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Drums of Autumn

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Tags: jamie fraser historical fantasy james conroyd martin scottish history highlander series erotic romance favorite authors multi-read favorite author fiction historical diana gabaldon historical fiction scottish romance time travel outlander jamie sc historical romance time travel romance

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        Drums of AutumnSet in pre-Revolutionary War America, readers finally have the much awaited fourth book in what will probably become a six book series (The Outlander series). The talented Diana Gabaldon continues Claire and Jamie’s romantic love affair, and introduces Brianna and Roger’s story. Eight hundred pages, and several wonderful new characters later, we wonder why we were waiting for a conclusion. It’ll be a long wait for book five, so I recommend you go back and reread Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager to keep yourself sane.

        Drums of AutumnSet in pre-Revolutionary War America, readers finally have the much awaited fourth book in what will probably become a six book series (The Outlander series). The talented Diana Gabaldon continues Claire and Jamie’s romantic love affair, and introduces Brianna and Roger’s story. Eight hundred pages, and several wonderful new characters later, we wonder why we were waiting for a conclusion. It’ll be a long wait for book five, so I recommend you go back and reread Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, and Voyager to keep yourself sane.In this breathtaking novel—rich in history and adventure—The New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon continues the story of Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser that began with the now-classic novel Outlander and continued in Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager. Once again spanning continents and centuries, Diana Gabaldon has created a work of sheer passion and brilliance….

It began at an ancient Scottish stone circle. There, a doorway, open to a select few, leads into the past—or the grave. Dr. Claire Randall survived the extraordinary passage, not once but twice.

Her first trip swept her into the arms of Jamie Fraser, an eighteenth-century Scot whose love for her became a legend—a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Her second journey, two decades later, brought them together again in the American colonies. But Claire had left someone behind in the twentieth century—their daughter, Brianna….

Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the circle of stones and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she is risking her own future to try to change history … and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past … or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong….

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #7032 in Book
• ABIS_BOOK

great by S. Sleight-Brennan
The book came quicky and was in excellent shape. The book itself is really, really wonderdul!

This is some of the best historical fiction I have ever read. I’m re-reading the entire series.

The Time Shifting Clan Grows by Brett Benner
A little scattered, with multiple shifting narratives, this fourth installment is still enjoyable for those who have been smitten with the Scottish Highlander Jamie and his time shifting wife Claire. I actually didn’t find the book boring like some reviewers have, I just found it repetitious. Where the arrival of some characters from the earlier books are welcome and fun (Lord John for example) there is a recycled element to the book that left me wanting less of Brianna and her betrothed Roger, and more of Jamie and Claire. Once again she employs a pretty generic and stock villain who left me wondering is somebody always going to be raped in these stories?And while the first three books had some pretty terrific climaxes, this kind of peters out with a whimper. Still, the fact that this woman can clock a book in a over a thousand pages and still make it hard to put down, any quibbles feel pretty minor.

Historical Adventure…I Love It by Barb Mechalke
Diana Gabaldon is an amazing story teller. I really enjoyed this the fourth installment in the Outlander series.

I don’t know what I could say about this book that someone hasn’t already said. I will add my two cents and say that I like the character Brianna. I think that it’s important to put into perspective that she comes from a time when people aren’t considered adults at the ripe old age of seventeen. And she has been given a lot to deal with in a short period of time, she seems a bit impulsive and immature but she’s twenty two years old…

I enjoyed the love story between Brianna and Rodger and the adventures in Drums were just as exciting as all the others.

I am hooked! I will be reading ALL of the books in the series! It’s wonderful escapist adventure with a fabulous background in historical fiction.

If anyone knows if there are more books coming out after Snow and Ashes will you let me know…I read in The Outlandish Companion that Gabaldon was going to publish a prequel to Outlander and I tried to find out more but couldn’t.

Time Out by Nash Black
Jamie and Claire establish a settlement deep in the North Carolina mountains far from the winds of change which has racked their lives. But the DRUMS OF AUTUMN concerns their daughter Brianna and the man who loves her enough to travel through time, Roger.
Neither of the second generation are strong enough to compete with the power of Jamie and Claire Fraizer. Time outs stop a story in its tracks and this installment in the series is no exception. If the reader is familiar with the story and has read the previous books then it is an acceptable read. But as a stand alone the title does not have enough substance to sustain it.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

spellbound by L. West
What can I say about Diana’s fourth outlander series. I was truly spellbound. I can not wait to get my hands on the Fiery Cross. I can’t wait to find out what more could possibly happen to Claire and Jamie. What an amazing love story!!!

• A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander)
• The Fiery Cross (Outlander)
• Voyager
• Dragonfly in Amber
• Outlander

Route 66: EZ66 Guide for Travelers

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Tags: ez66 world route 66 dining and lodging disney cars maps american history here it is route 66 rte travel guide map route 66 road trip route 66 road trip guidebook

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        Route 66: EZ66 Guide for TravelersThe EZ66 Guide For Travelers is the ultimate guide for finding and exploring the Route 66 driving from the WEST or the EAST. Its maps and directions are comprehensive yet easy to follow. The spiral bound guide stays open to the pages you are reading while you are driving. Also includes attractions, tips, other sources, and games. Convenient 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, 200 page format. The guide is updated regularly.

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #23652 in Book
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Route 66 book purchased by I. Jayne Askin
I am planning a Route 66 trip - back to the 50″s and 60″s.

Thanks for the book and the info in the book

Jayne

Get Your Kicks on Rt. 66 by Jason Trenchard
Lots of information on what to see an do along Route 66. Maps are a little hard to follow.

Great Book!! by Scrappy
We could not have followed route 66 without this book. Our vacation was absolutely wonderful and we stayed on the original route most of the way.

