I have #mecfs so I have a lot of time for reading, mostly #fantasy and #SciFi but I'm happy to dip into nearly anything.
Ratings: 1 star: I didn't like it 2 stars: it was okay 3 stars: I liked it 4 stars: I really liked it 5 stars: it was brilliant
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Four English school children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the …
"Cool premise (a worldrobe!), but everything resolves awfully suddenly. Not to mention the human-worship, and ... 'He's not the Messiah, he's a very scary lion!'
E-Book Extras: ONE: Behind the Novel: The Duke and I by Julia Quinn; TWO: The …
Books are typically more complex & nuanced than their screen adaptations, but not this one! Lacks the tension, glamour & variety. Passable fluff.
Reading time 4 days, 110 pages/day
#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #bridgerton #romance
A spritely & amusing contemporary retelling of the Greek myths. Starts cohesively but unravels into disjointed repetition. The gods were the best & worst of humanity - especially in lust & spite!
Reading time 14 days, 29 pages/day
#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #AncientGreece #GreekMyths
Argues that governments are co-creators of wealth and essential for a dynamic & innovative economy (duh? But neoliberals ...). Finance is a rent-seeking leech. Growth should be purposeful & hopeful! Full of sense but not engaging.
Reading time 13 days, 22 pages/day
Follows the extraordinary life of an early Australian colonist who was present for some momentous historic events & more than the usual share of drama. All the more amazing for being based on real people. Pedestrian prose with awkward dialogue, but captivating.
Reading time 6 days, 59 pages/day
Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and …
A tragedy of narcissistic proportions. Nicely written & well paced. Feels real without losing its mythic aura.
Reading time 3 days, 123 pages/day
Lydia lives in Acapulco. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and …
On the run from narcos, mother & son join the desperate stream of humanity heading for the US. Terrifying, exhausting & exhilarating, with the unrelenting momentum of a freight train. Trails off towards end.
Reading time 4 days, 116 pages/day
When men have the wisdom to let go of striving for supremacy, and return to the earth.
Reading time 3 days, 70 pages/day
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As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with …
Celebrates the sacredness of country by bringing together the deep spirituality of indigenous wisdom & the glorious nerdiness of ecological science. Poignant & bittersweet.
Reading time 13 days, 30 pages/day
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Blimey, what a heart walloper! Abused boy finds family & comes to life when billeted out during WW2. Pulls no punches but so much love & support. Goes through hell; ridiculously resilient.
Reading time 4 days, 76 pages/day
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The First Four Years is an autobiographical novel by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1971 …
Early marriage and a steep learning curve on stubborn husbands, capricious weather & farming as a price-taker. Much less idyllic than the prior books.
Reading time 1 days, 126 pages/day
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In 1921, two Swedes, Nils Pallin and Allan Bäckman, described their incredible challenges and tribulations …
Journals from an early expedition to Chile's sea-level glaciers. Lyrically evocative of the area's harsh beauty, relentless weather & incomparable remoteness. Hard to keep track of terrain without Google Earth to hand. Of niche interest to Patagonian tragics!
Reading time 2 days, 143 pages/day
BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #Exploration #Chile #Patagonia #Glaciers
This remarkable book is about everything from echidnas to evolution, cosmology to cooking, sex and …
Yarning about the ways of Indigenous knowledge. Insightful, sometimes impenetrable, with a bit of bullshit. The barest exposure, but what next? How to incorporate this into our worldview?
Reading time 10 days, 25.6 pages/day
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The chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But …
The industrial revolution arrives, and it's ugly. Brutally cynical & vicious, yet somehow lighthearted.
Books #BookReview #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #fantasy