![]() ![]() ![]() The photographer taking pictures for our group tried to school me as if I was naive enough to not understand - to "tell them simply and quietly you are not interested". Then there are others who plop a bird and a lizard on your head and take as many pictures - with YOUR phone as they can then tell you that you owe then $100 per person for this. He'll show you a menu but not with prices until you check out, only to find out your drinks were $25 each. I wondered why our tour guide was so absolutely silent when we were approached to buy cocktails at 9:30 in the morning from a "guy" promising the best possible price that he will negotiate on our behalf since all the others are just there to get a lot of money from us. ![]() This beach is full of solicitors and opportunists - there may be a beautiful beach there, we never got a chance to experience it since you are accosted from the minute you approach. We support them, buy their products and tip generously. ![]() We do excursions in every country we visit - to support the locals. NONE of them tell you what is really here because they are all in on trying to get the most money from you they possibly can. Many tour operators take you here - and for a reason. ![]()
0 Comments
![]() ![]() Lily’s father is missing, her housekeeper is destroying all the mechanics and searching through all her father things. I think this is helped by the introduction of mechanics and mechanimals (animal robots) there is a little discussion of politics as well, though not very much so I feel this is going to become more prominent in future books. While it is quite predictable-it is a children’s book after all-the story is well told and keeps your attention. They also try to work out what the bad men chasing them are after. Getting a quarter of the way through it, I finally gave up hoping to return to it, so here I am returning to the book.Ĭogheart falls under the genre, mystery, as well as steampunk as Lily and Robert venture out to find out what really happened to her father. ![]() I began reading Cogheart in late 2017 but didn’t finish it as I discovered my uni load increased more than I was expecting. It also matches the age range of the protagonists. Cogheart has a lot of universal issues, such as death, that are dealt with in a way that a ten year old child would be able to manage. ![]() It’s a light read, probably perfect for a child around the age of ten. It follows the adventures of Lily Hartman and her friend Robert, the clockmaker’s son as they flee from danger and search for answers about Lily’s father’s disappearance. Cogheart is a children’s steampunk novel by Peter Bunzl. ![]() ![]() Crichton’s medical background allowed him to write with authority about the latest scientific research and breakthroughs, while his storytelling skills kept readers on the edge of their seats. In The Terminal Man and The Andromeda Strain, he explored the intersections of technology and biology and the limits of human control over those forces. Early Works and BreakthroughsĬrichton’s early works, including The Andromeda Strain, reflect his background in science and medicine. ![]() This book catapulted him to fame, with its compelling mix of science fiction, medical detail, and suspense. Crichton continued to write under this pen name for several books before finally using his real name for The Andromeda Strain in 1969. The success of the book led him to pen his second novel, Scratch One, under the pseudonym John Lange. Crichton wrote his first book, Odds On, while still a student at Harvard Medical School. He was a man of many talents, a polymath who excelled in science, medicine, and storytelling. ![]() The trajectory of Michael Crichton’s writing career was unique, meandering, and prolific. The Evolution of Michael Crichton’s Writing Career ![]() ![]() ![]() Rodrigo’s patronage, political power, and wealth made Lucrezia a valuable consort because family alliances between the Sforzas, Gonzagas, d’Estes, and Medicis controlled Italy’s city-states. Borgia’s 13-year-old daughter, Lucrezia, his farfallina-"little butterfly"-will marry Giovanni Sforza, the cardinal's cousin, in more political payoff. ![]() Borgia, who would become Pope Alexander VI, gains his papacy with the support of the troublesome Milanese, particularly Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, whom he names vice-chancellor. In an era when priestly vows of chastity were honored in the breach, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia had four children by a mistress. As the 16th century dawns, Columbus has brought word of new lands to Queen Isabella, Savonarola leads a reign of terror in Florence, and Rodrigo Borgia is bargaining his daughter, Lucrezia, to claim the Throne of Peter in Rome. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This is Todd's story-his birth from innocent boy to terrified fugitive to a young man who has gained an understanding of good and evil (his own and others) the hard way. Secondary characters are also interesting and add dimension (especially the character of Viola) but only in the sense that they add to Todd's journey of discovery. It may take readers a few chapters to settle into Todd's voice and into the rules of his world, but once he hooks a reader, he never lets go. Semi-educated, loyal, and afraid of the things he discovers about himself and his world, Todd's journey to manhood and the definitions he accepts and rejects about what manhood means, is fascinating and disturbing all at once. The character of Todd is one of the most unique voices I've come across in YA literature. Readers will find a gold mine of thematic depths to parse, but will be so carried away by the unrelenting conflict and suspense that it may surprise them to find they've also been deeply challenged and unsettled once they turn the last page. It's also a look at colonization, racism, and what happens when men deviate