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The Mirror
Nora Roberts has written Book two of the 'Lost Bride Trilogy' entitled 'The Mirror' for which this one picks up just where 'The Inheritance' ended. Cleo and Sonya are enjoying their chosen professions and their personal relationships with Trey and Owen. They are still dealing with a dark entity which is a ghost by the name of Dobbs, but these four friends though they are skittish at times, but they are working together to beat Dobbs, and they also have a lot of help to do this. Cleo and Sonya are also planning a big celebration to show in a way that they are staying and show that they are the new owners of the manor.
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Critique
Year One
Nora Roberts has done it again and this time it is a novel the first in a series entitled 'Year One' that starts out with a virus called 'The Doom' and the world goes berserk. Kind of like when Covid-19 started. This is a story that has three groups of characters that will have to find a way to survive the virus. In this first book it is all about finding a safe place and just being able to survive to see another day. All the groups are just starting to form into what will be magical both white and dark and yes this is a story of witches, but a fun read. I am waiting for book two for it hasn't arrived yet.
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Critique
initialization.
Kardi Bradshaw 6 July 2024 Ever since I walked in, I felt like people’s eyes were following me, like I was a criminal. I couldn’t quite sit still, sandwiched in the leather booth between Hannah yapping about her wonderful boyfriend who wished he could join us tonight, and Lilith kicking my tight-crossed legs on accident; and as the Pink Floyd cover band took the bar’s stage and lights shone in my face and the beer-perfume-weed atmosphere got into my skin, my stomach clenched with the feeling that I actually was guilty of something.
By Saint Fearabout a year ago in Critique
Jackal. You are wild and timid. Are you binge-worthy?
The original Jackal is a story of the very bad guy on one side chased by a very good guy which was based not only on money commitment but on loyalty to their home country and their personal history between them. They were driven mainly by their professionalism and keen goal to achieve what they had wanted to achieve, mainly to be free. In the new version of this story, things are a little different.
By Oleksandr Matvyeyevabout a year ago in Critique
Texas!
It has been a while since I wrote a critique essay on a Dana Fuller Ross novel. The last one was 'Oregon' and now this one is for 'Texas' the fifth in the series. This is the story of how the state of Texas became part of the Union. It does continue the story of Cathy and Lee Blake and Chet and Danny who are best friends ever since the first wagon train to Oregon. 'Texas' is a novel that to me covers the history of Texas and the Mexican War with Santa Ana, the president of Mexico in a creative and interesting way but does not go into too much detail of the war for it is started and ends at the end of the book. This is a novel on how this history affected the various characters in their personal and professional lives in helping to grow the United States.
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Critique
Grimm's Fairy Tale#5
In reading 'Little Snow White' in Grimm's Fairy Tales one will get a sense that it is two stories in one for I got a sense of The Three Bears story as well when Snow White entered the dwarf's cottage she performs some activities as if she were Goldilocks and for the dwarfs they speak a few lines that to me seem reminiscent of the Three Bears story. This version as it seems to be is quite different from the Disney version that we all seem to like to watch at times.
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Critique
“Conspiracy Theories: Labyrinths of Shadows and the Poetry of Paranoia”
There is something profoundly human about the allure of conspiracy theories. They arise not simply as explanations for chaos, but as manifestations of our deepest anxieties and desires. They speak to a part of us that is both terrified of the unknown and irresistibly drawn to it, yearning to impose meaning on an existence that often seems incomprehensible.
By Nazia Syedabout a year ago in Critique
Grimm's Fairy Tales #4
Here is a Grimm Fairy Tale that I did not know about or even heard of entitled 'The Straw, The Coal and the Bean'. This is a very short one but is really quite descriptive. It is a tale of three odd friends working together to achieve a goal of some kind. Even though the straw still burns and the coal fizzles out and the bean splits. At least they tried for a little while to survive living. It is also a tale on how we see beans now-a-days with a black seam. To me this is an unusual tale on how to get children to eat their vegetables maybe.
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Critique
Trump Makes History: The First Former President Sentenced for a Felony
In an unprecedented moment in American history, former President Donald Trump became the first ex-president to be sentenced for a felony. The court proceedings, held on a quiet Friday morning, concluded with a sentence that left many stunned: unconditional discharge, which carries no punishment. This legal milestone underscores the unique intersection of power, privilege, and accountability in the life of one of the most polarizing figures in modern politics.
By mureed hussainabout a year ago in Critique
Grimm's Fairy Tales #3
Here is another famous fairy tale from this edition entitled 'Little Red Cap' and just by the title you may have guessed that it is the real 'Little Red Riding Hood' where there still is a mother who sends her daughter to visit her sick grandmother with cake and wine and warns her not to dawdle in the forest too long for you never know what may happen. This Little Red Cap wonders along further and further into the woods to pick flowers for grandma too, and you guessed it thinks she better get moving for it is getting late. She arrives but to find out through a conversation she and 'Grandma' have for we all know is the big bad wolf in disguise after he eats grandma and then her for in this story the wolf after eating them decides to take a nap. Along comes a hunter and hearing Red Cap in the wolf's stomach decides to cut open the wolf's stomach and let's Red Cap and Grandma out and replaces them with stones and sews the wolf up again and when the wolf awakes doesn't really feel too well and falls down and dies. In the nicer version of Little Red Riding Hood there is no cutting the wolf and replacing them with stones for Grandma and Red just escapes the wolf by running away for Little Red Riding Hood learns her lesson about being safe for herself and others. The story continues in 'Little Red Cap' for the next time another day another wolf comes along, and did she learn her lesson and proved it in a trick on this wolf? Yes, she did and went home. Why did the Grimm Brothers feel the need cut open the wolf and place stones in his stomach? It is also kind of freaky to hear a person talking after being eaten. This is like a horror story and maybe kind of gory for kids to have nightmares about being eaten by something. If I remember though there was an old cartoon that portrayed the Grimm's version of this story and made not so mean. Little Red Cap is definitely a youth and adult read while Little Red Riding Hood is fine for young children.
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Critique
Grimm's Fairy Tales #2
Another story in Grimm's Fairy Tales is the well-known 'Cinderella' and this version is nowhere near the Disney version. There are comparisons, but not like you know from the fun Disney one. There are two stepsisters and mother and a prince. There is no ball as in the Disney story, but a festival that everyone wants to go. There is no fairy godmother or mice or a pumpkin coach, but there are a few birds that do help Cinderella in a nice way. This Grimm version is slightly bloody towards the end when the prince goes in search of the one who loses the golden slipper. Also, at the end this story it kind of reminds me of the Hitchcock movie 'The Birds' and if you read or reread this classic you will see. Now I am so glad that I have read and watched the Disney version for this version is and should be clearly for adults only, but still glad to have read the Grimm version for it is a classic that must be understood for its' lesson(s) that it teaches. In so many ways as in how the stepsisters are punished for what they claimed as well as Cinderella learns that good will overcome evil.
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Critique
Grimm's Fairy Tales
I have started to read a collection of Grimm's fairy tales for it was a Christmas present from my sister. This version is entitled 'The Brothers' Grimm 99 Fairy Tales' I was reading number 19 entitled 'The Fisherman and His Wife'. To me this is a story of out and out GREED. The fisherman goes out on his daily fishing job and does not come with any fish for the one he catches says that he is a prince and will grant wishes for whomever. The fisherman lets the fish go, but his wife keeps sending him back to ask the fish for better and better things till one day after on last wish something occurs for one should not wish what the wife wished. This is not the same fairy tale that was once in one of my school reading book as a Just for fun story.
By Mark Grahamabout a year ago in Critique