EZ Guide, EZ Ride by R. Nemith
This guide worked great. If you email the author (email address in the guide), he’ll send you updates.

Came with detailed maps, turn-by-turn directions for both eastbound and westbound driving, and points of interest. Guide has a spiral binding and just the right size for use on a road trip.

This guide made for a great, unforgettable, 3 week road trip during May/June 2008.

Thanks Jerry!

Driving The Road by David G. Clark
I purchased “Route 66: EZ66 Guide For Travelers, I think mainly because of the spiral binding which it advertized would be easy to lay open as one was driving the road. I would say that was a plus. I drove the road with my wife from Ash Fork, AZ to Barstow, CA. It was a lot of fun and the EZ66 Guide was integral to the trip. It had larger section maps of the journey and smaller detail maps of tricky stretches. It’s narratives provided valuable background information about each town along the way and fun descriptions like the berm between Essex and Amboy Calif where travelers have left messages using rocks and bottles, and the shoe tree near Amboy. Since this book was written in 2005 and ‘bra’ tree has now appeared down the road from the shoe tree. Fun stuff. I highly recommend this book for anyone planning a trip down the Mother Road.

• Route 66 Adventure Handbook: Updated and Expanded Third Edition (Route 66 Series)
• Route 66: The Mother Road 75th Anniversary Edition
• Here It Is! The Route 66 Map Series
• Route 66 Dining & Lodging Guide - 12th Edition
• Route 66: Traveler’s Guide and Roadside Companion

The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 (Complete Guide to Walt Disney World)

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Tags: theme parks walt disney wdw guidebooks unofficial guide wdw uncle walt travel guide touring plans photo souvenirs of wdw photo essays about walt disney world orlando guide julie and mike neal hidden mickeys fun disney guide favorite disneyworld travel unofficial guide-wdw info 2008 diz unofficial guide disney books disneyland

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        The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 (Complete Guide to Walt Disney World)Should leave fans of Mickey smiling from ear to ear. — Chicago Tribune

A thorough overview, with inside tips, facts and quizzes. With more than 400 color photos, it also makes a nice souvenir. — Boston Globe

May be the most colorful, visually stunning and deeply researched guidebook on the market. A warm, loving portrait of Disney World, for people who want to love Disney World. — Orlando Sentinel

Endless tips and trivia. — Knoxville News-Sentinel

There are dozens of guides to Disney World, but I like this one by a husband-and-wife team who visited Disney World more than 700 times. They’re not affiliated with Disney, but received much inside access by the company to provide very detailed descriptions of each ride, show and attraction. Among the gems are fun facts, suggested itineraries and little things to look for. — Florida Times Union

Offers an in-depth history of the attractions and the parks themselves… and the most in-depth run-down of the two Disney water parks. — Budget Travel

Book Description
The best-looking Disney World guidebook, The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 is also the most interesting. Its spectacular photography grabs your eye, then its fantastic wealth of information keeps you glued to its pages. Every aspect of Disney World becomes easy to understand, as color-coded chapters lay out everything one subject at a time, and gorgeous full-color images bring it all to life. Packed with details you just can’t find anywhere else, every chapter is so helpful you’ll find yourself sticking post-it notes everywhere.

The Planning Your Trip chapter offers a seven-step process to organizing your vacation, then a gold mine of practical information. As for theme parks, each ride or show gets its own article, many of which run several pages. Water parks are covered the same way, which makes the book the only real guide to Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. Even diversions such as parasailing, stock-car driving and surfing lessons are fully described and illustrated.

A new restaurant chapter is a collection of 88 reviews. The accounts are descriptive and honest, and include useful details such as which character meals can usually take walk-ins. The accommodations chapter covers each Disney resort with a photo-packed article as well as a comprehensive At a Glance sidebar. The combination gives you a nice overview of each complex, but also makes it easy to scan them all by price, amenities, location, or other criteria.

Supplemental Material
Like the most complete DVD set, the book is packed with bonus features. The best are the background articles on Disney’s theme park attractions. For example, three side stories describe the history, science and set design of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Other columns cover the histories of Space Mountain and It’s a Small World. An animal guide describes the odd behaviors you can witness at Animal Kingdom, from the forearm-licking of the park’s kangaroos to the stick-sharing rituals of its exotic birds. Breezy feature articles cover the wacky histories of the Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella fairy tales.

The result is a hugely entertaining book, but one that doesn’t flinch from the frustrating realities of a Disney trip. It acknowledges the long lines, the challenge of getting key restaurant reservations, the cluelessness you have on how to get a front-row seat to the High School Musical street show… and provides the magical solutions. Tip bars run across the bottom of most pages.

Fitting the visual beauty of its subject, The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 is printed on gloss paper in full color. The book is fully updated, with the latest park and resort information and current prices and policies.

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #14572 in Book
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Beautifully Illustrated by Alberta Alarcon
I have to say I have many books on Disney but this has to be the most beautiful and informative. It has so many added features that others do not. A must buy for any disney guide book collector or anyone planning a trip to the World.

Like three books in one by Ellie Bayley
This book is like three books in one. It’s a travel guide, a picture book and a trivia book. We tried to buy it at Borders but they were out, so I got it here. Great information and fun to read.

Good Information by allybear
This book was helpful in planning our trip but was not as comprehensive as the Unoffical Guide also sold here. If you are looking to get only one book I would suggest the Unofficial Guide. This book did however have alot of great photos of things we would see so my children preferred this book!

Best pictures & coverage of all parks! by DVC Mike
With over 400 full color pictures, the Complete Walt Disney World 2008 is my favorite guide book for WDW. For Disney fans, it’s great to pickup this book and read detailed information and fun facts about each Disney attraction. This book is the definitive Disney handbook.

