Blue sky, green trees.
Went on a bit too much in parts of the third act, otherwise really good.
Went on a bit too much in parts of the third act, otherwise really good.
Based on the hype and a glowing recommendation from a dear friend, I had high hopes for this book. Instead it fell flat for me. It seems that I was supposed to be very moved by the author's personal struggles, but they weren't talked about in enough depth, or often enough, or with too little emotion. These struggles just weren't interesting and frankly didn't feel like they belonged in what was clearly a book about David Starr Jordan. Overall, the book was flat and a little dull.
Based on the hype and a glowing recommendation from a dear friend, I had high hopes for this book. Instead it fell flat for me. It seems that I was supposed to be very moved by the author's personal struggles, but they weren't talked about in enough depth, or often enough, or with too little emotion. These struggles just weren't interesting and frankly didn't feel like they belonged in what was clearly a book about David Starr Jordan. Overall, the book was flat and a little dull.
This was my weekend morning book, read over cups of coffee from my spot on the couch. It was the perfect companion for that early, tender part of a Saturday or Sunday - funny and interesting and gentle. I recommend this book to everyone, whole-heartedly.
This was my weekend morning book, read over cups of coffee from my spot on the couch. It was the perfect companion for that early, tender part of a Saturday or Sunday - funny and interesting and gentle. I recommend this book to everyone, whole-heartedly.
Nothing happens in this book! Rambling descriptions that go on for literally pages that make you forget the topic of the paragraph(s). Sentences that contain parentheticals that themselves last for half a page. All this in the service of literally no plot. NO PLOT. I hated this book.
Nothing happens in this book! Rambling descriptions that go on for literally pages that make you forget the topic of the paragraph(s). Sentences that contain parentheticals that themselves last for half a page. All this in the service of literally no plot. NO PLOT. I hated this book.
Fascinating take-down of the world of crypto. The chapters on NFTs were my favorite, they are so good that they could be stand-alone articles (maybe they were at one point?). Highly recommend.
Fascinating take-down of the world of crypto. The chapters on NFTs were my favorite, they are so good that they could be stand-alone articles (maybe they were at one point?). Highly recommend.
The Last Gunfight
There is a lot of filler info to round out the page count of this book. If you are interested in learning all the context of what was going on, including political, sociological, and familial histories that go back decades before the action, then you'll gobble up this book. Otherwise you'll need to skim heavily, which is what I did.
There is a lot of filler info to round out the page count of this book. If you are interested in learning all the context of what was going on, including political, sociological, and familial histories that go back decades before the action, then you'll gobble up this book. Otherwise you'll need to skim heavily, which is what I did.
Fantastic book, absolutely fascinating look at Berlin. It definitely opened my eyes a bit to how the squat situation developed here, and due to the context that the book provided it made me view the squats and squatters in Berlin slightly more favorably than before. I mean, I understand now how things developed the way they did, and that at the time it was actually even necessary in some ways. It also blew my mind to learn that there were different types of squats, it wasn't just uniform chaos, everyone sleeping on a dirty mattress on the floor and shooting up then going on the streets and stomping people. This book definitely helped fill in some of the pieces of Berlin's history that I was missing before, and it was all told in an engaging, personable way. Highly recommend.
Fantastic book, absolutely fascinating look at Berlin. It definitely opened my eyes a bit to how the squat situation developed here, and due to the context that the book provided it made me view the squats and squatters in Berlin slightly more favorably than before. I mean, I understand now how things developed the way they did, and that at the time it was actually even necessary in some ways. It also blew my mind to learn that there were different types of squats, it wasn't just uniform chaos, everyone sleeping on a dirty mattress on the floor and shooting up then going on the streets and stomping people. This book definitely helped fill in some of the pieces of Berlin's history that I was missing before, and it was all told in an engaging, personable way. Highly recommend.
Hilarious, and it had lots of useful German vocabulary words.
Hilarious, and it had lots of useful German vocabulary words.
The stream of consciousness style is usually a deal-breaker for me, but I stuck it out with this book and I'm glad I did. I don't know of any other books that addresses the topic of what happens to former colonists when they are violently expelled and return to the motherland. It was quite interesting, didn't pull punches, and took only one easy out. In all a good read, would recommend.
The stream of consciousness style is usually a deal-breaker for me, but I stuck it out with this book and I'm glad I did. I don't know of any other books that addresses the topic of what happens to former colonists when they are violently expelled and return to the motherland. It was quite interesting, didn't pull punches, and took only one easy out. In all a good read, would recommend.
Read it the first time when I was just out of college, and it blew my mind. Twenty years later I grabbed it for my trip to Naples/Pompeii, and it absolutely came alive for me once again. It's a fascinating and absorbing story, and filled with thousands of historically accurate details that make my understanding of human history all the richer. I was completely enthralled. Highly, highly recommend.
Read it the first time when I was just out of college, and it blew my mind. Twenty years later I grabbed it for my trip to Naples/Pompeii, and it absolutely came alive for me once again. It's a fascinating and absorbing story, and filled with thousands of historically accurate details that make my understanding of human history all the richer. I was completely enthralled. Highly, highly recommend.
Based on the description and a conversation with a friend who had already read it, I was fully prepared to hate this book but heroically muddle through for the sake of Book Club. I was pleasantly surprised to find it entertaining and fun. If someone was looking for a book to read in general, this wouldn't be my first suggestion, but if they were looking for a Berlin book then this would be in my top 3 suggestions.
Based on the description and a conversation with a friend who had already read it, I was fully prepared to hate this book but heroically muddle through for the sake of Book Club. I was pleasantly surprised to find it entertaining and fun. If someone was looking for a book to read in general, this wouldn't be my first suggestion, but if they were looking for a Berlin book then this would be in my top 3 suggestions.
I adore when authors use the first person plural voice. I also adore everything else about this book, so file this one under Highly Recommend and then go out and read it for yourself.
I adore when authors use the first person plural voice. I also adore everything else about this book, so file this one under Highly Recommend and then go out and read it for yourself.
Wow, I did not see this book coming. It was our July book club selection, and while I was perfectly happy to read it I didn't have very high expectations. I figured it would be slice-of-life, heavy on descriptions and short on action, and the start of the book bore this out. However, things take an unexpected turn and the pace really picks up. Then it picks up even more, and keeps on going. I have to dock it half a star because there were still lots of overly-long descriptions, whole pages-worth of descriptions, that I had to skim/skip to keep in the flow. Otherwise a damn fine book.
Wow, I did not see this book coming. It was our July book club selection, and while I was perfectly happy to read it I didn't have very high expectations. I figured it would be slice-of-life, heavy on descriptions and short on action, and the start of the book bore this out. However, things take an unexpected turn and the pace really picks up. Then it picks up even more, and keeps on going. I have to dock it half a star because there were still lots of overly-long descriptions, whole pages-worth of descriptions, that I had to skim/skip to keep in the flow. Otherwise a damn fine book.
Added to listOwnedwith 539 books.
