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The author collects images and an interview with the Wes Anderson for each of his first seven films, while inserting a bit too much of Matt Zoller Seitz into the mix. Favorite Wes Anderson quote, responding to Seitz multiple times in the book, "Hmmm."

The images include production, storyboard and behind the scenes, and are lovingly large in this coffee table style book. I read it cover to cover, and... I think it wasn't really designed for that. The interviews hint at some of what Anderson is thinking, but separating that wheat from the chaff of Seitz going on about other films is more work than it is worth.

Apparently the author and/or the director were interested in continuing the project, because a subsequent single-film book was released for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch. I liked those films, but I'm not sure I'll do much more than browse these books. 2½ stars out of 5.

Started reading this in late May, upon notification of the author's passing. The late 1970s saw baseball owners push back against free agency, publicly and privately - the strike of 1981 closes this collection.

Angell is firmly on the side of the players here. He points out where the owners (successfully) painted the players as greedy, despite causing problems that continue to the present day. In addition to the money concerns, this era saw the retirement of some of Angell's heroes from the 50s and 60s. He speculates on the declining popularity of the major leagues, and yet other essays show the game itself is still beloved - the last essay especially.

Like the previous collection, this has some really excellent essays - and a few that ramble a bit. One of my favorites was the minor league game between future stars Ron Darling and Frank Viola, attended and commented on by one of my favorite players, the deadball era's Smoky Joe Wood, and future analytics legend Bill James. Another article with a solid subject, though not as focused, was on women in the clubhouse and locker room.

Looking forward to the next collection, whose 5 year span (1982-87) will encompass the collision of his two favorite teams in a memorable (and heart-breaking) world series.

An interesting situation, a too-strong villain, impossibilities with physics and dumb choices by the crew make for mixed bag of a novel. It's a quick read, but unsatisfying.

Haldeman was asked to write a Star Trek novel when James Blish bowed out, and that author was referenced in one of the minor characters (Professor Atheling, a pen-name used by Blish). He hadn't seen the show or read any other materials, and ended up using a discussion with Roddenberry and a few photocopied scripts as reference. The characters aren't bad, though they make some un-starfleet choices when dealing with impossible physics.

It does make me wonder whether technicians do transporter "tests" on new worlds first - the crew steps on the pad here and... nothing happens, which is a lot better than other types of failure!

The world itself is a bit mad, with tall grass and a ridiculous biome - but that is nothing compared to the violations of physics. The transporter doesn't work, phaser "stun" is fine but not "kill", the shuttles can land fine but the engines then cease to function; and worst of all, no communications? Yes, in the end this comes back to a too-powerful alien species who "doesn't like the noise", but seriously? The world itself is ridiculous, not part of a planetary system and orbiting a somewhat controlled black hole. I can't see star fleet that we know of dipping a toe into that planet before they understood the physics of the space around it, and that includes the prime directive. An author more knowledgeable of the canon could have had their too-powerful alien "hide" information and fool the sensors, etc.

That's the first 3/4 of the book, and then everything changes and the story finally connects to the title (which Haldeman states on his blog "wasn't his title" - so where did it come from?). This second section has nothing to do with the first, and has the too-powerful alien "testing" a portion of the crew. "Q" anyone?

Was this ending handed to Haldeman to incorporate (badly) into his story? Did someone make liberal "edits" with the ending after he submitted the manuscript? I've read Haldeman before and while the first part feels true, the ending doesn't. Did Roddenberry have some sort of a fascination with god-like powers testing the crew?

I look forward to more from this author, but not the later Star Trek book he wrote ([b:World Without End|21630|World Without End (Star Trek Adventures, #10)|Joe Haldeman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630183092l/21630.SY75.jpg|22763]). To quote the author from his blog, "But once I'd proved that I could write a novel with somebody else's characters, the prospect of doing it a second time was not attractive. I'd signed a two-book contract, though, and Paramount wouldn't let me buy it back. The second took three times as long and was a little less painful than pulling your own teeth."

Two stories in one, and no beer cans for the wizard Ingold this time. Obviously the middle book of a trilogy, and need to read the third to finish the stories.

