Last book you read: Butterman (Time) Travel by PK Hrezo. Most recently I have loved Breaking Bad and Homeland, so I do stray out from scifi and fantasy. As you can see, I like long series with wide-sweeping storylines and complex characters. Since then I have loved Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica (which may be tops), and LOST. I still think Star Trek: The Next Generation was pretty darned perfect. Your favorite TV series: Hmmm, tough one. Your favorite dessert: Anything chocolate. What I don’t miss are my screaming neighbors, having to move my car every other day, and the lack of outdoor space for my kids. I still love Brooklyn and miss it sometimes. We moved here from Brooklyn where I lived for 11 years. Where do you live: In northern New Jersey. My husband sometimes calls me “Scifi Stephie” when he wants to yank my chain, but that’s about it. Nicknames: Well, my full name is Stephanie though I use my initials for writing the books.
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Nella finds a sole miniaturist listed in a book of Amsterdam traders, someone excluded from the city’s rigid ruling system of guilds. But he gives her a magnificent wedding gift – a beautiful miniature replica of their house with money to furnish it. When Johannes finally appears he is kind but distant. With her bird banished to the kitchens, Nella is as alone as she has even been, alone with the sound of voices and footsteps that she hears making their way around the dark house by night. Nella is given Marin’s own room, a grand room in a grand house, decorated in paintings that depict hunted game in all its gore. But when the door opens, her groom, Johannes Brandt, is absent, taken away by work, and in his place is his sister Marin, an imposing, unfriendly husbandless woman, and two peculiar servants, Cornelia and Otto. But here Nella is, with nothing but her pet bird to remind her of her home and family. But no courtship took place, there was no marriage to speak of, no intimacy or celebration, instead just a contract. In the Autumn of 1686, 18-year-old Nella Oortman arrives on the doorstep of a merchant’s house in Amsterdam. But the title comes with one tiny condition: she must be married in order to inherit. Gemma van Dalen is a wild child, the outcast of her wealthy family, and now the latest heir to Van Dalen Publishing. They’ll never actually meet, so what’s the harm in a little fib? Yet when real-life Gemma crosses Tansy’s path, her white lie nearly implodes. Tired of her stepfamily’s questions about her love life, Tansy invents Gemma, a fake girlfriend inspired by the stunning cover model on a bestselling book. But when it comes to actual romance… Tansy can’t get past the first chapter. Tansy Adams’ greatest love is her family’s bookstore, passed down from her late father. Lambda Literary award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur returns with a steamy Sapphic rom-com about a quiet bookseller and a romance novel cover model who agree to a modern-day marriage-of-convenience. Her books include Wreck This Journal, The Wander Society, This is Not a Book, How to Be an Explorer of the World, Mess, Finish This Book, The Pocket Scavenger, Wreck This Journal Everywhere, Everything Is Connected, and The Imaginary World of. as well as Wreck This App, This is Not an App, and the Pocket Scavenger app. Perfect for sliding in your pocket or stuffing in your bag, Wreck This Journal Everywhere is the ideal creative companion.Ībout the Author: Keri Smith is a bestselling author, illustrator, and thinker. Synopsis: The nifty-sized miniature follow-up to the international bestseller Wreck This Journal-perfect for die-hard wreckers wherever they are in the world! An excellent holiday gift.įeaturing dozens of new activities as well as some of the most popular prompts from the original, Wreck This Journal Everywhere will have you travelling the city streets and country byways, filling the pages with man-made and natural objects, recording what you see, drawing, doodling-and destroying pages as you go. And the creatures/reptiles themselves are like characters of their own (have sort of a thing for that it seems). The wonderful opening credit sequence is indicative enough of that, but the standout is that utterly amazing reptile room, the design and incredible attention to detail are a sight to behold. Like "The Bad Beginning" though, "The Reptile Room: Part 1" is visually a wonder. K Todd Freeman never really gelled for me as Mr Poe though and doesn't seem to fit. Part of it may be down too to the source material, have always felt that 'The Reptile Room' was the better book of the two as well. Despite liking both parts of "The Bad Beginning", for me "The Reptile Room" (both parts) is quite a bit better where things felt even more settled and 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' had started hitting its stride. Which continues and is built upon in 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' third and fourth episodes in "The Reptile Room" two parter, an adaptation of the second book in Lemony Snicket's popular book series 'The Reptile Room'. Both parts did very well handling the basics and setting up and establishing the characters and atmosphere. There were issues, not all the dialogue and pacing was perfect and generally found Mr Poe to come over as somewhat out of place in this adaptation despite him being an important character. "The Bad Beginning" was a far from bad beginning, quite the opposite, to 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', with the second part being the better half. So no surprises for me, but that isn't necessarily a deal breaker.