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All Creatures Great & SmallAll Creatures Great & Small, DVDSeason 3
DVD - 2023DVD, 2023
zipread's rating:
Added Mar 06, 2024
zipread's rating:
Added Feb 10, 2024
Comment:
Well, is this your first Grisham? It’s my second. Those other readers seem to think Grisham dropped the ball on this one: that Exchange wasn’t up to the mark of his other novels. Maybe. I’m too new to this author. Having said that, I found Exchange to my liking. So much so that I’m grabbing my library card and heading off for more Grisham. ‘Cause I think I’ve found another author to binge read.Well, is this your first Grisham? It’s my second. Those other readers seem to think Grisham dropped the ball on this one: that Exchange wasn’t up to the mark of his other novels. Maybe. I’m too new to this author. Having said that, I found Exchange…
zipread's rating:
Added Nov 21, 2023
Comment:
He’s got the lingo of the times, the forties, down pat. So you know enough not to take the dialogue too seriously. Having said that, Gambling Man is entirely enjoyable. You can cruise through the book real pronto.
zipread's rating:
Added Nov 15, 2023
zipread's rating:
Added Nov 15, 2023
Comment:
This novel definitely ranks among the classic school of science fiction. It rivets your attention and moves fast with a plot that does not fail to hold your attention. Martha Wells is an author that definitely should deserve further attention.
Added Nov 15, 2023
Comment:
There was a time when the le carré. Opels were immensely popular; a time when they predictably ranked among the top books read. But now they no longer reflect the pre occupations of our times. It might be said they represent a simpler times when the world was the playground of the world’s two superpowers.
Maybe it is for this reason, among others, that this novel found so little traction with me. I found the plot lethargically slow. I never even even got to the middle of it before I decided to cut my losses.There was a time when the le carré. Opels were immensely popular; a time when they predictably ranked among the top books read. But now they no longer reflect the pre occupations of our times. It might be said they represent a simpler times when the…
Added Nov 04, 2023
Comment:
What a great yarn. Part mystery, part science fiction and part just plain good writing. Immensely enjoyable and totally riveting till the very last. A gem of a novel among a lot of dross.
Added Nov 04, 2023
Comment:
Didn’t get far to realize this book said nothing to me. Except it wasn’t for me.
zipread's rating:
Added Oct 27, 2023
Comment:
We know that Schwab is arable of writing riveting fiction. We have only to look at the Life of Rudie La Vue. But this time she doesn’t manage to hit the ball out of the park. I read half of Gallant, I owed Schwab that much, but I was never hooked.
zipread's rating:
Added Oct 18, 2023
Comment:
As a lapsed geographer I immediately gravitate to any book that seems to be in anyway, connected two things Geo.. So, of course, when I spot a book on the library shelf, a book on the library shelf, titled cryptically the cartographers. Simply must read it. Some of the concepts of the novel,, hidden town hidden room that appear only on one addition of a whole series of Mabs. It’s an interesting concept, but I found that the book, while interesting enough didn’t Re sly rivet my intention. And the after having foolishly committed myself to most of the book. I guess I was foolishly expecting it to somehow improve.As a lapsed geographer I immediately gravitate to any book that seems to be in anyway, connected two things Geo.. So, of course, when I spot a book on the library shelf, a book on the library shelf, titled cryptically the cartographers. Simply must…
Fifty Foods That Changed the Course of HistoryFifty Foods That Changed the Course of History, Book
by Price, BillBook - 2014Book, 2014
zipread's rating:
Added Jun 04, 2023
Comment:
Fifty of the foods that have had the greatest effect throughout history.
There are the obvious foods like maize and potatoes; rice and wheat.
But some enterbest are, perhaps, not quite so serious. Hamburgers and Coca Cola?
The book is a quick read. It doesn’t have to be read in one sitting: you can pick and choose as the spirit moves you.Fifty of the foods that have had the greatest effect throughout history.
There are the obvious foods like maize and potatoes; rice and wheat.
