Mer Barr
The first time I read this I actually didn't finish it. I struggled with the shifting timelines. Today, it wasn't as much of an issue, probably because I had time to follow the people rather than the timeline. I also think my short time in west Germany allowed me to better connect with the story and the places. And I'm glad I got to the end this time, or else I'd never know that 2 places near my current home will be on my to-do list and when I get there, I'll have more appreciation because of this book.
I love to volunteer at the Library of Congress and the National Archives, transcribing handwritten notes. I'll be adding the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives to my search criteria when I”m looking for a project.
It was very good for understanding what his personal feelings were and how they compared to what he was campaigning for. I wish we had similar insight and comparison in regards to today's politicians. Do they truly believe in what they're campaigning for? I'm just not sure.
It was a bit too indepth on the campaign trail; every speech, every stop; someone more interested in that aspect of a politician may like it, but that wasn't what I was interested in reading the book for.
For me, this book does a much better job explaining the Heart Sutra than the other two books that had been recommended to me: [b:The Heart Attack Sutra 13640878 The Heart Attack Sutra Karl Brunnholzl https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1336581546s/13640878.jpg 19255506] and [b:An Arrow to the Heart: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra 2405629 An Arrow to the Heart A Commentary on the Heart Sutra Ken McLeod https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348053278s/2405629.jpg 2412795]. The analogies worked perfectly for me.I borrowed this from the library and I ran out of time so this is going on the list for my personal library where I can read and study it at my own pace.
This is a great beginner's book, not alot of Tibetan or Sanskrit words to memorize, he reiterates alot of the concepts and lists several times. It gives me several opportunities to let it sink in but may be too much for another person.
There was one section I really enjoyed and now have it written out as a morning intention. I'll definitely get a hard-copy to add to my library and make notes in.
I feel too old to put this book to good use. I'm past needing to negotiate my way through the male-dominant industries I've worked in for 40 years and I'm not planning to be on any big non-profits or board of directors to put this to good use.
However! I believe it's still a valuable book for any woman that needs to navigate business politics and intrigue and/or move in male-dominated environments and has a desire to work her way up the proverbial ladder.
I have to give the author kudos for taking precise notes on what his resources say and that he does his research to confirm the accuracy of the resources statements and clarify the correction in his book, but I found there was more detail than I really was wanting to know. I also found it confusing when the author put more than one resources statements back-to-back. I had to reread a paragraph now and again to make sure I was understanding which source had what perspective on Mr Hopper.
I guess I was looking for something more like a summarization with a dive in now and again for clarify. If you're looking for lots of details, this would be a great book for your education on Mr. Hopper.
Pretty ‘racy' and he got tired of writing and killed 3 people off in the last page! Not what I call good writing. I did find it a good read until then.
Well written! A great mix of research and personal experience, alot of detail and very good presentations of overarching desires, ambitions, and faults that are hard to see and condense without contemplation.
I'm glad someone mentioned this in a bookclub I belong to because I wouldn't have come across it on my own.
Very enjoyable, lots of characters to get to know, and an interesting twist to my childhood memories.
Interesting journey into an expansion of the world of [b:Out of Africa 781787 Out of Africa Isak Dinesen https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1608486134l/781787.SY75.jpg 1189079].
A great insight into a world I'm not familiar with, and I found I was envious of someone surrounded by strong and supportive women. Most of my life has been in male dominated work environments which at times was very lonely and you had to have your own back.
I think I enjoyed to visual art better than the first as there wasn't as many battle scenes to confuse my brain. I also liked the greyness of the motives and personalities; not so black and white. Which is why I also like [a:Elmore Leonard 12940 Elmore Leonard https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1240015224p2/12940.jpg].
A very quick read that reminded me of ‘meditations on a specific theme'. Some of the thoughts that arose for the author are memories of her family and growing up in segregated Texas, history of slavery in Texas, the origins of Juneteenth, and how her family celebrated.
It helped me understand a bit more of the world that I didn't grow up in.
Good mystery with a surprise that I didn't see coming. A nice intro to the second lead character.
The plot was confusing at the beginning but stablized before I gave up on the book. Intriguing ideas and concepts and alot of ‘Is the author making a statement here?'
Alot of references to prior books, many of which I couldn't stay invested in the story and others that were just to creepy for my taste. I may reconsider reading them..
I thought the author did a good job of gathering stories from many different sides of the event, as well as showing the positive and negative sides to human beings.
She dove into why PGnE was the one that started the flames and why but what I would like to know is did the residents of Paradise ever acknowledge their part in the catastrophe? There were so many mentions that the flames moves much more rapidly than most fires do but didn't really clarify what folks determined why. Was it a combination of the communities enthusiasm for being surrounded by nature and duff as well as the extremely dry weather?
One thing it took me awhile to understand was that Paradise is north of San Francisco. I've not watched the local or cable news channels or read news papers in decades, so I had always assumed this was in Southern California where all the fires from the 80s and 90s were occurring. I've driven thru the smoldering n blackened countryside in the north bay area of the San Francisco area, so I can now align Paradise with these memories, and time, in my mind.
I'm sure Bob's outlook on life was considered humorous when the book was written but he wouldn't survive very long in today's world, thank goodness.
75% of the book is on his life in school, showing all the synchronisity between who/where he was then and where he is today. I appreciated his honest sharing of his experience although I got a bit uncomfortable on ‘to much information' areas. I love that he is just as geeky as me as well as some of the deep thinking he does; I sure don't do that so “You go Simon!”
I dropped out completing the book first because I kept getting lost in the timelines. He did warn me in his introduction. Second, I was looking for the book to be touching into areas along his life rather than focusing heavily in his first 20 years or so.
Another fine plot in the series, more detail that sometimes is hard to track and although not as funny as the original book in the series, it still had me smiling now and again, which is good.
Footloose meets Regency-era England.
Lots of individual mysteries and some romance [thankfully not too gooey].
It's been awhile since I visited Pern, one of my favorite worlds as well as my introduction to science-fiction and fantasy.
Normally I don't like short stories but maybe my brain made an exception in this case because I could fit most of these into their right place in the Pern universe timelines, and none were a duplication of something I'd already read.
I wouldn't recommend this as an introduction to the universe as the stories span centuries and don't backfill for the mentioned people, places, and events.