Mer Barr

This was so much closer to what I was looking for than the previous book I read, which focused exclusively on the tactics of the battles. Based on the last several chapters, this book is an excellent condensing of the history of the organization, how they came to be, and how they were actually brought down. Not only does the author go into what can be gleaned from historical documents but also talks about the various spinoffs from Christianity and the different branches of Islam and their relation to the reason for the Templars' creation.

He also goes into alot of the myths that have arisen over time. [The author is definitely not a Dan Brown fan.]

This is going in my personal library for rereading.

Alot of science language thrown about amongst the storyline but not too distracting. A bit slow to start but picks up fairly quickly. I'll put the next in the series on my TBR list.

Could be a benefit to someone with, or is helping someone with, the higher ranges of the autism spectrum. Also an eye opener on the situation today when it comes to being able to earn an income or get additional help outside of the school systems.

A fun read, lots of action and movement [what I like in a story], who was who was a mystery til almost the end [I like this too]. The characters had good depth and personality, and I liked that objects of nature have manifestations.If you like this book and don't mind a bit of leaning towards sci-fi, you may enjoy [b:The Atrocity Archives 101869 The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files, #1) Charles Stross https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440461724l/101869.SY75.jpg 322252] by [a:Charles Stross 8794 Charles Stross https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1355510574p2/8794.jpg]. London today, supernatural, and managing the chaos that ensues.

Found it on YouTube.

Some text about why the person / place was on the photographer's list and alot of text about the person / place and a bit about the image taken. Text and image were not always in the vicinity of each other so sometimes you had to imagine and then say ‘ahah'when you came across the photo, or ‘what?' and then ‘ok, now I understand what I saw a bit back'.

And the wording of the text didn't seem to be in first person but someone else talking about the photographer and her experience. I'm not sure who did the research, the speaker or the photographer, or both.

For being classified as a novella on Goodreads, the story was long enough and the detailing of the main character and human interactions was deep. I enjoyed this and will look for more from the author.

The only issue I had is with the title. Although the term is referenced a couple times, it never seemed to apply to the main character or the storyline.

I thought the author covered a wide variety of subjects related to the telescopes, their policies, and the ethics surrounding them. Also the various sub-communities drawn to the area [not related to the establishment of the radio telescope] and the technology challenges in a technology heavy national culture.

I find it interesting I translated most of the information as more cons than pros to the area.

I struggled with this book. Possibly because I've been single and on my own for most of my life so no new insights for me.

I struggled alot with the style of the writing and I'm not sure I can easily put my finger on it. This is not to say it's bad but it's not how my brain gathers information for non-fiction topics. Something to do with each chapter seeming to be small essays on the chapter subject and not a linear timeline to them. There was alot of bouncing around from time periods and locations in the country [USA specific I think].

The list of sites is amazing and the page or 2 about the science associated with the site are incredible if not a bit overwhelming at times. The author does do a heroic job in the science pages of explaining in layman's terms.

I tried looking for a website where more sites could be found with no luck. I was hoping to find more closer to home.

I'm pretty sure I've read this before but there was so much I have no memory of at all! Lots of topics I was saddened over, some additional adventuring before all was said and done, and definitely surprised by the last few chapters.

All in all I don't think there were any loose ends which was surprising considering how long the grand story was.

Seems like a great book for someone with small kids but I'm looking for something about the classification structure and newer in time.

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.

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.

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 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.