Tour WDW while at home… by Alan D. Cranford
Julie and Mike Neal have achieved the impossible; they have summarized Walt Disney World in 336 pages with maps, tables and hundreds of photos. It would take at least a month to do everything at Walt Disney World. There are four major theme parks, a sports complex, two water parks, 27 themed hotels and a shopping and nightclub district spread over 47 square miles. About 100,000 guests are served daily by 54,000 cast members. Walt Disney World is big. BIG.
The Complete Walt Disney World 2008 is a concise, up-to-date reference that allows me to `walk through’ tour plans while at home. The phone directory is conveniently located on the back page–this book is designed for use while visiting Walt Disney World. For more complete information I’d need to connect to the internet while using a telephone and have a Walt Disney World library of more than two dozen volumes. In addition to up-to-the-minute information, The Complete Walt Disney World has history and trivia. For example, on page 48 there is a connection between Allied POWs in World War Two and the Cinderella Castle mosaic–the sidebar is titled `War and Pieces.’ The history of Walt Disney World from the `Project X’ days is a nice touch. How about the Hidden Mickey, the personalized touch or `autograph’ Imagineers put on the rides and attractions? See pages 324-330. Thank you, Julie, for the bibliography–for me, that page is an important resource.
Need to know what is at a restaurant or one of the 27 hotels? On Pages 8 and 9 is a simple map–more than enough to keep me from getting lost on Walt Disney World’s road network. Each major theme park has a small, simple map showing where the rides and attractions are. A sample tour of each major theme park is a nice touch and meshes in with the Neals’ 7-step planning process on pages 24-27. For those not familiar with Florida’s climate, the `what to pack’ on Page 28 is excellent advice. A word on `what to pack’–in November 1998 I was touring both Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World. The weather in Florida was so cold that my Keys to the Kingdom tour guide had drawn a heavy overcoat and gloves from Costuming. I was fortunate that I and anticipated the bitter cold in Paris–so I was able to stay warm. Speaking of tours, Julie and Mike cover them–how to get them (pages 256 and 257) and how much they cost–more important, how long these tours are. There is an outstanding FastPass guide on page 31–simple, graphic and easy to understand (while telling you how to dodge lines other ways, too). The book is divided up into the four major theme parks, water parks, Downtown Disney (the shopping and nightclub district), Diversions, Accommodations (both on and off Walt Disney World), Restaurants (with the Disney Dining Plan) and Special Events. I’d add some sticky tabs to mark the spots I needed and some sticky-notes inside and keep a separate notebook–this helps me organize my trip.
A word on plans–a plan is a starting place for changes. Planning can help you get the most out of your vacation–you won’t worry `what am I missing’ because reading The Complete Walt Disney World 2008 will tell you everything that is there. A check on the official Walt Disney World web site (use your local library if you lack a computer) before you set out will update your plans–anything you miss will be because you were doing something more important, more fun. Knowledge puts you in control of your vacation. Julie and Mike Neal are giving you a gift in The Complete Walt Disney World 2008–their combined experience. It is like having your own professional tour guide in your pocket.
I’m not doing The Complete Walt Disney World 2008 justice in this short review. There is a lot of Walt Disney World. The Neals’ have managed to put that in a book small enough to have with me in the parks. This book is entertaining, too. I just hope that The Complete Walt Disney World 2008 is available at Walt Disney World just in case I go there and accidentally leave my copy behind!

Well done, gang!

• PassPorter’s Walt Disney World 2008: The Unique Travel Guide, Planner, Organizer, Journal, and Keepsake! (PassPorter)
• The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2008 (Unofficial Guides)
• Fodor’s Walt Disney World® with Kids 2008: with Universal Orlando and SeaWorld (Special-Interest Titles)
• Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World 2008 (Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World)
• Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World for Kids 2008 (Birnbaum’s Walt Disney World for Kids By Kids)

A Sand County Almanac

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Tags: seasons of the year countryside land ethic wisconsin ethics history philosophy wilderness wildlife science classic literature naturalism ecology conservation natural history sustainability

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        A Sand County AlmanacPublished in 1949, shortly after the author’s death, A Sand County Almanac is a classic of nature writing, widely cited as one of the most influential nature books ever published. Writing from the vantage of his summer shack along the banks of the Wisconsin River, Leopold mixes essay, polemic, and memoir in his book’s pages. In one famous episode, he writes of killing a female wolf early in his career as a forest ranger, coming upon his victim just as she was dying, “in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes…. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.” Leopold’s road-to-Damascus change of view would find its fruit some years later in his so-called land ethic, in which he held that nothing that disturbs the balance of nature is right. Much of Almanac elaborates on this basic premise, as well as on Leopold’s view that it is something of a human duty to preserve as much wild land as possible, as a kind of bank for the biological future of all species. Beautifully written, quiet, and elegant, Leopold’s book deserves continued study and discussion today. –Gregory McNamee

        A Sand County AlmanacPublished in 1949, shortly after the author’s death, A Sand County Almanac is a classic of nature writing, widely cited as one of the most influential nature books ever published. Writing from the vantage of his summer shack along the banks of the Wisconsin River, Leopold mixes essay, polemic, and memoir in his book’s pages. In one famous episode, he writes of killing a female wolf early in his career as a forest ranger, coming upon his victim just as she was dying, “in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes…. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.” Leopold’s road-to-Damascus change of view would find its fruit some years later in his so-called land ethic, in which he held that nothing that disturbs the balance of nature is right. Much of Almanac elaborates on this basic premise, as well as on Leopold’s view that it is something of a human duty to preserve as much wild land as possible, as a kind of bank for the biological future of all species. Beautifully written, quiet, and elegant, Leopold’s book deserves continued study and discussion today. –Gregory McNameeFirst published in 1949 and praised in The New York Times Book Review as “a trenchant book, full of vigor and bite,” A Sand County Almanac combines some of the finest nature writing since Thoreau with an outspoken and highly ethical regard for America’s relationship to the land.
Written with an unparalleled understanding of the ways of nature, the book includes a section on the monthly changes of the Wisconsin countryside; another part that gathers informal pieces written by Leopold over a forty-year period as he traveled through the woodlands of Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Sonora, Oregon, Manitoba, and elsewhere; and a final section in which Leopold addresses the philosophical issues involved in wildlife conservation. As the forerunner of such important books as Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, and Robert Finch’s The Primal Place, this classic work remains as relevant today as it was forty years ago.

