Santa Fe customer

The wild west seen through Irish eyes

Revisado: 09-26-24

This love story carries a ponderous and wry tone, and I loved it. Kevin Barry's reading of his own book is brilliant and makes it a figurative page-turner. The tone fits the harsh and violent world of Irish immigrants in Butte, Montana in the early 1890s. Mr. Barry weaves evil, humor and two lovers into a tale whose outcome seems inevitable. My only critique is of ellipsis - leaving the reader to deduce what happened in a couple of climactic points that were central to understanding the story.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Enjoyable whodunit and a lesson in repression

Revisado: 08-11-24

This is a well-researched whodunit that takes place in southside Virginia in the 1960s. Its themes are racial prejudice ingrained in society, and corrosive self-interests. It's the first book by Baldacci I've read and is fast-paced with pretty good plot twists. I experienced second-hand (by observation) the systematic repression of equality and opportunities for Black people in that area at that time.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

The best book I've experienced in years

Revisado: 08-10-24

If you like the outdoors and understanding man's place in it, you will love this book. it's a story, meticulously researched and reconstructed by Norman Maclean. Thirteen young men, "smokejumpers," parachuted to the edge of what became a massive fire that devoured almost all of them. Maclean writes with controlled passion about this catastrophe, how it happened and lessons it offered future wildfire fighters. Maclean's humanity, his literary mastery and his ease with science and humanity in equal measure all make for a compelling story.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

A fresh perspective, beautifully read

Revisado: 01-31-24

I enjoyed Mary Beard's wry humor, her unwillingness to make up stories to fill history we just don't know, and her objectivity. There are some aspects that she either didn't draw out as well as I would wish, or maybe I zoned out at crucial points. For example, she did establish the senate's central importance to Rome, but I didn't absorb much about its actual workings or how one got to be a senator. In any event, it is a sweeping, erudite work.

Phyllisha Nash's reading is beyond superb. I don't think Mary Beard could have hoped for a more faithful or engaging reading of this book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Bipolar reaction

Revisado: 11-01-23

This book is brilliantly performed by Steven Fry. But I found The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tedious and mediocre. Legions of others loved the book, so maybe my opinion says more about me than the book. The book did have some fanciful concepts and gadgets, but the text and style are like P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves works, which I also can't appreciate.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña