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Member: IslandDave

CollectionsYour library (1,601), Currently reading (3), Read in 2009 (111), Read in 2008 (12), To Be Read: Priority (15), To Be Read: Secondary (85), To Be Read: Ternary (186), To Be Read: At Leisure (59), To Be Read: At Some Point (342), Read (206), All collections (1,601)

Reviews101 reviews

TagsNon-Fiction (1,266), History (641), Science (343), Fiction (322), US History (219), War (208), Military History (201), Military (200), 20th Century (199), Biography (182) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Groups999 Challenge, American History, Ancient History, Atheists review books, Banned Books, Build the Open Shelves Classification, Evolution, Evolve!, Faith and Reason, FantasyFans — show all groups , Happy Heathens, History: On learning from and writing history, Medieval Europe, Military History, Non-Fiction Readers, Philosophy and Theory, Progressive & Liberal!, Science Fiction Fans, Science!, Skeptic's book club, The Green Dragon, Travel and Exploration literature

Favorite authorsDouglas Adams, Stephen E. Ambrose, Rick Atkinson, Terry Brooks, Sean B. Carroll, Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, Hans Delbrück, Daniel C. Dennett, Jared Diamond, Bart D. Ehrman, Tim Ferris, Brian Greene, Sam Harris, Robert A. Heinlein, Michio Kaku, Martin Luther King, Jr., Carl Sagan, Lee Smolin, Hunter S. Thompson, J. R. R. Tolkien, Neil deGrasse Tyson (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresBetter World Books, Book Exchange, Book Shop New & Used, Emerald Isle Books & Toys

Favorite librariesCraven-Pamlico-Carteret Public Library System - Western Carteret Public Library

Other favoritesHem of His Garment

About meI'm a married technical developer and business owner. My personal website is at http://davenichols.net. I enjoy living at the beach, travelling, kayaking, debate, music, college basketball, science, history, philosophy, comparative religion, and reading (duh).

About my libraryMy interests are generally non-fiction, centered around physics/astronomy, biology, religion, skepticism, history, military history, history of science, philosophy, mind, and mathematics. When I read fiction, it is nearly always fantasy or sci-fi.

All the books in my LT library I (and my wife) own personally.

An outline of my ratings:

No Stars: Means nothing, haven't entered it yet.

1/2 Star: Terrible. The worst of the worst. Not enjoyable, poorly written, poorly sourced, and/or just plain sucks. Waste of time to even consider reading. Avoid.

1 Star: Very Bad. Almost certainly not worth the time to read. Avoid.

1 1/2 Stars: Bad. On the whole not worth reading, though possibly of some interest if the author/subject matter are important enough. For non-fiction, there may be highly flawed theories or logic, misleading narrative, or other such sins. Avoid.

2 stars: Fair. Generally not worth the time to read, and suffers some serious problems of narrative, sourcing, argument, and/or just plain bland and uninteresting. Not recommended.

2 1/2 stars: OK. Not a positive experience for the time spent, but has some minor value and may offer some interesting reading if the author/subject are sought after. Not recommended.

3 stars: Average. Nothing wrong with an average book. Generally worth the time to read, but temper expectations. Suffers from some minor problems such as narrative, misleading info, construction, but not enough to avoid reading the book. Recommended to specific readers.

3 1/2: Above average. Worth the time spent reading, and despite having some minor flaws (or being somewhat bland and/or underwhelming), offers enough value/enjoyment for most readers. Some books may have 4-5 star ratings but suffer from major problems that keep the rating lower. Recommended to most.

4 stars: Very Good. Well worth the time to read and (for non-fiction) an excellent source of information. It takes something special to get above 4 stars from me, so this is the top of the line for 'normal' books. Recommended to all.

4 1/2 stars: Outstanding. Book offers more value than just being a good read. Narrative is excellent and sourcing/argument (for non-fiction) are well above-average. Subject matter of great interest to me, or subject matter became interesting as a result of reading this book. Highly Recommended.

5 stars: Favorites. The very best of the best. Very Highly Recommended, you can't go wrong with these.

Homepagehttp://freesampleforager.com

Also onAIM, Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

LocationEmerald Isle, NC

Account typepublic, paid

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/IslandDave (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/IslandDave (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (236), Awards (255), Characters (3094), Places (767)

Member sinceDec 12, 2008

Currently readingThey Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967 by David Maraniss
A History of Greece by J. B. Bury
At the Water's Edge : Macroevolution and the Transformation of Life by Carl Zimmer