Drwo

What A Life

Revisado: 06-20-24

This is a long book but it is compelling and not the least bit dull. Dr. Fauci's deprecating style and his dedication to his patients and his calling come shining through. Amazingly, he appears to have been able to navigate the storms of politics through 5 presidencies and to come through unscathed until, of course, Donald Trump and Covid. Several chapters outline his work on HIV-Aids and the trials of working with Larry Kramer, the outspoken and angry HIV activist. This is a fine memoir and although he has been vilified in Congressional hearings, he always responds with humor which only shows the kind of person and physician he is. He is, of course, worried, as are we all at the polarized politics in this country, I hope this book sells a zillion copies. Good on you, Dr. Fauci.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Another Knockout

Revisado: 01-15-22

What a storyteller! I was skeptical that the author could top A Gentleman in Moscow but this book is damned close. The cast of characters is long but the standouts are a precocious 8 year old boy and an immature 18 year old with an unexplained mental problem. The Lincoln Highway is a road and rail trip with road blocks as Emmet Watson and his little brother, Billy, set off from a ranch in Nebraska to find the mother who left them behind. Their car is borrowed by the two other main characters, Duchess and Woolly, who are headed to New York to liberate some cash from Willy’s wealthy family. It’s funny, wrenching and whimsical. What’s not to love

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So Much Fun

Revisado: 06-16-21

A terrific listen. First, I don't typically read or listen to science fiction and have no idea which of the scientific references are real, imagined, impossible or whatever. It doesn't matter. Just as The Martian was stuck on an alien planet and adapted, the astronaut of Project Hail Mary is on a mission in space where he is forced to solve all manner of problems. Just as our hero is on a mission in space, another species from a different planet is on the same intergalactic mission and both find themselves alone on their ships and starved for company, so they figure out a way to solve the problems of their mission together.

The alien has the appearance of a large arachnid and communicates with squeak like hums of different tones. Together, Grace (our hero) and Rocky (his arachnid-like buddy) figure out ways to solve their communication problems and move forward with their goal to each save their species from destruction. Other reviews have wandered into the weeds of pointing out scientific inaccuracies or the lack of political correctness - such as why Grace assumes that Rocky is a "he." Lighten up, folks. This is a fantasy novel: no sex, no violence, and probably full of questionable science. It's just a sweet, funny story of an unlikely friendship. Loved it.

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Crais Shows Pike's Emotional Depth

Revisado: 08-14-19

This review will make no sense to anyone who has not read any of the other books in this series.

The novel opens with a young couple living in a bungalow in Los Angeles circa 1990. The mother is listening to her young baby cooing in her crib while she sleeps holding a loaded pistol, identical to the one her husband has in the nightstand on his side of the bed.

Fast forward to the present when Joe Pike exits a bank only to witness the teller who just assisted him being led or pushed into the back seat of a car. Pike intervenes and the shaken teller, Isabel, says the men were trying to kidnap her. The cops are called and the men's story is that Isabel is a girlfriend. She insists she's never seen them before. The police take over and Pike gives the girl his contact information and leaves the scene. When she does call him to thank him for his help, she remembers that the man who threw her in the car told her, "We know your secret." Isabel swears she has no idea what he meant. She has no secrets. A couple of days later, Pike decides to check on her and goes to her house and does not find Isabel but does find her cell phone. He knows she has been abducted and when he gets no help from the police, he sets out to find her on his own.

He uses her phone to track who she might have talked with and one number was called repeatedly and calls Pike makes to that number go directly to voicemail. Pike enlists Elvis Cole to track down the person Isabel tried to call as he sets out to track Isabel herself.

Modern technology takes center stage in this book: cell phones are everywhere and as much as a detective story, this is a cautionary tale about Generation X and Y's penchant for texting their every move to friends. Isabel is an only child whose parents are both dead and even at 22, she is still a naive young girl. Despite Pike's warnings, Isabel cannot resist texting her best friend who then updates her own mother and Isabel's other friends which places them all in predictable danger. Darn good narration makes this a must listen for Pike and Cole fans. Even if the reasons for Isabel's predicament are a bit of a stretch, in the end it doesn't really matter. Darn good narration makes this book close to an action movie as the narrator manages to distinguish everyone's different voices in such a way that the dialogue is easy to follow.