But some enterbest are, perhaps, not quite so serious. Hamburgers and Coca Cola?
The book is a quick read.…
A Short History of Nearly EverythingA Short History of Nearly Everything, Book
by Bryson, BillBook - 2003Book, 2003
zipread's rating:
Added May 04, 2023
Comment:
Big. Well illustrated. Details not only the science. IBug also the scientists behind he science. Something we often forget. Reading the whole book would be a kind of marathon. Reading it on the instalment plan would probably be a better idea. It should also be noted that this book is entirely to heavy and it’s shape to awkward to lend its being read in one of my favourite reading locals: the bathtub. A calamity waiting to happen.Big. Well illustrated. Details not only the science. IBug also the scientists behind he science. Something we often forget. Reading the whole book would be a kind of marathon. Reading it on the instalment plan would probably be a better idea. It…
Added Jan 13, 2023
SoundingsSoundings, BookThe Story of the Remarkable Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor
by Felt, HaliBook - 2012Book, 2012
Added Jan 13, 2023
Atlas of Remote IslandsAtlas of Remote Islands, BookFifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot on and Never Will
by Schalansky, JudithBook - 2010Book, 2010
zipread's rating:
Added Dec 31, 2022
Comment:
The concept is interesting. Many of these islands are so remote you’d be forgiven for thinking they don’t exist. Bear Island. Annohan Island. Tromelin Island. Obscure for sure. Fodder for Trivial Time. For sure. Nothing here though youth you couldn’t get from google earth.
And each of these islands tells its own tale, sometimes stranger than you might believe. The island inhabited by only crabs and ants that are in perpetual conflict with one another. There are stories shipwreck; there’s the shipwreck with 60 survivors that set a signal fire that is still. Urning fifteen years later. There are only two survivors. Then there are the mutineers of Pitcairn Island. Then is the island of Saint Paul.when the service ors of a shipwreck land here they find it inhabited to row equally mad men, one of whom thinks he is the governor of an outpost of the French Empire.
But the maps themselves present some problems. The colouration makes it difficult to read.the writing on the map is difficult to read: small, italics, coloration. It will put your determination to the test.
The stories, however are well worth reading. They tell the tales of discovery, of survival on these islands. They are geography,the are sociology, they the history of the islands and it’s inhabitants. They are without a doubt the most redeeming part of this book.The concept is interesting. Many of these islands are so remote you’d be forgiven for thinking they don’t exist. Bear Island. Annohan Island. Tromelin Island. Obscure for sure. Fodder for Trivial Time. For sure. Nothing here though youth you…
zipread's rating:
Added Sep 23, 2022
Comment:
It’s the sort of book you set out to read out of a misplaced sense of Canadian identity. You just know this book is going to be glacially slow and full of uninteresting introspection. And it doesn’t disappoint. There is in England, the second son of a wealthy titled family, sent to exile in far off Canada. He sails up the west coast of wild Vancouver Island and finds consolation in a room on the top floor of the only boarding house of what must be the most remote lumber town on the coast.
And just when you begin to groan, the plot takes a mega turn, and then another mega turn. Finally the story breaks out of the mould end takes a turn for the interesting and the wired.
Just a thought: is this a re-write of the emperor’s new clothes’.It’s the sort of book you set out to read out of a misplaced sense of Canadian identity. You just know this book is going to be glacially slow and full of uninteresting introspection. And it doesn’t disappoint. There is in England, the second son of…
zipread's rating:
Added Sep 16, 2022
Comment:
So, if you read the book “The Martian” and saw the flick by the same name you’re already familiar of some of his hallmarks. Isolation. Doomed. Gentle. Non violent. There’s a distinct element of the fifties and early sixties with “gosh darns”, “aw shucks”, and “golly” liberally in the back. This is sci-fi on politeness (Canadian, eh?) if you’re old enough to have read Heinlein, he of “Stranger in a Strange Land”, that cult sci-fi novel during the second half of the 60’s (think universities, drugs and Hendrix) you’ll detect distinct echoes of his style in “Hail Mary”.
Two astronauts from fifer ent corners of the universe (Earth being one); the last members of their crews both charged with the same task: to save their planets.
The plot is one about cooperation between two vastly different planets in subduing a common foe.
I’d read it again —- but no —- cause I know how it ends.So, if you read the book “The Martian” and saw the flick by the same name you’re already familiar of some of his hallmarks. Isolation. Doomed. Gentle. Non violent. There’s a distinct element of the fifties and early sixties with “gosh darns”, “aw…
Never Home AloneNever Home Alone, BookFrom Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live
by Dunn, RobBook - 2018Book, 2018
zipread's rating:
Added Sep 01, 2022
Comment:
Wow! I had no idea I had this many co-residents of my humble abode. OK I’ve had my suspicions. I just didn’t know there were so many of them. As far as I’m concerned there are a few I won’t tolerate: the mice that poop in my walls; the bed bugs under my sheets; the flies nibbling at my cheese. These guys for sure I’m gonna schoo away. But no longer will I squish the crickets or stomp on the scurrying millipedes.
This book is not for the squeamish. Not for the mouse-a-phobic.
Not for those fearful of every creak in the. Ight. Better to get a flock of cats.
Well written, sometimes amuzingling so. I couldn’t put this book even it tried to swat a bunch of flies with it. They’re so darned fast.
Tons and tons of footnotes with an integrated bibliography.
An amazing book.Wow! I had no idea I had this many co-residents of my humble abode. OK I’ve had my suspicions. I just didn’t know there were so many of them. As far as I’m concerned there are a few I won’t tolerate: the mice that poop in my walls; the bed bugs…
Pandora's LabPandora's Lab, BookSeven Stories of Science Gone Wrong
by Offit, Paul A.Book - 2017Book, 2017
zipread's rating:
Added Sep 01, 2022
Comment:
Seven stories of science gone wrong. There are the usual nasties: DDT: genetically modified organisms; lobotomies. All bad. Really? DDT not without its benefits. GMOs: a non-starter. And lobotomies: painfully, irreversibly criminal.
But Paul Offit presents his tales well and with clarity. This book does not hide behind jargon that hides the tale.
And ultimately, Offit relies the only two pillars by which the validity of the science can be judged: the value of credible peer review and, second, repeatability —- can others practitioners of science replicate the claims. Had this been adhered to we might not have had the Linus Paulings of science gone awry.
Features a very helpful bibliography.
Recommended.Seven stories of science gone wrong. There are the usual nasties: DDT: genetically modified organisms; lobotomies. All bad. Really? DDT not without its benefits. GMOs: a non-starter. And lobotomies: painfully, irreversibly criminal.
But Paul Offit…
The New WildThe New Wild, BookWhy Invasive Species Will Be Nature's Salvation
by Pearce, FredBook - 2015Book, 2015
zipread's rating:
Added Aug 02, 2022
Comment:
Author Fred Pierce has written on the environment, science and development issues for over twenty years. That’s plenty of time to make first-hand observations in the field and to become expert in the research and literature of the field.
The central question he poses in this book is what is the difference between an invasive and the indigenous? And if there are invasive who is to say they are bad? The received wisdom of the conservationists is that all newly introduced species are inherently bad in that the inevitably displace indigenous species.
But do they? According to “New Wild” that is definitely not always the case. And it is the conclusions based on these findings that have upended the legitimacy of the conservation movement.
Pearce has assembled an engaging book that clearly makes the case that invasive are, in fact, indigenous or native and that trying to extirpate the is a Sisphian task.Author Fred Pierce has written on the environment, science and development issues for over twenty years. That’s plenty of time to make first-hand observations in the field and to become expert in the research and literature of the field.
