1 to 20 of 22 -
Page:
Review Date: 5/12/2017
Check out my review of this book on my blog: http://lindseyclouse.com/
Review Date: 5/27/2014
This book is not for the faint of heart. It's a massive biography of the human race that begins in the modern day and traces our ancestry backwards to the beginning of life itself. Along the way it takes many detours, and many other species have a chance to tell their own tales, each of which provides some lesson or insight on genetics or evolution. It's written in typical Dawkins style; if you enjoy his other books, you'll like this one too. His gift for explaining the most complex scientific concepts in such a way that any layperson can understand them makes this book an easy, if long, read.
Review Date: 7/10/2013
De Waal's experiments and observations on fairness and morality in other species, particularly non-human primates, offers a fascinating insight into the likely origins of human morality. His "bottom-up" theory proposes that humans invented religions to strengthen ideals that are already in place, and that religion is important in encouraging humans to act morally. He criticizes "neo-atheists" like Richard Dawkins for being too eager to throw religion out the window. De Waal's views may be provocative to both atheists and the faithful, but his science is sound and his opinions are balanced and thoroughly researched. I gave the book four stars rather than five only because it seems slightly unorganized - the chapters jump around, and he repeats his main points unnecessarily frequently. If you read the book, you must also watch De Waal's TED talk. He shows videos of some of the fairness experiments with monkeys mentioned in the book. Seeing the videos and actually watching the monkeys' reactions to unequal rewards for performing equal tasks really drives De Waal's point home.
Review Date: 8/7/2013
De Waal's experiments and observations on fairness and morality in other species, particularly non-human primates, offers a fascinating insight into the likely origins of human morality. His "bottom-up" theory proposes that humans invented religions to strengthen ideals that are already in place, and that religion is important in encouraging humans to act morally. He criticizes "neo-atheists" like Richard Dawkins for being too eager to throw religion out the window. De Waal's views may be provocative to both atheists and the faithful, but his science is sound and his opinions are balanced and thoroughly researched. I gave the book four stars rather than five only because it seems slightly unorganized - the chapters jump around, and he repeats his main points unnecessarily frequently. If you read the book, you must also watch De Waal's TED talk. He shows videos of some of the fairness experiments with monkeys mentioned in the book. Seeing the videos and actually watching the monkeys' reactions to unequal rewards for performing equal tasks really drives De Waal's point home.
Review Date: 2/6/2014
If you're expecting a tearful and cathartic denouement to the series, you won't get it, but if you liked the first twelve books, you'll like this one too.
Review Date: 1/16/2013
If you've enjoyed the other books in the series, you'll enjoy this one. It's the right mix of violence, excitement, and humor.
Review Date: 5/27/2014
This is unique, clever, and a light read, but it is a work of fiction, and though the author seems to have a clear understanding of Einstein's theories, this book does not impart that understanding to the reader. It is imaginative, but it is more entertaining than educational.
Review Date: 11/5/2013
The fifth book in the literary detective series didn't get off to quite as rollicking a start as the last three, and Fforde's prose seems just the tiniest bit lazy compared to his usual acrobatic style, but we do get to learn more about the BookWorld, and by the end of the novel, I found myself just as riveted as I have with his previous works. If you're already a Thursday Next fan, add this book to your pile.
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir (Audio CD) (Unabridged)
Author:
Book Type: Audio CD
16
Author:
Book Type: Audio CD
16
Review Date: 7/17/2013
Bill Bryson grew up in Des Moines and moved to England as a young man, where he has spent the majority of his adult life. His time in England doesn't feature in this book, which focuses solely on his childhood, but it does have a heavy influence on his speaking voice. Bryson reads this audiobook himself, and his native midwestern dialect ("newscaster English," as we linguists like to call it) combined with twenty plus years of British influence has created a spectacularly lovely idiolect. Even if the book itself were not wonderful, which it is, simply listening to Bryson read aloud is an absolute delight. Happily, the book is also excellent. Fans of Bryson's trademark dry wit and outlandish tales told in deadpan fashion will find this book similarly hilarious. I literally laughed out loud many times while listening, sometimes eliciting strange looks from passersby as I listened on my ipod while walking down the street.
Review Date: 11/30/2011
If you're a fan of Chuck Palahniuk, you'll enjoy this book. To say his style is "unique" would be a drastic understatement.
Review Date: 1/23/2013
Helpful Score: 2
Richard Dawkins's great gift is the ability to explain even the most complex scientific principles with such crystal clarity that you not only understand them, you feel as if you can see them at work before your very eyes. This is no less the case in "The Magic of Reality." His elegant prose paints pictures with words. This book, however, unlike his previous work, does not seem intended for those with much more than a layperson's understanding of science. Dawkins covers subjects ranging from genetics and evolution to physics, the big bang, and the theory of an expanding universe, and virtually any reader is likely to encounter some information in the book that's new to them, but if you are well-versed in the sciences, as much of Dawkins's audience is bound to be, you probably won't find MUCH new information. Dawkins goes to the trouble to explain what he means by a "thought experiment," for instance, leading me to believe that the book was intended for those with essentially no understanding of any of the sciences. In fact, an older child with an interest in science should be able to fully understand and enjoy everything in this book. However, even if you learn nothing new from it, if you are a fan of Dawkins, this book will not disappoint. It is a quick, light, and delightful read.
