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This book contains two distinct stories. returnThe first based in Cardaissa is horrible and boring. McCormack uses too much italics, and "quotes" thoughts. Its like Star Wars Pre-quell that sits and looks at how their government works, but its slow. Some kid attempts to blow up parliament to make the foreigners leave Cardassia. It sounds dramatic but its written so poorly that its not. returnreturnThe second story, however, is fantastic. The first time in my life I found a Star Trek love story believable, unforced and enthralling. Prynn and Shar both lost loved ones on their trip to the Gamma quadrant and their support of each other leads to a love that is unknown. There is struggles with sexuality (Andorians have 4 sexes, so how does a "male" Andorian mate with a female human) family (Androian commitment to raise and support andorian children) genetics (could we eliminate two of our sexes to make the people live) politics (and not boring politics like in the first story) action, adventure, death, destruction, and actually cried, I don't know if I've ever got that level of emotional attachment to a book before. returnreturnIts a shame I have to give a single rating to the whole book, as the first story deserves a 1 1/2, while the second deserves a 5+, so I give the book a three.

Eurogames is I liked a lot. It is good for what it is. It is a scholarly work, so that means there is way too much in-line documentation and a rather dry writing style, as long as you prepare yourself for such you will be impressed. returnreturnI found it interesting that Woods, an Australian, spends so much of his time discussing European board games from an American perspective. Is this the only data that was available? returnreturnThe first half of the book goes about what is a Eurogame, why it exists, how Hobby market came to be etc. I found most interesting the history of German board games, the German history of making fine toys, the community lack of interest in anything War related after loosing two world Wars and many Anglo-American games being illegal due to them containing Nazi symbolism. returnreturnThe second half of the book is based primarily on a survey he did on BoardGameGeek and his attempt at analyze responses. returnreturnIt may make me a better gamer, I'm not sure, it seems to communicate that my desire to win by sabotaging my opponents plan is considered bad form. I don't know why that's not cool...he tried to explain and it sounds like they are all just bad losers to me :-)

I'm a huge fan of the BBC Robin Hood series, and like well all of the Robin Hood movies I've seen. Yet 20 years after the first time I tried to read Pyle's most famous collection of Hood stories, I still do not like this rendition. returnreturnIt was written in the 19th century, but in attempt to make it seem more authentic the 12th century men are written to speak as if they are in the King James Bible. I don't believe commoners spoke that way then. returnreturnAlso there are far too many retellings of nearly identical stories. We get it, Robin and his men are much better archers than nearly everyone else, but how many competitions do they really need to win? returnreturnI understand that 900 years ago we didn't have photo ID, or biometrics, but was it really that easy to conceal your identify? How can simply wearing a color other than "Lincoln green" be enough? Can the Sherriff of Nottingham be so stupid as to not recognize one of the communities most wanted men "Little John" is the same man who has been serving in his guard for 6 months? returnreturnI'm not certain what religion Howard Pyle is, but I suspect that he is a Protestant as he seems to really despise Catholic clergy. While I agree there may have been some corrupt clergy in the 12th century, even his protagonists clergyman "Friar Tuck" is depicted in the unflattering light of being a drunkard. returnreturnPreviously I had thought that Pyle's Hood was the original, I learned later that he collected and retold much older (and allegedly bloodier) tales. I'm not sure if those are worth getting your hands on, but Pyle's "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" is worth skipping. The production quality of the audiobook was good, which is how this ended up with a two star.

I really liked this audio book. Its a great example of the medium. I feel they are always better when read by the author, and Jimmy Carter has a great friendly grandpa voice (something that probably helped him beat Gerald Ford). returnreturnWhile many, if not most, of the stories, I had already heard by "reading" "First Lady from Plains" by Rosalyn Carter, this is a slightly different perspective, particularly I enjoyed the early chapters with his boyhood times of through flaming rag balls to celebrate Christmas. returnreturnAlso he reminds us that for some reason, Santa really prefers rich kids to poor kids.

