Review: Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So how is it that I didn't read this until I was 60? I remember seeing bits of the movie back, oh, 50 years ago or so. Of course what I remember was how (view spoiler)[ people kept books alive by becoming the books, memorizing the text of their chose book and passing on orally the wording of the book to the next generation in order to be able to return it to print when the government allowed (hide spoiler)]. I was expecting to get a deeper dive on that aspect. Instead, the book was more about the change in heart of a "fireman". The part that I remembered from the movie was just a way to wrap up the end of the book. There wasn't any more depth to the concept. I found that a bit underwhelming. Overall a good book, but would be better if you didn't know about the movie.

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Review: Along The Illinois

Along The Illinois by Edgar Lee Masters
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading through Master's last book of poetry. The poems reminded me of Spoon River Anthology, as well they should. My favorite was "Cricket in the Kitchen". I also enjoyed the way Masters evoked the Illinois prairie that he wrote about. For many years, I drove through the Spoon River valley on trips, and was glad to see references to some of the towns, and a lot of the flora and fauna.

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Review: Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond

Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond by Henry Winkler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was in grade school when Happy Days was first run, must see TV. Every Wednesday, you would hear comments about what happened, but much more often you'd hear a catchphrase from the show - usually Fonzie's 'Heyyyy". Jumping the Shark was just another cool episode for us, interesting because it took place away from Al's Diner or the Cunningham home and featured a motorcycle jump, like Evel Knievel, hero of the elementary-aged bicycle set. Happy Days defined must watch TV. And Fonzie was king. I wanted to read this to hear about those days for Winkler, and what happened after. The book reads mostly like you'd expect, with stories about his family and his career. This one, compared to other celebrity memoirs I've read, seemed to be a little more closely tied to ongoing counseling for Winkler. He portrays his family as quite bad folks over and over. While Winkler seems a gentle, goofy guy, he was too overbearing about how rough he had it growing up well off with confusing parents. It strikes a false cord in what I found otherwise to be an interesting entertainment life story. Overall, I liked the story, and I really enjoyed Winkler's narration of his book. He comes across as a regular guy who is a little attention-needy. And I may just have to watch Barry, he makes a good case to give it a try.

I received a pre-release download of the audiobook from the publisher in exchange for a review.

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Review: The Girl in the Eagle's Talons

The Girl in the Eagle's Talons by Karin Smirnoff
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Earlier books in the series - gritty, with Salander as a social oddity. This book - Salander converses well, and reminded me of Robin in the Batman series. She could fit in anywhere. She has lost the outsider feel. This felt like a definitive jumping of the shark for this series. Not a total loss, though, there was some humor here that wasn't in earlier novels, and there was still action and oddball badguys, but they felt more comic book that real.

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Review: Who?

Who? by Algis Budrys
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This had the feel of a great Twilight Zone episode stretched out. Great story, memorable. I'm working my way through the stories in the Library of America "American Science Fiction' series, mostly on audio. This was one of them.

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Review: The Year They Called Off the World Series: A True Story

The Year They Called Off the World Series: A True Story by Benton Stark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, kinda. The World Series then wasn't like it is now, it wasn't established yet. And a few baseball men decided to not have the series for, to them, good reasons, generally concerning finances and historic team legacy, and also generally to punish the renegade league and top team. Not all that well written - a little long in parts, but an interesting story.

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Review: Astronomy: A Self-Teaching Guide

Astronomy: A Self-Teaching Guide by Dinah L. Moché
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was my daughter's textbook for an astronomy class at a small liberal arts college. Given this application, I was not a fan of the message the title of this book sent. Why was I paying for a college class when it looks like they give you a "self teaching" guidebook. Curious, I read this book. Before reading this book, I'd consider myself a fan of astronomy, having read a number of pop science books on it over the years, and having an interest in astronomy and space travel when in school before college. I found that this book covered many of the same specific topics I already had a basic level of understanding in, and added a layer of more complex information. It did this primarily by providing definitions to dozens of new words, as well as as many words I was already familiar with. The book covered the topics you'd expect - stars, distances, planets... It also had a chapter on life beyond Earth. But because of the way it was written, to highlight the vocabulary of astronomy, this just wasn't very exciting or ultimately that interesting. Good as a dictionary, bad as a story teller.

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