Sparkly

Fascinating story, excellent details

Revisado: 09-27-22

I like stories of forgeries and nonviolent true crime, and this was recommended by many sources. It fits the bill perfectly! I particularly enjoyed the way the author set up the naturalists, the historical background, the science of bird specimens, and the fly-tying obsession before even getting to the incident in question. This made me much more invested in the event as it unfolded. The author vividly recounts the perpetrator's backstory and biography. In fact, I realized that of all the heist and forgery books I've read, this thief is actually the only person for whom I had a visceral dislike. I had to put the book down during the workweek because I was so enraged at this particular thief's sociopathy, arrogance, and entitlement. Fortunately, the author does an excellent job of memorializing this horrible person's crime (I'm sure the thief would rather everyone moved on like he has). I'd recommend it.

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An informative and charming book on wine

Revisado: 01-29-22

Listening to this audiobook was an excellent experience. Sohm is a super effective explainer, slightly self-effacing and approachable. The book gives context and background to copious amounts of information. I love that the author includes his own perspectives - he gives a balanced overview and then shares his favorites (wines, vineyards, serving protocols, etc). It makes it easy to find a starting point among a pretty vast landscape of possible new wines to try. Also helpful, the author recognizes that the average reader will be cost-conscious. I really liked that he acknowledges and stresses value, while empowering readers make good choices for splurge experiences. The book also demystifies the wine ordering experience, which I found extremely practical.

I'd like to add that the author's voice is quite charming, and the performance is in the style of someone reading to you (which I enjoy in nonfiction). Each section has a kind of summary at the end, and in addition, there is a quite wonderful pdf that accompanies the book, a great resource. Five stars!

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Pretty good historical mystery

Revisado: 01-23-22

A mystery to unravel from the past - with hidden basements, false trails, family secrets, and WINE! The setting (small Burgundian domaine, past and present) was very interesting and satisfying. If you are interested in wine facts and traditions, this is for you. The author has a deep understanding of cultural context and industry details, and these are woven throughout the story.

The story itself is intriguing - historical events are made up of real people making tough decisions, of course. I appreciated the author's embrace of moral gray areas. Not everyone was a resistance fighter, indeed. The book includes a warning against taking history at face value. Food for thought.

I should point out that I am not a fan of first-person narrations in fiction, generally. In this book, the monologues both past and present are so self-conscious, so ornate, as to feel overdramatic to me. The main character is the least compelling of the cast. She has more options and resources than the others, you wish she had a bit more substance or character. It's never clear why any others would find her attractive or take her seriously, which creates the aura of a fan fiction. If it were written in third person, there might be more pressure to justify her behaviors and interactions.

Still worth a listen, though.

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Dull and superficial, bordering on revisionist.

Revisado: 12-13-21

I was disappointed at the lack of any insight or fresh perspective here, or even any point of view of the author. I think when one gets a book written by someone who was an insider to an event, there is a reasonable expectation that there will be some new information that is brought forward by that proximity. In this case, no.

If you were alive and in the U.S. during the past two years, you probably know everything this book has to offer. As a matter of fact, you probably know more, because there is a distinct white-washing element in this account. When the author describes the ex-president seeing mathematical models and becoming "extremely concerned"...really? It's just insulting. The whole chapter on the national stockpile of supplies leaves out the shameful partisan favoritism that everyone witnessed. I am not actually interested in rehashing that nightmare, but the ridiculous interpretations put forward in this book made me address it, which I did not enjoy.

I recommend the book that came out this year describing the race to develop vaccines. Better written, well-researched, nonpartisan, loads of interesting people and information befitting these historic times.

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The memoir is interesting, editorializing less so.

Revisado: 03-14-21

I am quite interested in the author's experiences in Burma during WW2. These diaristic accounts are told with detail and style, lots of unforgettable characters. The background on the social system in Burma at the time was extremely informative, and the whole dynamic of England's colonial empire during the war in the Pacific is not well enough understood in the US, I suspect. In my experience, the book suffered when the author starts to complain about social progress and spouts general tabloid talking points, but easy enough to skip past.

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Excellent puzzle and not too gory

Revisado: 12-10-19

I read police procedurals for escapism, and so I don't fancy it when the crimes are too depressing or psychopathic or gory. This one is an excellent battle of wits, the perfect ratio of crime to story. The narrator is very good, no complaints (despite a rather rugged American accent on one of the ladies that seemed a bit creative). Highly recommend if you like to try to figure things out while enjoying a well researched story world.

