Review 511: Turning to Stone

Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks by Marcia Bjornerud
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A book that is part autobiography and partly science in the geology field. The book is organized rock types, each rock type being the focus of a chapter and the author fits this into this portion of her life too. Such as, beginning with being a child running to the bus with sand in her shoe leads to sandstone rocks. I liked the format. I found myself connecting more with her life than the science as I'm not that adept with geology. Some of it was too scientific, while other parts were not. A bit of a mix.

There are discussions of some of the controversies over the years, such as the asteroid hit that killed the dinosaurs. The field of geology, such as understanding of earthquakes and volcanoes, is relatively new. It comes with disagreements when knew knowledge doesn’t support the current theory.

There were a few points where I glossed over the areas that got too deep in geologic terms, but a more determined reader would likely glean more if pausing and turning towards other resources to understand the terminology better. Possibly the book would work best for those with some understanding of geology, or a strong interest.


Thanks to Flatiron Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advance review copy of this book.

Review 510: Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations

Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations by Sarah Cleave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very short anthology with seven short stories each from a different author from a different country. These countries all appeared on the "Muslim ban" in January 2017 for the newly sitting United States President at that time. The author countries are: Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Iraq and Yemen.

This book shows that people from around the world are more alike than dissimilar. We may have different customs and beliefs, but we all have same emotions. And same desires, such as wanting freedom to be yourself and not be hungry, be safe.

This was a very quick read, easily read in a few hours. Most of the stories are translations. There is only one story from each country. The book feels way to short.

Review 509: Too Poor to Move but Always Rich

Too Poor to Move but Always Rich: A Century on Montana Land by Jim Sargent
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


One may say this is an obscure book, and appears to be self-published. I ended up getting a copy of this book for free, back when the library I was working for closed it’s bookstore. I got several other books, many of which I ended up donating elsewhere, but this one stayed in my collection. Thought it looked interesting. But it wasn’t very much.

The book has a feel of writing for the author’s family, and maybe friends as well. There is an attempt to place his family’s homestead and living in the larger context of the world, but for the most part is it a focus on his parents and family. They were both from immigrant families, Dad from England and Mom from Norway. They met out on the farming plains and became homesteaders in Montana in the early twentieth century.

There are details for most aspects of life, written in a straightforward way. Perhaps if one wants to know what it’s like living on a ranch before electricity and most modern conveniences this book will give you the details. Along with other family details. One of the later chapters is written by his sister, the only female sibling, all the rest of them were males. Another chapter is written by the author’s niece mostly discussing the final days of the author’s mother.

It wasn’t a bad book, but it would be way more interesting if I knew these people to begin with. Don’t think this book is geared for the wider world outside of that sphere.

Review 508: Traffic

Traffic by Paul Josephson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book in the Object Lessons series took on a serious tone to the subject. The book is of a small size and usually these series books are usually quickly read books.

In looking at traffic, the focus was on safety and traffic calming measure, specifically with the speed bump. It has many different names, one of my favorites is in Russian it is referred to a the sleeping policeman. These roadway bumps can take on several different forms, but they are there in order to calm traffic and speeds. With slower speeds pedestrians and bicyclists can share safer roads. One of the best things about speed bumps are they are very low cost and easy to add to the roadway.

Other safety features in the automobile was discussed, such as seatbelts, interior design changes and airbags, all to make the car safer in the event of an accident. The book did have a leaning towards looking at the regulations of the United States, but other countries were often mentioned. There was a chapter on Brazil and longish one on Russia. The county with the strictish measures of safety does have the lowest number of fatalities per 100,000 persons, this is the Netherlands at 3.9, worldwide the average is 18.

Overall the book does come together as a cohesive unit, but many of the chapters felt like individual essays, somewhat disjointed from one to another. The speed bump was the one consistency throughout.

Review 507: Dust

Dust by Hugh Howey
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars

This isn’t really a review of the book, it’s my reading experience…there’s all sorts of reviews already written so didn’t feel like a summary of what happened was necessary.

The first book in this series I had low expectations and was blown away by the book. I read it quickly and enjoyed it quite a bit. The second book took me years to get to, this is why I don’t like series, there can be a long time lag between reading the books and yep, I forgot the details of the book, but not the overall arch. Book two was a prequel type anyway, taking place many, many years before book one.

In any case I didn’t enjoy book two so much. Maybe it was the high expectations after book one. So going into book three I wasn’t sure how I would take it. Turns out somewhere in the middle. I definitely liked it more than the second book, but not nearly as enjoyable as the first. I think there was something unique with the first one and after that none of the other books could live up to it.

In any case, I’m glad I didn’t wait many years, between book two and three. It was nearly a year between these two, but not so long ago that many of the details were forgotten.

I liked the conclusion to this book, it was quite satisfying.

Review 506: Bad Animals

Bad Animals by Sarah Braunstein
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars



A woman working at a library is let go. She loved, absolutely loved working at the library. And with her precious daughter off at college and barely contacting her, the library fulfills her purpose. When suddenly jobless and her husband out of town for an extended period Maeve Cosgrove clings to the library. Going over and over what happened, with that troubled teen. 

Then the famous writer that she had sent many letters to in the hope he would come speak to the library, well he agreed and even wants to write his next book based on one of the patrons. Maeve becomes a liaison between him and the writer. 

The book was okay, read mostly during a vacation.

Review 505: Time Squared

Time Squared by Lesley Krueger
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars


A unique concept for a time travel book. At first it was a little confusing; decades would go by but the characters acted as if it was only months. It only became obvious that the world was changing when technology started to change dramatically. Later characters and situations changed significantly as well. It starts, and takes place for most of the book in the 19th century, but doesn't stay there and briefly visits the 16th and 17th century and of course the 20th and 21st.

Our main character is Eleanor Crosby who lives with her Aunt Clara since her father died, who was a minister. It is time she gets a husband. She has a dear friend Catherine. The Denholm brothers are visiting their area, Middleford, Yorkshire and the eldest is the most attractive catch, as the heir to the family castle, while the younger in uniform about to head out to war.

There’s a quite a cast of characters, the above being the most important, and they all seem to reappear in each time line. The book is held as being a romance through the different eras where Eleanor is trying to be with Robin. It is that in a way, but much more.

It’s an uncommon book and the ending does try to provide some reasoning for what all came before, but I was not much of a fan of that. Despite that part I did enjoy the way the book worked and the style of writing. It was an intriguing book.

Review 504: That Quail, Robert

That Quail, Robert by Margaret A. Stanger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A short book written in the mid-60's about a quail that became a pet. An abandoned quail egg hatched and the family attempted to send the quail back into the wild, but it was having none of it. They named the quail Robert and this book is about how its habits and human loving nature impressed many people.

At the time the news of Robert was spread about, made its way into newspapers and even a stint on a network channel. Robert had many visitors, people who loved animals, those of disbelief until they saw the quail, and all other sorts.

The author was not the family parents, instead a friend and nearby neighbor. An occasion came up where the family was going to Europe for several months to attend their son’s wedding, taking a steamer across the pond. They couldn’t take Robert, not leave the bird alone, so the author became the next home of Robert’s. Even during these three months the visitors kept coming.

The book relates Robert’s daily habits and preferences and those times of illness or troubles, rare as they were.

It is an adoring book. I used to live where there were coveys of quail around my yard all the time. I miss seeing them and this book helped fill that small hole, albeit temporarily.