Rob

Hot story about taboo subject

Revisado: 08-18-18

This book is a highly charged explicit erotic story about the growing sexual relationship between two high school girls & eventually the father of one of the girls. If you are offended by a reasonably well-written and for the most part competently read tale of two young sexually adventurous girls, don't listen to this book. Your ears will burn off.

BTW, this story seems unrelated to the trilogy of similar name.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Who knew there was another planet Vulcan?

Revisado: 07-04-16

I was unaware of the hypothesized planet Vulcan and and its relevance to Einstein's work before I read this book. It and its backstory are an engrossing story well written and well narrated here. As I listened to the tale I couldn't help but be reminded of one of my favorite books - The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. I'm not going to try to explain Kuhn's ideas other than to say that if you've ever heard of "paradigm shift" Kuhn proposed the concept in this book. This isn't a perfect fit for Kuhn's ideas since, absent Einstein, Newton's world could have continued on for many more years because niggling little problems like Mercury's orbit probably wouldn't have forced a paradigm shift until a the arrival of a space age. It is a tremendous tribute to Einstein that he was able to bring about a scientific revolution that over-through one of the most powerful paradigms ever - Newtonian Mechanics - well before almost anyone else considered the anomalies that didn't fit Newton's theory to be significant enough to start thinking that a new paradigm was required.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A Compelling Listen

Revisado: 09-24-13

I purchased this book several months ago and then somehow forgot about. I am so happy that I was looking through my library and found it. This was a wonderful listen. Fuzzy Nation is ultimately a story about Jack Holloway, a disbarred attorney who now works as an independent prospector for ZaraCorp on the planet Zarathustra. Jack’s discovery of the mother lode of all mother lodes and his nearly concurrent “discovery” of some small, extremely cute, cat-like creatures, which may or may not be sentient and that he calls the “Fuzzies,” sets the stage for the story.

While the coincidences abound and I am certain that some will see this tale as too simplistic—the bad guys are indeed very bad and have few (really no) redeeming qualities and the good guys are generally pretty good with some minor flaws thrown in—I found it to be a good tale well told. The story had enough twists and turns with an odd yet interesting legal overlay to make it a compelling listen..

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Told From a Dog's Point of View

Revisado: 09-24-13

This was a very touching book that was effectively told from the dog's point of view. While I have owned several dogs, listening to this book really helped to give me some fresh insights on their world. Beyond that, the story itself was cleverly done and enjoyable from start to finish.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Entertaining Sci-Fi Adventure With Some Twists

Revisado: 03-18-13

I picked up this book at Audible about a month ago and now have the entire series. They have been hard to put down because they have a plausible premise that is extremely well executed by the author. The premise: a ship captain who was presumed killed after a heroic battle at the beginning of a war that still continues 100 years later and who has been built up as a mythic hero over those years "returns from the dead" (in a reasonably plausible way, given the genre).

The hero is Captain John “Black Jack" Geary. He has been discovered in the long lost escape capsule he used as his ship was destroyed at the end of the now famous battle. The capsule has kept him in suspended animation for 100 years.

He returns to a world that is dramatically different from the one he left. 100 years of war have made casual brutality commonplace and all important decisions of the fleet are voted on by the commanders of the fleet. Black Jack’s return is certainly timely and possibly even providential. It occurs just as the fleet admiral leaves to discuss the terms of the fleet’s surrender. It seems the “Alliance" (his side of the war) has taken a risky bet to win the war and has lost the bet. The admiral’s last act is to appoint Jack as fleet commander (he thinks of Jack as a hero too, Jack does not think of himself that way) should he not return from the discussions, which, as you should expect, he does not.

Everything that flows this set of event - the struggles to get the fleet back from behind enemy lines, the envy and suspicion of Jack by other officers, etc., - make sense to me as do the changes the author describes as having happened over the past 100 years. The battle scenes are exciting and realistically written. The interpersonal relationships and how they evolve make sense. If you want Tolstoy, get War and Peace. If you want a really nifty piece of military sci-fi adventure, this is a good place to start and you won't go wrong with the rest of the series either.