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #5122 in Book
• ABIS_BOOK

Classic by T. Duffy
A classic. As we rush into brave new environmental worlds where angels fear to tread, and as our kids grow up plugged in rather than playing in the dirt, this should be required reading in all schools (and required for the parents, too). Besides presenting a compelling and important argument, it’s also a very good book.

Sand County Almanac book by JEC
The book was in great condition, at a great price! I got it within just a few days. I would def. buy from this person again.

Leaving a light footprint on the good earth by Kerry Walters
I re-read Leopold’s Sand County Almanac every couple of years or so. It’s not just a beautifully poetic celebration of the land. Its defense of a new sense of moral responsibility to the environment, spelled out in the book’s “The Land Ethic,” is a bracing tonic against the modern temptation to take the biosphere for granted. In these days of global warming, fossil fuel depletion, and escalating degradation of the land, water, and atmosphere, Leopold’s 60-year-old plea for a new environmental ethic is both prophetic and urgently immediate.

In “The Land Ethic,” Leopold argues for a new understanding of the moral community. Earlier ethical models focused on interpersonal and social relationships between humans. But given the interconnectedness of all members of the biosphere, we need to extend the moral community to include earth, sky, water, and all species–the biota. At least since the dawn of the modern age, human have tended to prize the biota only in terms of what we could get out of it. It had a purely economic, utilitarian value. But this way of thinking has resulted in environmental (not to mention economic and political) crisis.

What we must do now, argues Leopold, is to recognize our “vital” relationship to the biota, acknowledging that the well-being of our species is intimately connected to the well-being of the whole. This calls for a new standard of valuation that runs counter to the older, economic model. “Quit thinking about decent land-use as solely an economic problem,” writes Leopold. “Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient.” And if we do that, he concludes, we’ll adopt the following ethical principle: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise” (p. 262). And part of what this means is that humans should strive to leave relatively light footprints on the earth, because the lighter our impact, the more likely the biota can successfully readjust to maintain integrity, stability, and beauty.

Good, important advice.

Frankly, I was disappointed by Darrel Drumm
I expected a book that would move me emotionally as well as intellectually, like Abby’s Desert Solitude. That’s not what this book is all about. It is well written, yes, but it only shoots for the intellect, not the heart, or at least it did for me. It is still an important read.

NOT Censored. by Paul Forster
The earlier reviewer is wrong.The Ballantine edition is not censored.I have a Ballantine edition and there are at least three uses of the word “evolution” and the name Darwin is used at least twice.So don’t let the paranoid pronouncements of an evolution worshiper stop you from enjoying this great book.All who love the outdoors and the natural world should read this classic work.

• Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Harper Perrennial Modern Classics)
• Walden; Or, Life in the Woods (Dover Thrift Editions)
• Desert Solitaire
• Silent Spring
• Wilderness and the American Mind, Fourth Edition

Return to Summerhouse

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Tags: eve dallas in death series jd robb eve duncan j d robb in death drake sisters linda howard back in time history ancestry car accidents death marriage julie garwood beach house miscarriage love children time travel romance jude deveraux

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        Return to SummerhouseWith her shining gift for “exquisite and enchanting” (BookPage) storytelling, Jude Deveraux sweeps readers away in a breathtaking follow-up to her beloved New York Times bestseller, The Summerhouse — where a marvelous new adventure awaits.

Magic most definitely resides in the Maine summerhouse where the mysterious Madame Zoya has granted the innermost wishes of its visitors. Now, three women have come to this special place with one thing in common: a painful past they would each like to rewrite. Amy, who hides a heartbreaking loss behind her seemingly perfect marriage and family…Faith, a widow in her thirties whose deepest grief is for a man from years ago…and Zoë, an artist shunned by her hometown for reasons she doesn’t know, after a traumatic night erased her memory. With their mystical powers, Madame Zoya and her sister Primrose are about to transport the trio to eighteenth-century England to alter Amy’s ancestry. But although surprises await each of them, will stepping back in time bring the women the happy endings they seek?

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #10428 in Book
• ABIS_BOOK

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Better than the first by Alexis M. Callaway
I’m a huge fan of Jude Deveraux, I found the first novel “The Summerhouse” enjoyable, but I was floored with this novel. I personally love Time-Travel books and I feel that Deveraux does an exceptional job.
I like that in this novel they return to the 16th century. I like how she connects everything together, she did the same thing with her novel “Rememberance”, which is by far my favorite of all her novels. So if you are looking for next great read, I recommend that you read this novel and “Remberance”.

Return to Summer house by K. Sharp
Enjoyable, good read a little of the Montgomery times with the present.
Our preception of a situation, how strongly we attach and how it can influence episodes of our lives! Welcome back Jude!

Delicious treat! by Chic
I really enjoyed this book. I tend to like Jude Deveraux’s books, but I have admittedly only read a select few. That said, I really liked the time travel theme. This was a quick read - it took me less than a day to finish, but it was enjoyable and a delight. It had a great story with so many different elements - love, mystery, time travel, past lives, etc. Great book and reading Summerhouse is not required, but may give some background information. Wholeheartedly recommended for a beach read or just something to take you away from life and put a smile on your face.