The first and most satisfying story is Gil's time at the keep. Her past drives her to understand the history, and that seems to be something the rest of the folk in this world have little interest in. We really see her relationships grow with Alde and the Bishop as well. Just as they found the most interesting things (machinery! gems that "store" light!) we reach the end of this book.

The other story, interwoven, is Rudy and Ingold's trek to the wizard community, sealed against the rest of the world. This is a long trek. With the nature of the "Dark" described in the first book, it feels like the trip should be impossible. Minor spoiler, they make it, and the return is apparently so easy it gets no pages in the text. Perhaps the dark is not as all-encompassing as it seemed? It's a community rather than a condition? Book 3 will hopefully reveal all.

I felt Rudy confronted some of his character, with the result of some growth. Ingold is also changed here, and while none of this is in his voice, I'll bet these changes are important in the future. I like this wizard, and I really his take on (or the author's design of) magic.

Partly because of interruptions, but partly because the story didn't grab me as much, reading this took a month. I'd like to dive into the third sooner than the year I waited for this one - and I'd like to see that wizard get another beer.

Frightening revelations and some repetition, this book tries to accomplish a few different things. It achieves one well, and is somewhat convincing that we the people aren't powerless.

Economist Daniel Ellsberg, famous for the Pentagon papers, has collected a lifetimes worth of research and thoughts into the risks of Nuclear War, both strategic and tactical. This is the best part of the volume, and it reveals a lot, including just how many people could actually launch nuclear weapons (hint - it's a LOT more than just the president). Because of the doomsday systems in place, most of these launches would trigger automatic responses, ending in nuclear winter or omnicide (great, if depressing, term).

Per the many-worlds hypothesis, are we just the lucky ones who have survived thus far?

Other portions of the book include the transition from attacking military targets to bombing civilian centers, the de-facto target of nuclear weapons. The history here is muddled, and has been presented better in other books. I think a more concise one-chapter summary would have been better. The best part of this section is where Ellsberg points out that the atom bomb actually did less damage than the campaign of firebombing in place up to that point - but using less planes.

He concludes the book calling for disarmament, calling for commitments to no first strike, and others. What would have been more impactful (and may in actuality be the case, though still classified) is that we could easily replace the nuclear weapons with missiles that could destroy the weapons and weapon systems - reverting to the original goal, and leaving cities and innocent populations out of jeopardy. He does point out how difficult it would be to change the direction of our current military-industrial complex, and that probably applies equally well to other countries - especially those that lack the newest technology. He also shows where people have effected change related to nuclear topics - all hope is not lost.

Aside from the muddled history, there were sentences and small paragraphs that were duplicates. It almost feels like this was a series of articles collected into a book, and if so, it needed a lot more editing. The best result would have focused on what the author knows best, including details on the Cuban Missile Crisis and the risks and flaws in the system used in the 60s and 70s. In the end, this was a book that was equal parts enlightening, depressing, and frustrating. 3 stars (out of 5).

The authors created a too-strong villain and an impossible situation in this early, very non-canon publication.

The story starts in media res, with the body of Captain Kirk being returned to the Enterprise, with his identity confirmed shortly thereafter. In dialogue we find out more-or-less what happened to cause his death, but we never find out why the Enterprise is here, the mission, or even the stardate. Kirk (not surprisingly not dead) and Spock get the majority of the dialog, along with the Romulan commander from "The Enterprise Incident" (whose presence is also not really explained).

The pacing is uneven, with a LOT of dialogue. With just a little reading between the lines, this is a major slash story, perhaps the first in a published Star Trek novel. A lot of novel text is spent on considering just who are the alpha males. The villain is unreasonably powerful, with brains, brawn and technology way beyond the Federation and the Romulan Empire. Finally, the authors wrote themselves into a bit of a corner with the ending (no spoilers) - but there is also a sequel in this same early Bantam books series.

The Price of the Phoenix was published in 1977, just a few years before the release of Star Trek the Motion Picture. It is set in the original five year mission, after the events of the series. The self-published book "Never Mourn Black Omne", distributed sometime prior to the publication of Price, is believed to have been an early, draft, version of the novel. The authors were also proud to claim they had Roddenberry's approval, where the previous book [b:Spock, Messiah!|216632|Spock, Messiah! (Star Trek Adventures, #3)|Theodore R. Cogswell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1266498260l/216632.SY75.jpg|209734] did not. Between the two, I found this book slightly better, but not a lot of fun to read. 1½ stars.