From the folks that invented "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" I expected more. This book was bad. returnreturnI was hoping for a humors look on life, and some actual self-help based on said humor. returnreturnNo such luck, just bad jokes. Nothing but bad jokes, and I like bad jokes, but these were not good. returnreturnA number of chapters of choose your own adventures filled with bad jokes, completely out of context suggests that you should get rid of scurvy, and well bad jokes.

There's something about ether.returnreturnI don't know what it is, but early 20th century British writers were obsessed with it. Just as Huxley used it as a stupefying agent in "Brave New World" Doyle uses it as an agent to bring upon death to the world. returnreturnProfessor Challenger observes changes in the light spectrum through his telescope, and proclaims that the world is about to experience a change larger than the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs (excepting of course their lost world). returnreturnOf course the world laughs at him again, and of course again he is right. The Earth was sent through a poisons belt of ether that is a "universal agent."return-returnThe best parts where the descriptions of how the people went coo-koo when exposed, like Professor Summerly barking like a dog and proving he could do all the barn yard animals. returnreturnSome surprising parts are reminder of how closely we still live to a racist world when the smartest man in the universe refers to non-whites as "the lower races" and "the less evolved humans" and no one bats an eye. returnreturnI would have given a higher rating overall, but the ending was predictable and unimaginative.

Carter manages a mass of characters who struggle to survive the revolutionary war. From wives hoping to be reunited with husbands, to Quakes and other pacifists trying to keep peace at all cost, to those who "just want to be left alone" and Torries loyal to the crown and tarred and feather for their belief (and latter return the favor 100 times over). And of course Indians playing the game best they can in hopes of one day returning to the ways of the ancestors. returnreturnThis audio book was "interesting." I really enjoyed Jimmy Carter's non-fiction work, so this lead me to try out his one fiction writing. returnreturnThis piece of historical fiction is attempted to be written like his non-fiction pieces, sort of in a memories mode. This is odd for fiction, as it is trying to get decades worth of fictional information into a story only several hours long. Also unlike most fiction works, there is not real central character, the story jumps back and forth, and its likely readable as such in print form, but much more hard to follow in audio only. returnreturnAlso this story, like many fiction writings of the 21st century, has far too many unnecessary sexual sense written in it. Add to that image, the idea that this is written not only by an old white man, but one who used to be the POTUS. ITs just weird. returnreturnBut the story was interesting and worth following, and like all good historical fiction made me want to learn more about the facts behind it, to determine how much was history and how much was fiction. Often I felt more like I was hearing a civil war story than a revolutionary store, with a frequent thought that for an Georgian in his 70s the Civil War is still not far enough that we can talk about it candidly, but then again I'm reminded that if Washington would have lost, our Revolutionary war may well have been referred to as the British Civil War.

Perry really is a great author for this type of work. Her Prologue is a great short (>20 pages) summary of everything that has happened in the DS9 relaunch story thus far. This allows anyone to pick up at this point, and actually clarified some events for me (I've been reading them in order of release, but the events of Left Hand of Destiny actually occur before the events in Stitch in Time, not right before Unity). returnreturnHer transitioning between characters points of views and subplots is fantastic. She leaves you guessing just long enough so you think you know what's going to happen, but you aren't 100% sure (just like watching an episode of Star Trek). returnreturnThe Defiant returns to the Alpha quadrant with the missing Jake Sisko and the old Kie Opakac Sulan along. They are greeted by Caradaisans in a way that almost makes you think they've ended up in an alternative universe. But soon enough it becomes clear (and I'm reminded of what was happening in the Alpha during the Gamma Mini-Series) that an "evil" parasite is attempting to destroy Trill by taking over Bajor.returnreturnThe scenes tint he worm whole that you aren't sure if they are in the worm whole or not are good, hints at a possible future romance between Shar and Prynn is enticing, and the biggest surprise is an unexpected appearance of Odo (don't worry its so unexpected that this isn't a spoiler) though the appearance almost seems unnecessary. The exact opposite is the incredibly expected appearance of Benjamin Sisko. returnreturnAbove all it does what it is meant to do, reunites some characters that had be come separated, and lead me wanting to read the next chapter. returnreturnI don't like the cover, it gives away too much of the end of the plot.

