Reviews and Comments

I really liked this book. When i first got it I sure thought the idea of a whole book on one day would be obscured. But it moved along quickly wanting to turn the page. Our junior protagonist has to live just one last day on the only world he has ever known. Liam was born and raised on Mars, which humanity fled to for a short time when it became clear that the sun was going to explode and Earth was no longer inhabitable. returnreturnIt would be short stay only while they found a suitable (Star Trek Class M) planet. His parents where on the team determine how to settle the stars. So they are the last to leave when most of his classmates and the rest of humanity had already moved on. What was only going to be day away from school turned into a new adventure and more than anyone every thought possible. returnreturnI particularly liked the way Emmerson portrays time travel.

I wanted to read this book after hearing the author on public radio. returnreturnDonut Dolly was the nick name of the American Red Cross girls. Something I had never heard of before. The American Red Cross had sent young women (who had to be college educated and unmarried and under 25) to the war front to make the men feel more at home. In Korea they handed out donuts hence where the name came from. returnreturnIn Vietnam donuts would melt in the hot sun, so it was more just kool-aid and being able to see a pretty american girl. The world has changed so much in the near 60 years since Vietnam that I still have a hard time fathoming.returnreturnI kept expecting her boyfriend to die since she kept talking about how much danger she was in and the last name on the authors page wasn't the same as Bob's, the ending was a bit of a surprise still. returnreturnShe left Flint a Christian pacifist, she came home a right-wing reactionary warhawk (my words not hers)returnreturnThe book was fine. A general memoir of her every day adventures in the war. I didn't feel like I had any more understanding of their role than I did during her interview on the radio. I wouldn't really recommend it unless you have a particular interest in knowing all of the Vietnam War.

This audiobook was very good. So many different story lines and genres crossed, romance, mystery, cultural clashes, and even a little erotica. However unlike most stories I have read that include sex scenes these were both tasteful and necessary for the development of the story. I primarily wanted to read this book to get a better understanding of Indian culture, particularly since on my line of work most of my colleagues are Indian. I was disappointed, howeve, to learn the author is not Indian, as such I'm not sure how much was actually insightful and how much was regurgitation of prejudice. Regardless I liked the story. The audiobook recording I also thought was well done. The narrator had an Indian accent and had a mastery of the English language. I could ask for little more.

I recieved this MP3-CD as part of Library Thing's early review program. I love MP3-CD it's a format that's not around much. However, that was the only good thing I could say about it. It's long and boring. Reads like a set of police reports.

About the first half of this book I though was utterly amazing. It was like something I had never read before and don't think anyone else could do storytelling the way Ende did. The interaction between the "real world" of Bastian reading the Never Ending Story, and the characters in the Never ending Stroy was such that I hanever experienced. However this absolute amazingness seemed to disappear in the later half of the book when Bastian actually is inside The never ending story, somewhat to return at then end when he gets home, but that was kind of to be expected by that point.

This was not very good. Maybe the first book I ever read that the movie was way better (and not just for the singing). returnreturnThis is a collection of short stories about anamorphic animals in the Inidan Jungle of the 19th century. I added it to my queue when I wanted more English stories from India in hopes of better communicating with my Indian colleagues. returnreturnThey aren't well written, they have no redeeming or overarching story and even though they are very short, they feel very long and boring. returnreturnThis audio book collection was particularly poor. there Were three distinct different narrators, I believe it was first recorded for Tape in the 80s and then re-released on CD in the 90s (and maybe digital in the 21st) and each time they added some artifacts and it's just not good. returnreturnNot worth stabbing yourself in the eye, but not worth reading.

I enjoyed Travers' Mary Poppins. I was surprised how different it was from the movie. Only a few of the stories from the movie were in the book and vice versa. I would not be surprised if many of the other stories in the movie came from the rest of the books, but I want to read them and find out. returnreturnIn particularly I liked the stories featuring the twin babies who I don't even recall being in the movie. They spoke to each other and the birds and al the animals understood them but the grown ups didn't, except of course Mary Poppins. Certainly an interesting idea. returnreturnI also enjoyed the "trip around the world" where they quickly traveled around the world using a compass and met all kinds of animals. I heard the first edition had them meet all kinds of stereotyped children from around the world, and I have no idea how that would work but would love to get my hands on a first edition and find out.

