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Wingate's storytelling never disappoints

Revisado: 04-13-23

I thought I had read or listened to everything Lisa Wingate has ever written, so I was delighted to find this little treasure. ❤️

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Worked immediately for me

Revisado: 11-07-22

Every golfer’s skills and swing issues are a little unique, as is the effect that coaches and tips may have on their game. What works for one golfer may not work as well for another, or at all. Keeping that caveat in mind, I can say that Stan’s approach to pitching and chipping definitely and immediately worked for me. My last three rounds have included two personal best scores at two different courses that I play often, all due to getting much closer to the hole more consistently using Stan’s method. It was easy for me to learn from the book, easy to practice, and easy to pull off on the course. I typically shoot in the mid to high 90s; my scores since reading “The Art of the Short Game” have been 88, 95, and 87, with more short putts and tap-ins than before. This has transformed my short game from pretty good to a genuine strength.

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Fantastic performance

Revisado: 01-31-20

Phil Gigante’s narration is amazing, and reason enough to listen to this audiobook. But as is so often the case with older classic sci-fi stories, the plot and details are often so dated that the overall book suffers as a result.

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Good abridgment

Revisado: 06-08-19

This abridged version runs about 90 minutes and covers the key concepts very well without being too repetitive. If you’re already a little familiar with the general ideas (men value independence above feelings, women value community and sharing above ego) then you may find the shorter version is enough. This book is still relevant for couples today, whether you’re only dating, newlyweds, or more seasoned.

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For strong Ender fans only?

Revisado: 12-21-04

Most of the other reviewers have already pointed out the primary shortcomings of "Xenocide": it needed tighter editing, the characters bicker too much, some of the characters are undeveloped (especially Novinha), and the plot devices at the end are a little too convenient. I'd also add that Ender himself, the master strategist, seemed uncharacteristically befuddled and nearly senile for most of this book. Strong Ender fans will be able to overlook these problems.

I deducted an additional star from my rating for the narration of this audiobook. I greatly enjoyed the tag-team narration used in "Ender's Game" and "Speaker for the Dead". But in "Xenocide" there are two big problems that were very distracting. First, the assignment of narrators for the characters, as well as the direction, is not as consistent as in the previous audiobooks. Second, one of the narrators performs the Path characters without enunciating the ending consonants clearly. It's highly irritating, and makes these passages very difficult to understand.

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Pre- 9/11 look at CIA's strengths and weaknesses

Revisado: 08-14-04

Sometimes fascinating, sometimes boring, and ultimately somewhat tragic, Kessler's review of the CIA provides some valuable context for readers of the 9/11 Commission report. Written before 1999, this book has little to say about terrorism, and even less to say about the direction of the CIA under Woolsey in the Clinton years. Kessler devotes a large amount of time to subjects like Iran-Contra, Aldrich Ames, the contrasting styles of Casey and Webster, and the basic structure of the CIA. The reader will get a good feel for the CIA's culture, as well as a more realistic (that is, less fictionalized and romantic) view of what the CIA does and how it operates.

Quibbles:
The narrator is, frankly, not very dynamic. Kessler also repeats some details relentlessly; the controversy over the sale of CIA-themed coffee cups and the re-defection of Vitaly Yurchenko are two particularly annoying examples. The combination of a dull, lifeless narration with frequent repetition of details occasionally makes the book a bit boring. Nevertheless, if you are interested in the CIA's history up to about 1994 this is a must-have book.

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Challenging book -- not for sci-fi novices

Revisado: 01-29-04

An enjoyable book, with vivid, unforgettable characters and haunting descriptions of a devastated future world. You'll find yourself alternatively amused and horrified by the story as it fluctuates (unintentionally?) between a comedic farce, a satirical commentary, and a sci-fi disaster movie. Stick with it -- you'll have to get through about half of the book before you figure out enough of the backstory to get hooked, but it's definitely worth it. Atwood apparently hates exposition and "info-dumps" to advance a plot, so don't expect to put your brain in neutral for this book. Therefore, I wouldn't recommend this book for readers who are new to the sci-fi genre. On the abruptness of the ending, I had no problem with it. If you pay attention to the story and the relationship between Crake and Jimmy, you won't either. The story really couldn't have ended any other way, and it isn't difficult to figure out what Snowman will do and why.

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No fluff, just real productivity gains

Revisado: 10-09-03

Simply phenomenal. If you don't know how to get your e-mail, inbox, office, home, and "honey-do" lists under control, you need this book. There isn't any fluff or existential nonsense here. David leads you through the process of organizing your stuff and making sense of it all. The tips are all practical, very detailed (having the full book for reference helps, but isn't required), and THEY WORK. I've listened twice already, and feel so much more capable of staying on top of everything. You will too. Thanks, David!

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Biased toward the last 20 years of sci-fi

Revisado: 06-30-03

The only quibble I can find with this collection is the title. This is a great collection of sci-fi short stories, but it's a reach to call it a collection of the greatest of the 20th century. The majority of the stories were published within only the last 20 years or so. However, I still recommend this collection enthusiastically because of the inclusion of "Jeffty is Five", "The 9 Billion Names of God", "Alamagoosa", and "Why I Left Harry's All Night Hamburgers". Overall, a nice introduction to the short story format of sci-fi.

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Great

Revisado: 05-15-03

For most Americans, the history of the Muslim "world" is a complete mystery. The relevance of historical events such as the elimination of the caliphate is a good example of this. Americans (and most "enlightened" Europeans, too, I'd wager) are oblivious to the significance of many such cultural references that mean nothing to us but are major motivating factors for fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organizations. Listen to this book, and I promise that you'll have many "aha -- now I get it!" moments. Potential Muslim readers should be reassured to know that the author strongly emphasizes the errors in interpretation of the Koran made by terrorists like bin Laden. This book is not just a biased critique of Islam.

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