Category: Goodreads Reviews

author: Heidi Cullen
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/30
date added: 2011/06/01
shelves: ebook, environmentalism, non-fiction, science
review:
Basic, but clear and concise. Spends the first half walking the reader through an overview of the science of climate prediction in general and human-caused climate change in particular. If you’re reasonably well-read on this topic, not a whole lot new, but very well expressed. The second half looks at scenarios for particular locations: Sahel, Great Barrier Reef, California Central Valley*, Canadian/Greenland Arctic, Bangladesh, and New York City. Covers possibilities for both disaster and adaptation, although honestly it doesn’t look good anywhere.

* Having read A Dangerous Place: California’s Unsettling Fate, some of this was actually familiar, if still totally unnerving.

author: Heidi Cullen
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/30
date added: 2011/06/01
shelves: ebook, environmentalism, non-fiction, science
review:
Basic, but clear and concise. Spends the first half walking the reader through an overview of the science of climate prediction in general and human-caused climate change in particular. If you’re reasonably well-read on this topic, not a whole lot new, but very well expressed. The second half looks at scenarios for particular locations: Sahel, Great Barrier Reef, California Central Valley*, Canadian/Greenland Arctic, Bangladesh, and New York City. Covers possibilities for both disaster and adaptation, although honestly it doesn’t look good anywhere.

* Having read A Dangerous Place: California’s Unsettling Fate, some of this was actually familiar, if still totally unnerving.

author: Timothy Snyder
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/25
date added: 2011/05/25
shelves: ebook, history, non-fiction
review:
Intense and disturbing look at eastern Europe 1933-1946: "I wish to test the proposition that deliberate and direct mass murder by these two regimes in the bloodlands is a distinct phenomenon worthy of separate treatment" – by "the bloodlands", referring a region encompassing pre-1939 Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, along with the Baltic states and parts of western Russia. A somewhat different approach, looking at the commonalities of these areas and the waves of killing, starting with deliberate starvation in the Ukraine and going through to the ethnic cleansing (without much killing) of the immediate postwar period. A common theme is the ways that Hitler and Stalin basically played into each other’s hands. The massive numbers make it difficult to comprehend, which is why he uses a lot of particular individual stories to illustrate each phase. A thoughtful book, worth reading if you can stand it.

author: Timothy Snyder
name: Elaine
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/25
date added: 2011/05/25
shelves: ebook, history, non-fiction
review:
Intense and disturbing look at eastern Europe 1933-1946: “I wish to test the proposition that deliberate and direct mass murder by these two regimes in the bloodlands is a distinct phenomenon worthy of separate treatment” – by “the bloodlands”, referring a region encompassing pre-1939 Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, along with the Baltic states and parts of western Russia. A somewhat different approach, looking at the commonalities of these areas and the waves of killing, starting with deliberate starvation in the Ukraine and going through to the ethnic cleansing (without much killing) of the immediate postwar period. A common theme is the ways that Hitler and Stalin basically played into each other’s hands. The massive numbers make it difficult to comprehend, which is why he uses a lot of particular individual stories to illustrate each phase. A thoughtful book, worth reading if you can stand it.

author: Timothy Snyder
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/25
date added: 2011/05/25
shelves: ebook, history, non-fiction
review:
Intense and disturbing look at eastern Europe 1933-1946: “I wish to test the proposition that deliberate and direct mass murder by these two regimes in the bloodlands is a distinct phenomenon worthy of separate treatment” – by “the bloodlands”, referring a region encompassing pre-1939 Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, along with the Baltic states and parts of western Russia. A somewhat different approach, looking at the commonalities of these areas and the waves of killing, starting with deliberate starvation in the Ukraine and going through to the ethnic cleansing (without much killing) of the immediate postwar period. A common theme is the ways that Hitler and Stalin basically played into each other’s hands. The massive numbers make it difficult to comprehend, which is why he uses a lot of particular individual stories to illustrate each phase. A thoughtful book, worth reading if you can stand it.

author: Kay Kenyon
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/12
date added: 2011/05/12
shelves: fiction, sci-fi
review:
It took me a while to get into this one; I’m not sure how much was the break between volumes, how much was the feeling of resolution at the end of volume three, and how much was the sheer complicatedness of the story. But once I did get into it, I couldn’t put it down! Compelling and complex story, with interesting growth in all the main characters. I would have wished for a bit more in our world, but other than that it was fantastic.

author: Kay Kenyon
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2011/05/12
date added: 2015/01/20
shelves: fiction, sci-fi
review:
It took me a while to get into this one; I’m not sure how much was the break between volumes, how much was the feeling of resolution at the end of volume three, and how much was the sheer complicatedness of the story. But once I did get into it, I couldn’t put it down! Compelling and complex story, with interesting growth in all the main characters. I would have wished for a bit more in our world, but other than that it was fantastic.

author: Kay Kenyon
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2011/04/21
date added: 2011/04/29
shelves: fiction, sci-fi
review:
This story continues along in its convoluted way, and I can’t put it down. Lots of big crazy stuff happens in this one, but she manages to hold together a big cast of characters while keeping their personalities clear and distinct.

author: Kay Kenyon
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2011/04/21
date added: 2015/01/20
shelves: fiction, sci-fi
review:
This story continues along in its convoluted way, and I can’t put it down. Lots of big crazy stuff happens in this one, but she manages to hold together a big cast of characters while keeping their personalities clear and distinct.

author: Kay Kenyon
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2011/04/18
date added: 2011/04/29
shelves: fiction, sci-fi
review:
The story keeps building! Really enjoyed it.