A conclusion that had to collect too many threads, introducing another few along the way. For me this resulted in a series ending that was just okay.

Without spoilers, I can say that a lot of the directions this took felt very arbitrary - almost as if the author wrote herself into a corner, so to speak. I didn't have a good feel for the power of the main characters - could Danny control time threads or not? If blood was so powerful, why couldn't the villains exert the same sort of control? Just what were they trying to do with Big Ben - control it? Just what is the level of steampunk technology here? - it seems too modern at times. Another reviewer pointed out that the ending dragged a lot, and I agree.

Ending on a positive note, I still think the author's creation is really interesting. Time is a heck of a tricky subject to factor into work, and Danny's fugue towards the end is well written. I wanted to see a bit more structure and a few less factions - and a lot less torture. I'm glad I read the series and want to try something else from this author. Overall series rating rounds to 3 stars - I liked it.

Look more at the subtitle than the title - this book is a casual investigation of what we should be doing, which is having more conversations with our neighbors, regardless of politics.

I've described books as road trips before, and for certain types of books that's a fine thing. A light book that touches on topics, it feels like the author is journaling their investigation while you are reading it. Often it seems the author doesn't have a goal in mind - the journey is the destination. It feels like the wrong approach in this book.

The beginning of the book details a visit to a flat earth convention. The author tells us these folks are serious to hold these beliefs in the face of such overwhelming evidence and outright ridicule. In making this point, he leads us to the best way to reach these folks - how to talk to them.

Having achieved the title goal in the first chapter, the author explores other things - the history behind organized anti-science (tobacco companies) and political polarization. I found this part the most interesting. Tell a story with a chart of numbers and the best predictor of who will get it is the level of math understanding. Use the same numbers but select a polarizing issue (say, gun control vs crime) and the best predictor of who will NOT get it is the strength of belief in a political party. This is confirmation bias - interpreting the information in a way that supports political beliefs. The author states here that data is NOT the way to convince a science denier.

After that, the travelogue wanders into climate change, GMO, masks and vaccines. Here the author loses focus. At times he tries to tie this back to the original point, but other times he just points where he wanted to do more with face-to-face meetings - a near impossibility during lockdown. I also felt the points he did make were weak. Out of a small sample, he found nobody that denied climate change; out of an even smaller sample set, nobody wanted to make laws against GMO, etc. Finally the book was released too soon to really measure anti-vaccine statements; we have much better numbers, opinions and results today. Beyond the first chapter, he didn't document any conversations with "others who defy reason" on these topics.

In summary, the first chapter and a half are excellent, and the bibliography shows promise. The subtitle is accurate - these are conversations, and this is more of a travelogue than a scientific study.

Better than the first book, but absolutely a middle book - ends with an unresolved cliffhanger. Dove straight into the third book to resolve this interesting world the author created.

The world building was the aspect I liked most about the first book, and here things are expanded and previous notions broken. The author uses the historical events of Victorian India to add more conflict to that of the first book. Who is right, and is it okay to kill to achieve the goals? Each of the many characters has their own direction - including new mysterious interlopers.

My favorite character from the first book got just a few pages :( but I liked seeing Daphne get more pages, more fleshing out. I liked the new characters, but wanted to see more of how India's Timekeeper's differed from England. The two main characters from the first book were separated for nearly all of this book, with the story switching between their points of view (and others) - and I felt the book suffered some for that. I look forward to seeing all the plots combined in the final book.

I heard the author's program on BBC and added her book to my reading list - a book that was very hard to find here in the US.

This is a survey of many topics related to our use of the internet - from search to connection to social interactions and more. In many of the short chapters, the author highlights information from a book or article, and these sources are listed in the extensive bibliography.

When I finally found a copy to read, I found a portion of the content was out of date, and all of it insufficient. I am reminded of a podcast or discussion program, and this connects back to the author's other work at the BBC. Had I read this ten years ago when it was first published, I think it would have been 3 or maybe 4 stars. Today, the bibliography is still an excellent starting point, but I can't recommend the whole.