Category: 5 Star

Movie Review: The Water Diviner (4.5 stars)

The Water Diviner

Released: December 2014 (Australia) and April 2015 (America)

Watched Netflix BluRay: February 2016

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Four years after the Battle of Gallipoli, Australian farmer Joshua Connor (Russell Crowe) travels to Turkey to find his three sons, who never returned home from the war. When he arrives in Istanbul, he meets others who have also suffered losses: hotelier Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko) and her son, Orhan, who befriends Connor; and Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan), a Turkish officer who fought against Connor’s sons and now may be their father’s only hope in finding closure.

My thoughts:

My husband and I watched this on Saturday afternoon, Valentine’s Day weekend.  I did not expect there to be a touching romance, but was pleasantly surprised to find one midst all the death Joshua persevered through in his search for his sons

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Book Review: The Chaplain’s War by Torgersen (4.5 Stars)

The Chaplain’s War

by Brad Torgersen

4-4.5 out of 5 stars

Release Date: 10/7/2014

I previously read parts of this as a short story and as novella (one of which was nominated for a Hugo last year and got my enthusiastic vote).  This novel fills in the gaps in Chaplain’s Assistant Harry Barlow’s past and a few important bits of his future.

The original stories were expanded and an additional story line added to pull all of the narrative into a cohesive whole.  I related well to Harry Barlow and had no trouble re-reading parts of his story.  Continue reading “Book Review: The Chaplain’s War by Torgersen (4.5 Stars)”

The Red Knight by Miles Cameron (5 stars)

This us next up in my ebook reading queue, after I finish Red Seas Under Red Skies.  In the meantime, enjoy my uncle’s thoughts on The Red Knight by Miles Cameron, which also comes highly recommended by Stefan Raets at his Far Beyond Reality blog.

Book Review: The Copper Crown by Kennealy-Morrison (5 Stars)

CopperCrownThe Copper Crown by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison

5 out of 5 stars

Read at least five times since the late 80s

Synopsis:

WHEN EARTH MEETS KELTIA WILL STAR EMPIRES FALL?

When lore became legend on ancient Earth and the powers of magic waned, the Kelts and their allies fled the planet for the freedom of distant star realms.

But the stars were home to dangerous foes, and millenia later, the worlds of Keltia still maintained uneasy truce with two enemy empires -the Imperium and the Phalanx. Then, at the start of the reign of Aeron, mistress of high magic and queen of all the Kelts, an Earthship made contact with her long-fled children. And while Earth and Keltia reached out to form alliance, the star fleets of the enemy mobilized for final, devastating war….

My Thoughts (Warning: Spoilers):

Every couple of years, I get the urge to pull out this novel and re-read it. Continue reading “Book Review: The Copper Crown by Kennealy-Morrison (5 Stars)”

Movie Review: Gravity (5 Stars)

Gravity

5 out of 5 stars

Watched in theater (October 2013) and at home (March 2014)

This was a great birthday gift last October.  My husband and I saw this movie in theaters last fall.  Absolutely amazing.

Yesterday, we invited my father over for a lazy Sunday afternoon of grilled burgers (yes, we grilled outside in March because it was sunny and in the 60s) and a movie.  He brought home-made carrot cake and Sweeney Todd, but because Terry and I had just seen our daughter perform Mrs. Lovett live a couple of weeks ago in a UNT College of Music production, we passed on watching Johny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.  I had two BluRays from Netflix: Parkland and Riddick, but I asked my dad if he’d seen Gravity yet.  He had not, so I decided to buy it via Google Play Movies (the HD edition was only $20).

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Book Review: The Smith of Wootton Major by Tolkien (4.5 Stars)

The Smith of Wootton Major
by J.R.R. Tolkien

4.5 out of 5 stars

Read in September 2009

Synopsis:

Every twenty-four years in the village of Wootton Major a special edition of the The Feast of Good Children was held. This was a very special occasion and to celebrate it a Great Cake was prepared, to feed the twenty-four children who were invited. The cake was very sweet and rich and entirely covered in sugar icing. But inside there were some very strange ingredients and whoever swallowed one of them would gain the gift of entry into the Land of Faery…

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Book Review: Lifeblood by Lind (5 Stars)

Lifeblood by Werner Lind

5 out of 5 stars

Read in October 2008

Warning: Spoilers

What a wonderful book to wrap up the Halloween season!

Ana is a 17th century vampire from Transylvania, transplanted to eastern Iowa by the strangest and saddest of circumstances. She is hunted by a zealous priest who paralyzes her with his crucifix and drives a wooden stake through her heart. Fast forward 300+ years to an automobile accident involving an armored car that was transporting her remains to a museum exhibit. The accident dislodges the stake and Ana find herself restored to a fiery confusion, which she escapes in her bat form.

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Recipe Review: “The Easiest Pizza You’ll Ever Make by King Arthur Flour” (5 stars)

Recipe: The Easiest Pizza You’ll Ever Make: King Arthur Flour.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Baked: January 27, 2014

Home Made PizzaMy most recent order from King Arthur Flour (taking advantage of one of their frequent free shipping promotions) included their Pizza Dough Flavor.  Since I wanted to take advantage of this new seasoning, I didn’t use my standard pizza crust mix found in King Arthur’s 200th Anniversary cookbook.  Instead, I searched through the recipes available at King Arthur’s website and decided to try the one listed above.

I cut the recipe in half, just like I do the one from the cookbook, because my husband and I don’t need to make two or three large pizzas.  One large one is plenty for a couple of meals.  I also don’t let the dough rise but for a few minutes, long enough for me to heat the oven up to 450 degrees.  Terry and I prefer thin, crispy crusts so rising is never a necessity.

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