Ī bigger issue is that a lot of the things in here don't add up or make sense. As for the one remaining twist that didn't follow that pattern, not only had I seen it done elsewhere before, but having read Alice Feeney's other books, she has a tendency to a certain style, and it led me to realize this was where it was going pretty early on. I think my problem is that I've read a lot of domestic thrillers, and they all follow the exact same pattern, including most of the twists in this book. Oooh sounds chilling, right? So I'm all ready for the twists, and I'm flipping the page, flipping the page, and then I reach the very end. Soon enough, things start to go wrong and of course, they have no way to leave. But when they arrive at the derelict church where they'll be staying, it's not what they expect. Amelia and Adam are going through a rough patch in their marriage, so they thought a trip to a secluded location would be just what they need to mend their relationship. So my thoughts are of the book I did read, which may or may not be the same one everyone else did. I am like the only person I know who did not enjoy this, and the only plausible explanation I have is that somehow I read a different book altogether. You should probably disregard my review here. Before I start, let me include a disclaimer. The result, I hope, is a psychological thriller in the vein of Gillian Flynn, Tana French, and Kate Atkinson, among others. THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW was inspired by a range of experiences: my lifelong love affair with suspense fiction, from the Sherlock Holmes stories I devoured as a kid to the work of Patricia Highsmith, whom I studied at the graduate level at Oxford my passion for classic cinema, especially the films of Alfred Hitchcock and my struggles with depression and mental health. Now I write full-time, to the relief of my former colleagues. I spent a decade working in publishing in both New York and London, with a particular emphasis on thrillers and mysteries. The movie directed by Joe Wright, written by Tracy Letts, and produced by Scott Rudin. The film adaptation, starring Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, and Julianne Moore, will be released worldwide in autumn 2019. THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW has been sold in 43 territories around the globe. Finn, author of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW - a debut novel that Stephen King describes as “remarkable” and I call “the best I could do.” Guess which quote appears on the jacket. The story follows three young women, Miryem, Wanda, and Irina, who are all incredibly compelling characters. I’m incredibly glad that we gave Novik another try. Spinning Silver is a thoughtful, intricate, powerful novel that is one of the most atmospheric books I’ve ever read. He, Eon, TS, Haifa and myself all started it together, and the consensus has been overwhelmingly positive. So when Petrik suggested we do a buddy-read as soon as the new year started, I jumped at it. But, as I own both a physical and digital copy, I knew I was going to have to pick it up eventually. There were a lot of things I really didn’t like about that book and, because of that dislike, I was skittish about picking up Spinning Silver. That’s not my general reading experience. While I didn’t loathe it with every fiber of my being like Petrik did, it took me a couple of months to trudge through 435 pages. I read another of Novik’s high fantasy novels, Uprooted, in 2016 and…I was not a fan. I could not have started the year off with a more pleasant surprise. She had little way to communicate with others, so her parents feared that she wouldn’t be able to learn anything. Despite being impaired, she still understood what was happening around her and could complete small tasks such as playing with the family dog or Mildred (her baby sister). They developed a few signs that Helen could use to communicate her needs and wants. Helen’s illness left her blind, deaf and unable to speak.Īfter Helen’s illness, she became very close to her mother. She grew up with her parents and siblings on the family estate where they enjoyed a happy childhood until she became ill at age two. Her family lived in a small town in Northern Alabama. Helen Keller was born on June 27th, 1880. 1-Page Summary of The Story of My Life Overall Summary This is where Minato’s writing style comes into its own. Without naming them, but giving significant cues to whom they are, Moriguchi sets off a chain of events that will change their lives beyond recognition. Manami wasn’t drowned by accident, and the culprits are members of her class. On the last day of term, she decides to tell the class the truth. The story centres on a teacher, Yuko Moriguchi whose daughter Manami is found to have drowned in the school swimming pool. Except here, they’re all going to find atonement whether they like it or not. It never shies away from the violence, even when talking about the lives of minors.Īs you can guess from the title, this book centres on the premise of atoning for one’s sins. And this is undoubtedly the main selling point. However, unlike her preceding book, Confessions delves much deeper into the pulp-gruesome atmosphere with little concern for its readers. Its style is reminiscent of Minato’s second translated book, Penance, as each chapter is afforded a second-person perspective on a particular event. On par with the work of renowned Japanese author Keigo Higashino, this has to be one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time. What’s inside? A world which is genuinely terrifying. Confessions delves into the dark recesses of the developing minds of teenagers. |