Bruce Buchanan

Required Listening

Revisado: 09-23-22

If you only listen to one Audible book ever, let this be the one. I've always liked Trevor Noah, but never knew much about him. I was assuming he had a privileged upbringing; boy, was I ever wrong! The last chapter alone (about his mother) is worth the price of the book.

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Limited Appeal

Revisado: 09-06-22

I think this book would only appeal to those who are very interested in South Florida history (which includes me) or in the early environmental movement. Spoiler alert: the murder doesn't take place until 38 minutes before the end! The book is much less about the murder than about the plume trade and its effect on the bird population.

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Glad I Chose This Book

Revisado: 08-12-22

While looking for a biography of the Wright brothers, I stumbled on this title and thought I would give it a try. It goes well beyond its title to include much about other early aviators. I think I enjoyed this even more than a book that is mostly about the Wrights. Previously, I read a book that gave a Pollyanna account of the Wrights; this book seems to tell a more genuine story about them. I was surprised at how interested I became in early aviation history while listening to this. It's written in such a way that someone like me, who knows next to nothing about aviation, can understand, but I think it wouldn't be too elementary for aviators to enjoy, too.

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Surprised and Not Surprised

Revisado: 04-27-22

I wasn't surprised that this was such a great book since it was highly recommended by many readers that know what I like, but I was surprised that I really liked J. K. Simmons' narration. As an actor, he's usually just very annoying to me, but he really hit his stride reading this book. I'll actually look for more of his readings now.

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What's all the buzz about?

Revisado: 05-19-20

The only reason I stuck this book out to the bitter end was because of all the gushing reviews by critics and readers. For the life of me, I can't see what the big deal is. Unlike some of the one-star reviewers, I did actually finish reading it. Nothing much happens until the last fifth of the book and then it just sort of skims over the rest of the story. The story line is worthy enough, and it takes place during an eventful time (Spanish Flu, Mexican Revolution) but I can't help but wonder if it would have been much better if it had been told in a different way and at a different pace. A note on the narration: although she has a pleasant enough voice, I found the female reader difficult to understand at times (especially when I was listening in the car) and found myself rewinding too many portions of her chapters.

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Don't Judge a Book by its........Title

Revisado: 04-24-20

If you expect this to be a sort of "New York off the beaten path" tour guide, you'll be disappointed - it reads more like a doctoral dissertation in sociology. At times it also reads like an apartment finder handbook! With that said, it's worth a listen if you're interested in those sorts of things. For me, I would like to have heard much more of the supposedly hundreds of interviews he did with New York residents. That would have been much more interesting than listening to him drone on about what HE thinks about New York.

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With Emphasis on Ordinary

Revisado: 12-29-19

This book is what happens when a pulp mystery writer makes an attempt to write something more meaningful. I was surprised that two people I trust to make good recommendations raved about this book. At least it stays true to its title - ordinary.

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