Sara Martin

I did identify with quite a bit in this book. I'm not one for a lot of self-help strategies, so I didn't do the exercises, but they seem helpful if you are into that. I did learn how to appreciate myself and others more for how they think.

There are some very interesting facts about early humans in this book. I was hoping to learn more about Denisovans, but this book is 10 years old, so it's not completely up to date. I did learn some intriguing facts about head lice and evolution. I wish I could hear the Neanderthal “e,” but the website that the book links to has apparently taken that down, and Googling did not find it.

Very good book on using newspapers for Genealogy. James Beidler is great!

More of a text book style book, the articles I read helped me understand the years in the 6th century that “had no summer”. At the time this was compiled, scientists did not know why. New research indicates that three volcanic eruptions were to blame.

A woman whom time forgot and a modern woman from a modern age meet each other in the Soviet Union during the 1970s. One has a strong belief in her Christian faith and the other a strong belief in the State. As unlikely as it seems, they form a friendship over the course of two summers in Siberia. They influence each other as the Old Believer sees the outside world for the first time and the career woman sees - really sees - the outside for the first time.

Haunting and sad, bittersweet and poetic, the story of these women and their lives and loves unfolds amid the difficulties of life in Siberia, in Moscow, and in the world. Agafia's fantasies are delightful and a good contrast to Galina's practicality. Other characters share their interesting lives with the women, and in the end, you are left wondering about what could have been and what should have been.

After a volcano takes out the state of Washington, a small community survives, cut off from the outside world. They weren't off the grid, but they were trying to be environmentally friendly. This has some issues, though, as Max Brooks proceeds to tell us. The Internet goes out, and there goes the smart home. No waste of food, but no stockpiled supplies, either. A peaceful community, so no guns. As the people face the prospect of starvation, here come the sasquatch. . . .I'm thinking, “Oh, you are so gonna die!” I loved this book. Gory fun.

FYI, I live in the community attacked by mountain lions in 1991 mentioned in the book, but I moved here a couple years later. I heard about those town halls we had, though!

A typical 60s science fiction low-budget paperback. I bought it because it came from another era, and it reminded me of my dad's science fiction collection when I was young. Like other novels my dad read, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the book, but that's part of the charm.

The dialog is stilted, fake, and rather horrific. “Darling” is so overused. My copy had quite a few typos, too. The descriptions are okay, and I liked the basic plot - are these visitors alien? From the future? Or someplace else?

Short enough to quickly read without a huge investment, I took this on vacation and had fun with it.

This book tells the story of Earth's former supercratons and supercontinents, and then finally, at the end, the author talks about the future supercontinent, Amasia. His theory of that future formation is that of orthoversion, based on the 90° orthogonal positioning of the continents around Africa.

Although not a geologist, I enjoy books about earth's history. Because I lack a good science background, I did not understand everything that Ross Mitchell talked about, but he is an entertaining writer, and his personality shines through his writing. I appreciate that he gives credit to other scientists when appropriate.

A very interesting short novel about cancer and the people who have it currently or have had cancer in the past. I'm sure there are many deep thoughts in this novel, and I'm still processing it in my head.

What a fun book! Especially intriguing was the chapter about the 6th century and the decade of no summer. I'll be reading more about that. Cody writes in an informal style, but with lots of good scientific reasoning about surviving disasters.

Dressing on the Side is a fun book about serious nutrition. Jaclyn London is not on a fad diet trip, she's an RD with lots of knowledge, common sense, and a sense of humor. Her humor may not be for everyone (her enthusiasm oozes off every page), but she gets her points across throughout the chapters. Eat more vegetables. Eat more fruit. Move more. Eat dessert. All common sense statements that are repeated throughout the chapters.

Personally, I felt it was too repetitive (but maybe some people need that!), and I don't need all that rah-rah coaching, but I did appreciate learning a few new things. I also never figured out what the 11 ways are to feel great about myself. They are not actually itemized, but I think it has to do with the 11 chapters.

A thought provoking and humorous book about living for one year without throwing anything away. Eve is very thorough in explaining just where our recycling goes, and I did some research on my own recycling center here in town. It was very depressing to learn how plastics 3 through 7 are virtually impossible to recycle, but I'm still putting them into my recycle bag.

She does admit how privileged she is in this undertaking, being able to compost, burn trash, and go to small shops who will accommodate her and her desire for non plastic containers for food. In the end, her family was overwhelmed with this challenge, but more conscious of what they bought and what they tossed. I will try to be that way, also, but it seems pretty hopeless.

Mildly interesting account of the Hemp Space in Boulder Colorado. A lot of work went into Finn's venture into processing smokeable flower. What seems to be profitable isn't always worth it. There's very little action in this book, but if you're curious about the inner workings and politics of hemp, this book is for you.

