Tag Archive: history



Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic EvolutionOrigins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Yawn! I was looking forward to our personal astrophysicist narrating his own book. But alas, they found the most boring narrator, JD Jackson. I could still hear Neil deGrasse Tyson’s sense of wonder and humor coming through, but if they were hoping to rev up some interest in science, this audiobook falls with my 8 AM monotone chemistry teacher from high school. I have always loved science. When the bus got us kids to school early, I’d run to the library and find Popular Science magazine. And despite Mr. ‘Chem teacher,’ I stayed true to my actual waking hours interests. And this book will not dull my science passion.

That said, I have to admit to being lost a lot. I let the narrator drone on and often found something interesting every now and then. Mr. Tyson, please read to us with your science enthusiasm shining through!

Still, maybe it is due to reading at bedtime? Maybe others will love this audiobook. In this case, I suggest a paper book or Kindle.

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Say More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the WorldSay More: Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World by Jen Psaki
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes, you run into a book that seems more like a book about employment than a retired person needs. This is one of those books. I like Jen Psaki. I love how she uses this memoir to show her growth in the workplace. I kind of wish I would have found this book when I was working. She has a grasp of how one should be more vocal, even in subtle ways, to give the employment the meat you want from a job. She shows how to be assertive without being aggressive.

It was an interesting book, even if I didn’t relate to it well. Ms. Psaki is the narrator, so you get every nuance. I was lucky to find it on Libby. But for the employed, it might be worth buying.

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Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure EverythingQuackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Blurb from GoodReads:

What won’t we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine—yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison—was dosed like Viagra. Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices. Ranging from the merely weird to the outright dangerous, here are dozens of outlandish, morbidly hilarious “treatments”—conceived by doctors and scientists, by spiritualists and snake oil salesmen (yes, they literally tried to sell snake oil)—that were predicated on a range of cluelessness, trial and error, and straight-up scams. With vintage illustrations, photographs, and advertisements throughout, Quackery seamlessly combines macabre humor with science and storytelling to reveal an important and disturbing side of the ever-evolving field of medicine.

***

I felt it better if you read the blurb rather than if I explained it. After reading Deborah Harkness’s book about the history of science in the time of Elizabethan England, which, though interesting was more a textbook level of nonfiction, I thought this would be fun. Same topic, the history of science, but with more of a sense of humor.

Luckily, I was able to find the Kindle version on Libby. There were pictures of some of the medical quackery. It makes one think how good it is now. Yet, many things haven’t changed and one wonders what will look like quackery to us looking back from the future.

Anyway, I think you would enjoy learning about this history with a sense of humor.

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The WomenThe Women by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Julia Whelan narrated this story with gusto. I didn’t use my headset for a part of it, and my husband enjoyed what he heard, so he ordered his own audible version to listen to. He was a Vietnam vet, so he recognized much of the history and geography.

As a teen in the sixties, I was aware of the attitudes and news in the U.S., and I became more aware as an adult in the seventies. So, I felt I was reliving my youth between the musical and trendy mentions and actual historical events. The anger and angst of being young and a woman and not feeling my feelings jumped to mind as the main character went through her own life. Kristin Hannah is good at that kind of fiction, taking the facts and making you feel it personally.

Regardless of your feelings about that war or those times, I highly recommend this book. Jump into someone else’s world and times and feel what you will as you go. It is a beautifully written book.

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The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific RevolutionThe Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution by Deborah E. Harkness
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can’t believe that I am almost finished with this book. And though I am not a fan of textbooks or history, I have enjoyed this one. This is the proof of the research Professor Deborah E. Harkness has immersed herself in. Kate Reading’s narration was fantastic. Sometimes, my mind wandered, but her voice and the energy she put into the reading brought me back and intrigued me.

I have always loved science and understand it as an evolving study. But how did anyone believe Newton, Galileo, and their contemporaries? How did we get to the point of believing in gravity and the planets around us? X-rays? Vaccines that have obliterated smallpox or polio? The beginnings of science came with alchemy, witchcraft, and people who understood herbs and gardening. If we think there is a lot of conspiracy now, consider how the idea of a falling apple becomes a fact.

This book shows how the idea machine helped and hindered our science heroes and villains. I found it freeing to think that if we listen to everyone and do our research, even the lowest of people, a child? can lead us to a new understanding.

Still, I can’t wait to see the 5th book of All Souls. I miss the characters and the time travel. I feel I learn so much better when a story is involved. I wish I had taken notes and read the book in my own textbook with a highlighter pen. I may have to reread it with those thoughts in mind.

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Uncomfortable Conversations with a JewUncomfortable Conversations with a Jew by Emmanuel Acho
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an interesting conversation—and, yes, uncomfortable. But it is enlightening to see how conversations late at night can get, where you ask the hard questions and the other person lets down their social shield and purely expresses what we all really want to know but are afraid to ask.

Emmanuel Acho has written other books, including Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, and he has a podcast similarly named. But with what happened in the East on October 7th, many of us are confused about the whole thing. We think we understand Israel’s stand and possibly Palastine’s, but what was the third people, Hamas? And what was all of that?