Trouble in JudeLand by BunniesKill
They say there are only so many stories to be told. Certainly in the romance genre, one expects an author as prolific as Jude Deveraux to return to the same well more than once.

Deveraux has set up CAMP next to the well, with a stand selling bottled well water.

Here are two things I wish she’d stop already:

1. Mystery plots. Deveraux is a romance novelist–period. She cannot construct a solid mystery, and the solution always involves some garbage she makes up in the end that no one ever could have surmised from the story. That’s like playing Hangman where you make up your own words. She likes to drop coy mentions via her “writer” heroines about how novelists usually don’t know what will happen to their characters ahead of time. Yeah, obviously, Jude.

2. Time travel. This really has not worked since “Knight in Shining Armor” and “Wishes,” where the plot was linear. This convoluted mess where the heroine goes back in time and lives the reality of someone else who IS her, but ISN’T her, but may be RELATED to her, is a headache.

Does anyone else remember when her books actually had sex scenes? And whole plots about falling in love? That’s what I want to read, and not this midlife crisis wish fulfillment that I suspect is the author practicing self-therapy. (A third thing I wish she’d stop is intrusively injecting herself into her books.)

Deveraux borrows liberally and shamelessly not only from her other books, but among storylines within the same series. Two of six heroines in Summerhouse nursed a chronically ill husband while being abused by his thankless parents. Three hooked up with men who were too rich to be an “appropriate” match. (Not just rich. Unbelievably, shockingly rich, with access to limitless funds.) Two played the obsessively devoted wife and mother. Most of them discover that they are talented–prodigiously so–in artistic endeavors they have never tried before, and for which there’s no precedent.

The author does attempt to break the mold with the “Goth girl,” Zoe, but then fails to flesh out the character and follow through. In fact, all of her characters talk and act the same way once she’s introduced them by way of a few stereotypes. Occasionally she’ll remind you of their archetype by having them bake muffins or something.

**Spoilers ahead.**

Then there are all the dropped plot threads. How did Amy resolve her personal tragedy that was introduced in Chapter One? Why didn’t Faith and Zoe ever get business cards after the significance was underscored? (And couldn’t Deveraux have been a little more…writerly about the complicity of Jeanne and Madame Zoya, instead of lobbing it at the reader in one contrived lump?) Madame Zoya’s “rules for time travel” are all over the place, and Deveraux does a clumsy job of blending them into the dialogue.

Another reviewer mentioned that the characters tend to interrupt each others’ stories and turn the subject to themselves. They sure do, and it makes them all annoying. Not *all* the exposition has to happen as a conversation over various lobster salads and blueberry desserts.

Here’s what Jude Deveraux still does well: Picturesque descriptions of other time periods. Clothes, food, shopping, and decor, all of which appeal to women’s fantasies. The woman who sweeps in and capably “fixes it all,” winning her hero’s adoration.

For those reasons, I probably could have forgiven her, until I read that trite stink-bomb of an ending. Once again she does a crash conclusion and crams 50 percent of the story into the final chapters, leaving the reader dazed and betrayed. How the hell did all THAT happen?

A good friend tells you what you need to hear, even when you don’t want to hear it. So does a good editor, and Jude Deveraux needs one–that is, if she wants to be great again and not keep banking on her (decidedly) former glory.

Give us back to the Montgomerys and the historical romance formula. It’s what made you.

couldn’t finish by joan marie
i agree with “bunnieskill” reviewer. i just couldn’t finish this book but skipped ahead. so glad i didn’t buy this book, but got it from a friend. big disappointment.

• The Summerhouse
• Secrets: A Novel
• The Hollow (Sign of Seven Trilogy, Book 2)
• Someone to Love: A Novel
• Tribute

Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (P.S.)

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Tags: narrative non-fiction essays civilization travel international relations china travel china issues china politics china culture modern china chinese journalism sinology writing system china books teaching english in china china chinese history chinese culture history

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        Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (P.S.)

A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler explores the human side of China’s transformation, viewing modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world through the lives of a handful of ordinary people. In a narrative that gracefully moves between the ancient and the present, the East and the West, Hessler captures the soul of a country that is undergoing a momentous change before our eyes.

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #3709 in Book
• ABIS_BOOK

An enjoyable read by Alyse Marie
I brought this book with me when I moved to Shanghai, China and eventually got around to reading after 2 months of living here. I have previously studied many of the topics he had touch base upon in his book, from the history of oracle bones, to the current politics (such as Xinjiang’s struggle for independence). I even took a class once (ancient history of china) where a professor had criticized the book for being misinformed on its information regarding the oracle bones. All this considered, I kept an open mind when reading Mr. Hessler’s novel and ended up enjoying it greatly.

I enjoyed the fact that Mr. Hessler took a different route when writing this book. He focused a lot on the individual stories of Chinese citizens, while sliding in factual events, history, and culture. This made the book as enjoyable as a fiction novel. Most of the facts in the book were previously known to me, so in some ways, I was a bit disappointed (looking forward to enhance my knowledge on the region). But like I said, it was the individual people he met on his journeys through China that made the book a page-turner. I would suggest this book for anyone who has any interest in China, or just a good story about a different culture. If you are in the Asian/Chinese studies field you may find this book a little below your level. Although you may, like me, end up enjoying it for what it is, entertaining!

Love it by Shornbuc
I enjoyed the book very much because author use his point of view to describe his journey through his students, friends and travel through out the China abut the feeling toward past, today and the future of China.

