This is partly about the Greek Languages (classical and modern) and partly about the author's travels in Greece over a number of years, including visiThis is partly about the Greek Languages (classical and modern) and partly about the author's travels in Greece over a number of years, including visits to ancient monuments, places mentioned in myths and in classical plays and epic poetry, and even to the home of Patrick Leigh Fermor. I found it very engaging....more
Utterly charming! This seems like a fairy tale, with Princess Sylvie being rescued by a blind snowy owl and a transparent fish, but it is basically seUtterly charming! This seems like a fairy tale, with Princess Sylvie being rescued by a blind snowy owl and a transparent fish, but it is basically set in the interface between a book's characters and its readers, in this case several generations of girls in the same family....more
This amazing book is basically a history of journalism 1920-1950, focusing on American foreign correspondents John Gunther (and wife Frances Fineman),This amazing book is basically a history of journalism 1920-1950, focusing on American foreign correspondents John Gunther (and wife Frances Fineman), H. R. Knickerbocker, Jimmy Sheean, and Dorothy Thompson (and her second husband Sinclair Lewis). It reads like an exciting, even riveting, novel full of depictions of marriages, love affairs. adventures, and conflicts, but is also immensely informative. Discussions of fascism and Palestine/Israel deepen perspectives on current events. The thoroughness of the scholarship involved makes the book's readability even more impressive....more
Brother Bear and Sister Bear take the bus to day camp, have lots of adventures over the summer, and finishes with a campfire powwow and overnight sleeBrother Bear and Sister Bear take the bus to day camp, have lots of adventures over the summer, and finishes with a campfire powwow and overnight sleepout culminating in Field Day, where Brother wins a trophy and Sister gets two medals....more
Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch's latest adventure includes a harrowing nighttime chase through a storm-tossed forest in Maine and unto Canada,Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch's latest adventure includes a harrowing nighttime chase through a storm-tossed forest in Maine and unto Canada, trying to track a 12-year-old girl and her murderous father, a man whose bushcraft exceeds Mike's own. A twisty plot and Mike's personal concerns made this hard to put down....more
Eustace Scrubbs takes Jill Pole with him back to Narnia when both are being chased by school bullies. Their escape from one problem plunges them into Eustace Scrubbs takes Jill Pole with him back to Narnia when both are being chased by school bullies. Their escape from one problem plunges them into an adventure rife with dangers of its own. They undertake an arduous journey on foot to find and rescue the missing Prince Rilian. This episode was more humorous than I expected....more
This is the exciting true story of archaeological expeditions culminating in stunning discoveries. However, after the adventure comes a medical mysterThis is the exciting true story of archaeological expeditions culminating in stunning discoveries. However, after the adventure comes a medical mystery which devolves into an eerie forewarning of a global pandemic (and not the one we got). The discoveries were made in Honduras in 2012-2016. The book was published in 2017, well before the Covid 19 pandemic. Highly recommended!...more
Retelling a story handed down in her Athabaskan family, Wallis has created a work both succinct and empowering. Init, two elderly women are abandoned Retelling a story handed down in her Athabaskan family, Wallis has created a work both succinct and empowering. Init, two elderly women are abandoned by their small tribe, which is facing the winter with food already is in short supply. The women fight on to live, using old skills and memories of good camping, fishing, and hunting spots, and they actually thrive....more
This is a great road-trip novel, with a wonderful child character, Billy Watson, who accompanies his 18-year-old brother Emmett on a journey, first byThis is a great road-trip novel, with a wonderful child character, Billy Watson, who accompanies his 18-year-old brother Emmett on a journey, first by car, then by freight train after Emmett's buddies from a work farm "borrow" his Studebaker. It's a great adventure story set in June 1954, with superb characterization. Though I was forewarned of some tragedy, there was a little more than I expected....more
It took slightly more than two years of intermittent reading, but I finally finished this tome of over 1100 pages, comprised of four novels and five cIt took slightly more than two years of intermittent reading, but I finally finished this tome of over 1100 pages, comprised of four novels and five collections of 56 stories. ...more
I would have rated this 5* if someone, presumably an editor or marketing manager, hadn't caused it to be ripped apart and reassembled so that early anI would have rated this 5* if someone, presumably an editor or marketing manager, hadn't caused it to be ripped apart and reassembled so that early and later parts of the book are interleaved and one of the most exciting chapters becomes Chapter 1. I was getting mental whiplash through Chapter 11 until I caught on to the evenness of the rhythm. Thereafter, I read the rest of the early sequence, even numbered Chapters 12-38, then the later action in odd-numbered Chapters 13-37, then the final sequence of Chapters 39-41. It is a terrifically exciting story about winter survival, a murder investigation, drug dealers, a wolf dog, and snowmobiles--a 5* manuscript given to a 1* editor? That should average out to three stars, but it really is amazing, if read in the order it was written....more
This starts in Florida with a python hunt but soon returns to Warden Investigator Mike Bowdith's home state of Maine, where his father-figure, retiredThis starts in Florida with a python hunt but soon returns to Warden Investigator Mike Bowdith's home state of Maine, where his father-figure, retired warden-pilot Charley Stevens, has disappeared. Very exciting....more
I really enjoyed this book about an Englishman's boat trip from Minneapolis to Morgan City, LA, except that in his one mention of my hometown, he callI really enjoyed this book about an Englishman's boat trip from Minneapolis to Morgan City, LA, except that in his one mention of my hometown, he called it "Alton" instead of Quincy. (Later, he calls Alton "Alton." An editor or proofreader should have caught that!)...more
Michael Palin, Dervla Murphy, and other noted travel writers contributed descriptions of uncomfortable travel situations ranging from the amusing (camMichael Palin, Dervla Murphy, and other noted travel writers contributed descriptions of uncomfortable travel situations ranging from the amusing (camel-wrangling in Australia) through the hair-raising (getting lost in rural Russia) to the death-defying (a hurricane, a tsunami, a cheetah attack)....more
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