Review 414: Uncommon Carriers

Uncommon Carriers by John McPhee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is too short for it to have taken me over a month to read it. Why so long? Well, despite enjoying McPhee's writing overall, I found the book slightly boring. I was interested in most of the topics and late in the book I realized the problem here was he’s provided way too much information, too many details. So, maybe I wasn't quite that interested, maybe.

The first chapter, A Fleet of One, I enjoyed the most. It’s about a trucker, an owner-operator who specializes in hazardous liquid materials. He's been on the road for decades. The last chapter returned to the same trucker, although I wouldn't say it added much of anything new; and happily, was quite short compared to the other chapters. McPhee rode with him again, three years later and perhaps just had to add that into the book.

The next chapter, or essay, as it were, is called The Ships of Port Revel and is a training course for ship captains and ship pilots. They come from all over the world to train there for a week. It was somewhat interesting, and the shortest of all the essays.

The third essay, Tight-Assed River, started out okay, but went on way too long. It’s double the length of the essay before it and had many details that literally put me to sleep. Here the book really lagged for me, too much information. Oh, it’s about a barge carrying freight along the Illinois River.

The middle essay called, Five Days on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, was somewhat different than the others. Thus far, the collection is about work, mainly shipping in different formats (carriers). This one instead has the author and his son-in-law retracing the journey that Henry David Thoreau and his brother took many years before, which was recounted in HDT’s first book with a very similar name. While I mainly enjoyed this essay, the comparison from then and now (being 2003), it doesn’t fit with the theme the other essays.

The next essay didn’t fit well either, called Out in the Sort. It’s about a company that ships fresh lobster all around the world, the largest lobster company. Then it morphs into what UPS, United Parcel Service, can do for you. One could say a meandering essay, and perhaps covers shipping via airplane.

Then we have Coal Train, which is about what it says, about shipping coal via train. This essay is the longest and by far could have been cut in half. It went on for too many pages, with too many details, that maybe a train buff, train spotter, what-have you would enjoy, or not.

Then the last I’ve already mentioned. This book has not put me off of McPhee’s writing, but it may be a while before I jump into another collection of his essays.

Previously Read John McPhee books:

Assembling California (4 stars) - April.2018

Crofter and the Laird  (5 stars) - May.2019

Irons in the Fire (4 stars) - May.2021

Review 413: A Simple Plan

A Simple Plan by Scott Smith
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

The story is well written. A man gets in deeper and deeper to justify something he shouldn't have done in the first place. Until it is just way too much. How much can a person rationalize their behavior?

While in the middle of the book, I did find myself thinking about these characters, wondering what will happen next, but overall this is a bit of a horrible story! Glad it's fiction!

I disliked the ending. Almost anything else would have been better.

Review 412: Glowrushes

Glowrushes by Roberto Piumini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A strange fairy-tale/fable type book for kids. Very sad actually as the main character, a kid, is dying from an unknown disease. He is allergic to nearly everything and must stay inside his room in the castle. 

Takes place in Turkey but written by an Italian, also old, a classic. 

Review 411: The Art Thief

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A fascinating true-crime story about a prolific art thief. Young and obsessed with art, Stéphane Breitwieser couldn't seem to leave a museum without stealing something, with his girlfriend serving as lookout. Perhaps the most amazing part was he didn't do this for money, he just wanted to live with the objects. The book is well done, and the narrator did a great job as well.

Just to add: I learned the most stolen art is by Picasso. 

Review 410: The Librarianist

The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was looking forward to this tale of a retired librarian, but was disappointed by the writing style. I found way too many instances of where current slang was used when the time period was the 1940s-1950s. Nothing pulls me out of a story quicker than these types of incongruencies. Unfortunately, the writing issues were multiple, with overgeneralizations of character, thoughts and actions which made the writing clunky, and many instances of telling when showing improves the prose.

The plot was okay, although it was slow it fit the story. It was simple really. The middle section of the main character Bob Comet during his childhood when he ran away briefly seemed to have a better quality of writing and saved the book for me to finish.

The eBook I read was a pre-publication release and it felt like it, actually more like a rough draft of a book that still needing a few pass-throughs. However, I also had access to an audio book, and found the problems were there as well. Although I don't know the all about the publishing industry, I highly doubt an audio would be made of a rough draft form of a book.


Please note I read an uncorrected electronic copy of this book for review purposes. I also listened to the audiobook in advance of publication release. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for this access.


Last thoughts: the book has one of my favorite covers for a book, so it has that going for it.