jeffphilly's reviews
236 reviews

Welcome by Jen Oshman

informative slow-paced

3.0

The armor of light by Ken Follett

lighthearted sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Another great work of historical fiction.  The book like all books in the Kingsbridge series, this principally takes place in the fictional setting of the English city of Kingsbridge.  The time is from about the start of the French revolution until several years after Waterloo.  Much of the things taking place in this book are related to the burgeoning industry of England at the time and likewise the English parliament making things difficult for the English working class by making trade unions illegal.  Other things discussed include the war against France and the impressment of Ehnglish citizens into the English navy.  Like other books in the Kingsbridge series their is plenty of political intrigue between the Anglican church, the Methodist church and the differing levels of English government as well. I was shocked that Follett elected to do another book in the Kingsbridge series, and while he could potentially do another centered around the World War I timeframe, I would be further shocked to see him do another book in the series

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

informative relaxing slow-paced

5.0

Simply an epic tome.  This book chronicles the life of one Alexander Hamilton.  Originally from the islands of the Caribbean, the name of which escapes me.  Eventually he emigrated to British colonies of mainland North America.  He settled in North America and attended Columbia University, at the time it was under the moniker of King's College.  With the onset of the American revolution,  he served as George Washington’s aide de camp before becoming in command of an artillery unit.  Post revolution and with the formation of the United States of America, he was appointed as the USA's first Secretary of the Treasury.  To hear the way Chernow describes it his mind was very will built for the position.  The time period was much like ours of today rife with political division.  People in those days if they felt offended to extreme measures.  Hence the penultimate outcome, a duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, a rival of his.  At over 700 pages of text, not including index and footnotes, this book is loaded with details.

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong

challenging informative mysterious slow-paced

4.0

A fascinating book on m icrobes of all sorts.  From the microbes interacting with humans and our guts to the microbes impacting animals and creatures of the deep seas.  The author does a magnificent job of explaining how microbes impact our daily lives for good and bad.  A truly fascinating book.  The book is written in such a way that it is not dull or dry but rather intriguing.  There is an incredible amount of information here to digest, so I found that the book could at times be just a little overwhelming.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

dark emotional informative mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

Terrific!!  Another story that simply has to be told.  This is a sad state of affairs, telling the story of a long running series of murders of members of the Osage.  The setting of this book takes place principally in 1920s Oklahoma.  The author effectively, and I emphasize that, does a great job of conveying the extent and trouble that people  would go to in efforts of acquiring the oil money of the Osage.  The book has about 320 pages of text, at least that was my version, but the book really draws you in so much that you will not want to put the book down.  Remember, this is not a novel.  Rather, it is the author's effective investigation into a series of murders taking place over 100 years ago.  Full credit to the author for investigating these, as most of the murders were really not investigated at all to the depth that they needed to be.  Definitely worth a read.

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

a book club book that legitimately kept my interest.  this is a novel in which the main character, Robinson Crusoe, is marooned on an island after a shipwreck.  Crusoe spent an incredibly long period of time isolated on this island.  Merely surviving because of sheer ingenuity.  The scenario is really eerily similar to that of Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway.  The difference being that Crusoe was marooned in the novel a few hundred years ago, while Hanks plane crashed in more modern times.  But either way both faced the same situation in that the way were pretty much given up for dead and all by their lonesome.  I did enjoy the book and although I was not readily familiar with Daniel Defoe, I did find that the book kept my interesr.

Hinterland by Caroline Brothers

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is a novel showing a depiction of 2 young boys, Aryan and Kabir, 14 and 8 respectively, attempting to emigrate from Afghanistan to England.  One can imagine the horrors that 2 young boys of that age would encounter on a journey such as this.  I thought that the author did a good job of conveying these dangers into a novel form in such a way that it left an impact on the reader but not so much of an impact that it could be traumatizing fro the reader.  This is a short book at only about 240 pages and yet it was packed with an ability to keep the reader's interest.

What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J.A. Chancy

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

A book club selected book, so one that I probably wouldn’t have chosen for myself. I do read historical fiction books occasionally so the genre is not completely foreign to me. I guess what is foreign to me is the particulars of this book. I did have some appreciation for the experiences of a culture different from mine but did have a slightly difficult time getting deeply into the book. 

England's Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond by Jon Savage

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

A very detailed look at the rise and fall of punk in England, led by the Sex Pistols.  This book provides a look at how the Sex Pistols came to be and also their downfall.  They really did not function as a cohesive unit, but rather a group of dysfunctional individuals.  As a result they were in existence for a very short period of time.  The book also compares punk in London to punk in NYC.  In addition, because the punk movement was very closely related to the political climate in England at the time there is some discussion of that as well

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

lighthearted mysterious relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

What a great mystery.  This book involves a diamond of great size and turns out to be a murder  mystery.  A very mysterious book that really kept my interest, mind you this book is very atypical for me as it is not my typical read.   It was selected for my book club.  I'm quite happy with the selection as I appreciated the author's writing style and the story.