Review: Ambrose Bierce and the Ace of Shoots

Ambrose Bierce and the Ace of Shoots by Oakley Hall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: Shred Sisters

Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Old Filth

Old Filth by Jane Gardam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Rejection: Fiction

Rejection: Fiction by Tony Tulathimutte
My rating: 2 of 5 stars



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Review: Old Filth

Old Filth by Jane Gardam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review 514: Field Notes from a Hidden City

Field Notes from a Hidden City: An Urban Nature Diary by Esther Woolfson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Quite enjoyed this book about urban nature. The book is more or less in a diary form, with dated entries and contains longer essays as well. Starting off with Snow, to Midwinter, and ending with Into Autumn. The weather is mentioned quite frequently, a main topic. The author lives in Aberdeen, Scotland and weather there can be quite severe and stark.

One striking passage was the description of taking a walk during some strong gale force winds. Not sure why she was out while winds were that strong, maybe it happened suddenly while already out walking.

However, the main discussions in the book are about the small animals around her garden and what is seen when out in the city. These are mostly birds, but a few other small creatures are discussed, such as the squirrels, red and grey. Long essays were devoted to these along slugs and spiders. The compassion for these living beings and their purpose provide a different way of looking at what is typically something grossed out by or frightened about.

Woolfson has had pets in her home, or maybe calling them pets is not quite the right term, but she houses animals that most would not, such as crows and rats, although pet rats are perhaps more common than a crow. Her children had some pets, and as they left the house the pets typically stayed behind.

Her garden is set up to help and encourage the local wildlife, mostly birds, but also encourages other small animals. She feeds the wild birds and helps with providing nesting materials, also houses some a few doves. I did appreciate how the animals she mentioned were always provided with their scientific names. It helped as then one can look it up easily and find what they look like if one wanted a picture. The book contained a few line drawings between sections, which were a nice addition.

Review 513: The Space Race

The Space Race: The Story of Human's Greatest Adventure by Colin Brake, Patrick Chapman and Richard Kurti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 This was a full-production audiobook, blending history and fiction to tell the story of humans and their progress going to space. It is firmly focused on the United States with Russia as the adversary, while in the end being a joint contributor to the International Space Station.

I enjoyed the historical aspect, not so much the fictional portion. It felt displaced and bit hokey to include that. I understand what the authors were trying to do, show where we may go in the far future, but still felt oddly placed with the rest of the book.

Kate Mulgrew was the main narrator and her role was much like a documentary tv show. There were numerous interviews with a multitude of people and voice actors for roles of people who could not be interviewed, such as past presidents or astronauts or scientists who have since died.

Each chapter focused on a specific part of the space history, generally starting with the race to get to the moon. The final chapters dealt with the International Space Station and plans for the future, such as going to Mars. However, this book is already a bit dated as private space ventures were not mentioned other than foreseeing what could happen in the future. Also, nothing was mentioned about Artemis, the plan of the United States returning to the moon, nor any of the other countries who have since gone to the moon. So the book isn’t fully encompassing of human-space ventures.

This was not a quick read for me, as I listened to it off and only mostly when going on road trips. It ended up taking about a year doing it this way. I finally decided to just finish the last bit, not on a road trip. It’s the type of book that it doesn’t matter too much of there are long delays between chapters. 

Review 512: The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner

The Death and Life of Dominick Davidner by Shawn Inmon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Third book in the series Middle Falls time travel, where the main character starts their life over after a premature death and wakes up sometime as a child. The main character here, Dominick Davidner, wakes up as a nine-year old. Unfortunately, this character was not as interesting as the previous two books main characters.

There’s an occurrence of repetition of scenes from the previous book, which made the book somewhat boring. After that section the book improved slightly. The main character is obsessed with the woman who was his wife in his first life, and thinks he cannot start living begins until they are married.

The lack of character development and growth in this book made it the weakest of the first three books. Which in turn, has me reconsider going any further in the series. There was a tease, near the end of the book about the overall world and this other dimension, that was slightly intriguing. So maybe. Going to wait awhile see if my curiosity develops further.