Happy National Hot Chocolate Day!

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Humor, National Backwards Day, National Hot Chocolate Day

While the outcome of the impeachment trial was already a forgone conclusion, watching it on tv over the last several days has left me disgusted, dismayed, discouraged, disappointed, disillusioned…Okay. Enough already with the alliteration! You get the picture. Anyway, I’m using today as an excuse to drown myself in this sweet treat.

Oh, and for the few of you who don’t like hot chocolate, it’s also National Backward Day!

Words To Remember

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Albert Einstein, Phil Hands, Political Cartoons, Political Corruption, Republican Party, Wisconsin State Journal, Words To Remember

The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.

~ Albert Einstein ~

Catherine House, by Elisabeth Thomas ~ 3.5 Stars

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Adult Fiction, LGBTQ, Mystery, Substance Abuse, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Custom House for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 12th, 2020

320 Pages

Synopsis: A gothic-infused debut of literary suspense, set within a secluded, elite university and following a dangerously curious, rebellious undergraduate who uncovers a shocking secret about an exclusive circle of students…and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige. 

Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world’s best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House three years—summers included—completely removed from the outside world. Family, friends, television, music, even their clothing must be left behind. In return, the school promises a future of sublime power and prestige, and that its graduates can become anything or anyone they desire.

Among this year’s incoming class is Ines Murillo, who expects to trade blurry nights of parties, cruel friends, and dangerous men for rigorous intellectual discipline—only to discover an environment of sanctioned revelry. Even the school’s enigmatic director, Viktória, encourages the students to explore, to expand their minds, to find themselves in the formidable iron gates of Catherine. For Ines it is the closest thing to a home she’s ever had. But the House’s strange protocols soon make this refuge, with its worn velvet and weathered leather, feel increasingly like a gilded prison. And when tragedy strikes, Ines begins to suspect that the school—in all its shabby splendor, hallowed history, advanced theories, and controlled decadence—might be hiding a dangerous agenda within the secretive, tightly knit group of students selected to study its most promising and mysterious curriculum.

Combining the haunting sophistication and dusky, atmospheric of Sarah Waters, with the unsettling isolation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Catherine House is a devious, deliciously steamy, and suspenseful page-turner with shocking twists and sharp edges that is sure to leave readers breathless.

Catherine House is an odd little book that’s left me in a bit of a quandary as to how I feel about it. On the one hand, while it starts with the ubiquitous sinister boarding school trope, the direction it takes that in is decidedly different from anything I’ve read before. So, kudos for originality and creativity. And although I can’t say I truly liked any of the characters, I did find them very intriguing in a sort of perverse, watching a trainwreck sort of way. They reminded me a little of the ones in The Magicians, by Lev Grossman—very complex, at times annoying, with questionable motives. I also liked the creepy atmospheric world building and setting. The premise promises “shocking twists…sure to leave readers breathless,” but that isn’t the case as the pace is slow enough that I kept thinking thank goodness it’s a relatively short book. Just as the rest of the book did, the lackluster ending has also left me conflicted. After mulling things over though, I’m going to recommend this quirky read. It has its flaws, but it’s a unique read that I think is definitely worth trying out for yourself particularly if you don’t mind meandering plots and sketchy characters.

 

Impeachment Trial Day Eight

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Alan Dershowitz, Impeachment Day Eight

There have been some truly outrageous statements put forth by Mr. Trump’s defenders, but this afternoon Alan Dershowitz took things to a new level whe basically ripped up the Constitution as he argued that as long as a president thinks his holding office is in the public interest than virtually anything he does to get re-elected is not impeachable. Excuse me, but WTF!

If you’re gasping in disbelief and thinking “Kim, you must have misunderstood,” check out his speech.

For anyone out there who still doesn’t see how dangerous Mr. Trump and his syncophantic supporters are, I say WAKE UP! Arguments like these are of the same vein as ones put forth by the likes of Hitler and Stalin. What Dershowitz is espousing would put the president above the law and the Constitution. If there was any doubt left, as to the trouble this country is in, what Dershowitz stated this afternoon should dispel it.