Review Date: 1/17/2014
Kaplan uses modern science to speculate about how various mythical monsters, such as the chimera, Medusa, vampires, werewolves, and even Jaws came about, and why they appeared when they did. Some of his speculations are a bit of a stretch, but the science is sound, and quite interesting. His writing style is a bit childish at times, but the book is thought-provoking and unique.
Review Date: 1/13/2013
This book is intended for laypeople, not for those with a background in linguistics. If you don't have any linguistic training, you'll probably find this an amusing read. If you are educated in linguistics, you might be too distracted by Bryson's few but glaring errors to thoroughly enjoy the book. Additionally, since the book was published in 1990, some of its information is out of date.
Review Date: 1/27/2014
I was skeptical of the new premise at first, but the sixth book in the Literary Detective series turned out to be just as funny, witty, intelligent, and exciting as the others.
The Onion Presents a Book of Jean's Own!: All New Wit, Wisdom, and Wackiness from The Onion's Beloved Humor Columnist
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
4
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
4
Review Date: 1/28/2013
True Jeanketeers who loyally follow The Onion's "A Room of Jean's Own" may be disappointed by "A Book of Jean's Own." In her regular column, Jean is, at worst, an over-eating, dysfunctional, shopaholic housewife with a rather skewed view of reality. In her book, we discover than Jean may have some truly serious underlying mental problems. She transforms rapidly from ignorant optimist to dangerous psychopath, and it isn't pretty to behold. Hubby Rick is the only saving grace here, and (spoiler alert) he doesn't even get credit for it.
Review Date: 5/16/2013
To be honest, I only got through about fifty pages of this book. I find physics fascinating and wanted a better grasp of quantum physics, but this might be the most boring book I've ever attempted to read. The author's bio reveals that he's written bestselling TEXTBOOKS, which might explain why this book is so dry. I was hoping for simple, clear, Dawkins-like explanations, but this book gives the opposite. Furthermore, it would be better titled "A Moron's Guide," since that's what the author seems to think of his readers. The entire introduction is one long reassurance that the book will include almost no math, and that what little math it does show will be only the simplest algebra, and it will be isolated in little side boxes so you can skip it if you prefer. If an explanation requires more difficult math, the author assures us, you will simply have to take his word for it. After all that, the very first equation in the book contains a TYPO. Yes, a typo. I checked and double-checked it, and my math skills go far beyond basic algebra, so I can say it with certainty. The most impressive thing about this book was that the author took a topic I normally find delightful and managed to make it torturous.
Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
9
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
9
Review Date: 6/4/2014
Helpful Score: 1
This book is a fascinating behind-the-scenes exploration of modern agriculture, and tomato production in particular. It's thorough and in-depth, even providing a history of the domestication and spread of the tomato, yet concise. It's quite an enjoyable read. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 only because of its sloppy organization. Estabrook repeats himself occasionally, and the book reads more like a series of essays cobbled together than a single, cohesive story. It also lacks a conclusion and ends shockingly abruptly.
Review Date: 9/29/2013
If you're looking for a scathing condemnation of the processed food industry in America, you won't find it here. Steve Ettlinger's ingredient-by-ingredient deconstruction of the Twinkie has a decidedly positive spin to it. He stresses the point that even common household staples such as baking powder are composed of chemicals, and that the vast majority of the myriad processed ingredients in foods like Twinkies have been tested for safety many times over, and used in foods for decades, sometimes centuries. The value of this book lies in the huge amount of information packed inside it. Ettlinger goes to the real source - the farms, the mines, and the factories - of these ingredients, dissects them, and provides interesting bits of history about their discovery as well. If your goal is a true, thorough understanding of exactly what these bizarrely named ingredients like polysorbate 60 and mono and diglycerides actually ARE and where they come from, this book will tell you everything you want to know, and then some.
Review Date: 6/20/2013
Helpful Score: 1
Had I not just read "The Bonobo and the Atheist" by Frans De Waal, I might be giving this book a very different review. Dawkins's point in "Unweaving" is that science need not be at odds with poetry, art, and the human sense of wonder; on the contrary, it can provide all the inspiration we need for these things. Dawkins is at his best when he is using his amazing gift for exposition to explain, in terms a layman could understand, the most crucial, complex, and fascinating scientific principles, such as how Newton's discovery of refraction allows us to understand the composition of distant stars, or how the brain turns huge amounts of input from the eyes into a stable, familiar world. These things are Dawkins's forte; when he strays from them to critique the writings of other scientists, he falters. Toward the middle of the book he sets aside a chapter or two to criticize the analogies and metaphors used by other scientists as "bad poetry." With some examples he makes valid points, but with others, he oversteps, as with his criticism of Frans De Waal's supposed reference to apes as role models. Dawkins's "Unweaving" was published in 1998; in De Waal's "The Bonobo and the Atheist," published in March 2013, it becomes clear that this feud has been going on for at least 15 years. Both scientists are brilliant at what they do, and both have very valid points to make in their own defense. Using popular writing to hash out what is clearly a political, not a scientific, conflict is unattractive, and distracts from the real value of the book. But Dawkins redeems himself in the last few chapters leaving this reader, as usual, eager for more.
Review Date: 1/8/2014
If you're a fan of Dunn's previous book, "Ella Minnow Pea," and you're expecting something equally unique and delightful, you'll be disappointed by "Welcome to Higby." The ordinary adventures of a few small-town folks that take place over the course of about 48 hours make for a quick and fun read, but the story is unlikely to stick with you in the long term.
1 to 20 of 22 -
Page:
