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Review Date: 6/1/2011
Helpful Score: 1
Marc Reisner has a writing style that keeps the reader riveted from sentence to sentence. This book is about his homeland, California. The book discusses California's lack of water and its earthquakes, and then concludes to show what will happens when an earthquake disrupts the precious flow of water to the huge desert metropolis in Southern California. Lots of great history on the state.
I consider Reisner's previous book, Cadillac Desert, the best book I've ever read, and this later book does not disappoint. If you like 19th and 20th century western history, you'll love this one.
I consider Reisner's previous book, Cadillac Desert, the best book I've ever read, and this later book does not disappoint. If you like 19th and 20th century western history, you'll love this one.
The Erie Canal in the Finger Lakes Region: The Heart of New York State
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
1
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
1
Review Date: 5/12/2021
This was an interesting history of the Central New York region around the Erie Canal. There are a number of stories about the characters that lived in this area and about the personalities that brought the Erie Canal into being. It was good, easy reading that kept my attention. I recommend it.
Review Date: 4/9/2022
The first of the Jake Grafton series, this story finds Jake on a carrier off the coast of Vietnam. Jake begins to question the ethics and morals of the war, is frustrated with the tasks he is assigned.
Lots of action about carrier based aviation and a close look at the workings of a US Navy carrier operation.
Jake also meets Callie, his future wife, while on leave, but the book ends inconclusively about his future with her. Stephen Coontz really knows how to set the hook.
Lots of action about carrier based aviation and a close look at the workings of a US Navy carrier operation.
Jake also meets Callie, his future wife, while on leave, but the book ends inconclusively about his future with her. Stephen Coontz really knows how to set the hook.
Review Date: 5/3/2012
This is very thorough book on native Texas plant classification and propagation. This is a reference book and is probably for average evening reading, but when you want to identify, propagate, or care for a native Texas plant, this is where to turn.
Review Date: 4/17/2022
This book takes place in Jake Grafton's life after the end of the Vietnam war. Jake goes into a bar, gets into a fight with an anti-war heckler, and then is reassigned (punished) by the Navy to an 8 month tour on a carrier in the western Pacific. His purpose there: Educate/enhance the ability of a squadron of Marines to fly the A-6. Since most of the book takes place on the carrier, there are a lot of details about take-offs, landings, in-flight refueling, bolters, flying in poor weather, etc, etc. While some may find this too much minutia, I found it to be fascinating .
Also included in the book is the continuance of Jake's relationship with Callie. The book engages the reader and holds him captive until the last page.
Also included in the book is the continuance of Jake's relationship with Callie. The book engages the reader and holds him captive until the last page.
Review Date: 4/24/2016
How do I begin? The book, Los Alamos, has a solid plot and excellent historical references, but the author has quite a ways to go with his character development and storyline skills. The central figure, Michael Connolly, remained a relative unknown throughout the book. There was no indication of his age, past experience before working for the government, previous marital or relationship status, education level, hobbies, etc, etc, etc. to extent that Connolly remained a familiar stranger throughout the book. His romantic interest, Emma, was developed very similarly, with more previous history given of her life, but many parts still missing.
Joseph Kanon relied heavily on conversations between individuals to reveal and develop many parts of his storyline, but as a reader, I always felt that I was not privy to all of each conversation, leaving me grasping and trying desperately to divine what was left out of the conversation. Characters introduced throughout the book left me scrambling a few pages later to remember who they were or why they mattered.
Kanon's description of the area around Los Alamos and Santa Fe did not generate clear visuals in my mind of how the area actually looked. I've visited that area in New Mexico a number of times, and Kanon's descriptions are so lacking that they make me wonder if he has ever set foot in New Mexico.
This is Mr. Kanon's first novel, and it shows. I'm glad I acquired the book through Paperback Swap and not from a bookstore for $25.
Joseph Kanon relied heavily on conversations between individuals to reveal and develop many parts of his storyline, but as a reader, I always felt that I was not privy to all of each conversation, leaving me grasping and trying desperately to divine what was left out of the conversation. Characters introduced throughout the book left me scrambling a few pages later to remember who they were or why they mattered.
Kanon's description of the area around Los Alamos and Santa Fe did not generate clear visuals in my mind of how the area actually looked. I've visited that area in New Mexico a number of times, and Kanon's descriptions are so lacking that they make me wonder if he has ever set foot in New Mexico.
This is Mr. Kanon's first novel, and it shows. I'm glad I acquired the book through Paperback Swap and not from a bookstore for $25.
Review Date: 3/9/2022
The Minotaur was a departure from the typical Jake Grafton adventure stories. Jake takes a job in the procurement sector of the Navy/US Military, and his job is to shepherd a new plane through the Request for Proposal, design, testing, and final acceptance stages of the procurement process. The bumps in the road along the way include pompous politicians, Soviet spies, crooked FBI agents, other ne'er do wells in the government, and the military-congressional-industrial complex itself. This episode introduces Toad Tarkington to Rita Moravia, his wife before the book ends. While Jake is pretty much anchored to a desk or hangar, there is quite a bit of flying by Toad and Rita. I enjoyed the book very much. Along with the adventures of flying, it offers a look into the procurement process of the US military.
Review Date: 2/4/2022
This a pretty good book, a quick read, but a little slow at times. If you enjoy reading about the automotive industry, I think you'll find this book worth your time.
Sloop: Restoring My Family's Wooden Sailboat--An Adventure in Old-Fashioned Values
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
1
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
1
Review Date: 1/22/2019
This book is about how the author, a carpenter and writer, rediscovers an almost derelict family sailboat and brings it back to life. The story covers boatbuilding, family history, geography of the local area, and a close look at all of the characters that contribute to the author's efforts. I call books like this "Comfort Reading". Like comfort food, the story entices, warms you, reels you in and keeps you hooked. This book won't change your life, but for a few days it will take you out of the present and into the southern Massachusetts countryside and sailing environment. At the end of the book, Dan Robb alludes to another boatbuilding project, building a Herreshoff 12 1/2 from ground up. I wish he would chronicle that effort also.
The book is perfect for a dreary day right after football season ends. Betcha can't read just 20 pages!
The book is perfect for a dreary day right after football season ends. Betcha can't read just 20 pages!
Review Date: 5/15/2022
Although undoubtedly factual, this book is a tough read. It's written much like a textbook with no concession to readability. I believe that the author is British which also might contribute to the readability issues. Also, the large number of political parties in Germany at that time are named in English, but are referred to by their German acronyms, which makes them a bit hard to keep up with. If you can absorb the book, I'm sure that you will be rewarded with lots of good historical perspective and there is a very thorough bibliography. I finished it but was glad that it was short.
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