I would’ve liked more insight into the experience and perspectives of the Soviet players, too.

The first 2/3s are excellent. Funny, etc, and then what made it great disappears in the last third.

It's a collection of 18 previously unpublished odds and ends, each no more than a few very well-spaced pages. The whole thing's less than 100 pages. I like Mahfouz and I like short works and I liked this fine.

I gave it an effort and after a time gave it up. I won't say I thought it good or bad, only that I didn't get into it. Of course, it won the Pulitzer, which unbalances the scale more than my opinion.

Harari's books are speculative, well-reasoned, and thought-provoking. I love them. This one dabbles in everything, really, repeatedly pushing in compelling directions, forcing us to engage in issues that define our present.

A fine listen. The author uses Phileas Fogg's travels to frame the wine discussions. It helps provide structure, I suppose, but didn't add or detract from the listen. I knew little about that which I imbibe before consuming. Now I imbibe a little more knowingly.

The reading is flat, unnatural, and not good for an audio drama. A great audio performance like Twelve Angry Men brings you into the story, while this drives you out. The Twilight Zone dramas are a much better alternative.

A fast-paced story of revenge. Plenty of sex, deception, control, roles, games. Who plays who is elusive throughout, carrying the narrative. It starts quick, we're right in it, people see other people in mirrors and through cameras, in fragments; but it peters out at some point as the reader - yours humbly - lost interest.

The book largely describes the activities of the non-profit Mercy for Animals (MFA), a group devoted to the welfare of farmed animals. Through investigative campaigns, MFA employees/representatives uncover horrific, system-wide abuses of animals in the food industry. Many of these efforts result in positive change to government and industry policy. While the book details many heartbreaking stories of abuse, there's also a line of optimism, of hope for the future. Progress is slow, but it's happening. Read it so that these animals' stories are heard and so that you can become a better advocate for animal welfare.

A better read than listen

This rating and these words have nothing to do with the book and everything to do with the audiobook narration. I dropped it after a few chapters because I couldn't catch the narrator's flow. Great narrators either help the prose sing or let the prose sing itself. Neither happen here. The story suffers. I can't pinpoint why. Purely subjective and other listeners may see it differently.

Here is a subjective and unscientific equation to serve as a review:

((I have read and enjoyed Jonathan Swift pieces) + (He wrote in and about a turbulent time) + (Derek Perkins is a great narrator)) - (The realization that I am not engaged with the material 6 hours into the 31 hour narration) = A listen better suited for those who are really, truly, deeply into Swift and 18th C Irish/English history.

An entertaining retelling of The Tempest that works well enough as a standalone romp, while also highlighting the brilliance and wonder of the original. There's analysis worked into the plot, sometimes drawn to extremes and entertaining exaggerations, done so deftly that it comes off as natural and engaging. It's been a long time since I read the play; this will serve as a kick to revisit.

The four Jeeves stories are first-rate, 5 stars. The three Reggie Peppers are less appealing.

The book describes the evolution of the baseball labour movement, from the 1800s to the resolution of the 1981 strike. Since the book cuts off sharply after the 1981 strike, we don't get any content on owner collusion in the '80s, the '94 strike that lead to the cancellation of the World Series, and the most recent two decades of labour peace. That a book published in 2016 skips all that is disappointing.

While this is an interesting read, I much prefer John Helyar's Lords of the Realm.

The author runs through his career in the art industry, with a good chunk allocated to his curatorial work for the Thyssen collection and his connections with Sotheby's and other auction houses. While the narrative slides through the art industry, the main players, and a few scandals, I can't say it does so insightfully.

The narrator is fantastic.

I expected page after page of strange and innovative stratagems, with layers of rationalizations and displays of brilliance. I expected PitchFx in the minors, 5 man infields, long relief closers, castoffs identified through spreadsheet manipulations. All that’s there. But, that’s not the book. While the authors initially set off on an exciting adventure of experimentation, they soon became a couple of guys in an uncomfortable position, slow playing innovation because of the barriers they encounter that I should have seen coming. It’s the Goonies. They find a map, get wrapped up in the adventure, and realize it’s serious. It’s a story of baseball, but it’s more a story of people interacting with people, struggling to get by, somehow winding up in the same tale, temporarily connecting, only to diverge along a new path a few months later. It’s an interesting read, but it’s not the story I expected to read. It’s the story I should have expected to read.

I picked this up, eager, read every word for a bit, started to skim, and then stopped after two chapters. Neither the prose nor story captured me.

