Mer Barr

I'm thankful the author didn't try to tell Eisenhower's entire biography and instead scoped it to one important subject in American history. It was a tradition for Kansans to visit his presidential library while in high school and, of course, you can care less as a teen, so it was ensightful to see his life and the topics that you heard about on the tv but also could care less about, as a teen. :-)

As chess is involved I did alot of skimming over the sentences about the strategies but I did enjoy the author's weaving of the game into the life of the characters involved. I did enjoy the descriptive prose that involved alot of touch and a dreamy quality to it but I did not enjoy the amount which at times brought the story to a screeching halt, often.Reminds me of another book about chess, mysteries, math, and music; [b:The Eight 113310 The Eight (The Eight #1) Katherine Neville https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388263286l/113310.SY75.jpg 268923].

Another fine plot in the series. Still enjoying Bob's perspective and his quirky coworkers and peers. Still finding technology that's well above my understanding; thankfully the author doesn't spend alot of time on those areas and I can get on with the story.

FYI, this is a series that needs to be read in order, as there are references to happenings and people in the prior books, and there's no catchup.

Fully acknowledging that this is one person's take on Hatshepsut's biography, it sounds like the author is knowledgeable in ancient Egypt, appears to base her conclusions on facts, and has done some serious contemplation on interpreting what she knows and fleshing that out to make the woman and her world become real in the mind's eye.This level of research and the author's interpretation reminds me of [b:The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon: An Elusive World Wonder Traced 16179911 The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon An Elusive World Wonder Traced Stephanie Dalley https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1354631905l/16179911.SY75.jpg 22034490], which I also enjoyed.

I gave this book a 5, when I was 10-20 years younger. Today I give it a 3.5 as it reads more like young adult to me.

The author does a great job of sharing what life is like for him, how he's been successful and not with various challenges, and he shares a very interesting meditation practice that is not so narrowly scoped to traditional Buddhist images and themes. A practice for people looking for newer themes maybe.

It's like sitting inside Mrs. Adams' head, listening to her reminisce about her life [past present and future], various individuals she's met [past, present and future], family, you name it. If you don't focus on the one trip the title implies and think about the ‘Last Days of Napoleon', you'll be happier.

A great storyline and nice wrap up too! This one has more of a ‘message' than the other 2. I don't try too hard to figure that out.

Enjoyed the first part of the book better than the second only because I knew nothing at all. The connection to music was especially fascinating. The second part, I was old enough to know about but was good to get to know some of the movers and shakers a bit better.

Unlike alot of second in a series, this book's plot, wit, and writing style is just as good as the first. Will continue on the next in the series.

No gore, no death, very refreshing for a ‘mystery'. And it has 3 sisters with interesting personalities that live on their own terms, not those of the society of the age.

Putting the next in the series on my TBR list.

The format of the book is very conducive to audio with multiple voice actors. And these actors did a great job of conveying the individual personalities, the sarcasm, the back-n-forth verbal sword play, etc. I laughed alot too.

The subject matter is interesting and it leaves some mystery to keep you interested for more. I'll continue with the series.

I didn't realize until I got to the last few pages, that the book was written while the family's grief was still fresh. Not sure why but I think I might have read it differently had I known at the start.

Since I don't watch cable tv at home, most of what I knew about the Irwins was when I stayed at hotels or with family so this book really filled in alot about why he was so knowledgable about the animals he spoke about on his shows, and also that he was gifted in other ways. The book also shows he knew his life would be short and therefore lived boldly and with passion while he was here.

The author's writing style and organization of thoughts is not my cup of tea.

Each chapter seems to be like an article in newspaper or something similar. Each took me awhile to grasp what message the author might be trying to convey, and I wouldn't say I'd guessed correctly. And most times I wasn't sure what it had to do with either the prior chapters or the book title.

Moving on to books on social justice for women that I may be a better fit for.

One mind explosion after another, one jump off a cliff from something understood to something not yet understood after another.

This book, I plan to buy and put next to my meditation cushion for contemplation in tiny bites.