This audio book claims to be "the #1 Best Seller that the motion picture was based on" but its far from that. The whole movie is based almost solely on the books Prologue. The rest of the book is much more in depth telling of how Adams' anarchistic one on one relationship based approach to medicine should work, and his adventures teaching medidence in the USSR etc. returnreturnI listened to this in August, and forgot to review, so I could have provided a better review then, but hey not too bad for 5 months later.

This was utterly fantastic. The more of Tucker I hear, the more I like Tucker. returnreturnFor years I've been using the line "if the government weren't making so many damn roads, the free market would have given me a Jetsonmobile by now" so certainly I was interested in this item. returnreturnBut its not just the roads, and its not just theoretical, we have really overcome the barrier of government in some places, and government actively (attempts) prevents it going the way of the dodo bird in attempts of controlling not only what is on the market, but convincing producers that they need the governments protection. While I good portion of the book is Tucker's review/insight on "Against Intellectual Monopoly" and this certainly made me want to get that book, I think its still great in addition.

This audio book was well written, and entertaining. It provided insight on some folks I already knew well, like Pope John Paul II, and others whom I had heard of, but didn't really know anything of, like Mother Teresea. His Chrsitian charity shines through his journalistic approach, even when trying not to. Aikman did well and made me want to learn more. returnreturnThe physical disk was not good Disc one would not play in a standard MP3 CD player, and when copying to another still didn't, I had to burn to 5 standard CDs and even that didn't quite copy as I'd expect to. As usual, if you really are interested, get the dead tree version.

My First Experience with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World was the late 90s early 2000s syndicated television show. That was pretty light and really unbelievable. This was not. returnreturnreturnI really liked this book. I do not, however, understand the characters desire to keep their discovers a secret. Some the descriptions as to how the Lost World is inaccessible I think could use some improvement too. Like most books, I think that reading this would be better than listening, but I didn't' like it enough to buy a copy to read.

I liked "The Lost World" so much that I wanted to find another Doyle audio book. returnreturnThere were lots of collections of short stories on Sherlock Holmes, but this seemed like the only long complete tail.returnreturnIt was long. I would have been happy if ended at about the end of the first half and they just told us how he determined the killer. returnreturnInstead they started this whole other story about Mormons in the U.S. It was so different that I honestly didn't realize it was the same book. I thought it was some kind of "bonus feature" or something on the MP3 CD Disk. At the end of the second half they tied it all together, I won't spoil the ending, but part of me wishes someone had.

This book was fantastic and I could not put it down. Regardless of your religious, political, or racial perspective I think there is something to be learned from Black And Catholic in the Jim Crow South. They rendition of how Catholics were treated in the south regardless of color reminds me of the story of the south that ended with "Well your husband's Jewish..." "No, he's Catholic" "I knew it was something weird" returnreturnThe book has some historical references form the author, but its mostly full of short stories from folks from a town in Mississippi. Not the stories you here at the Knights of Columbus, but the ones from your Grandpa, that you can't wait to hear next time you see him, and you miss when he's gone. returnreturnThe author groups the stories together in chapters to make the readable by subject, but it really appears to be the folks own words, some who where there when the Church refused to fall to pressure to keep blacks out, to integrating their schools far before the government counterparts. But not all is rosy for Christ's Church, as we have our bigots too. returnreturnWhen Holy Family ( a primary black catholic church in Natchez) becomes the head of the NAACP, and one of its priests the chairperson, it can only be by the grace of God that it is not bombed. I didn't realize how much blacks, and whites who happen to have been associated with them, really had to fear for their life from extremists, particularly once the protection of government was removed and the market saw that separate but equal was simply not profitable. Crazy people don't like the market. returnreturnPlease do yourself and your family a favor and read this book.

Captain Marvel, this book only reminded me, "The only reason you exist is due to archaic copyright law to ensure that D.C. Comics can't call Shazam 'Captain Marvel' "