Review 98: Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale

Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, this book may really change my life. It has opened my eyes to stuff, especially clothing. This was a fascinating look at where used goods go throughout the world. One of the eye-openers is how the quality has decreased in manufacturing. Which industry you may ask, just about all. There are still companies, and exceptions, where things are made to last, but that is no longer the norm. What I found particularly distressing to read is how "fast fashion" has replaced reasonably made clothes to ones that last no more than a few washings. Then there's how quickly a washer or dryer may last, not too long. Sigh.

This is a book that will change your life, or at least your viewpoint on stuff.
Excellent read! Highly recommended.



Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Review 97: Creatures

Creatures: A Novel by Crissy Van Meter
My rating:  3.5of 5 stars

This is a story about a woman who had utterly horrible parenting. Her dad is an alcoholic and drug user, actually makes his living my growing and selling a sought after strain of marijuana. Her mother has left, appears spontaneously but doesn’t stay long, nor often is in her daughter’s life. Yet somehow the two bonded. Another mother figure appears but even she doesn’t have the capacity to remain, but does something to help for a while. It’s surprising this woman, Evie, made something of her life. And it isn’t surprising she chooses a fisherman who is out at sea for weeks, or months, at a time to be her husband.

There feels like an undercurrent much stronger than the surface, but a rereading on my part would need to tease it fully out, and well, I didn’t enjoy the book that much. Certainly whales are at the center, and perhaps something about living on an island.

This book is a little bit odd, and not helped by the style. There is a constant shifting in time. You never quite know where in the timeline the story is from one paragraph to the other. Often it works, but sometimes not and it throws the reader, trying to place when, what is going on. If this is a book going to audio format I doubt it would work there, as you have less clues about the time shift.

If you’re someone who can enjoy pain in family dynamics and poor choices by parents, perhaps this will be a good book for you. The sentences can be beautiful at times, and that may be enough to carry you along.

Book rating: 3.5 stars

Thanks to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Review 96: The Book of Science and Antiquities

The Book of Science and Antiquities by Thomas Keneally
My rating: no rating

Not rating as I did not finish this book.

This book has an premise that intrigued me and with a writer of some note, with many books behind his name including some well known. This seems like a formula for a good book, if not great, so it was a disappointment that I could not get into this story.

It can be difficult to say exactly why a book doesn't work well. Something about the story or the writing, and in this case maybe it's just the age of the characters, being old and looking back, but I don't know, done well it could be an interesting read.  [see Our Souls at Night] Something here just didn't connect with me and after getting half-way through it looked to me like a chore. Reading should not be a chore.

I like to think that someday I will return to this book and give it another go, try again, as sometimes the book fits better at a different point in your life, or a different mood. Yet, there are so many other books waiting, but who knows. For now, I'm moving on to something else.



Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Also note, I purchased the audio version of this book, tried that format and while I got further along in the book it didn't help enough.

Brief Review 95: Hope Never Dies

Hope Never Dies by Andrew Shaffer
My rating: not rated

I'm stopping this at 30% finished. I got the audiobook and the narrator doesn't work for me. I wonder if I would get the book more if I was reading it in print, or had a different narrator. I'm not one to read a lot of mysteries either, so maybe some of the humor is lost on me. In any case, this book didn't work for me in so many ways, I decided to move on to something else.

No rating as I didn't finish the book.

Review 94: Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table

Superheavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table by Kit Chapman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great science book! I kid you not, it is a book you don’t want to put down, it’s just that fascinating. Chapman writes a fascinating history of chemistry. I kept wanting to know, what happened next? I am by no means a chemistry expert or anything like that, and as a lay person this was an easy to follow book. Chapman layers the information so by the later portions of the book you can understand what is being said without being overwhelmed by the terms.

The book contains humor and little bits that make the stories and people fascinating. You learn about more than just how the superheavy element discovery takes place, but who made that possible, and how. And there is drama in the book. There are only a few labs around the world hunting for new elements, and when they created just a few atoms, it becomes difficult to say with certainty that yes this is a new element. So competing labs have competing claims, and naming rights. This was a captivating read!