Mer Barr

Nice continuation from the first book. Can't remember what the pace of the plot was for the first book but this one was a bit slow for my taste. More of the interesting naming convention, which I enjoyed thinking about, however I had a hard time remembering which name set went with which person causing me to miss some of the storyline.

I'd been wanting to read more of [a:C.J. Cherryh 989968 C.J. Cherryh https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1244675150p2/989968.jpg] after enjoying [b:Cuckoo's Egg 18155 Cuckoo's Egg (Age of Exploration, #3) C.J. Cherryh https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1316469336l/18155.SY75.jpg 858417]. I found this book on the TBR of a Goodread friend who recently died and thought I'd give it a read. #jennyguycolvinI was glad the author took the time to give some background of the parties involved and the changes in their interactions over time but I read it way too fast, apparently, to keep it all straight when the story got going.I found it amazing how few words are used in a sentence and yet they convey the important details. I can think of other books I've read whose authors could take some lessons from this precision!I like stories with alot of action and I like stories with quirky, interesting characters and their interactions. This book didn't have alot of action for the part of it I did read. It did have characters and interactions but is missing the quirky and interesting. Needless to say, I didn't finish reading it.

Had heard about this book on an NPR interview with the author and I see it's on Goodread friend, who recently died's TBR so reading in now in her honor. #jennyguycolvin

Loved the language lessons, especially the slowing down the pronunciation so I could pick up on each part of the words. Lots of good tips to explore for myself, including chapter 1's unscented candles.

I initially gave this a 2 or 3, because King had put himself into the plot and made himself the center of the magic [for lack of a more appropriate term].But this is a continuation to [b:Wolves of the Calla 4978 Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5) Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419360231l/4978.SY75.jpg 2754911] which is my favorite in the series. This one has more plot movement and more references to the overlapping stories, including another of my King favorites [b:Rose Madder 10619 Rose Madder Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1660826989l/10619.SY75.jpg 833191], and even more overlapping Earths. And so I've changed my rating to 4.

I didn't make it too far into the book because I prefer my books, non-fiction or otherwise, to stick close to the story line and keep the plot moving. This was too much like the dump of a mind bouncing here, there, and everywhere. What the author was presenting from her walks was way too varied for my taste and she dove into each variation quite a bit.

I read this because it was on the TBR of a Goodreads friend who recently died. In honor of #jennyguy colvin.

I think this is my favorite in the Dark Tower series because the world building, sitting around the campfires telling stories, and reminiscing, is done and the action begins to move forward in time. Also the overlapping of worlds and other King stories is very prominent.

[in honor of Jenny “Reading Envy” Colvin]
#jennyguycolvin

Picked this one from a bookclub friend's TBR and it was a good one! A mix of those film noir movies and [a:Mickey Spillane 50948 Mickey Spillane https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1318950096p2/50948.jpg] type of ‘no nonsense', first-person, who dunnits, with a dash of [b:Altered Carbon 40792913 Altered Carbon (Takeshi Kovacs, #1) Richard K. Morgan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531415180l/40792913.SY75.jpg 2095852]'s uncertainty as to who you're actually meeting.I don't usually like the who dunnits as some are really easy to figure out and I'm not fond of murders as the base for a story. This did have some of gruesome but it definitely did not give things away too soon.

Got about halfway through, not seeing anything I didn't already understand so dropping this one and looking for another.

Intriguing concepts around intersection of the body and the mechanicals, what is intelligence and human. however most of the story seems to occur inside peoples' heads so there's not as much activity that I enjoy.

Cutting this read short.

The variety of lives was incredibly insightful into ‘a day in the life' but I was a bit confounded when all the stories start with the hurricane that broke the levee before Katrina. I was ready to move on before I could determine if the stories went on thru Katrina or not.

I made it to the 68% mark and then moved on. The focus of the book is spread well beyond the subject of the title and it's the library and it's members I was most interested to hear about.

Half the book's story seems to be about the war in the city, with no tie at all to the library. How do pages on how weapons were supplied to the rebel forces, including the opposing force, and the ethics involved relate to the library or the members?

I will say the other half of the book does a great job of presenting the library itself and it's impact on the community.

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.

It's been a decade or 2 and still enjoyable.

Nothing against the author's writing style, the subject matter is something I don't get excited about to read.

I wished I had known the Thames much better so I could visualize where the author was talking about, which would have made this more of an armchair-travel like read for me. As it is, this more like a broad history of London, well back behind the Romans at times, she does have one chapter about how our century is represented [it's ugly I must say].

Maybe I'll reread this another time, and use a mapping tool that uses satellite imaging and street car views, to get a better visual.

Majority of his stories are very upbeat. Strangely he doesn't go into as much detail about how the Foo Fighters came together as he does with Nirvana. Meshes nicely with the tv series he and his mom did, based on her book about mothers and their successful, musical, children.

Do the audiobook where he does the narration himself.

Footloose meets Regency-era England.
Lots of individual mysteries and some romance [thankfully not too gooey].

So glad I heard about this book. The books I'd read previously on Genghis Kahn gives one the impression he was really ruthless, but clearly there were aspects of him where he was much more liberal [in today's standards] to raise his daughters to be such competent and strong women who could manage whole regions and therefore maintain the grounds his sons and sons-in-law captured and conquered.Also glad to hear about the women and their relationships so far after Genghis Kahn and the very ending was a real ahah for me.I'll be circling back to [b:The Devil's Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe 153288 The Devil's Horsemen The Mongol Invasion of Europe James Chambers https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1172249672l/153288.SY75.jpg 147971], to see what perspectives are changed as a result of this balancing of history.

The title of this book is a bit misleading. You think you're going to have a biography but the mix is really 90% history and culture of the vikings with 10% biography and that 10% doesn't really go into her journey thru Europe but mainly the east and west of her homeland.

Once I shifted my perspective to align with the actual topics, I found this book incredibly fascinating! So many journeys by so many voyagers, and alot of archaeology and interpretations of historical documents.

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.

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'm reading this book after several other books about the guards whose plots are much later in time. It's strange to see how different the situation and the guard are, between the time lines. I'm looking forward to finding and reading the books in between.

Good mystery with a surprise that I didn't see coming. A nice intro to the second lead character.

What's with all these novellas! A 2 hour story is waste of my time! 1 star for this.

Not sure how this ties in to the first in the series, maybe the cleric in the story? Nothing else is sounding familiar.

Other than these, it seems well written so giving it an extra 2 stars.

I normally prefer books that have alot of substance and depth to them, which is why I avoid short stories in general, and sometimes novellas. I did enjoy this novella more because it's a time period I enjoy and especially a strong woman as the Empress is.

I found the quick switching of the time periods confusing. I would appreciate an audible pause [or visual break] be included in all such book structures.

I'll definitely read the next in the series.