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Just O.K.

Revisado: 05-09-19

Had Chelsea Handler not been famous and had she not written some very funny books in the past, this book might never have made it into print (or, in this case, onto a recording). Chelsea goes to therapy where we learn about her sad childhood, lousy father, etc. However, way too much of this book is focused on her dogs. I love my dog - don't we all? But, really, would you want to listen to me drone on about my dogs for an hour?

This woman took a 70 lb. dog on a plane (first class) to Europe. She didn't once mention the reactions of the other first class fliers who probably weren't amused. How funny is it, really, that she adopted the two chow mix dogs, presumably the ones on the cover of the book, and then sent them for at least 4 months of training after two days because she failed to find out anything about them before the adoption and, well, she could afford it.

She is free to search for life's deeper meaning because staff takes care of everything else to the point where she breezily tells her therapist how irritating it is that she can't figure out how to turn on her own music system nor find the toaster in her kitchen. I'm sure her house is very nice but it's probably not Mar-a-Lago and, if she can't find the toaster, it is no doubt because she hasn't looked for it. Obviously, I'm in the minority, but I thought this book was mostly self indulgence dressed up as gaining insight through therapy. She does hate Donald Trump, though. There is that. But, only marginally interesting and not very funny.

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esto le resultó útil a 23 personas

The Never Ending Novel

Revisado: 12-17-18

It is possible this made a better book for reading than for listening. Frankly, there was an entire section that could have been eliminated without the plot suffering because, although promised a life changing experience, it may not be very surprising to learn that ten days of meditation and drinking smoothies isn't all that life altering.

When the central 'mystery' (if one can call it that) is resolved, the book kept going as though the author just couldn't let the characters go. My suspicion is that this book was optioned for a mini-series and that may be the reason for the meandering story lines and dragging the story out long past it's sell by date. This book felt like a daytime soap opera where the end is merely a chance for the action to move to a different character or story line. I bailed with 52 minutes left on the clock, but am guessing it was just another visit over the same territory.

The concept is great and, had the characters been less cliched, it could have been a great book, but it missed.

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Awful and Lovely

Revisado: 10-20-18

Love can flourish anywhere. Even in Auschwitz. When two people survive the worst imaginable, all that follows is minor. It's a great listen, even when it's just awful.

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Breathtakingly Beautiful

Revisado: 06-12-17

This is one of the best novels of the 21st Century. Eleanor Oliphant is an enigma from the first page. Childlike, she is able to hold down a job while drinking copious amounts of vodka. Socially inept without seeming to realize it, she lives alone and friendless.

Two events change her life: She develops an adolescent crush on a rock singer and she, along with her co-worker, Raymond, witness an older man, Sammy, having a heart attack on a sidewalk. Raymond rushes to assist while Eleanor simply follows his instructions. Assuming that Eleanor is as concerned as he is, Raymond asks her to come along on a visit to the man in hospital.

This hospital visit is a catalyst for Eleanor to expand her narrow life. Her crush on the singer prompts her to do things which are well known to most females in the developed world - manicures, haircuts, and fashion. These scenes are both hilarious and agonizing as her knowledge of life beyond her lonely apartment and her job as a payroll clerk is so bizarre that those with whom she comes into contact think she's just being funny.

She meets Raymond's family and Sammy's family and finds herself included in family events as alien to her experience as though she had been raised by wolves in Siberia.

Although the reader understands that Eleanor has experienced something horrific in her childhood and that her mother, whom she never sees but does talk with, remains a large and malevolent presence in her.

This story is so compelling, so astonishing. Get it.

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I Laughed! I Cried! Stupendous! The Best Words!

Revisado: 06-09-17

This book helped me to wake, not only from PIS, political induced stupor, but caused me to do something so shocking I almost didn't recognize my voice! Laughter! Remember laughter? It was only a few short months ago when there were things to actually joke about.

If Al Franken, who must confront Ted Cruz on a regular basis, can still laugh, we must all rise to the challenge. A voice of reason in a Senate suffering from PSTS, post traumatic Trump syndrome, Al Franken is enough to make me relocate to Minnesota.

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Great Classic Mystery

Revisado: 06-02-17

Turn up the narration speed or it's like slogging through molasses. It has dry English wit and compelling characters. M

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