Customer Comments

Annotations consist of 2 pages of introduction, and 3 final pages of commentary and biographical information. No footnote types of annotations at all.

I just finished the photographic edition of this book, which I believe is abridged from the original. It was excellent, full of information, research results, good examples, and wonderful photography. I highly recommend it!

I read this book many years ago, and was very touched by it. Its a story that will probably bring tears to your eyes, and warm you heart. Nevil Shute was an amazing writer, bringing everyday people to life in front of our eyes, telling us about the reality of war from many points of view, and every time I read one of his books, I wonder, how much of this one is based on real people and real actions and circumstances?

Having read many of the Recluce books, I found the stories in this volume to be a welcome addition to the history. There were bits that explained things that had mystified me in previous books, and stories that amplified things I had read earlier. I appreciate the way the author constructs and describes his characters, and enjoy very much the little quirks and surprises that he always has in store before a story is done. Well worth reading!

This was an unexpected delight. The very real hard science in the book is excellent, and the predictive science is fascinating. The characters are very realistic, and have to deal with very real life situations as the suspense builds in the story. I loved the way the author closed the story, and highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys realistic science fiction.

This book was originally published in 1946. It is an amazing memoir of a woman who wanted to learn to be a healer from her very earliest years on a homestead in Kansas in the 1870's. Her memories are clear, the people she encountered are wonderfully diverse and interesting, the situations she survives (including nursing in a typhoid epidemic in Honolulu during the Spanish-American War) are startling, and her determination and dedication to caring for the critically ill are inspiring. I had never heard of this woman before, but she is truly a heroine, and her story is well worth reading!

This book was a delight. Two young people from very different ethnic, philosophical and emotional backgrounds meet and react to, then interact with each other. The story is told from both their points of view, and I greatly appreciated the depth of both characters Nicola Yoon provides as the story progresses. Anything but a run of the mill love story!

This book was a delight. It brought back memories of the bit of rowing I experienced in college, realistically described the challenges of life in the '30's for students who had little to no money, and described a very real sense of what it is actually like, training in a crew shell on a lake. I loved the way Brown described how it can be when "the boat" "swings." What an amazing high feeling! The excitement and stresses of the Berlin Olympics were also brought to life from the personal point of view of "the boys," and the author's historical research brought a broader world view to this very personal story. These "boys" and their coaches are actual American heroes I had never know about before! Wonderful book!

Cuckoo's Egg is one of my all time favorites. Cherryh's amazing ability to present an "alien" culture from a very personal viewpoint engages the reader's empathy very quickly, and the discovery of what and who the cuckoo's egg is is striking and invites the reader even more deeply into the challenges the "alien" culture faces. A story of intelligent choice and sacrifice in order to gain the greater good for all, well presented, and heartwarming, to boot.

I thought this was an excellent summary of over a hundred years of research and study regarding the peoples who lived in the Four Corners area of the Southwestern USA. The author combined personal experience and hands-on work with interviews with multiple authorities, native peoples, and people who provide the labor to do salvage work before new buildings go up. It was up close, personal, relevant, and informative. Well done!!

I just happened to see "Calico Joe" on the New Book shelf in the library. It was quite a surprise. It's not like most of Grisham's other books, but extremely well written, with a great depth of feeling. Not knowing a lot about baseball, I learned some things about attitudes and behaviors of the players that I'd never been aware of before. And it put me in touch with the passion of young folks who have a sportsperson they want to emulate, as well as the strength and pervasiveness of the deep feelings between fathers and sons who don't see eye to eye.

I commented earlier, but as I think back over this last year of reading, I think this one brings a great deal of understanding to the situation of undocumented immigrants and would-be immigrants to the USA. It also touched my heart.

Chasing Fire was a step up from most of Nora Roberts' romances. The characters weren't as soft, they didn't hop into bed quite as fast, they lived very intense and real lives, and they dealt with some very difficult human challenges. It was an in depth look into the smokejumpers' world, and I think I learned a lot, reading it. I enjoyed the book very much, and it will go onto my "read it again in a year or two" list.

I have a friend who has had a brain injury, and was very curious about this book. It is an eye opener from beginning to end. What a picture of the driven life of so many folks in our culture! And what a change that comes with serious injury, and very very hard work to recover! I appreciated the depth of introspection in the face of grievous loss, and thoroughness of description of the recovery process. "Still Alice" was awesome. I love this one, too.