An Honest View of Today’s China by A Reader
I really loved Peter Hessler’s Rivertown and found Oracle Bones just as enjoyable. The author’s style of writing is original and surprising, at unexpected points of his books. I studied in Taiwan in the mid-70’s and found Peter Hessler’s descriptions of the Chinese to be very similar to my own experiences. I get the feeling that there are others who are finding his writing just as enjoyable - a few days ago I was in the Denver airport and saw a copy of The New Yorker with his article about the Olympics listed at the top. He is a wonderful writer and anyone picking up this book will finish it knowing quite a bit more than he did before starting it.

hard to put it down by Min Jeong Lee
I’ve read it before going to sleep and more than a few times it made stay up later than I wanted. The book is well written, without artful gimmicks (it doesn’t try hard to be literary), but also without the cliches and boring turns of phrases one sees in modern ‘reporting’.
The book weaves the past and the present. The past appears in the form of the oracle bones that belonged to the Shang dynasty. Hessler talks to old scholars, people who dedicated their lives to the study of ancient Chinese history; he finds out how their lives were affected by the Communists and ruminates on the importance of writing for Chinese culture.
The ‘present’ part of the book looks at ordinary people and the way they lead their lives in this fast-changing society. Hessler is clearly aware that this is not a free society, but he doesn’t hit you over the head with it: instead, what he cares about is these people - their stories, aspirations, dreams. Some of them are former students and friends, and he doesn’t shy away from getting involved in their lives.
All in all a pleasure to read.

WELL WRITTEN, REWARDING READ! by Suficook
An interesting story that will leave you happy to have read it, Oracle Bones is worth the time.
A country is best learned about by living with the people; something the author has done. Furthermore, he is able to relate the feeling of China in a way that is accessible and entertaining. Thankfully without cliche. . . for example, never does Hessler mention the “raising importance of China on the world stage.” By avoiding the subject he toys with a tension that is best only alluded to: we as westerners are aware of China on the horizon; his job as a journalist is simply to offer well vetted evidence. All of this sets a stage for an understated humor.
The idiosyncrasies of particular regions in China (as in any country), are illustrated by slang. For example, one Sichuanese student named Willy, who sought his fortune in Wenzhou, writes to Hessler of his “backward and yashua [toothbrush] hometown–Sichuan”. Throughout the story is the word “jiade”. Meaning pirated, jiade becomes a catch-phrase and an inside joke that we’re in on.
A method employed throughout the book is that of a parallel narrative: Artifacts A through Z. These are loosely interconnected chapters that pepper the book’s 458 pages. They function as historical vignettes; Hessler here has an opportunity to contrast his travel documentary within the context of ancient Chinese history. In Artifact A, we are introduced to the Oracle Bones of the book’s title. Oracle Bones are the oldest surviving Chinese writing. Named in Chinese “jiaguwen”, they were ideas carved onto tortoise shells and cow scapulas. Cryptic passages such as “The king goes to the hunting field; the whole day he will not encounter great wind” or “We ritually report the king’s sick eyes to Grandfather Ding” were, depending how they broke apart, read as an oracle. “The irony of Chinese archeology” Hessler points out, “is that the earliest known writings attempt to tell the future. . . . From the Shang, the voice of the turtle speaks.” Throughout the different Artifact chapters the author demonstrates his diverse and growing knowledge of archeological sites, past dynasties, and oracle bone era written characters compared to their classical and contemporary counterparts.
The plot shifts toward a more investigative thriller. Mr. Hessler follows a thread of a story for The New Yorker: did historian Chen Mengjia commit suicide and, if so, why? Mengjia had travelled to the Unites States in the 1930s. There he documented ancient Chinese bronze artworks that had wound up in private hands. The Artifact chapters also begin to follow this theme. Part of the intrigue in this subplot lies in the how so many of the older generation in China were persecuted and threatened under Mao. Mengjia’s book was published later by the communists. Only they had a different idea for the title: Our Country’s Shang and Zhou Bronzes Looted by American Imperialists. As the author unravels what happened, he must, upon interviewing elder intellectuals, word his questions carefully so as not to offend. This story dovetails nicely into Chairman Mao’s misguided– and later aborted– attempt to simplify the written Chinese character. We find ourselves uncovering a linguistic mystery.
In a story like this, being a journalist is a perfect job to keep things interesting. Whether we’re in a border town across the river from North Korea for a National Geographic piece, or in a threatened hutong neighborhood in Beijing (where he finds an apartment– and the next story) he moves the tale along. We witness the sad fate of Falun Gong members as China “cleans up” for a State Visit in Beijing. Later, the attacks of September 11th allow us a peek into the expatriate world as a news starved Hessler buys jiade videos to see more of what happened in New York. All along we are aware of the tremendous rate of growth in the country. The locals say, “we live in chai nar” (meaning “demolish where?”).
Reading Oracle Bones is a learning experience. The placement of the Artifact chapters is an enjoyable way to break up the story, and there are many facts woven into the book by way of this lexicon. Having myself lived outside the States for several years, I could identify with some of the difficulties Peter runs into. As the Olympic games approach, and with China in the news, I have been checking the bylines of my New Yorker magazines for Mr. Hessler’s name, to learn what he has been up to. I enjoyed the book and recommend it.

• Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
• River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (P.S.)
• Shadow of the Silk Road (P.S.)
• Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China
• China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power

Dragonfly in Amber

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Tags: fcition romantic fantasy time travel romance series jamie book sadism voyeurism fiction historical fantasy romance - historical fantasy dragonlfy tine travel romance jamie frasier scottish highlander committment erotic romance love returns through the portal of time paranormal romance

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        Dragonfly in AmberWith her now-classic novel Outlander, Diana Gabaldon introduced two unforgettable characters — Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser—delighting readers with a story of adventure and love that spanned two centuries. Now Gabaldon returns to that extraordinary time and place in this vivid, powerful follow-up to Outlander….

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones … about a love that transcends the boundaries of time … and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his….

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart … in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising … and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves….

