Reviews and Comments

This final book in the series brings things to a nice conclusion. This story was told from Pearl's perspective, and some definite growth is evident both through the book and the series. The sugar fairies are consistent and, like my daughter, overwhelmed by sweets. The major villain out thought Doctor Woo but was in turn outfoxed by the kids - though his exit was a little silly.

Read aloud with my middle school daughter, this book is perhaps a better fit for late elementary school kids. We both enjoyed the entire series immensely.

Great book - how has it not been made into a movie yet? High school baseball and hijinks and hippies and heartaches pepper this story about a coach and a team and their unlikely playoff run. Excellent sports writing and research, the people of Macon come alive. Highly recommended!

This brief book is roughly one half autobiography, one third history of the craft movement, and one sixth philosophy. Each is interesting - the author was there at the beginning - and a little disjointed. His maker ideology feels like half of a conversation, though I cannot participate or even hear the other half. A solid 2½ stars.

Been sitting on my shelves for a while; when the library turned up an audio copy, I thought it would be a good time to give it a first read.

Covers the impact of salt through history, touching on science towards the end. I learned a lot about the Basques, Celts, and the names of towns in Europe. The recipes didn't add much, in my opinion. Other people have complained about a lack of references; I'll have to dig up my paper copy to check that. A decent book, a pinch more than 3 stars.

A story by story walk through the Sherlock Holmes canon of Conan Doyle. In addition to basic plot points, most titles have info about setting, writing, or historical connections. As I spent this year with each of the books in turn, it was an appropriate finish. On the other hand, it's like reading an encyclopedia - perhaps more useful as a reference.

Photos were few, infographics were many. While much of the information is on Wikipedia, the presentation here is quite good. I especially like the listing and mini reviews of other works after A. Conan Doyle's Holmes.

Good consistent story with historical connections; the idea of a modern day pied piper ala Ian Anderson makes for a fun read. The wording was a little rough in places, but nothing an edit pass or a little rewording wouldn't fix. Fairly short chapters, made for good bedtime chapter book reading.

Read with daughter, 12, who received the added opportunity to look up a few archaic and obscure words.

A combination of Mars mission narrative - very complete and interesting; biography - quite brief; and team management discussion - the author wrote another book beforehand titled Managing Creativity. Especially interesting were some of the plans for future Mars missions and the authors descriptions of challenges encountered because of gender and her leadership role within JPL.

A spread of black and white photos in the book depict the author, her colleagues and both of the spacecraft.

I sought this book out after reading [b:The Martian|18007564|The Martian|Andy Weir|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413706054s/18007564.jpg|21825181]. In that story, the Pathfinder and Soujourner both play a pivotal role. While some of the probe facts are not quite accurate (no LEDs, no external power port), it still makes for a great story.

A solid 4½ stars, this book is a quick read and definitely recommended.

A first contact, coming of age, parallel worlds story and philosophical treatise all rolled into one. The voluminous alternate terms had me thinking this would be a chore, but 50 pages in (a mere 1/19th of the tome!) I was rolling with the flow.

Parts of the design I most liked: an isolated monk-like group consisting of both genders and studying math and science instead of religion. The discussions and then examples of living consciousness existing in many "narratives" simultaneously - with knowledge of and ability to change between them! Space travel and the rendezvous with an alien ship.

Yes, there are times when the author dialogues to tell the story, though the main character is a novice for most of the story. That small quibble aside, this is an excellent self-contained work. I look forward to tackling Seveneves and the Baroque Cycle soon.

Argues for the elimination of the distinction between video games (interactive) and novels / plays / music (passive). Each represents a type of "play", an interaction between the media and the consumer. Touches on Ron Edwards' GNS theories of role playing games and critical analysis as a further form of play.

The author is a video game designer, and the ideas he collects here tie closely into why a video game "works" or doesn't, including when cut-scenes make sense and when the player will be annoyed by them. These same ideas tie into the expectations of the reader of a book, and are revealed in many of the "rules of writing". This book provided a very interesting discourse, with a decent bibliography to match.

Davy is on a list of defining science fiction books of the 1960s - www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_60s.asp - perhaps because it was so different. Anyhow, the satire is mostly lost, the characters roughshod, and the first five chapters irritating.

Great anthology; glad I could renew it at the library. All the stories have something to do with video games, and quite a few are connected to female gamers. Especially liked the more horror focused stories - All of the People in Your Party Have Died and Desert Walk. The latter reminded me of Desert Bus - if you haven't heard of that, go read about it NOW! Many of the other stories were also darn good. My overall favorite (and not just because I played Trade Wars and hosted a BBS so my friends could play) was Andy Weir's Twarrior. Overall result - collection recommended!

Chapters alternate between modern day and the time of Arthur Conan Doyle in this double mystery, each with a basis in historical fact. The author's descriptions are evocative, and I loved the suggestions (from Bram Stoker) to "keep Holmes in the gaslight". Each chapter starts with a relevant Holmes quote, and an author's note at the end details where the history stops. Really enjoyed this!