I wish I'd had a book like this to read prior to my first visit to Biltmore back in the 90s. Strangely, almost 20 years later, I can still see in my mind's eye some of what is mentioned. Thankfully, I'm not that far away now and will reread prior to a visit.

I enjoyed getting an introduction to another person's view of the world and the narrator was a good match for the story.
I will say I sometimes did the finger spinning action meaning, ‘Can we move on, please?' but most of the time it was suspenseful and the ending was satisfying, the not officially titled epilogue was a good wrap up of things for me too.

The first day of listening I thought I was not going to enjoy the book because I'd get confused by the names and terms of another culture but one day I discovered that the sequencing of the stories and the author's built-in pauses to build personalities and connections between person and person and item to person, made it easy for me to see in my mind's eye these people and items and their history, when mentioned later.And of course I always enjoy listening to Mr. Gaiman read his own work. Here is another book I'd enjoy, like [b:Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold 35074096 Mythos The Greek Myths Retold (Stephen Fry's Great Mythology, #1) Stephen Fry https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1502518360l/35074096.SY75.jpg 56371760], to have read to me each night.

If you go with the flow of not remembering which latin term or name refers to what, you can still be amazed at what you can learn. I especially liked chapter 7 and the fungal computer chips.

Wow, this felt like a roller coaster ride! First you're careening thru the horrors of human ignorance and disregard and its impact then your heartbeat comes back to normal as the author shifts into more upbeat topics like activism by individuals or groups, and nature's recovery.

I liked that this book was written fairly recently and brings me fairly up to date. Once again, I'm amazed at the amount of research some authors clearly have to do, and the amount of thought put in to how to organize and present the many many subjects that make up the gulf.

The author does express his personal opinions now and again but doesn't overdo it. And somehow, sadly, I missed the section on manatees or they weren't covered in as much detail as other living creatures were. References yes, but not much detail on origins and possible migration patterns, etc.

This must be ‘read' in audio where you can hear the author read his book. His career as a comedian really shines! And I love that he gives you the modern words that have their root based in the characters or the story he's telling.Did you know Shakespeare drew alot on the Greek myths? Or how the seagull came to be? I didn't!The only drawback is there are so many names and so much genealogy that my eyes glazed many times. Reminded me alot of [b:The Silmarillion 7332 The Silmarillion J.R.R. Tolkien https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610045590l/7332.SX50.jpg 4733799].

This is my kind of science fiction book; heavy on the science and a good fiction plot. I found the premise of the science intriguing to consider, and I did throw a mental penalty flag about the last few pages. Come on! An homage? Really?

The author does a great job of presenting the life of Gertrude Bell. She draws heavily on letters written by and to Miss Bell and doesn't overly present a personal opinion on the story being presented.

This would be a book I present to someone looking for a role model. Granted she had family money and influence to draw on to get her into an area of the world most Europeans didn't appear to have visited much, and it allowed her to do things she wanted to do [rather than have to do to put bread on the table] but she also stood her ground in environments hostile to women [sadly amongst her own countrymen], took risks, and faced dangerous situations.

Her life also gives insights into the struggles of someone who wanted a partner to share her life and experiences with but the stars never would align to make it happen.

This book seems to share more of the inner struggles of Wade Watts but maybe it appears that way because I was so focused on, and enjoying the memories I had, from the 80s references. There also seems to me more references, and on much broader subjects, than the first so there was alot here that I couldn't match to a memory of my own.

There is the same ‘blow by blow' detail to explanations and during the quests as the first book and about half-way thru I began skimming to get back to the story line [plus the library's due date is looming].

The book presented some interesting food for thought on digital worlds and lives. I was definitely anxious about how some of this might play out in the real world.

Wow! Any male narrator that can immediately shift into a higher vocal range for one of his female characters AND sing pretty darned well at the same time, I'm going to ‘follow'!

As to the story, still very detailed on the technical stuff, alot of characters to track but still funny!

Alot of profanity [if that's something you don't like] and the main character is not religious, and vocal about it [if religious is something you do like].