Fiona

A fun old-school folk tale, full of predictable tropes and stock characters which starts out strong but gets a bit laboured after the halfway point. Reminscent of Dickens being paid per installment, this book goes on for far too long because of the circumstances under which it was first presented to the public.

Theoretically this was a great tale but the execution of it seemed terribly heavy-handed with whole feminist angle constantly being explained. I would have liked the story to simply reflect what the author wanted to impart but I felt like I was constantly being told it instead. Annoying.

This was due back at the library before I could read it all the way through so I won't comment on the structure (which had a lot of time shifts) or pacing. However the 2/3 of the book I plowed through elicited laughter and heart-felt empathy which is difficult to get out of me these days.

I can understand why Mr. Carnegie's work has stood the test of time. Simple precepts are presented and then reinforced with multiple examples of application from people who the author knows or met through his courses where said precepts are taught. The prose is simple and accessible, even chatty in tone. Everybody should read this, imho.

This is a book in serious need of an editor.
Andrews has plenty of valid points and research to back them up but fails to structure it in a way that is convincing or readable, leaving the reader to dig through repetitive diatribes and unnecessary barbs to get to the facts.

Pitch perfect non-fiction narrative. Pacing and structure are excellent. And everything is cited properly. The epilogue gets maudlin at the end though and I could have done without the last four pages.

Not as good as the first book, really drags at times.

Lovely and immersive brain candy. This would earn five stars if the world-building were original, instead of its obvious use of existing cultures even down to the spelling.

DNF because I am unable to ignore the weird condescending ignorance of this book, as though the author lives in fluffy bunny land and doesn't understand government brutality and oppression, or what war actually means to those caught in it. I threw in the towel when it was intimated that Sergei Korolev, a Soviet scientist (who had, the book tells us, just spent 6 years in various gulags where he had been subjected to beatings that resulted in him no longer being able to fully open his mouth and living conditions which caused him to develop life-long heart issues) should simply have refused to co-operate with his government. Also, he didn't immediately return to his family when he was released “for reasons that remain unclear”, completely ignoring real life in Communist Russia in the mid-twentieth century, especially for someone with Korolev's skills and knowledge.

Not recommended, at all.

The story takes entirely too long to get going. Despite this being a children's book, it does not read like one and is probably best suited to precocious readers with an interest in Ancient Greece (or adults who were once upon a time).

Amazing illustrations, clear concise history. I would have liked proper references, especially for government documents, rather than just a bibliography but that seems to be the standard form for graphic novels.

Cute MG/YA thriller.

I really like Michelle Obama but her life's been pretty humdrum and doesn't exactly make for an exciting thriller-type read. Still, I appreciate what she's trying to do here and if she'd waited until she was an old lady to write her autobiography, I would likely have found it enthralling.

Very readable with great pacing but it reads more like middle-grade than YA.

Kind of interesting but doesn't present any ground-breaking concepts. All of this material will likely be familiar to those who read about neuroscience regularly.

I've been waiting for this from the library for longer than I can recall but sigh I couldn't get through more than 10 pages (and that includes skipping the introduction) because I kept editing it in my head. This is needlessly verbose and filled with irrelevant details which impede the narrative; Random House did Barack a serious disservice by not assigning an editor to whittle this down to a manageable size while maintaining the author's oh-so-pretty prose.

Michelle Obama's Becoming has recently been released in a young readers edition and I sincerely hope there is one planned for this beautiful monstrosity.

DNF at 87 pages. Very little biography, mostly disjointed anecdotes told in a fawning style. Unsurprisingly, little objectivity is brought to the subject but that should have occurred to me without needing to read any of the book.

I was finding this a bit meh when the plot suddenly took a turn I had not anticipated. Great historical fiction and highly recommended.

I only read the intro and summary bits because it's not a well enough written book to justify wasting my time. Interesting information, too bad it's so crowded out by unnecessary and irrelevant repetition.

Didn't even make it to the end of the first chapter; I'd heard so many rave reviews but blood magic and ghosts are not my jam. Especially currently.

Clear, concise and informative information about the science and management of viral diseases.

What a delightful romp! The artwork is lovely and the concept charming; solid plot and pacing with enough self-referential humour to satisfy my current fickle mood.

Quick and enjoyable read.

After reading Caste, I was excited to read Wilkerson's other works but this is too much narrative and not enough non-fiction for my current mood. So I am marking this dnf and perhaps I will try again someday when the pandemic stops making me so moody about my reading choices.

Simple straightforward plot, well-executed with perfect pacing and believable characters. Highly recommended.