The central…
She Has Her Mother's LaughShe Has Her Mother's Laugh, BookThe Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity
by Zimmer, CarlBook - 2018Book, 2018
zipread's rating:
Added Jul 28, 2022
Comment:
This is the kind of book that intimidates you. It intimidated me. I didn’t read it from stem to sterm. Nor need it be read in this way. So many components of his “Mothers Smile” are examined by Zimmer that this has easily the making of many books dealing with many topics rolled into one. DNA. Genetics. Gene splicing.
When all is said and done, “Mothers Laugh” was actually enjoyable to read.
Zimmers style, as usual, serves to make the difficult, the daunting easy to understand.. And this is what a good science writer.This is the kind of book that intimidates you. It intimidated me. I didn’t read it from stem to sterm. Nor need it be read in this way. So many components of his “Mothers Smile” are examined by Zimmer that this has easily the making of many books…
The French Foreign LegionThe French Foreign Legion, BookA Complete History of the Legendary Fighting Force
by Porch, DouglasBook - 1992Book, 1992
zipread's rating:
Added Jun 03, 2022
Comment:
A detailed history of the French Foreign Legion and the times during it was active from the nineteenth century to the post-war period. An exceptionally good resource with an extensive bibliography.
Where the Light FallsWhere the Light Falls, BookA Novel of the French Revolution
by Pataki, AllisonBook - 2017Book, 2017
zipread's rating:
Added Jun 03, 2022
Comment:
When you write in the genre of historical fiction you’d better make sure you get your history straight. The Patakis set their novel against the turbulent and painful period of the French Revolution; against a backdrop of deceit, hunger and the guillotine. Against this backdrop paint the story of small Parisians pursued by the Terror that seems to gobble up all that is safe, all that is as it should have been. Often bittersweet, this novel is sure to grip almost any reader. Yes: by all means read this novel.When you write in the genre of historical fiction you’d better make sure you get your history straight. The Patakis set their novel against the turbulent and painful period of the French Revolution; against a backdrop of deceit, hunger and the…
The Drunkard's WalkThe Drunkard's Walk, BookHow Randomness Rules Our Lives
by Mlodinow, LeonardBook - 2008Book, 2008
zipread's rating:
Added Jun 03, 2022
Comment:
What an intriguing title. I thought that perhaps it would treat of the randomness of meeting my wife in the Brunswick House; or the randomness or requiring a root canal or perchaps the chance of the tree in the front yard toppling on my roof. But no, instead I encountered my old nemesis, mathematics, more specifically, probability. It brought to mind all those university mornings in the lecture hall, spent, eyes glazed, like too many glazed donuts.
I had been deceived. Ugh! This was not the book I had bargained for. This was deceit personified. Get thee behind me probability. Back to the shelf where, unread once more, you belong.What an intriguing title. I thought that perhaps it would treat of the randomness of meeting my wife in the Brunswick House; or the randomness or requiring a root canal or perchaps the chance of the tree in the front yard toppling on my roof. But…
Into the Raging SeaInto the Raging Sea, BookThirty-three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro
by Slade, RachelBook - 2018Book, 2018
zipread's rating:
Added Jun 03, 2022
Comment:
Start with an over superannuated rust-bucket of a ship, rebuilt beyond her safety limits, poorly maintained and riveted with rust, add one stubborn ship’s captain with something to prove fearing he is about to be sacked; add corporate ownership that knows next to nothing about ships or the sea, preoccupied with profits and the bottom line. And then, to this already volatile mix, add one hurricane, behaving like it shouldn’t, following a course hurricanes aren’t supposed to follow. Take this caustic mix and you’ve got all the ingredients of a major marine disaster.
Is this book a nove? No, but it sure reads like one. Is it “riveting”? Yes. At least as much so as the El Faro should have been.
Rachel Slade was proven she knows how to write. Well.
This is definitely a book you won’t want to put downStart with an over superannuated rust-bucket of a ship, rebuilt beyond her safety limits, poorly maintained and riveted with rust, add one stubborn ship’s captain with something to prove fearing he is about to be sacked; add corporate ownership that…
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