Phil Lemons

I don't know that I can give this book a worthy review. What the people of Freedom House did and endured to do it is at once awesome and awful. If not for the ignorance of racism, they would be hailed American heroes with documentaries and public awareness. 

May we all treat each other with dignity and respect. Not for who they are and what they can do for us, but because we are all God's children, loved by the creator. Furthermore, may we all stand up and speak out when ignorance and prejudice raise their voices with disdain and disrespect. 

The story is adapted well. The art is not the style I prefer. I still prefer the novel. 

A fun thriller with an atypical cast. I like the idea of having heroes from various walks in life, not just James Bond knock-offs. The story kept my attention all the way through. The author weaves in the angst of older women who are done with misogyny in its various forms. There isn't a man-hater message. It's just not putting up with men who treat women as lessers and judges their abilities because they are women. 

This is a fun, short story. Feels like it could be in the Firefly universe. I would have liked this story to have been longer, but we take what we get. 

A quick story recapping Grudge's time and perspective of her time on the show and a quick adventure of her own. An entertaining, light, quick read. If you like cats. 

Second time through always brings more to light and reminds one of what was forgotten. Probably too much time between reading this the first time and reading the third adult novel.  The reader was solid, not getting too far afield with outlandish accents for everybody. 

In the end the story was too quick to resolve for my taste. It does serve to bridge Seven of Nine's story to the first episode of Picard season three, so there is that little bonus. I wanted more story, a more fleshed development of it all, but that's asking a lot for this medium. 

The story continues to unfold. I like my Star Trek with a bit more depth to the story (not all ST stories speak to us all). It has the elements of a number of Trek stories, moving much more quickly than an episode. As a result, I feel the development of the mystery and the discovery phases moved to fast to satisfy. I say this recognizing that is s super hard thing to do in three 30 page installments. 

This first installment ends with a cliffhanger right when the story has started to be told. Most of this is setup for the main story and by itself is not enough. I do expect it to lead to something I enjoy very much. 

There are concepts here that I like, but I don't think I'm the target audience or have can really understand what the author is getting at here without some translation. I like the underwater world the author builds. I also like the way the author illustrates the way bias creates hate in people who really don't understand what they hate or why. I would like this to be bit longer and full in more of the story that seemed disconnected so I understood some of the plot points better. 

A fun adventure that is challenging to solve. This is definitely for the middle school crowd. The characters personalities are here, but they don't quite feel like our usual crew this time. 

This is a powerful story, showing the difference between western world thinking and older cultures that see themselves as part of a greater people. Sometimes this is a beautiful and positive thing. Sometimes it is ugly and hateful. Often it is also struggling with imperfections. The greatest take away from Todd short story is that often times, I need to listen much more than I need to talk. 

I'm a little embarrassed by how much I enjoy this comic series! It's just fun. 

I found this a fun revisit of the first four episodes of The Mandalorian. Is it necessary or needed? Unlike other Star Wars graphic novels, this doesn't tell a new story. I think life without it was good, but enjoyed taking time to read this one. This gets an extra star just because I like the story so much. 

I liked this story, but not as much as Hunt the Stars. This one seemed to be more focused on the romance and the story was more spread out. There is an element of mystery in the story, but for the most part this is one for those who want to see where the story is going and having it work out. This is the second of three, so I will probably check out the third from the library when it becomes available to see how it ends. Even though I'm not a romance novel person, the space opera is entertaining. 

This has the same hilarious irreverence seen in the TV show. I like the way this is meant for adults while incorporating the touches one expects in a kid's comic. 

A fun retelling of The Return of the Jedi. The writing flows well and works well for reading out loud. I like the way Angleburger retells the story, inserting witty comments and humorous observations that I enjoy, even after seeing the movie more times than I can say. For those who enjoy a lighthearted retelling of this story for 10 year-olds (and those with inner 10 year-olds). 

This was a fun read. I didn't read the flap cover or any other summaries of the story, just dived in cold. I'm glad I did. It caught me totally by surprise and it was a delight. 

This is a fun book. The magic system feels unique to me, and that may be my favorite part of this book. I don't typically go for love stories, but this was a fun one. It wasn't too cheesy or steamy. I could see certain elements of the story being allusions to a ln even greater romantic story, but I will leave that for the romantics. 

Seeing how the authors and artists worked together to create this new Star Wars galaxy and story, especially during the pandemic is truly fascinating. Hearing how the stories evolved seeing the evolution of the characters and culture is fun. 

A gracious, well painted look at the struggle to value others while we struggle to value ourselves. 

Unfortunately, I was a bit spoiled on the ending coming into this book, so I was not surprised by the end result. It took some of the emotion I would have had throughout the story out. That being said, this is perhaps the biggest struggle our Jedi heroes have faced so far in the series. From this story comes the question, who am I when my greatest strength is exploited as my greatest weakness? Perhaps a better way to say it is, who am I without my strength? 

While this is the end of Phase I of The High Republic adult novels, and Phase II goes to a time before Phase I, it is not a triumphant ending like Return of the Jedi. Instead, I would liken this to the feeling I would have had if The Empire Strikes Back was the end of the trilogy and the prequels were coming next. There are a lot of questions as to what will happen next. 

Our world has been mostly patriarchal societies throughout history. Many of the books collected in The Holy Bible are written from those who wrote from that perspective in their times. However, even when the original writers did not ascribe God with a gender, or describe God with female and motherly attributes, translators have chosen or have been pressured or edited toward a male bias in describing God. 

This preamble is likely longer than the entire book. This is a children's book, not a theological deep dive. However, those who are willing to look will find the characterizations of God in these pages do, in fact, exist in the pages of our Holy Bible. I like that this book takes time to teach our children that he made both male and female are made in God's image. 

While space, shuttles, and skunks take the forefront in the story, learning to find friendship with others who one might think have nothing to offer is the main point of the story. 

The story is sprinkled with facts about skunks and space shuttles along with some funny lines. The writing has a number of words that challenge a preteen's vocabulary. I like expanding vocabulary, but they felt out of place and difficult to navigate in places. 

All that said, the boy really liked this story and we enjoyed the story. 

The story flows fairly well and there is a ton of history packed into this little book. At times, the density of the facts mean the story slows, but this is not a criticism. 

What I like about this book is the way it portrays perspectives and attitudes of people from Confederate states past and present. This is not done with a wide brush, painting everyone, rather characters have different perspectives and motives. There were good, likable people fighting for the South and they didn't necessarily hate the North, and vice versa. 

What I didn't like about this book were the cuss words, especially using the name Jesus Christ as a curse. While it may be how some kids talk, this could be authentic without this. It feels more out of place to me than a Gameboy in the 1800s.