from a society's accepted moral code and create their own. At its core, the story is a coming of age tale with some elements of the Chosen One motif. Told in the distinct semi-educated vernacular of the hero Todd, THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO is at once gritty, heartbreaking, compelling, and thought-provoking. ![]() ![]() ![]() Now, being forced to marry a man she doesn’t know pales in comparison to the ordeal of facing Gabriel again, the man who betrayed her - Gabriel, the only man she ever loved. Horribly worse.Four years ago, Madeline was engaged to Gabriel, and worshipped his arrogant kisses. Just when she thinks matters can’t get worse, she meets Gabriel Ansell, the earl of Campion, and they do. She is, of course, none of those things she simply is resolved to win her family’s fortune back. Now, Madeline is free to enter the home of a notorious gambler, and pretends to be meek, humble, and competent with an iron. On a mission to salvage her family fortune, she changes places with her cousin and companion, sending the meeker Eleanor to confront the man who had won Madeline’s hand. Madeline de Lacy, the duchess of Magnus, prides herself on being one of the most sensible young women in England, which is why she can’t believe that, in a turn of the cards, her noble father has losthis entire estate - and her! - to a stranger. Two exquisite cousins must exchange identities in a scandalous deception. ![]() ![]() ![]() The more time these two spend together, the more Isaac’s past seems to rush towards him and he decides that loving Tank is not worth what troubles it will bring. As he struggles to figure out what to do, Tank does what he can to show Isaac that not all werewolves are the same. He is odorless and meeting a werewolf pack in Frisco was not in his plans. When Tank and Isaac meet, something sparks between them and Isaac starts to worry. Isaac is our resident bartender/pseudo-psychologist, working to make the problems of San Fransisco’s shifters less. Tank is working as a bouncer at a new club that has shifter-mingle night, due to the fact that more and more shifters are coming to this particular club. ![]() ![]() We also learn a little more about werewolf lore and the placement and rank in packs as we learn more about Isaac, a man who is on the run both from his past and from someone. In this is book, we get to learn a little bit more about Tank, one of the “grunts” of the Shifters pack, a bisexual man who would love to just have someone to love and protect. ![]() This is the second book in the San Andreas Shifters series and I’m loving this adorable, quirky, queer pack of werewolves that now live in the San Fransisco Bay area. *Content/Trigger warnings: M/M, sexual themes, mild themes of dominance and submission* *Thank you to the author for the advanced copy, all opinions are my own* ![]() ![]() ![]() The humor was often targeted to an older audience and trying to cater the show to children just stifled its creativity.įox wanted something to sell happy meals and figures. The show lasted for 3 seasons but eventually succumbed to being marketed as a kids show. It became an underground hit with a cult following. The show was a pretty faithful interpretation of the quirky heroic characters introduced in the comic book. ![]() In 1994, Ben worked with Fox Kids Network to bring The Tick (and Arthur) to the small screen in an animated series. The creation of a 13th issue is something Ben still hasn't decided against, but he has become a busy man since. ![]() The original series, drawn and written by Ben and published by New England Comics, only lasted 12 issues, but became quite popular in the underground comic world. It was a character that Ben created a few years before in high school. It was the tale of a 300 lb., 7ft tall big blue insect named "The Tick". In 1988, Ben Edlund launched the comic book that would make his name known to many comic and cartoon fans across the nation. ![]() ![]() "I'm still obsessing over how it captures the themes of the novel so beautifully. Rum said she "screamed" in her "small town grocery store" when she finally saw the book cover. ![]() "The characters live in a world very similar to the one in 'A Woman Is No Man' and the stories shares some thematic elements as well - grief, the power of art and self-expression, and a desire for a more fulfilling life," Rum told TODAY of the book, out in March 2023. "And to see these women change, and to see their idea of what they can be change over generations is really the story of so many women."įor those of you who read "A Woman Is No Man" and loved it, you're in luck: Rum is exclusively sharing a preview of her upcoming novel, "Evil Eye," with TODAY. "It's about what is acceptable for a woman - how a woman can use her voice," Jenna told TODAY of the book. The book followed three women in a Palestinian family over the years as they each grapple with how their role and ambitions intersect. ![]() Etaf Rum's 2019 novel, "A Woman Is No Man," was chosen as a Read With Jenna pick. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() “Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator.įinally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. A soppy contribution to the national pastime of deifying the work of raising kids, When God Created Mothers was a giant hit: The most enduring, sadly, is probably one of her least representative. Her columns could (and can, though yellowed) be found gracing refrigerator doors across the nation, next to Dear Abby clippings and grocery lists. Motherhood was her beat and she was very, very funny.īombeck’s appeal was deliberately middle-brow. By the time her career reached its peak in the mid-1980s, her syndicated column, At Wit’s End, ran three times a week in 900 newspapers across North America. Bombeck was inarguably one of the most successful and widely read female humorists of the 20th century. ![]() |