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Books (242)

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- Into Africa (5)
- The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone
- By Dugard, Martin Stopford, Martin Dugard
- Not Started
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- Endurance (50)
- Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
- By Alfred Lansing
- Finished on May 4, 2013
  
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Endurance

Simply the most amazing survival story I've ever heard. Last month I read Mawson's 1913 epic struggle in Antarctica, and I was even far more amazed by what Shackleton's crew accomplished.

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— May 8, 2013 | Add your feedback
- The Measure of the Magic (17)
- By Terry Brooks
- Finished on Apr 30, 2013
  
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The Measure of the Magic

Well, more of the same with my last few reviews of Terry Brooks Shannara series. Same two complaints: characters spend too much time worrying about other characters and chastizing themselves instead of taking the time to develop plot or describe action.
Next I'll be rereading the earlier books in t ... (continue)

Well, more of the same with my last few reviews of Terry Brooks Shannara series. Same two complaints: characters spend too much time worrying about other characters and chastizing themselves instead of taking the time to develop plot or describe action.
Next I'll be rereading the earlier books in the Shannara for comparison to see if its my tastes that have changed or Brooks' style changed over the years.

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— May 8, 2013 | Add your feedback
- The Crisis of Islam (19)
- Holy War and Unholy Terror
- By Bernard Lewis
- Reading since Apr 14, 2013
  
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The Crisis of Islam

A good tool for understanding differences between the Muslim-world and Western-world mindsets. He approaches the difference in mindset not only from current political conditions but also how the mindset is shaped by history.
A good book, it should probably get 4 stars but I've been becoming less le ... (continue)

A good tool for understanding differences between the Muslim-world and Western-world mindsets. He approaches the difference in mindset not only from current political conditions but also how the mindset is shaped by history.
A good book, it should probably get 4 stars but I've been becoming less lenient lately.

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— Apr 19, 2013 | Add your feedback
- Alone on the Ice (2)
- The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration
- By David Roberts
- Finished on Apr 13, 2013
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- Bearers of the Black Staff (35)
- By Terry Brooks
- Finished on Apr 7, 2013
  
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Bearers of the Black Staff

Same complaints as his last book....most of the time is spent inside characters heads repeating the same annoying thoughts of them worrying about other characters or chastising themselves. Still enjoyable, but certainly not nearly as much as his earlier books when I was a kid. I feel there's alot he ... (continue)

Same complaints as his last book....most of the time is spent inside characters heads repeating the same annoying thoughts of them worrying about other characters or chastising themselves. Still enjoyable, but certainly not nearly as much as his earlier books when I was a kid. I feel there's alot he could cut out and still leave the story intact...

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— Apr 16, 2013 | Add your feedback
- The Gypsy Morph (34)
- By Terry Brooks
- Finished on Mar 26, 2013
  
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The Gypsy Morph

Enjoyable as always, but what started out as such an exciting series for me (finally linking modern times with the other Shannara novels) ended up as a bit of a disappointment. I never thought I'd give a Shannara novel 3 stars out of 5.
One thing I'm tiring of is that most of the book is spent on c ... (continue)

Enjoyable as always, but what started out as such an exciting series for me (finally linking modern times with the other Shannara novels) ended up as a bit of a disappointment. I never thought I'd give a Shannara novel 3 stars out of 5.
One thing I'm tiring of is that most of the book is spent on characters worrying about other characters, or characters chastising and being very hard on themselves even though the protagonists are never in the wrong. It gets really tiring really fast and the same pattern was set through the whole 3 book series. I wish there would have been more time spent on plot development, storyline, and much more action. This is not how I remember the old novels...unless it's because I viewed them through a different lens because I read them at a younger age (age 12-23).
The other bone I have to pick is that you gave up so many chances for GREAT scenes Terry! I mean, c'mon there was a scene where one character had a chance to kill an enemy, let him live and that enemy swore he'd track him down and find him wherever he went. But then you never heard from that villain again? And how about describing in exquisite detail all of the weapons systems (missiles, lasers, bombs) of a virtually invincible military vehicle one of the character comes across and making it clear what this vehicle could be used for, but then never delivering? It's tantalizing, I was salivating at the possibilities and there were plenty of chances the vehicle would have been perfect for the character to go on one-man destruction heroics against demons, but instead later in the book the car just dies due to a wiring problem with its solar panels and you never do see it fire even a single weapon over the course of the book....sigh