I thought I needed to hear it from someone close to the source, Noa Tishby, rather than the opinions of the crowd. This book explores this topic and many of the misconceptions about the Jewish people.

I was fortunate enough to pick this up on Libby. I highly suggest the audio version, as it gives you the full experience of Noa and Emmanuel’s conversation. I will be looking up more by both authors. It’s quite interesting!

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The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIAThe Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA by Liza Mundy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whoa! This is a lot! A crazy book to read at bedtime. My emotions were all over the place.

It’s worth the read. So much information! I love that the author did the narration, as you could tell her heart was in the read.

It’s so late at night that I can’t think of what to say that will help others to want to check out this book. It is so worth the read. I’m just warning you. If anger, excitement, sadness, hopelessness, regret, hope, and other huge emotions keep you awake, you might want to read this earlier in the day. I had too many 3 AM bedtimes that didn’t turn into actual sleep. Emotions about women, historical events, and all the wins and losses we’ve all lived through, but receiving only partial information played through my head, wondering what I would have done. What could I have done? How about the personal situations I’ve been through like some of these women; what needed to be done?

So read it for yourself and learn what you can. I was lucky to get to read (listen to) it on Libby.

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The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, #6)The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was my second “read.” I just listened on Audible. This time, I was less enchanted. I felt it was repetitive, repeating so many stories from the previous books. I wouldn’t say I liked Jondalar and got mad at Ayla several times. And the Zelandoni (I’m not sure how to spell the one that relates to the first one–Audible) didn’t seem the wisest of women either. And the grand adventures of the past books weren’t there. But it was fun to live in the story just a little longer. But I wasn’t as gooey as I was in my previous read. The review from a few years ago is below.

It is the times, my attitudes of now and then? I didn’t feel the same this time.

~~~
Why did I have to read these so fast? Now, there are no more cave-bear books.

Sandra Burr. Listen to her performance of these books if you get the chance.

I feel I have already reviewed this series. Before I reread them, I will try to find pictures of the places, the caves, and the types of people these books are about. It would be cool if Jean M. Auel could write a companion picture book. I must admit to having my curiosity piqued about the prehistoric times when womyn were warriors. I am glad that the author spent so much time researching these stories. Her knowledge of the geography, flora, and fauna made the world of Ayla come to life.

If you haven’t read these yet, you owe it to yourself. If you have, trek back to the Caves.

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The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, #5)The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Below is a previous and better review than the one my tired mind can express at this time of night. It includes all the praises of the narrator, Sandra Burr, and the author Jean M. Auel. Besides, I really want to get started reading/listening to the sixth and last book of the series. My cousin told me she had reread them recently and that she didn’t like the last book. I’m anxious to be reminded how I felt about it and re-enjoy the book again.

I highly recommend this series if you haven’t read it. And if you have, a re-read is always fun.
~~~

As with the others in this series, I listened to Sandra Burr on the Audible version while reading along on my Kindle. I have really grown in awe of Ms. Burr’s narrative abilities. It is like I see only the characters and landscape in my head rather than thinking it is an actual person reading to me. How she can maintain the voices of each character so seamlessly is baffling! I’d love to see her in her processes, preparing for each part of the story and each person represented. Just amazing!

Ms. Auel’s story is still fresh and keeps me curious as I read. There are parts that are getting a bit overdone, but considering that this book doesn’t involve the travel angst that the previous books had, stay-at-home boredom seems inevitable. Yet it isn’t boring.

The research evidence throughout all these books is overwhelming! Yet, it is presented as part of the story. In this way, Ayla’s story comes to life. You want to believe that this little family did exist.

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The Mammoth Hunters (Earth's Children, #3)The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished my second reading of this book a couple of days ago. Below is the review from the first time. It is funny that my feelings changed on this book. I still think Valley of the Horses is my favorite so far, where as last time the Mammoth Hunters was my favorite. That proves my theory that where the reader is in their lives affects how the story comes through to them.

One thing coming to mind in this reading is how talented the narrator, Sandra Burr, is. She flawlessly changes voices for any person who speaks in the story. Her males are all different, and her females vary, too. Old people even have different personalities per voice. I’d love to learn to do this kind of narration. Of course, Sandra also has a gem of a series to read. I am equally blown away by the amount of research included or purposely left out just for the story’s sake.

I didn’t cry at the parting of the couple from their new friends this time. I was so busy doing my diamond painting that I wasn’t as emotionally involved at that stage. I also didn’t let a beat go by without loading up the next book.

~~~

How can one read with tears racing down one’s face? Good thing I had Audible’s version with Sandra Burr’s narration to keep the story moving. And it was moving!

I think I liked this one the best so far. I wanted to thump Jondalar more often than not. Communicate, was the word I shouted to the book, communicate! But then, I guess that would have left a very short book.

I have already ordered the Audible version of the next book and downloaded the Kindle version. I have no idea why I had never read all these before. Jean M. Auel is quite the storyteller! Oh, yeah, the books are all so heavy that my hands would have ached trying to read them.

Sandra Burr’s narration was more flawless than in the previous books.

Well, I can hardly wait to get started on the next one.

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