Jacqueline Kiffe

Another entertaining book by Mary Roach

Revisado: 11-20-24

Ignore the naysayers! I strongly suspect they were angered by her resolutely anti-religious, pro-science position. Or else they are New Agers who, like the religious crowd, have already decided what they believe and are just looking for confirmation.

This book ranges widely, covering psychics, mediums, attempts to weigh the soul, near death experiences, and a host of other topics. Even when not specifically about the afterlife, it is at least interesting (such as infrasound research).

Very diverting.

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I used to love Ray Bradbury 50-60 years ago.

Revisado: 10-23-24

I used to love Ray Bradbury; either my tastes have changed, or he just wasn’t that great. Not really interesting for adults.

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Not about botany so much as philosophy

Revisado: 09-28-24

This is just more or less about the reflections and philosophical musings of the author and some botanists than any real science of plants. I hoped to learn something more about recent developments in botany, not just hear general philosophies.

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Endless stats, no voice differentiation, formulaic

Revisado: 04-27-24

Other reviewers raved about this, and it was ok at the beginning, but quickly dissolved into endless recitations of stats and tedious blow-by-blow descriptions of battles. The male and female narrators varied their voices so little that it made conversations confusing at best. And that was before taking into account the dialogue that was so hackneyed that it was painful to listen to.

Unless your entire world revolves around gaming, give this one a pass.

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Love the 5-Minute Sherlock series!

Revisado: 04-19-24

I really enjoy this series, and I always grab the next one when it comes out. I’ve started listening to the Fred the Vampire Accountant series to tide me over between releases.

Actually, I can give you one piece of information that might help you better decide if this author is for you: If you want something ennobling that takes itself seriously, this is not for you. I like the characters, and it is most definitely sf, but with mystery thrown in. (Sherman Holmes is, after all, the world’s greatest detective!) in this book, they go undercover at a RenFaire, which adds an extra fun element.

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Narrating a game in detail, including every stat

Revisado: 03-09-24

If the idea of someone announcing every single detail of a game, including every strike and pivot and every stat change in nauseating detail, sounds great to you, then this is your book.

I truly do not understand the appeal of this LitRPG category; the stories tend to range from terrible to mediocre. Listening to long lists of stats every time one of them changes is like an audio tranquilizer. This, thankfully, was better than most, but that is not the same as good. At least this author tried to give a little backstory.

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Vivid development of both world and characters

Revisado: 02-05-24

This drew me in completely in a way I haven’t experienced in a very long time. I immediately went to the series page and was disappointed to see no more volumes are out yet. Highly recommended!

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Tedious

Revisado: 06-23-23

If you love books padded out with infinite details of things no one would ever want to know, this book is for you. Do you love it when Sue Grafton details every bite a detective eats, every change of clothes, ad nauseum, then here’s your next favorite.

Try The Bird Way instead.; I would have given that one six stars if I could.

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Much better than I expected

Revisado: 05-07-23

I thought that this was far better than I expected it to be, about far more than Harvey Weinstein. It is head and shoulders above the great bulk of what I’ve listened to lately.

And if you are afraid to listen because of the snark about his voices, don’t be. He does not fall into the category of most authors who read their own work, probably because of the sheer number of times he has spoken publicly. No, he hasn’t got the knack for doing countless voices of professional narrators with hundreds of titles to their credit. But he is more than good enough, and I was frankly impressed.

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The Fabric of Civilization is much better, IMHO.

Revisado: 05-06-23

I had to sped this up to 150% and skip liberally. A needleworker since I was a child, I expected to love it; I didn’t.

Yes, anything associated with women has historically been sneered at by men, or at least viewed as lesser, but you don’t have to beat it like a dead horse. And there are long passages that are just dry recitations of facts.

I found The Fabric of Civilization much more interesting. While everyone is familiar with the Fibonacci sequence, for example, of far greater significance is the fact that as the young son of a cloth buyer, he recognized the potential of Arabic numerals and zero for the west and promoted them upon his return, ultimately writing a book about their use. Also in The Fabric of Civilization, I learned that alchemy and the origins of chemistry had more to do with replicating costly dyes than turning lead into gold.

It baffles me that these two books have the same rating.

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