Berengaria > Recent Status Updates

While there are some great perspectives in here, the point is often buried under huge haystacks of facts which go on for way too long and only seem tangentially important at times.

"Similarly, at exactly the time when it has become clear that global warming is in every sense a collective predicament, humanity finds itself in the thrall of a dominant culture in which the idea of the collective has been exiled from politics, economics, and literature alike."

That means: the individual is where culture currently focuses, at the same time we are in a number of collective crisis.

Incredible and eye-opening. Not only about climate change but why we can't seem to accept uncanny or highly unusual events today as people in the past. And only 30 pages in!

"The Letter" is the Welsh version of an English novel adapted for learners of Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿.

Hits exactly my C+1 level (comprehension + 1 step beyond) even if it is listed as being for B1-level readers. Unfortunately, it's a tragic romance, so I'm not so engaged with the content. But...so far, so good.

I'm REALLY enjoying this anthology! Unlike others, all of these stories (thus far) are extremely well written.

Here's the rub: the stories have to be read and enjoyed in context with the paintings. Out of context, most of them would lose a lot, I'd imagine.

Really interesting novel about how one Long Island neighbourhood was visited by a natural disaster and the residents totally flipped out. Fast read, enjoyable social portrait thus far.

Very pretty with lots of illustrations, but the information is basic and mainly lists of of associations. Still, recaps aren't bad for you.

The mystery is okay, but even despite the...I'm not entirely sure it's accurate...description of ancient Thebes, I keep getting the feeling I'm in Victorian London with how the people are acting and the nature of the "police" force.

This is a book from a PhD thesis and it shows. Lots of survey material, lots of statistics, but not much humanity....yet. The later chapters look promising.

Again, the best stories are the opening one and the ones at the end. I wonder if that's a series standard???

While the stories in this one are better than the Book of Tokyo on the whole, they're very much "slice of life" which I've never quite known what to do with.

Getting to be too encyclopedic. But still full of highly insightful facts. Ex: Why is 'fresh produce' at Walmart so much cheaper that at Whole Foods? Because Walmart has regional distributions centres and WF relies on indie transporters who add their costs to the final bill. Result: sticker shock at the "healthy food" store!

DNF. This may be short, but it's also insanely boring. Slow, uninteresting characters and nothing happens in the first 50%. I think I read a totally different book than everybody else.

Continues to be extremely informative and historically/scientifically fascinating....but a LOT of information. Too much for me at times, but I'm sure a science & tech nerd would completely geek out. Maintaining a steady 5 stars!

Another Dutch mystery with De Cock...this time a young florist disappears. Her sister is utterly convinced she's dead. But why? The sister isn't saying.

now on CD 3. Still interesting. Our focus has moved from South Africa to Sweden (reminds me of Mankell) and things are getting stranger and stranger.

You gotta love a private detective who -- when allowed by the Medjay to view the corpse of the murdered party -- thinks to himself "I have no medical knowledge. What am I supposed to be looking for?" A far cry from today's half-expert PIs.

LFL find. Pretty good so far! Lovely New Kingdom descriptions.

6-CD set. So far, typical Jonasson.

Absolutely phenomenal so far. A highly readable blend of science, history, sociology and workplace expose. A lot to take in, but extremely informative.

The family are now at the house for their summer holiday, and it would appear as if both the wife and husband are being greatly affected by whatever is still lurking. Wonder if the boy and the aunt will be affected, too? Or do they not fit into the scheme? Hmmmmm.

I'm not a fan of Japanese lit at the best of times, but thought an anthology of short stories about Tokyo might not be so bad. About at the midway point, I can only give 1 story more than a 2-stars. Other reviews say the best are at the back. Let's hope so!

Very good set up at the opening of the novel. All the elements in perfect balance: the character personalities, the stresses, the goals, the motivations....and then the making of an offer they can't refuse. They don't write 'em like this any more.

So far, not much to write home about. The translator is going too much for actual word accuracy and not target language flow. Which is a problem with the Germanics, as they -- literally translated -- can sound extremely choppy in English. (very different style)

This book was not just written for the general reader, but the general general reader. That is, those with zero knowledge of anything past where countries are located, King Tut and the story of the Exodus, can still follow along. Amazing. Wasn't expecting that.