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Excellent - dense, informative, and gallows humor

Revisado: 08-07-19

I have listened to this book several times, it is excellent for popular science. I especially like the way Quammen connects issues and anecdotes that may seem like separate topics, on the way to the relationship being revealed. The whole idea of adaptations of microbes is fantastic as well as the stuff of nightmares - there are probably a half dozen Hot Zones' worth of material here. I highly recommend.

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Very Good, Appropriate for this Era

Revisado: 09-24-18

My mom was somewhat obsessed with the Watergate Scandal, and I am intrigued to learn the facts associated with these names that have rattled around my brain since childhood. This book is very detailed and satisfying. It is, of course, all from John W Dean's perspective, and therein lie both the strengths and weaknesses. On one hand, the book is coherent and emotionally rooted in the experiences of one person. On the other, of course, we see John Dean through his own lens (and our views of ourselves are rarely accurate in the empirical sense). However, I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. For a book written 40 years ago, the details and framing do not feel dated in the least. An interesting aspect of any history of Watergate is the technology, and this book has an efficient approach to descriptions of the phone, recording, and documentation tech that speak of the age but are not mysterious to the listener in the digital era. In addition, the way momentous events just tumble after one another (Pentagon Papers, Third Rate Burglary, Saturday Night Massacre, etc) make it quite the page turner. A contemporary viewer knows what happens next, but it's still suspenseful in the telling.
The narrator's performance is somewhat without affect, and I differed numerous times with his choice of sentence emphasis. But it definitely grew on me and I think it is fine; especially in view of the famously monotone delivery of John Dean's senate testimony. Ultimately, this was a great listening experience, and if you are remotely interested in political history, it will be time well spent.

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Extremely satisfying and comprehensive

Revisado: 05-24-18

This book was so much deeper and more detailed than I expected. What a satisfying read! I was looking for something about the Bo Xilai incident, an event which already seems outlandish on the surface. The outline of the story is well-known - English man found dead of apparent poisoning in a backwater hotel in central China in 2011; wife of rising political star Bo Xilai is implicated and eventually found guilty; rising political star sidelined. Oh, that's all? Of course I wanted to know more.

Ho and Huang's book begins with the familiar story, then separates the players into concentric circles, going into the biographies of everyone involved. For some readers, this may be offtrack and excess to the plot. But, as the title implies, the book is about the struggle for power and control in a changing China. And it does not disappoint. The authors explore the predicament of post-revolutionary China, hemmed in by generational "royalty" as the sons and daughters of Mao-era notables evolve into a new type of elite class. The details are fascinating and at times salacious, but they create a kind of family tree revealing the impact of a relatively small cast of characters in the post-Mao era. The authors indicate sources seamlessly within the narrative, which I really appreciate - as a reader, you can parse the relative credibility as you go.

Among the takeaways - Bo Xilai was taking bribes into the billions (yes, billions!) of RMB, oversaw the state execution of hundreds of the guilty and innocent alike, yet is still a folk hero to the populace in Chong Qing. Bo Xilai's fall from power ultimately made the way for Xi Jinping's ascendency. And current Party Secretary Xi Jinping lived in a cave for seven years. I know it reads like a script from Game of Thrones, but if you are interested in Chinese history or current events (or a context with which to view Xi Jinping), then you will love this book.

The narrator James Chen is fantastic - clearly a speaker of Chinese so that names are pronounced properly, how refreshing.

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Eat Pray Prune

Revisado: 04-25-18

Inspiring! I enjoyed hearing the author's adventures in the art of the Japanese garden. The descriptions of the gardens, some centuries old, and the unique and wonderful Japanese tools, are fantastic. I loved every detail about the workers' routines and procedures. As a matter of fact, I wish there were more technical details. I am not a gardener, but I love a good nonfiction about a complex craft. I probably would have liked more information, and less of the diaristic drama. To be honest, the interior monologue was at times more of what you'd expect from a callow college student than a 35-year old person from a diverse metropolitan city. The low point was probably when the author is seriously competing with (and being unapologetically passive aggressive towards) a teenaged coworker. She is so busy sulking that she misses the moment when he finally gets to prune his first tree - that would have been a great anecdote if she were a bit less self-absorbed.

That said, the author does a very good job of expressing the frustration of trying to fit into a highly stratified, highly segregated culture, coming from the US. I was quite intrigued by her strategies and choices. I am not sure I would have managed without a confrontation in some of those situations. I very much recommend this book if you are interested in adventurous travel, situational humor, gardening, Japan, memoir, or just a good story. (Listen to the sample to see if you like the narrator - I didn't mind except for the brutal slaughter of Japanese pronunciation.)

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