Arthur Conan Doyle, some of the miscarriages of life can be undone.
The Athenian Murders by Jose Carlos Somoza: Jose Carlos Somoza does a wonderful job weaving all of this together, keeping all the mysteries beguiling as they begin to wrap themselves around each other. The reader hopes that Heracles finds the key to his murder investigation as well as hoping the translator finds the key within the story. The philosophical arguments between Heracles and Diagoras (as well as others at Plato’s Academy) become tiresome at points, yet within in them Somoza hides the key that brings everything together. The story, or stories actually, come to a surprising and satisfying conclusion, leaving no doubt as to the mastery of Somoza’s storytelling. As with all good mysteries, all the pieces fall into place in hindsight once the book comes to an end. Unpredictable, intelligent, and a tour guide through ancient Greece, The Athenian Murders is different from anything else you might read, and in the end, you’ll be glad it is.
Bones to Ashes by Kathy Reichs: While the story line in Bones to Ashes can be a bit disturbing, it moved along quickly with enough mystery and plot twists to keep the mind engaged. This is a good book to pick up on a rainy weekend or take to the beach to lose oneself for a while.
The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber: The Book of Air and Shadows never seems to take itself too seriously, which adds to its enjoyment. Michael Gruber has delivered a novel where he hides universal truths among the treasure hunt. The result is much more fun than the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Perhaps that’s his next novel.
The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster: This is not a “feel good” book and it’s not a story that will keep you turning pages to see what happens next. If you want a book to challenge your thoughts and emotions and perspective on life, then I can recommend it highly. Just don’t think you’ll put it down with a satisfied smile on your face.
A Box of Matches by Nicholson Baker: For those readers who can enjoy a novel without much plot but filled with these “aha” moments, then A Box of Matches will satisfy them. Personally, I need more structure and character development in the novels I enjoy, so a lot of this book was like being stuck next to Emmett at a party. I kept needing my drink refilled.
Annette Lybacki hopes that you found this piece helpful and invites you to read her articles on The 411 on Annuity Loans for some Hints and Tips on Annuity Loans.
Plenty of Simple Book Reviews
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010The Fall by Simon Mawer: Simon Mawer has given us a good novel, just not a great one. It can be electrifying and dizzying at one point and then detached and mired in its characters’ own lack of inertia the next. A more even novel would have been received better, but The Fall is still an enjoyable read that will leave you guessing the truth until the very end.
December 6 by Martin Cruz Smith: December 6 is a novel that succeeds on many levels. It’s an education into the mindset and culture of pre-war Japan. It’s an indictment of those beating the drums of war behind their own self-righteousness. Best of all, it’s a great story, and the description of Harry’s predicament is peeled back layer by layer, and by the end we’ve come to understand and sympathize with him completely. There’s a bit of Harry in all of us, trying to do the right thing while taking advantage of the situation at the same time.
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch: The Highest Tide is a short book, less than 250 pages, and can be read in one afternoon. Jim Lynch’s debut novel spends a wonderful summer with Miles O’Malley and the interesting and peculiar life that abounds in Puget Sound. Take an afternoon and enjoy it for yourself.
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje: This is Michael Ondaatje’s gift to the rest of us, his net for holding everything dear to us, even if it eventually leads to heartache and the divisions in our lives. There is nothing predictable in Divisadero and each thread leads to another story that mirrors each other, turning back on itself, so that even its divisions are blurred. This is the poetry of this novel, and the poetry of our lives, that has been expertly captured here.
The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh: For the most part, The Hungry Tide is a compelling book about ordinary people bound together in an exotic place that can consume them all. It’s the basest of human emotions, love, jealousy, pride, and trust, that will make the difference. That’s a lesson we all can learn, again, as we follow Piya, Kanai, and Fokir into the heart of tide country.
Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes: Easter Island is a satisfying read that explores the mysteries of the human soul in the most isolated place in the world, the navel of the earth. Both Elsa and Greer find that searching for oneself can be fraught with peril, since no man, or woman, is an island.
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers: The Echo Maker never loses its emotional power. As Richard Powers navigates the landmarks of his characters’ lives, his artful prose keeps the novel moving forward in the year that follows Mark’s accident, a year that will redefine all of their lives. It’s a moving tribute to the human condition, that search for the emotional truths of our lives and how that defines our sense of self.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: If you only read perfect novels, then there would be very few books to read at all. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close can be uplifting and soul searing at different times. With the horrors and wounds of the 9/11 attacks still fresh, this novel may hit too close to home for some people. By the end of this book, how that awful day happened for all members of Oskar’s family is known, and beyond the pain lies hope, and Oskar is not as alone as he thinks he is. Oskar Schell’s story is one to cherish, and perhaps that metaphor for the lost innocence of the world is one we all ought to acknowledge and embrace.
Annette Lybacki hopes that you found this piece helpful and invites you to read her articles on Do You Need a DUI Lawyer? for some Hints and Tips on DUI Lawyers.