In addition to a good story, I thought the performance by Mr. Rummel was nicely done.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

An Intricate Story Made Clear - And Fun Too

Revisado: 03-06-13

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. Quite a lot happens to our "heroes" Royce and Hadrian (who happen to be very good thieves). They take on a job that sounds too good to be true and without even knowing it quickly get scooped up in a plot to kill the King. The plot succeeds and King is murdered. Suddenly Royce and Hadrian aren't thieves, they are assassins, caught and to be painfully executed the next day. The King's daughter, Princess Arista, who loved him greatly and was not involved in the murder, plots to release the assassins and have them kidnap her brother. Before you know it a monastery is destroyed, a magician known to have terrible power is unchained, people die in gruesome ways and some mysteries (big and little) are solved while new ones arise. This barely scratches the surface of a nicely complicated plot (that is still a fairly easy listen) in which our heroes take most events with good sense, great ability and an entertaining if not yet fully revealed relationship. If you want your fantasy books to reveal some deep truth or to bubble over with magic, this book probably won't do it for you. But if you want an entertaining read with two enjoyable rogues and a bit of magic, this is a fine place to stop.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Excellent and Insightful

Revisado: 07-11-12

Chris Hayes is very bright and I really enjoyed this book. He has many keen insights on just how a system seemingly based on merit has dug us into a whole that looks pretty tough to get out of at this moment. I didn't mind Hayes' narration of the book, but he would have done himself and the book a favor by getting a professional. I think he was trying to emulate Rachel Maddow's success in narrating her brilliant work, Drift, but he just didn't pull it off.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Even the well-informed will learn something here

Revisado: 07-01-12

Mann and Ornstein have done the country a great service with this book. I follow politics relatively closely and there were some eye-openers for me in this thoughtful and well-written book. While it is not a surprise that both Mann and Ornstein (a liberal and conservative) share a common view about just how seriously dysfunctional the federal government is, what is a surprise is that they place most of the blame squarely on the extremism in the Republican party. They note that Republican extremism is not directed toward advancing their policies so much as toward advancing personal interest of their leaders or the political (not ideological) interests of their party. Multiple examples of how Republicans in the Senate have used the filibuster and other parliamentary tools to delay votes on bills or on appointments - taking up huge amounts of valuable time that should be spent on the important business of the country - that ultimately passed with votes along the lines of 95-2. What could the point of this be? Only to make the government and the majority party look ineffective. Shame on the Republicans.

Mann and Ornstein offer a variety of ideas to address the problems.They look for ideas that have been tried around the world but they have been in this business for a long time and have a clear-eyed view of what is likely to fly in the U.S. and what probably won't. They propose a range of ideas that can at least begin to counter the Republican's "gum up the works" efforts.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 17 personas

This is the only book I never finished

Revisado: 06-25-12

I have several hundred audio books in a wide range of areas in my Library and I have enjoyed almost every one of them. I am a certified soft touch as a listener and reviewer. So here is the bad news. This is the only book out of the hundreds that I disliked enough not to finish. I should have been the target audience for this book (seven kids in the family). Instead I found the book to be simplistic, mostly wrong and excruciatingly dull.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Lots of Stuff About Stuff

Revisado: 06-25-12

By way of background, I have several hundred audio books in a wide range of areas in my Library. It is a pretty eclectic collection and I have enjoyed almost every one of them so I am, no doubt, a soft touch as a listener and review. I am deeply thankful for the reviewers who have the time, energy and ability to write thorough and insightful reviews. Sadly that is not me. What I can say is that I liked Stuff. It held my attention and I learned considerably more than I thought I would about a not so small part of our world. By the way, the narrator was excellent. It was well worth the credit.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona