Heartwarming Holiday Commercials ~ Pt. 2

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”Holiday Reunion “, Cute Holiday Commercials Pt.2, E.T., Xfinity

During the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a commercial from Xfinity dropped that I’m pretty sure made most of us forget the balloons, bands, and bad lip syncing. E.T. has come back and reunited with Elliott (actor Henry Thomas), and what follows is enchanting. One word of warning: you may want to have some tissues handy.

 

Black Friday 2019

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Black Friday, Humor

Okay everyone. It’s Black Friday so here’s your chance to work off those Thanksgiving calories. Unless, you’re a wuss like me and you’re not venturing out past your front door that is. Here are some fun memes to get you ready.

And for those of you who sallied forth into battle, well done! I hope your quest was successful and you’ve returned safely. Here are some more Baby Yoda pictures to help you relax.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving, Holderness Family, Thanksgiving Mash-Up

I’d like to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. This Thanksgiving Mash-Up from the Holderness family sums up the holiday perfectly!

 

 

Whimsical Wednesday

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Baby Yoda, Whimsical Wednesday

Just when you think we can’t agree on almost anything, along comes Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian who has united everyone in saying “Awwww!” I’ve searched the galaxy, ahem, internet far and wide for the cutest and most clever memes and images for this week’s Whimsical Wednesday. Look you must!

The Rise of Magicks (Chronicles of The One), by Nora Roberts ~ 4.5 Stars

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Action-Adventure, Adult Fiction, Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal Fiction, Romance

Thanks to Edelweiss and St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: November 26th, 2019

464 Pages

Synopsis: The #1 New York Times bestselling author of  “Year One” and “a Of Blood and Bone” concludes her stunning trilogy that the New York Times Book Review praised as “A match for end-of-the-world classics like Stephen a King’s ‘The Stand’.”

After the sickness known as the Doom destroyed civilization, magick has become commonplace, and Fallon Swift has spent her young years learning its ways. Fallon cannot live in peace until she frees those who have been preyed upon by the government or the fanatical Purity Warriors, endlessly hunted or locked up in laboratories, brutalized for years on end. She is determined to save even those who have been complicit with this evil out of fear or weakness—if, indeed, they can be saved.

Strengthened by the bond she shares with her fellow warrior, Duncan, Fallon has already succeeded in rescuing countless shifters and elves and ordinary humans. Now she must help them heal—and rediscover the light and faith within themselves. For although from the time of her birth she has been The One, she is still only one. And as she faces down an old nemesis, sets her sights on the enemy’s stronghold, and pursues her destiny—to finally restore the mystical shield that once protected them all—she will need an army behind her…

The Rise of Magicks is the spectacular conclusion to the Chronicles of the One trilogy, and is further evidence of Nora Roberts’ writing artistry. The way she juggles numerous characters with their own fully plotted backstories, snappy dialogue, exciting fight scenes, swoon-worthy romance, immersive world building, AND ties everything up in a perfect bow, is simply amazing. There are no empty fillers here. Everything and everyone has a purpose. The only issue I had (and I’m not sure if I’m being overly fussy), is that I had envisioned an epic battle between Fallon and her evil cousin Petra, but when their face-off came, it was a bit anticlimactic. Overall though, The Rise of Magicks is as close to perfect as you can get, and Chronicles of The One is my favorite trilogy by Roberts after her Three Sisters Island trilogy. I highly recommend this and the previous two books—Year One, and Of Blood and Bone—to readers who enjoy dystopian fiction, fantasy, paranormal fiction, romance, and adventure.

The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones ~ 5.0 Stars

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Adult Fiction, Horror, Native Americans, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 19th, 2020

320 Pages

Synopsis: Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story” meets Liane Moriarty’s “Big Little Lies” in this American Indian horror story of revenge on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

Four American Indian men from the Blackfeet Nation, who were childhood friends, find themselves in a desperate struggle for their lives, against an entity that wants to exact revenge upon them for what they did during an elk hunt ten years earlier by killing them, their families, and friends.

Entertainment Weekly recently asked if award winning author Stephen Graham  Jones could be the Jordan Peel of literary horror, and after finishing The Only Good Indians in less than three hours, my answer is a resounding “Yes!”

I’m going to start out by saying I’m not a fan of hunting. However, I don’t judge people who do, except for those who just kill for trophies to hang on their walls. In this overwhelmingly suspenseful story, four friends pay for what they did a decade previously during a bloody elk hunt. They immediately lose the right to hunt on reservation land, but there’s a future price that they never could have conceived of that will not only cost them, but everyone they love and care about. The first few chapters nicely sets up what’s to come as the readers are introduced to the four men and the people in their lives. It doesn’t take long for the horror elements to come into play and some of the scenes are just gory enough that they may be difficult for some readers, especially those who are animal lovers.

One of the things that made me feel so empathetic toward these characters is that they’re not indifferent to the suffering they caused during the elk hunt, and they know they crossed the line. When vengeance/justice comes for them years later, it’s almost as though they’re expecting it, which broke my heart a bit. Just as it did for the entity that hunts them as it too suffered unimaginable loss. At the end, there are no real villains here.

The Only Good Indians is a literary horror tour de force that will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Jones masterfully blends horror, suspense, Native American life, and biting social commentary into a beautifully crafted tale that’s storytelling at its best. If Hollywood doesn’t scoop this up I will be shocked. This isn’t out until May 2020, but horror fans should add this to their calendars now because I predict it will be one of the most talked about books of next year.

 

 

Musical Meanderings

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“Tubthumping”, Chumbawamba, Musical Meanderings

 

 

Literary Lines

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Literary Lines, Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union

It never takes longer than a few minutes, when they get together, for everyone to revert to the state of nature, like a party marooned by a shipwreck. That’s what a family is. Also the storm at sea, the ship, and the unknown shore. And the hats and the whiskey stills that you make out of bamboo and coconuts. And the fire that you light to keep away the beasts.

~ Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union ~

❄️Frozen Friday❄️

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Crosswalk the Musical, Frozen II, James Corden

With the impeachment hearings over these last two weeks, I’ll admit I’ve been a tad stressed. The very best and the very worst of the U.S. has been on display. Well, thankfully we have a respite and as Frozen II is sliding into theaters today, I can think of no better way to Let It Go (that just never gets old!) than to share James Corden’s new Crosswalk the Musical featuring Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, with you. I hope this makes you all laugh as it did me. Oh, and Pete—you have to watch this from beginning to end!

 

 

Words To Remember ~ Impeachment Edition

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Dr. Fiona Hill, Impeachment public hearings, Words To Remember

 

The impact of the successful 2016 Russian campaign remains evident today. Our nation is being torn apart. Truth is questioned. Our highly professional and expert career Foreign Service is being undermined. I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine—not Russia—attacked us in 2016. These fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes.

~ Dr. Fiona Hill, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs at the National Security Council during her opening statement at the November 21st public impeachment hearing. ~