        Dragonfly in AmberWith her now-classic novel Outlander, Diana Gabaldon introduced two unforgettable characters — Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser—delighting readers with a story of adventure and love that spanned two centuries. Now Gabaldon returns to that extraordinary time and place in this vivid, powerful follow-up to Outlander….

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones … about a love that transcends the boundaries of time … and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his….

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart … in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising … and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves….Diana Gabaldon holds a bachelor¿s degree in zoology, a master¿s degree in marine biology, and a Ph.D. in ecology, none of which has anything whatever to do with her novels. She spent a dozen years as a university professor before turning to writing full-time. Diana Gabaldon lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with her family.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #2925 in Book
• ABIS_BOOK

Phenomenal! by C. McIntyre
Dragonfly in Amber is the second book in Diana Gabaldon’s phenomenal “Outlander” series. At the end of Outlander, we left Claire and Jamie Fraser in an abbey in France, exiled from Scotland. At the opening of Dragonfly in Amber, we find Claire back in the highlands in 1968, investigating the fates of Jamie’s men at the battle of Culloden - with her red-haired daughter Brianna: Jamie’s daughter.

As the search for Jamie’s men, and then Jamie himself, unfolds, Claire finds herself revealing to Brianna and their friend Roger her history with Jamie in the past - and we learn the other half of her and Jamie’s adventure as they attempt to prevent the carnage they know is coming in the Jacobite rising and its culmination at Culloden.

As with Outlander, I have nothing but praise for Dragonfly. Although I did not race through Dragonfly as quickly as I did Outlander (this time it took me roughly a month to read Dragonfly’s 950 pages as opposed to the week it took me to fly through Outlander’s 860 pages), I still loved it. Every time I picked the book up, I could not put it down without having read at least 100 pages, if not more.

Dragonfly in Amber had me in turns gasping, laughing, and (at the end) crying. Sometimes I did all three at once. Even though I knew the battle was an inevitability - and we, as readers know this from Claire’s search in Inverness from the beginning of the novel - I found myself hoping ad praying that Claire and Jamie could somehow prevent the disaster. Having been to Culloden battlefield myself, I cried at Gabaldon’s description of battles and the uselessness I knew Jamie and Claire’s self-appointed mission to be.

In fact, I immediately picked up the third book, Voyager, and am already 450 pages into it. Gabaldon delivers a powerful narrative, drawing the reader fully into her world: you cry with Claire, scream with rage for Jamie, and end on a hopeful note with Claire and Brianna, searching for the man whose love for them endures through the ages.

Sad excuse for “historic novel” by Brenda C. Meade
If you like Hustler you will love this book - if I wanted Pornography I would order it on Pay per View. Totally unnecessary porn as in Mister Raymond putting fingers into Claire’s vagina in order to save her life! Randall buggering Jamie and Jamie letting him after Randall had already let Claire leave. Yeah I know he gave his word of honor but I don’t believe any true Highlander would let himself be buggered for the sake of honor. If you are anything like me you will find yourself skipping pages at a time in order to avoid this trash.

Boring to the point of fatigue through a lot of it. If you are having trouble sleeping this is the book for you.

Maudlin enough at times to bring on nausea.

Crisis after crisis after crisis and all they have to do after each crisis is bang each other’s brains out and that makes everything all right.

I’m sorry I had to give it one star.

Excellent by Michelle L. Spencer
Excellent second book in the series of the Outlander. I am almost finished and ready to start reading Voyager. You should have at least two books of the series with you, so that you don’t have to wait for a week or so for the next book. Oh aye, these are excellent books, to be sure!!

Dragonfly in Amber by Skippi
This book is amazing. As the second in a series it holds my attention and ignites my imagination.

An excellent continuation by G. Henson
This subsequent installment following Outlander is riveting. This series has caused me to do additional research into the Jacobite wars and I have found the books to be pretty accurate in their broad strokes. Excellent characterizations and an attention to detail keep them interesting even when plot slows a bit. Worth the time it takes to work through these ponderous books.

• Outlander
• Drums of Autumn
• Voyager
• A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander)
• The Fiery Cross (Outlander)

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

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Tags: humour american heartland connection middle america superhero teenagers generation growing up young male mind journey fantasy des moines iowa humor 1950s midwest autobiography a beautiful book comedy kids 50s

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        The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950s

Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as “The Thunderbolt Kid.”

Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and OF his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends.

Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is as wondrous a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who has ever been young.

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #2951 in Book
• ABIS_BOOK

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Readaholic
A laugh out loud look at a boy growing up in Iowa in the 1950s. A wonderful nostalgic look at life through a boy’s eyes. For anyone who grew up in the fifties this is the ticket for a trip down memory lane. This is a wonderful get well gift as laughter aids in healing and relieving pain. I challenge anyone to read this and not laugh out loud. This is Bill Bryson at his best and who could ask for more.

Absolutely hilarious and interesting read for young and old by M. Coggin
Too funny! I was born in the 60’s, but this book has given me a thorough understanding of life in the 50’s - all the innocence and fun. So interesting, but mainly, laugh out loud funny! Fun for young adults and older folks, this book will appeal to any age who wants at least a couple of laughs PER PAGE! Definitely worth reading, in fact, I have ordered his other books as a result. Impressive writer.

