Reviews and Comments

Dystopia by disaster, that is, not caused by man. The characters described are a pretty dislikable bunch, and commit most of the seven deadly sins within this fairly short story.

This novel was nominated for the first year of Nebula awards (1965), losing out to Frank Herbert's Dune. I can't compare those two works (yet), but found this an okay book - Thomas M. Disch's first. Like some of his later horror novels, it is set around Minneapolis (with one of the main characters returning from there shortly before the story begins) - and was a good read for my business trip to that fair city.

While this is fiction, it is based around historical facts, and that's a big plus for this reviewer. The depressing treatment of Navajo (and many other Native Americans) starts this tale off and acts as a wonderful counterpoint to their work as Code Talkers during World War II. Tales of island hopping are accurate, even if the main character's two friends are caricatures. Especially well told is the accurate tale of the two flag raisings on Mt. Suribachi (Iwo Jima).

Also spot on though depressing is the main character's return to civilian life, where he is thrown out of a bar that doesn't serve Indians. While this young adult tale wasn't as good as the same author's Jim Thorpe, it was pretty darn good. Recommended!

This is an excellent novel based on the many-worlds interpretation. While there are a few minor questions in the end, the story hangs together and works fairly well. The style of writing seemed quite like a screenplay, and I could easily see this as a film. I just hope it doesn't star Matt Damon.

The title refers to a characters description of many worlds, and this seemed mostly unnecessary - unless the title is also a description of the events themselves. Regardless, fans of [a:Michio Kaku|18800|Michio Kaku|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1379758804p2/18800.jpg] and [a:Neil deGrasse Tyson|12855|Neil deGrasse Tyson|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/authors/1423292563p2/12855.jpg] will not find hard science here - though the story is still quite good.

Quick read from the master of lists, Tom Standage. Plenty of history from the world wide web (of wires) including anecdotes about online crime, banking and commerce, cryptography, message routing and online romance. The only thing lacking was spam - and man am I jealous about that.

Author argues that the telegraph did more to shrink the world than the internet has, and I am inclined to agree. That technology was developed to the point of being replaced by the telephone - will something similar happen to our beloved internet someday?

Cannot figure out why there are so many high star reviews - this is worse than bad Hemingway.
Gave up after 100 pages.

Excellent counterpoint to [b:Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters|6404803|Highest Duty My Search for What Really Matters|Chesley B. Sullenberger|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1348231970s/6404803.jpg|6922484], though better written. Langewiesche's dry humor comes through at times as he depicts both the events and the history that led to them. The best chapters (and the origin of the title) are the description of the Fly-by-Wire design of the Airbus planes and a comparison to Boeing craft from the same era. Interestingly, Sullenberger never mentions this factor in his book, perhaps intentionally.

Excellent coverage is also given to the NTSB investigation and hearing - which plays prominently in the trailer I saw for the movie Sully. Highest Duty also glosses over this for the most part.

A quick read, and definitely the better book, though I am glad I read both before the film.

Fairly short book, quite timely. Reviews the recent challenges to democracy in this country, with a good historical basis. Found myself reading a chapter and then putting the book down to contemplate, and occasionally seethe. While this contains comprehensive notes on research, I wonder if some liberal abuses were missed - e.g. how the Primary process failed Bernie Sanders.

Quick topic summary: Voting (who should have the right?), Spending (does money equal importance of speech?), Local Democracy (how local should laws be?), Gerrymandering (is the popular vote more important than a state-rigged vote?), Judicial Activism (how far should courts interpret the constitution?) and Government (Democracy or a Constitutional Republic?).

Very thought provoking in such a short time, though perhaps not intended for quite that purpose. Definitely recommended for anyone who wants to really think about our form of government instead of just voting their particular party line. 4½ stars.

Wonderful book written in a first person biography form. In the author's note, Joseph Bruchac says this was written for young adults, and the story style would definitely resonate. I especially enjoyed reading about the early days of football on the gridiron, the first pentathlon in the modern olympic games, and Jim's Indian-school coach, Pop Warner. The audio version is unabridged and read by the author. Highly recommended!

Chapters alternate between the stories of two different girls (1891 and 1991) who throw a piece of candy into a well and are granted their wish - to live 100 years from when they do now. Each deals with the others environment fairly well, adapting and making friends.

The first third of the book seemed fairly juvenile to me. Once both girls started adapting and plotting ways to try to head home, I thought the writing and story improved, and the book ended on a high note. This author has written other middle grade books and others on this theme. Will try to encourage my middle grader to check out one of the later ones. A solid 3½ stars.

This is a novel about a family dealing with an external presence interrupting their lives. A novel about a man's obsession at the cost of his family. An alternate history novel, just like our 1994 but with spaceships from Jupiter, even though the presence within the ships never shows itself.

I enjoyed this story through the first section, found myself riveted to it through the second (and longest) section, and didn't particularly enjoy the final section. The characters are well described and their motivations draw you in. The cover blurb is "Funny, sad, weird, timely" and this story is all that. What I didn't like were the loose threads, the biggest near the end when they climb on top of the ship and knock on the glass.

Cautiously recommended; I suspect many book clubs will be diving into this one soon.

Reading this is like sitting down and hearing some anecdotes from the author, not quite enough for a full biography. Liked the emphasis on preparation and doing the job right; the later chapters were far better than the earlier ones. Wanted to read this before seeing the upcoming film.

First off, the series as a whole. Beautiful artwork, interesting story, and a good model for science fiction - a solid 3 stars.

This book, however, left me flat. After three episodes of world building and plot exploration, this starts at the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey and then veers into the territory of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

"What does God need with a starship?" Or indeed, what does Aama need with one? Aren't most of the human race connected with (hackable) neural implants? Didn't Aama take over most of the robots, leaving only a multi-page battle with Roosevelt? Anyhow, beautiful art aside, this ending book felt rushed and the story incomplete.

The author is a pretty big baseball fan and it shows in this story, part coming of age and part reconciliation. Told in two eras, this is the story of a rookie hitter and a veteran pitcher in 1973 coupled with the story of an aging, distant and difficult father and his son.

I found the baseball credible (though the rookie accomplishments cross the line to in-credible) and the story believable. Both the characters and small town America are well fleshed out. This is the first John Grisham novel I have read, though it won't be the last.