 

Whimsical Wednesday

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“The Heroes Journey”, Supernatural, Whimsical Wednesday

Have I mentioned my love for the tv series Supernatural? Part of the reason why I’m so passionate about it is because interspersed between all the blood, gore, and horror, are priceless moments of whimsy like this tap dancing sequence. In case you don’t watch the show (GASP!), God/Chuck is miffed at the Winchester brothers and has decided to downgrade them from heroes to normal people. As such, Baby (the Impala), breaks down, Sam gets sick, and Dean’s terrible diet catches up with him and he suddenly has 17 cavities! While undergoing an impromptu dental procedure from their friend Garth, Dean has this fanciful dream.

 

 

 

All the Pretty Things, by Emily Arsenault~ 2.0 Stars

Tags

Domestic Abuse, Mystery, Overdose, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harrassment, Suicidal Thoughts, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 17th, 2020

352 Pages

Synopsis: For Ivy, summer means roller-coaster season, spinning cotton candy at the Fabuland amusement park, and hanging out with her best friend, Morgan. But this summer is different.

One morning, Morgan finds a dead body. It’s their former classmate and coworker Ethan. To make matters worse, Morgan is taken to a hospital psych ward only days later, and she’s not saying much—not even to Ivy.

The police claim that Ethan simply took a bad fall, but Ivy isn’t convinced and realizes it’s up to her to get answers. What she finds is unsettling—it’s clear that some people aren’t being honest about Ethan’s last night at Fabuland. Including Morgan. And the more secrets Ivy uncovers, the closer she gets to unraveling dark truths that will change her life forever.

From the premise I was expecting All the Pretty Things to be a fun mystery in the same vein as Nancy Drew. Instead, I wound up actively disliking most of the characters including Ivy, and the mystery was easily solved before the halfway point. The rather cavalier and outdated manner in which Morgan’s mental health was treated, also made me cringe. The only reason why I’m giving this two stars is because I loved the seedy, somewhat menacing setting of Fabuland (although it left me with unwanted cravings for cotton candy and fried dough), and I was appreciative of Ivy’s devotion to Morgan. Otherwise, I had to force myself through scene after scene of Ivy wandering around intrusively questioning other characters who insisted on giving annoyingly vague and coded answers. And this, while all the time the person who obviously had something to do with not only Ethan’s death but also other tawdry goings on, was right there in front of her with a neon sign flashing above his head stating “I am loathsome scum!” Every scene this character was in had me wanting to take a shower after. While I can’t bring myself to recommend All the Pretty Things, there are some readers who enjoyed it, so as always I encourage you to check out other reviews. I also want to warn you that there are some themes that could be triggers including: suicidal thoughts, overdose, domestic abuse, sexual harassment and assault, mental health.

Poland~ April 2017 ~Auschwitz

Back in 2017, Fraggle shared her thoughts and photographs from her visit to Auschwitz. It’s a moving post and as today is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, it’s a perfect time to share this.

fraggle ~ rocking a camera across the Universe

It’s taken me a little while to get to this part of our trip, it’s taken a little while to Marshall all my thoughts. It may be a lengthier post than normal, but I am not going to do this in ‘parts’, once is enough, so anyone with a short attention span feel free to bow out now 🙂 .

First thing to say is I was wary of going here, I, like many, have seen harrowing movies, Schindlers List, Sophies Choice, Boy in striped pyjamas, The Pianist, etc, and have seen the truly staggering news reels from when the camps were liberated, and been deeply horrified, so a trip to see the place where it all happened seemed a question of how much worse could I feel about it all?  Second thing to say is I am not going to write about or explain the history of the place, plenty…

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International Holocaust Remembrance Day

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International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Niro Feliciano

Remember, it didn’t start with gas chambers. It started with politicians dividing the people with ‘us vs them.’ It started with intolerance and hate speech and when people stopped caring, became desensitized and turned a blind eye.

