Mer Barr
I think the author does a great job of building the world but I'm always interested in the storyline and the people.
At the 25% mark, there isn't a storyline with progression, it's like watching several 1-act plays where a set of people are interacting in a location. There were several different groups but I had no clue as to why they were all mentioned in this book; no storyline or progression.
And some of the characters were interesting but there's no mention of why one person is the main character of a particular 1-act play.
I had to work hard to remember how this was related, if at all, to the first book and I eventually remembered enough.
The story is slow at the start, more world and character building, then the pace begins to pick up. I had a hard time keeping track of who was who towards the end.
Overall a story with interesting, unique to me, elements.
99% world building for the first 25% of the book, which is when I gave up because I prefer storyline progress and character building.
The last 1% was character building, mainly for the main character, with alot of unusual characters that come into and quickly leave the story. No deep character building or long-term interactions.
I just couldn't get interested in the subject, which is strange because I love books and nonfiction. I'll put it down to alot of Latin words and Italian names and getting lost in who the subject of the book actually was.
It seems to be well-rounded on subjects related to anyone and anything to do with the books and people of the time period.
Great book for understanding the Civil War battles held in Georgia, up to and a bit beyond the Battle of Atlanta. A mix of high level information about the battle going on for the page, some personal recollections from both sides by individuals in the current battle, some artifacts and photos, and some really great drawings of which brigades/armies were where for the current battle.
A bit confusing because both sides were called the Army of Tennessee, thankfully the editor / author distinguishes the sides either by Federal, C.S, or Confederate so you don't get too lost in the details.
It doesn't do a good job on the battles IN Atlanta at all which, based on the title one would assume would be here. Barely 2 pages! Most of the book is up to the battle called the Battle of Atlanta and the battles just following the city bombing itself. Nor is there a map showing where the fortifications around Atlanta would be so I can compare to a modern city map. A better title to summarize is The Battle for POSSESSION of Atlanta.
What's not here is also the infamous 'March to the Sea' and scorched earth policy of Sherman but the goal for taking Atlanta had already been accomplished so its exclusion makes sense.
Contains spoilers
This series is nonexistent in the library systems I have access to, I had to request this and the 3rd book in the series via interlibrary loan. I received this book after the 3rd.
I didn't enjoy this floor as much as I did those in the 1st and 3rd books. The story took place in just 1 town and there weren't as many battles, I don't think. Which is strange because the hardcopy is incredibly thick and not alot of white space on the pages. There should be a really long story here but there's not.
The characters continue to be interesting in all 3 books, however Mordecai is a bit weird in this 1. Either I missed something in the 1st book or there was a drastic change in how the character related to this floor, with some settling in by the 3rd book.
There's still a lot of technical and political information mentioned and I just zoned out on most of that, choosing to "go with the flow" rather than try to memorize something I'd forget by the next book.
None of my library systems seem to know about this series, I had to resort to interlibrary loan which means a hardcopy. This sucker was over 400 pages big!
Normally it's a month or so to finish a hardcopy book of this size but this was SOOO good it took me 6 days. And I didn't receive the 2nd book in the series before this one but that wasn't really an issue. Yes, there probably were references to things that went on in the 2nd book but considering the complexity of this floor and the warning made by the author up front, I was already level set to just 'go with it'.
Let's see how easy it is to get the 2nd and 4th now.
I skipped the first several chapters, too much detail on the abuse of women for my taste and in hindsight didn't really add to the storyline other than providing 'See how much better her life is now, compared to the start?'
For most of the first half of the book I kept seeing hints at veering off to a focus on young adult trials and tribulations but was pleasantly surprised to see the plot didn't go too far down those roads.
Good action, interesting characters, some interesting concepts to stretch my view, overall an enjoyable read.
A great collection of stories about individuals doing their part to support the beavers around the world, their projects, the sciences involved, and lots of facts about everything related.
Good starting place for the story, lots of action and forward motion to the plot, characters you can get to know and love, and no sidetracking. All the things I love in a book.
My sense of humour tends more towards the British because if I can rapidly guess the punchline or the 'humour' is really demeaning and / or mean, it's not humour it doesn't rate a twitch of the cheek muscles let alone the lips or eyes.
This was really really enjoyable, probably because I loved DnD in college, the two main characters are written well and have great interactions, the announcer is incredibly creative, and the action just keeps going.
The narrator is incredibly talented with his voice. I'd swear the female voices [Princess Donut for example] doesn't sound like a male voice straining at its audible limits. And he does a fantastic job interpreting the announcer's dialog!
If you enjoyed this book give Drew Hayes' NPCs https://hardcover.app/books/npcs a try.
I want to keep reading, sadly none of the library systems I have access to have the book and interlibrary loan doesn't include audio since the '00s when the government started cutting back on funding for the arts and libraries had to cut costs somewhere.