Des Moines’ own local hero in defense of a boy’s right to be dirty by H. Schneider
Approximately normal, but at times excessively disgusting, Bryson gives us the frog’s perspective to Halberstam’s magnificent bird’s eye view of the Fifties.
Bryson’s specific kind of humour, the exaggeration to absurdity of nearly everything, can be very funny, but also trying. Boys will be boys, so they do odd things, but when you exaggerate them, they go a bit out of their normal frame. Some of his stories are plain yukki. (eating buttered popcorn in a cinema while peeling something soft away from underneath the chair? crawling underneath the toilet partitions to lock all doors from the inside? watching the man with the hole in his throat while he eats and speaks? etc ad nauseam, literally)
So the fun is there but not always.
Apart from that, my main reason to read the book is the fact that Bryson grew up with a dad who was a sports reporter, and in Bryson’s surely not exaggerated recollection the greatest American baseball reporter ever. Now that I have resigned from my less than promising career as a reviewer at Amazon.de to focus fully on Amazon.com, I realized that I have no clue why you guys like baseball so much.
After Bryson, I still don’t have a clue, but I learned one thing: it must help to have grown up with it. I guess I will never make it even to the outer circles of the half-initiated.

A Trip Down Memory Lane by Booklover NE
My son has been raving about Bill Bryson’s for some time now, but I was not sure that they would appeal to me. After hearing others rave about his memoir: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, I thought this might be a fun audio book. I am sorry I waited so long to try Bryson’s work.

This memoir was terrific. It leaves you with a feeling of appreciation for the simple things in life. Bill Bryson and I were born a year apart, and as baby boomers growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I found this memoir to be a trip down memory lane. He talks about his mom’s bad cooking, his strange relatives, going to the store for penny candy (candy cigarettes), playing outdoors until dark, first crushes, Saturday at the movies, loss of innocence etc. He could be describing a whole lot of baby boomers in this memoir. This book is hysterical, and there were many times I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. The audio version is highly recommended.

Billy Remembers When… by Jasphil
It is a constant theme in Bill Bryson’s books - he always points out what is (or in this case, was) good and enjoyable about his life’s experiences. His exaggerations are done for comedic effect, but also to illustrate a point. I always leave the confines of his pages feeling like I have been transported to a different place or different time. Have we become so consumed with what we have, what we want, and how to get them that we have lost many of the enjoyments in life, or is it that being an adult just isn’t as much fun as being a kid?

I’ll have Bill know that because of him I won’t be doing my part to contribute to our consumer-driven economy. I’m putting off enlarging and vastly improving the size and quality of my TV. More money for books, I suppose…

• Shakespeare: The World as Stage (Eminent Lives)
• I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away
• The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America
• In a Sunburned Country
• A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Travels with Herodotus (Vintage International)

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Tags: herodotus journalism ancient history ancient greece africa history china of mao india in the 50s persia of darius poland in the 50s

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        Travels with Herodotus (Vintage International)From the renowned journalist comes this intimate account of his years in the field, traveling for the first time beyond the Iron Curtain to India, China, Ethiopia, and other exotic locales.

In the 1950s, Ryszard Kapuscinski finished university in Poland and became a foreign correspondent, hoping to go abroad – perhaps to Czechoslovakia. Instead, he was sent to India – the first stop on a decades-long tour of the world that took Kapuscinski from Iran to El Salvador, from Angola to Armenia. Revisiting his memories of traveling the globe with a copy of Herodotus’ Histories in tow, Kapuscinski describes his awakening to the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of new environments, and how the words of the Greek historiographer helped shape his own view of an increasingly globalized world. Written with supreme eloquence and a constant eye to the global undercurrents that have shaped the last half-century, Travels with Herodotus is an exceptional chronicle of one man’s journey across continents.

• amazon.com Sales Rank: #15443 in Book
• ABIS_BOOK

Worthwhile for the first half. by S. Pearson
A poetic view into the experiences of a Polish man raised with Stalinist-era values, and how he deals with these values’ total deficiency in helping him understand and cope with the rest of the world. A little-kid-in-big-city book. I can’t dissociate myself from my classicist leanings enough to know what to do with his expansive interpretations of Herodotus, though. Try to enjoy them as fiction, as musings? Tough to do!

Sadly, the book seems to me to lose steam halfway through: it becomes a regurgitation of Herodotus’s stories about war (the LEAST interesting bits of Hdt., I think), literally paraphrasing Hdt. for chapters on end. I’m not enough of a literary gal to sustain the attention necessary to make these expansive retellings interesting as new literature. If I wanted to read Hdt., I would. And it would be far more interesting, because I’d get the neat ethnographic and mythological excurses mixed in with the boring accounts of battle formations.

Always Interesting by R. J. Marsella
Ryszard Kapuscinki’s final book is a wonderful synthesis of historical musing and inquiry with his own observations during his travels as a journalist. He draws on Herodotus’ Histories, quoting from them extensively while drawing the reader into his own fascination with the ancient writer’s motivations and sense of wonder at the episodes he recorded. This aspect of the book weaves seamlessly with the author’s equally entertaining descriptions of the people and places he is personally experiencing while traveling to some of the 20th century’s dark corners of the world.

A perfect blend of historical essay and journalistic reportage that is never boring.

Meander through history by Praxis04
This book steals the reader away from the present in a journey through time. Although his own stories and narratives are fascinating, Kapuscinski’s enlivening of Herodotus becomes what holds you. You can’t help but feel excitement for the reading journey ahead when you pick the book up after having put it down for a break. Furthermore, his analysis of a certain type of “traveler” (versus tourist) will haunt (or inspire) any of those who find themselves more the former than the latter. In the realm of memoirs, this book is of par excellence.

socio-political reporter by Victor L. Nazaire
Kapuscinski reports on the people and political culture of the third and fourth worlds( the third being countries like Iran and the fourth countries like the Congo).

He is very humble to recognize that it is difficult if not impossible to report on a country if a reporter does not speak the foreign country language such as India and Iran.

He laments the total chaos of countries in Africa, the total anarchy !

He also made us realize through Herodotus Histories that a good reporter is more than the reporter who provides snippets of sound and images clips for immediate daily consumptions.

He forces us to realize that men in their psychological makeups are still the same as in Herodotus times.

Through the Histories of Herodotus