~ Niro Feliciano ~

The Ancestor, by Danielle Trussoni ~ 3.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: April 7th 2020

368 Pages

Synopsis: It feels like a fairytale when Alberta “Bert” Monte receives a letter addressed to “Countess Alberta Montebianco” at her Hudson Valley, New York home that claims she’s inherited a noble title, money, and a castle in Italy. While Bert is more than a little skeptical, the mystery of her aristocratic family’s past, and the chance to escape her stressful life for a luxury holiday in Italy is too good to pass up.

At first her inheritance seems like a dream come true: a champagne-drenched trip on a private jet to Turin, Italy; lawyers with lists of artwork and jewels bequeathed to Bert; a helicopter ride to an ancestral castle nestled in the Italian Alps below Mont Blanc; a portrait gallery of ancestors Bert never knew existed; and a cellar of expensive vintage wine for Bert to drink.

But her ancestry has a dark side, and Bert soon learns that her family history is particularly complicated. As Bert begins to unravel the Montebianco secrets, she begins to realize her true inheritance lies not in a legacy of ancestral treasures, but in her very genes.

There was much that I loved about The Ancestor. The story is very creative and original, the characters are interesting, and the settings beautifully described. So why am I only giving this 3 stars? Without giving away any spoilers, there are things that happen that just defy logic. Okay, I have to share a semi-spoiler or else I’ll explode. Bert’s estranged husband (who’s still deeply in love with her despite the difficulties they’ve been happening), accompanies her to Italy. Yet after a minor argument he flies back home without a word to her, and she accepts this as normal. It doesn’t seem like a big thing, but for me it was jarring, and there are other scenes that left me almost as frustrated. So, while I ordinarily would have been oohing and aahing over the beautiful description of the French Alps, gasping in sympathy and horror over the revelations regarding Bert and her family legacy, and wondering with deep admiration how Danielle Trussoni came up with this tale, I was left extremely aggravated, especially at the ending. In my opinion, The Ancestor could have been a fantastic novel, but instead it’s left me somewhat disappointed over what it should have been.

 

R.I.P. Kobe Bryant ~ 1978-2020

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R.I.P. Kobe Bryant

News is just breaking that NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his thirteen-year-old daughter Gianna were among five people killed in a helicopter crash in California earlier today. In addition to his phenomenal basketball career, Bryant was also a two-time Olympic medalist, and children’s author. In 2018 he won the Oscar for Best Short Animated Film.

 

Dear Basketball,

From the moment

I started rolling my dad’s tube socks

And shooting imaginary

Game-winning shots

In the Great Western Forum

I knew one thing was real:

I fell in love with you.

 

A love so deep I gave you my all—

From my mind & body

To my spirit & soul.

As a six-year-old boy

Deeply in love with you

I never saw the end of the tunnel.

I only saw myself

Running out of one.

And so I ran.

I ran up and down every court

After every loose ball for you.

You asked for my hustle

I gave you my heart

Because it came with so much more.

I played through the sweat and hurt

Not because challenge called me

But because YOU called me. I did everything for YOU

Because that’s what you do

When someone makes you feel as

Alive as you’ve made me feel.

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream

And I’ll always love you for it.

But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.

This season is all I have left to give.

My heart can take the pounding

My mind can handle the grind

But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.

 

And that’s OK.

I’m ready to let you go I want you to know now

So we can both savor every moment we have left together.

The good and the bad

We have given each other

All that we have.

And we both know, no matter what I do next

I’ll always be that kid

With the rolled up socks

Garbage can in the corner

:05 seconds on the clock

Ball in my hands …5…4…3…2…1

Love You Always,

Kobe

 

Kobe Bryant was an inspiration who transcended his sport. Rest In Peace Black Mamba.