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— Mar 27, 2013 | Add your feedback
- Kitchen Knife Skills (1)
- Techniques for Carving, Boning, Slicing, Chopping, Dicing, Mincing, Filleting
- By Marianne Lumb
- Reading since Mar 2013
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- The Magic of Reality (61)
- How We Know What's Really True
- By Richard Dawkins
- Finished in Feb 2013
  
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The Magic of Reality

Great book aimed at young curious readers on what Science is, the true nature of reality, and how we go about thinking scientifically and logically.
It covers lots of interesting examples from various fields of Science and I enjoyed the read despite already knowing the Science behind most of the ma ... (continue)

Great book aimed at young curious readers on what Science is, the true nature of reality, and how we go about thinking scientifically and logically.
It covers lots of interesting examples from various fields of Science and I enjoyed the read despite already knowing the Science behind most of the material of the book. And I did learn some new things. The way Dawkins puts things is quite straightforward and approachable and conveys his fascination with understanding the world around us.
I feel that he missed a good chance in the chapter on probability and statistics and talking about how false information spreads and why people believe things that aren't true. These are paramount topics which are much more important than what is currently taught in schools, and nobody is doing this, but I feel that Dawkins did not take the time to explain these ideas clearly and simply enough that all readers would totally grasp them.
Overall, nice to see a good book instilling kids with a passion and understanding of science, and giving them the tools to think for themselves and help them avoid typical bias in thinking.

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— Mar 11, 2013 | Add your feedback
- The Start-Up of You (20)
- Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career
- By Ben Casnocha, Reid Hoffman
- Reading since Feb 3, 2013
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- Dune Messiah (266)
- (Dune Chronicles, Book 2)
- By Frank Herbert
- Finished on Feb 1, 2013
  
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Dune Messiah

It was a decent book, with more interesting political intrigues and scheming, but I got the sense that it was missing pieces all of the time, or maybe I was missing something... I enjoyed the first Dune alot more. You could certainly use the word "epic" to label the original Dune, but the sequel fal ... (continue)

It was a decent book, with more interesting political intrigues and scheming, but I got the sense that it was missing pieces all of the time, or maybe I was missing something... I enjoyed the first Dune alot more. You could certainly use the word "epic" to label the original Dune, but the sequel falls short of "epic".

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— Feb 4, 2013 | Add your feedback
- Boundaries in Marriage (13)
- By Dr. John Townsend, Dr. Henry Cloud
- Finished on Jan 14, 2013
  
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Boundaries in Marriage

Proper boundaries (taking responsibility for what's yours and not depriving someone else of their responsibilities) are important for a healthy relationship. Boundary issues are the source behind many relationship problems.

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— Jan 15, 2013 | Add your feedback
- Boundaries (60)
- When to Say Yes, How to Say No, to Take Control of Your Life
- By Dr. John Townsend, Dr. Henry Cloud
- Reading since Dec 25, 2012
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- Atlas of Remote Islands (54)
- Fifty Islands I Have Never Set Foot on and Never Will
- By Judith Schalansky
- Finished on Dec 27, 2012
  
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Atlas of Remote Islands

A two page spread for each of 50 islands around the world. One page a very nicely done map (each page is same scale so you can get a good sense of size), the facing page contains one story from the island and a few stats like population and closest landmasses.
The stories are often very interesting ... (continue)

A two page spread for each of 50 islands around the world. One page a very nicely done map (each page is same scale so you can get a good sense of size), the facing page contains one story from the island and a few stats like population and closest landmasses.
The stories are often very interesting, but unfortunately have very little context about them. On the other hand, there isn't room for a long history or context of each island, and perhaps too much background info would be boring.
I checked a few of the islands on wikipedia, and they often don't show up as part of the wikipedia article, meaning that the author did some research to bring some interesting stuff to the table. However, one of the stories I checked could not be found anywhere on the Internet other than sourced directly from this book itself. This makes me skeptical about its truth...for such a remarkable story, why has no one reported on it, especially since it happened decades ago?
In this story, a 6-year-old boy in Europe learns a strange language in his dreams night after night. Decades later researchers try to identify this mysterious language he speaks that no one else can understand. It finally turns out it is a Polynesian language spoken only on Rapa Iti, a small island in the Pacific Ocean home to ~500 people. He lives out the rest of his life on that island, finally able to speak his language and be understood by others.
I really loved this book because I love the idea of islands.

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— Dec 29, 2012 | Add your feedback
- Man's Search for Meaning (269)
- By Viktor E. Frankl
- Reading since Dec 6, 2012
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