The next book in this series was recommended but I like to start with the first book in a series. After getting in a ways, I realized I wasn't being drawn in by the story or the characters because murder mysteries are not a genre I like to read.
I'm giving it a 3 because the story, writing, pace and characters are all done well.
What a life! To leisurely wander the property and get to know the history and people of this place, that's what I wish for in a retirement. And even better if you could work from anywhere!
The writing is so vivid you can hear the bird song, feel the heat, enjoy the greenery and music.
I'm not a big fan of novellas so not happy that I have to walk thru several 'books' to get the complete story. To its credit, in this instance it appears the series may have started out as a podcast, and is an independent publisher.
The plot is intriguing because it's the 'old' west in the future, as Stephen King's Darktower is. And the audio presentation has a similar feel to another podcast called 'Old Gods of Appalachia', which I like to listen to.
So happy to see no decrease in any of the qualities that I like in a book and have seen in the previous 2 books in the series. Good storyline, movement in the storyline, characters you connect with, no straying from the storyline path, etc.
Incredibly helpful to fill in gaps in my understanding of systemic racism. And I think someone who's spent decades writing about these topics in understandable language, is someone I can listen to.
Growing up I knew just the name of 3 cultures from Central and/or South America, and that was it. Where they had lived and when, and details about them either didn't exist or I've forgotten them. This book does a great job of drilling into 1 of them, especially focusing on native sources.
It can get a bit overwhelming and drawn out but hang in there to the Epilogue and Appendix where the author goes into detail on the discovery of the sources of her information and how they relate to her story.
Her opening paragraph is up there with [book:The Gunslinger|43615]'s opening sentence on imagination- and attention- capture.
Downright gruesome, don't eat while listening! As usual for Michael Crichton's books, this is chock full of science facts weaved in with something sinister.
Due to the number of scientists involved, the story gets bogged down at the start, when each is being introduced along with their area of expertise. The storyline bogs down every now and again for the authors to dive into something going on at that moment. Thankfully it's usually short-lived and movement picks back up again.
I'm not sure what the subject of this book is. If the issue was with President Trump's failure to do a proper handoff from President Obama, the author did a great job expressing this several time with alot of exposition. Was this lack of understanding of how to run a country supposed to have had some recommendations? Or other examples than just the start of his presidency? It lacks all of that.
If this was to give folks a sample of the Sammies, the author did an excellent job of picking some great examples and providing plenty of detail.
And I have no idea what the connection between the lack of handoff and the title of the book is.
The author refers a lot to Ms. Walters' biography, which has me wondering what the author can contribute that Ms. Walters didn't already say in her memoir?
And I'm scratching my head as to why there is so much time spent on the father's biography when the subtitle only mentions his daughter. Does she feel they're that tied at the hip so to speak? I mean, it seems she was heavily involved in pulling him out of his own messes but does it justify this much of Ms. Walters' biography?
Otherwise, for those of us who didn't read the memoir, this book provides a lot of details of her personal life and thought processes that I wasn't aware of. Granted, I was still fairly young when I saw her on 60 Minutes and doing interviews with famous people, and not all that interested in knowing more about her, or reading about her in papers.
You can tell this book is written by a fellow journalist that feels research and the facts are important, not sensationalism and inflammatory wording. [a:Marie Colvin 6425697 Marie Colvin https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s name didn't ring a bell and I suspect it's because she reported for a UK news agency and I intentionally limit my exposure to news.I'm thankful I didn't read this during 2020 or the start of 2021 when my mood was dark and troubled by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on my daily life. The horrors experienced by others is already difficult for me to deal with and adding Marie's life on top of these 2 would have been too much.The author did an amazing job of showing Marie's good points and bad points. How both aspects made her a good fit for the type of work she chose to live. I'm not yet done with the book and I suspect I'm not going to make it to the end. She's already into conflicts I remember seeing and hearing on the news that I would see on tvs that I would pass in my daily comings and goings. It's starting to add detail and the horror [which she wanted people to know about now that I think about it].Interestingly, I came across a reference to the documentary/movie “A Private War” that I watched, and which picks up where I am now in her life, to her last moments. And while writing this review I see [b:On the Front Line: The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin 19015506 On the Front Line The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin Marie Colvin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385622146l/19015506.SY75.jpg 21378920] as a recommend. I'd love to read this, to experience her thoughts directly.... but not right now.
A good reality check for me. I've been wanting to do a walking vacation in Ireland for a long time and of course I have dreamy ideas of all the greenness, but have to remember the only reason there's green is because there's rain and cloudy skies.
Although the story is not roses and sunshine I appreciated how they shared with honesty, how they adjusted to their new life and made connections with their neighbors and surrounding communities.
Probably not a good read for someone not connected with the people being profiled but for those who are it's filled with alot of information that'll pop up in various readings and conversations. I find this helpful and fascinating when and where the references occur.