I was somewhat disappointed by this audiobook. I absolutely loved Reading Ronson's "Them" and although I haven't read the book, the movie "Men who stare at goats" was great too. However this was a much less exciting tale. He even admits such part way through the book, that his normal readers might not even appreciate it. returnreturnIt was also odd in that the author read it himself. Normally I absolutely love when that is the case, but not such much here. I'm not sure if I just found his particular British voice incredibly annoying, or the mere fact that I hadn't realized he was British before through me off so much. returnreturnMost of the book focuses on those who have said stupid things on the Internet, particularly Twitter, and then their whole lives where ruined after they were "called out" by the masses for making bad jokes. Losing jobs, relationships etc. returnreturnHe found a few folks who successfully made it through and spent much of the book trying to find what lead them to keep going, only to find that it was not how the related to public shaming that was different, but that in the 21st century there are basically no longer long term consequences for marital infidelity, particularly for men, as their had been 100 years ago. Now-a-days it is much worse to tell a racist joke, or be perceived ax being anti-military.

It is incredibly long. A bunch of stuff happens but it doesn't seem to really have a plot. even the ending is like the author just stopped writing.returnreturnThe protagonist Scarlet is a real piece of work, incredibly dumb and naive, and I would like to punch her in the mouth.

This book was fairly well written, though he did get repetitive a few times. Having listened to the audio book I always seem to note repetition more than when I read dead trees. This audio book not having good transitions from CD to CD also can lead to it being halfway the second time through Track 1 before I realize I'm back in track 1 and he's not just being repetitive again. returnreturnIt wasn't as exciting nor humors as I had expected it to be. A lot of what it is was over reaching big government police getting into to private citizens life. The KKK is an awful organization and from Stallworth's story most of them are idiots. The part where Stallworth talks about having to be a body guard for David Duke as himself a black cop, rather than as the undercover "white" guy he's been talking to on the phone for months. returnI am left wondering what Duke and others involved thought once this book was release

I received this book as part of LibraryThing's early review project. returnreturnWe are a home school family so having books like this available is always a big plus to us. That being said my oldest is currently in 2nd grade so it will be a time before we use this reference regularly. returnreturnIt says its visual guide to acing math in grade 4-9 but there are some topics in here that I never touched until 10th grade geometry, so your miles may vary. returnreturnFrom the description I had hoped we would be able to use this as a curricular from middles school math, but alas its more of a reference book than a curriculum. But for what it is, it's well put together, though quite heavy.

The Emerald City of Oz was...interesting. The first depression of the 20th century hits Kansas hard and Uncle Henry is about to lose his farm. returnreturnEasy solution, move the whole family to Oz to live forever. Princess Ozma gives Princess Dorthy and her people on a tour of Oz. Meeting a whole new set of people including the paper-doll snip-n-clips and the fast talking wizzywigs. returnreturnBut the fun doesn't last because the Gnmoe king decides he needs to dig a tunnel into the Emerald City to blast the place and gets the help of all the other evil beings of the land to help him out.

This story was so much better than I expected. The movie "Return to Oz" was awful. "The marvelous land of Oz" on the other hand was a great trip down the red brick road. returnreturnThe story begins with Baum telling us how we never intended to make an Oz sequel, but so many kids had contacted him, including one little girl named Dorthy who risked everything to travel to his house and ask for more, that it became impossible for him not to. returnreturnHis Dorthy isn't in this story, this is instead the "continuing tale of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodsman in OzreturnreturnWe get a new protagonist, Tip, who created a Jack O'Lantern to scare the mean old lady whose been controlling him for years. After it scares the hell out of her she decides to punish him by making it come to life. This was a dumb idea because that evening Tip and this new Jack Pumpkin head run away to their own trip to the Emerald city. returnreturnIf you liked the Wonderful WIzard of Oz, you should pick this up.

This abridged audio collection was well produced. That being said it was a very odd collection, and it wasn't what I was expecting. I'm not sure what lead me to believe this, but I had expected an unabridged Full Cast Audio book like the Scripner Juvenile series by Heinlein I loved so much. returnreturnThis was actually a collection of radio shows and not actually the audio books. No narrator, so the character had really odd conversations to tell the listener what was happening. returnreturnThe oddest part though was the collection of the 1st, 2nd and 5th book in the series. Even worse that the end of "The Marvelous Land of Oz" we are told "Join us next week for Ozma of Oz" which we never got and without the in between books some stuff really doesn't make sense in "The Emerald city of Oz"