Anonymous

Royally rich in detail, well-fleshed with analysis

Reviewed: 12-19-22

I started with "Brothers York" by Thomas Penn, then continued with "Winter King." Both volumes were gloriously, "royally" rich in details. Clearly Mr. Penn spent much time and labor in the archives, bringing forth not only ample information pertaining directly to the royal family members, but also to important people of their day, both foreign and domestic; and the current events, trends of thought, and their physical surroundings. You get details about the wars, the politics both local and national, inventions and philosophies, fashions, customs, the crops, the rampant diseases that afflicted both individuals and the events and people around them, even the weather on important occasions. These details are not listed like assets in a column, but rendered in a story so real you almost smell the horse manure in the narrow, crooked streets. You can easily imagine Erasmus and other intellectuals grumbling and plotting against one another, their egos even greater than their wits, leading one philosopher to (allegedly?) poison another... You also get the author's canny assessment of the minutiae he observes "between the lines" of manuscripts. True, he's offering opinion as well as fact; but he's quite brief and offers it with the evidence still attached and "breathing," and he really tells a STORY whose characters and motivations you can still relate to (and learn from) today, which is what history is supposed to be like. One of our best history writers today, in my opinion. Well done!

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Great primer on common personality tests

Reviewed: 12-05-22

With this brief series of lectures you get an introduction to the concepts of personality traits and their relevance to daily life, a brief history of defining, detecting, and analyzing these traits, and descriptions of popular tests and the ways we can "test the tests" for validity, etc. The tone is conversational, but the vocabulary is specific and, I believe (without any training in psychology), consistent so that you pick up on the narrower, as well as broader, meanings and can better communicate basic ideas in the study of personality. You might also better predict what the outcomes of tests taken in the human resources offices reveal to your employers and how that might affect your career at that place of employment. Three hours well spent for anyone with minimal experience in psychology.

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1 person found this helpful

Good, not great; but I liked it.

Reviewed: 10-30-22

I loved ol' Radar, and I really enjoyed listening to Charlie grow up as the story went on. But there were too many (so trite!) "F-bombs," the story took a long time to develop; and it was, in my opinion, written for a younger, unsophisticated audience -- which is OK, but as much fun as it is to read King, I get a deeper thrill (and chill!) reading Camus' "The Plague." Scariness is more than just a "boogieman" jumping at you out of the dark.

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Unfinished series!

Reviewed: 09-27-22

I enjoyed the series and its unromantic grittiness, and I could hardly wait to find out what happened next ... until it abruptly ended. Mind you, there was no conclusion; GRR Martin just didn't feel like finishing it. He has all the time for side-stories and prequels, but no time to finish the epic he started decades ago. So, if you don't mind being cut off in the middle, go ahead; read this book, and feel free to pay for all the books that come after; but you'll never get to the end, because there is none.

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Lots of detail on epidemiological procedures.

Reviewed: 04-17-21

If you or someone you know is considering a career in epidemiology or microbiology, this is a fascinating introduction to some of the concepts and procedures used by epidemiologists. It's loaded with genuine science rather than morbid details and fear-mongering. Don't you want to know how Sin Nombre virus was discovered? How about the emergence of Legionnaire's Disease? Despite the details that probably require a rewind or two for us lay folk to understand what's going on, the "plot" moves at a nice pace. The narration is pleasant to listen to, and more animated than many non-fiction narrations. An excellent book, though unfortunately getting a little bit dated from a post-Covid point of view.

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A little "light."

Reviewed: 12-12-20

I've come to admire Pete Buttigieg for his complex reasoning and the ideas and policies it engenders. Unfortunately, this book just skims the surface. I was a little disappointed, but there was some substance, and he had some good points about the difficulty getting "clean" news and information these days. Maybe we'll get an "upgrade" before the 2024 election cycle begins.

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Excellent

Reviewed: 01-28-20

Excellent description of life for unusual personaliies. Should be required reading for college personal development classes.

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Wonderful piece of history of science

Reviewed: 09-22-19

I'd always heard that Hooke was a sour, envious sort of scientist; but it seems I was mistaken. Newton, it seems, was the "serial plagiarist." John and Mary Gribbin set me straight and gave me a lot more information on the man and his times. Halley got "short shrift" in my opinion, but that's because there's so much of Halley's life and character that are fascinating, I think he deserved a book of his own. However, the Gribbins' book was intended to take us from a time preceding Newton to a time following him, roughly 100 years or a little more, in which Newton's story has always dominated but was really only a part of the development of science at the time. His stronger suit, according to the Gribbins, was math; and his weakness was his personality. Hooke and Halley both seemed to be much more curious about the natural world and much better suited to bringing forth their discoveries which are recounted here with much of the original excitement.

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Fun, interesting, not too cheesy for a modern romance.

Reviewed: 06-13-19

A nice mix of believably real and Hollywood romantic. A good "beach read." The main character was likeable, intelligent, not too much of a " damsel. "

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Thorough and sympathetic without being maudlin.

Reviewed: 04-01-19

Queen Anne, the court, and the events of her lifetime, are described with many references to original sources, but told very fluently. I was never bored with any "dry" places. This biography does evenhanded justice to an underrated monarch and to an underrated personality.

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1 person found this helpful