Ah, letters and art and friendship and love! What more can one want? Delightful! It's great these two found... hmm... well, that took a turn. Sad. No. Dark. No. Uplifting. No. Sad and dark. Definitely sad and dark. But, uplifting? Maybe, but still sad and dark. Hmm. Well, whatever, it's compelling. Stickers!

The author's a known fellow, with credentials and experience and all that, and he populates his book with expert opinions on all things running. If you need motivation to run, then this probably isn't the book. If you're interested in monitoring things, checking your levels, stretching limbs this way and that, running in a less ungainly manner, then this probably is for you. I dug it. It's very good. I run much less now.

Prior to reading this I'd read two of her previous short story collections (Magic for Beginners and Stranger Things Happen). I don't remember them too well, but I do remember enjoying them and I feel like this aligns w/ them nicely. As you'd expect the stories are strange, w/ elements of this and that, and worth the time if you're open to a world that wavers a bit in and out of the norm.

It's unfortunate that there's this need to write such a book, but there we are. The book consists of a few dozen profiles of women who've made significant contributions to science and progress. They're all short, engaging, refreshing reads. The book doesn't provide an in-depth analysis of the scientists or their contributions. Instead, it surveys and highlights their work, reminding us of their contributions, contributions they made despite the unequal opportunities they were given. It's good - the scientists can serve as models to others and the more they're written about the more likely they'll be known (important).

I anticipated this quite a bit b/c I really enjoyed Cloud Atlas and Jacob de Zoet. After 100 pages, though, I checked out (and sooner 'twould've been if Mitchell was not the author). It's probably engaging to most, w/ the plot moving along at a clip and bizarre happenings happening in those (and presumably the remaining) pages, but, aye, I couldn't do it.

Moves along quickly. Much action. It includes this great line: 'he was made of excellent human dough.' No, wait, that's Middlemarch. Another I couldn't get through. It doesn't matter.

It's set in a made up place (with a great name, by the way!) and has some first-rate plot turns. Generally that's all I need in a book, so, well, I'm sold. It's also a fine read.

A nicely unfolding, readable tale about a ____ who ____ intrigued by an ____ and ____ those that ____ ____. That the ____ fellow is an _____ is significant ____ the ____-____ that underlies the story. It’s a ____ read.

A fine book, perhaps a bit long and repetitive in parts, but, you know, fine overall.

That's not a first-rate review. It's low on adjectives and adverbs and is generally lacking on the information front. So, let's go w/ some randomly generated text, which will serve as a proper review, and call it a day (courtesy this generator):

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Surprising read! It's for collectors, but, man, I enjoyed the first few sections, which covered the proliferation of forgeries, mediums to collect, the disturbing nature of certificates of authenticity, and other matters of interest to collectors. Plus, the analysis of every Hall of Famer's signature is weirdly engaging. Sure, the write-ups blend together after awhile, but every now and then there's a gem like this:

"Like most modern ballplayers Gwynn signs in a very sloppy and illegible hand. His signature looks like a bunch of confused lines. Display value is poor."

Or, on the flip-side:

"Kelley's hand is marked with bold strokes. Lines have noticeable variations in thickness, resulting in a signature with a medieval look…. The few handwritten letters that exist look like they were penned by an ancient scrivener with a highly artistic skill."

Each description ranges from a few short paragraphs to about a page for the more sought after ones, and is accompanied by reproductions of the signatures themselves. Sometimes the author includes multiple versions to illustrate changes in style over time.

Bottom line: I'm not a collector of signatures, but I got a kick out of this book.

Good stuff here. It's a well-researched tale that sheds light on the origin story of son of Laertes, favorite of Zeus, ingenious Odysseus. But besides the general greatness of the telling, there were two things that really popped out to me as I herculeaned my way through. One - the Canadian connection. I grew up near Beachville and somehow never saw (or noticed) the city's wonderfully wonderful welcoming sign. Two - the moustaches. Every now and then a good one appears, which, I think, adds a little something to the tale. Also, Fagles would approve of the endnotes. It's good stuff all round.

While I remember playing in Ebbets Field on Earl Weaver Baseball or Tony Larussa's Ultimate, I definitely remember the Baker Bowl, with its ridiculously short porches in left and right. Helped with the counting stats, playing there did. At least, that's how I remember it. Ebbets, on the other hand, had, according to this book, a 500 foot CF fence for awhile. Ridiculous, what!

Of course, this has nothing to do w/ the book. So, let's just say that a set of essays and interviews on Ebbets Field were brought into existence by certain parties and then bound in the present volume.