The Dark Knight Free Movies
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009The Dark Knight Movie is yet another fascinating one for all the comic character Batman lovers, in which Batman begins to clean up the Gotham city big time. Christian Bale has elegantly played the role of Batman in the movie just as ever before, and Maggie Gyllenhaal has enacted the part of Rachel Dawes – Batmans lover. The movie starts off as usual with Batman moving around the Gotham city, but things begin to heat up soon after the dramatic entry of the joker.
**Watch the Dark Knight movie online, all free – just click on the resource box given after the review.
With a whole lot of underworld conspiracies, endless action, crazy acts of the batman himself and the Joker in play (the Oscar winning role of Heath Ledger), and many more stuff make this a full length action packed movie. This is just a usual story of winning over the evil and fighting back for the lost love.
The movie is surely worth watching, but if youve missed it, theres nothing to worry as you can watch it online too. What comes in as a sigh of relief for the home audience is the fact that you can better enjoy the movie at home than watching out at crowded theatres. The download quality of the movie is comparable to the real DVD quality, but it is light on your pocket, as you dont need to bear the cost of purchasing a DVD.
The role of the Joker is a real treat and he steals the show. The younger generation will definitely enjoy watching Batmans brave acts and the fight sequences. As the usual story is, Batman makes a way through and he marks the end of the joker and his gang and this makes the city of Gotham a happy place to live once again.
Heath Ledgers performance is really remarkable and we feel every pinch of his sudden demise when we watch the movie. He has earned appreciation from all sects of audience. But, you need not spend real money buying a DVD as you have an option to watch the movie anywhere and anytime be it weekday or weekend whenever you are free.
The Dark Knight movie, an adaptation from the famous Batman series, is a full length action packed movie and a special mention needs to be given to the Joker Heath Ledger who has taken the movie to the next level. But, the level of insanity and violence is far beyond the other movies of this genre, so parents should think of keeping their children away from it.
The sound effects of this movie are best experienced with the 7.1 speaker and woofers attached to your system. The following website will link you to watch the Dark Knight movie for free. Not just this, there are about 80 million movies to watch for you to be able to watch the movies; you just need to subscribe to the site. Watching the Dark Knight movie online will throw light on the quality of the movies in this virtually unlimited online library of great movies that youd have ever wanted to watch peacefully at your house.
Use the link to Download The Dark Knight Onlineand other movies and more for pennies.
Another Cinderella Story Free Movies
Thursday, October 29th, 2009An all time favorite Cinderella is back again with more or less the same tactics. The storyline is as authentic as it can get; it sticks firmly to the roots. But thats how most romantic musicals are supposed to be, if not a fair dash of comedy sprinkled in. Its just that extra that imparted Another Cinderella Story a touch above the usual fairy tale; its a set-up within the modern day world.
Another Cinderella Story is set within the modern day world and its associated surroundings. Here, the Prince is the ruler of the media world. Cinderella, as it is, eager to impress the Prince, but its not the grass slippers that aid her to dance; instead, its the Zune. New age nitty-gritty fill the movie and this is just one. The storyline, though a predictable boy-gets-girl one, is an experiment within varying environments in an attempt to create a different outcome. It is thus to be liked only by them to whom weekends mean being quiet and alone. Another Cinderella Story makes up for lonely weekends big time; it shall keep you busy comparing the differences to alleviate the monotony out.
The stepsisters are awkward and thats what they are meant to be; together with our Cinderella, they make this movie amusing enough to shoo-away the gloom that last weekends of the months always bring. However, the last weekends also force you most of the times to spend entire afternoons and evenings within the four walls of your home; so how come you are going to check this movie out? Worse, if its not running in a nearby theater? This is where the online movie downloads services come in handy, making every movie available at your fingertips in exchange of a nominal, one-time fee, including the much-discussed Another Cinderella Story.
Heres the basic start of the movie: Our prince charming sees the girl of his dreams dancing in a costume ball party and falls desperately in love with her. But as fate would have it, she has to get back home on time so she leaves in a hurry. Our prince is only left with a zune, which she left behind in her flutter. So he has to find who the girl of his dreams really is and thats what makes the rest of the story. Youd rather be better off watching this movie at home, than shelling greens to rent a DVD, or even worse, driving around finding a DVD store that HAS the DVD! You can find the movie among collections of those online movie databases that let you watch Another Cinderella Story online free. As far as we see it, this romantic comedy doesnt really have all the charm in it to pull money out of our wallets, so thats what wed do.
Nothing is impossible procuring if you have a high-speed Internet connection and a computer. Certain websites to distribute the films online, both recent and old-time hits. The audio-video qualities are impeccable, there are no scenes that are missing and if you have a home-theater system, you may burn the downloaded movie on a DVD and watch it as you would have in a regular movie theater.
Go ahead and Watch Another Cinderella Story Online and other newly released movies and more.