An entertaining look at the history of Mexican food in the US. Very well written and thoroughly researched.

Boy, this was fun! I've lived here most of my life, but this book told me things about my mile high city I didn't know. Did you know we paved our streets with radioactive material? Or that there was a hell mouth in the old courthouse? The wild, the weird, the unusual, and the fun things about the metro area. Worth taking a look at whether tourist or long time resident.

The Secret Sharer is a fast-moving, adventurous tale that can be enjoyed as the simple tale it is on the surface or be scrutinized for a deeper meaning. There is a Captain, and there is his double. Both are essentially moral, but both have a secret. They reflect on each other, but will they both be free?

Heart of Darkness was written in a time long before current attitudes. At least Conrad could see the evils of colonialism, and he tried to grasp (and failed, as most books from 1910 will) the sameness of all people. Still, even with contemporary flaws intact, we learn that man's heart can be shrouded in darkness. There must be a price to pay for letting all the greedy, power-hungry, and self-righteous thoughts bubble over in conceit to the destruction of many. Conrad's descriptions, his style, his way with words are phenomenal. This is unlike today, where tight editing tends to prevent excessive wording.

On a personal note, I enjoyed Secret Sharer more than Heart of Darkness. The journey is shorter and more to the point. I immediately watched Apocalypse Now after reading this book. I am glad I did.

This is an odd little book, translated from French, about a woman's observations of a superstore every time she shopped. It reads like a diary. She observes people, society, corporate policies, the weather, her own emotions.

I only read 2 chapters, but I tried to read more. I was at a disadvantage as I did not read the 1st book in the series and I am not the target audience for this book. I did not care for the author's writing style. I realize this is not a review; rather, it is an opinion.

I live close to Rollins Pass, though I've never been. I need to see this! The train, now passing through the Moffat Tunnel, can be heard in the distance. My former landlord, Tom Abbott, was the fireman who lost his leg in the Needles Eye Tunnel in 1990. He had a bit of a rough time afterwards, but eventually he was back to working on the property. I loved the then and now photos this book is full of.

A bit out of date. This book is geared toward younger people with plenty of money for food, drink, and entertainment. I admit I live here in Denver, but due to cost constraints, I haven't patronized most of these businesses. There were a few fun things in it, but not a lot of inexpensive things.

I enjoyed this. I like Fall Out Boy. I like to read about other people's lives. Joe gets “real” in this book, exposing his foibles and mental health issues. I wish him the best of luck.

This was a good book, but I wanted more detail and more names of restaurants I had patronized in the past. This book should be twice its size!

I was interested in Kyle Patty's life and how he dealt with Adam's death. It was a sad book at times, but also hopeful. I did learn quite a few things I didn't know about, like an accident on pit road in the 70s.

I've been interested in ancient DNA lately, and particularly interested in indigenous American history. The author makes it very clear throughout the book that she feels the archaeological community and academia need to work together with Native American tribes as to the remains of their ancestors. This seems to be the main focus of her book and she repeatedly explains about the colonialist mindset we have in the US and especially emphasizes this in her last chapter. Personally, she seemed to belabor the point but she feels it needs to be understood.

There were some interesting things I learned from the book, but not as much as I expected to learn. I know that we no longer adopt the Clovis First idea but I wasn't convinced humans have been here as long as she thinks - 130,000 years ago would assume a line died out at some point before later humans migrated. It is extremely important to the author that her ancestors were here long before 15,000 years ago due to the fact that white settlers justified their actions as indigenous peoples had not inhabited this land as long as people had inhabited Europe. I am excited about the discovery of the Y chromosome in Amazonia that indicates an earlier migration but I am not convinced that the main migrations happened long before 20,000 - 15000 years ago. I will keep reading.

This is a relatively scholarly work and the author assumes a certain familiarity with Greek and Latin vocabulary, along with Christian soterioligy and eschatology. I am not as familiar with Christian theology as I would like to be; hence, I read this book.

Although this book's title indicates this is a tour of the Afterlife in early Christian traditions, the author includes examples such as The Odyssey and The Aeneid for background. A large part of the book discusses the Apocalypse of Peter. The author wraps up with the Gospel of Nicodemus.

This book is actually a thesis to prove that universalist salvation was the original Chrustian doctrine (or at least the doctrine espoused in early Christian texts) and manuscripts were edited to show the later view of eternal punushment for the wicked.

I had not expected this book to be more than an overview of texts similar to Dante's. That surprised me. The author wraps up the book with his own views on the subject. I have no issue with that but I did not realize the purpose of this book was to prove a point.