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An interesting collection of short stories by P.G. Wodehouse it starts with one that is completely against his usual genre, a murder mystery. The rest of the stories are quite varied, with two of Jeeves and Wooster, all with written with his trademark humor. Not as good as some of his other works, it still an enjoyable read.
The story of 12 students who took on the challenge of competing in a science fair at the highest level. A very engaging and inspiring book, Dutton does a good job at highlighting the motivations and challenges that each student faces building to a conclusion that is at the same time suspenseful and anti-climatic. The stories related up to that point are interesting enough that they need no final denouement, but one is delivered anyway which ties all of the tales nicely.
A book that is inspiring as well as one that gives you hope for the future of mankind.
A story of middling interest, it is certainly not Wodehouse’s best work. Still, it is entertaining and not without appeal.
An interesting survey of how different cultures deal with different issues of childhood. Very informative as well presenting the authors viewpoint and reaction to what in many cases was almost completely foreign concepts of child rearing. As a parent, it certainly presented good ideas on how to approach my children and gave different ideas on how to raise them.
An entertaining tale in the vein of all romantic comedies where the plans for impressing a girl all go wrong at unexpected moments and succeed at others. The narration is somewhat distracting in the way the fourth wall is broken in a way that does not really bring much to the story. All of the characters are sympathetic with no true villains making for light reading that is a pleasurable read.
Prompted by seeing the second of The Hobbit movies I felt the need to re-read the Hobbit to see if I remembered correctly what material was used to inspire the film and what clearly fell outside it. The book was clearly written for a younger audience and Tolkien writes it as if he was telling a tale rather than writing a story. As such there is a quite a bit of the omniscient narrator throughout the tale letting you know to a certain extent how things are going to turn out in the end. Even though geared toward a younger audience it does not shy away from more “adult” topics which makes it enjoyable for people of all ages. I could write more about the book, but I am sure it would be re-treading analysis that has been done on such a well known story that was the seed for the creation of a genre.
From the very beginning, the book sets forth a very immersing environment with and idea of what life in and around Paris might have been like in 1450 then it quickly sets the terms of the mystery of the plot and leads you on from there. Engaging, it is a quick fun read with characters that read true as they try to deal with murderous werewolves, something that is beyond their knowledge and experience.
A compelling mystery novel that begins rather simply and builds complexity within the plot and the characters. The author does a good job of writing characters that are fairly complex with motivations that are for the most part clearly understood. There are certainly suspenseful moments in the book, but on the whole it reads quickly with a clear direction that takes you through the twists and turns of the plot.
These days it is a normally a given that the uncertainty principle is a fact of Physics that underlies the atomic structure. That was not the case at the beginning when it was first proposed and this book goes through the history of what was, and still is among some, a controversial accounting of the basic functioning of the world around us. David Lindley does a good job how the theory came to be and how people reacted to it as it was developed and presented to scientist around the world.
A story geared towards children with plenty for adult readers to enjoy, the Phantom Tollbooth takes you on an adventure that explores some of what is nonsensical in the world and gives it face and a meaning. A simple plot takes you through a world where definitions from our own are quite literally true. Enchanting in the picture it paints it ends, as all good fairy-tales do, with a moral even if it is not explicitly stated.
A book of short stories that span the gamut of spooky, fantastic and chilling, all set on different campuses. Each story has its own voice, feeling and theme while all being about an university experience which makes it relatable to anyone who has ever attended higher education.
A love story with an engaging main character in a situation that is complicated but plausible. Although the novel starts slow it soon has you turning pages wondering how the story will be resolved. Special attention is given to the motivations of the main character which is has complex set of problems peculiar to her particular situation. Overall an enjoyable quick read .
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