This was charming and the characters were really well rounded.

I appreciate the amount of research that went into this and the interesting subject matter (19th century Japan). However, this really should be shaded or at the very least have better character differentiation. I spent a while thinking: “Now who is this again?” Story definitely picked up steam in the later issues.

Probably the best adventure book I’ve ever read. Couldn’t put it down.

A fictional (constructed well within our known history) memoir of the Emperor Hadrian. This is an old book and so much has been written about that I can add little. It's beautifully written and best understood in the context of its time.

I'd started it once before but it's a book where the prose really matters, and I found when I started it before I couldn't give it my full attention.

I've started working through the book *1,000 books to read before you die* (I've read a dismal 84) and MOH is included in that list so I set out to read it in its entirety.

Very glad I did. It's exhaustively researched but never feels dry. I'd recommend it if you are already interested in Roman History. If not, I'm afraid it might be a big of a slog.

I don't know if there is a more prescient book for this particular moment in time. This is not a shock doctrine book. It's a thoroughly researched, extremely readable look at zoonotic (transmissible from animal to human) diseases. AIDS and Lyme are covered as well as Influenza, SARS, and of course, Coronavirus. This book was written in 2012.

It was chilling to read passages about Chinese wet markets where black market pangolin meat was sold. The markets were outlawed in the wake of SARS but reappeared soon after and the implication and understanding was there (even in 2012) that it was not a matter of if but when another zoonotic virus would jump from creature to human being.

The chapters on the historical study of AIDS were fascinating. Not in the same vein as "And the Band Played On" but more of an archaeological reconstruction of the strains of HIV themselves.

There are also some viruses I'd never heard of with really remarkable chapters. The passages on the Nipah virus were crazy. Same for Hendra.

I'd recommend this if you want context on the why of the Covid-19 pandemic or if you are interested in epidemiology in general.

I would not recommend this if you are a friend of bats. I never want to get near a bat again.

This was a good read that dealt with real world middle school issues well. Very nice to see a graphic novel win the Newbery.