rickjones's Reviews (1.66k)

Quit reading because of lack of focus. I doubt I will continue the book because its descriptions of war criminals are so far removed from what I wanted to know about trauma in order to apply it to myself and my own settings. The author also seemed uncomfortably self-absorbed. 

Quit reading because of lack of motivation. Did not get far enough in the book to determine if I liked it or not. 

Quit reading because of lack of relevancy to my current job duties. The ideas within the book did seem interesting though. 

The Bathysphere Book is an unexpected treat of lyrical prose and wonderous imagination. Fox gives description of not only the bathysphere's journeys and discoveries, but relevant history surrounding Beebe's life. The narrative felt slightly unfocused at times, but always returned to Beebe's wonderous respect for nature and the mysterious creatures he was the only human on record to ever see. Highly recommended to other readers interested in natural history. 

Ancient Sea Reptiles is a thorough, albeit difficult, book for readers with novice paleontology interest. Nash provides direct explanations, diagrams, photographs and artist renderings to introduce and inform readers on a variety of marine reptiles from prehistory. As stated above, I had a difficult time reading this book. It is straightforward to a fault, and assumes that the reader has basic understanding of biology and fossils, which I do not. However, I do not consider this a flaw of the author. The book managed to hold my interest even through passages I struggled to understand, and I look forward to returning to it once I have a firmer understanding of its subject. 

Whalefall is a thrilling and tragic novel of a young man learning to let some of his anger toward his father wash away while attempting to survive insurmountable odds. I thought this story was well written, but the extremely brief chapters were sometimes jarring and made it difficult to feel drawn into the book until the terrifying journey inside the whale began. I appreciate Kraus' focus on scientific accuracy, which led an edge of realism to this tale. I would recommend this book to readers interested in body horror, and look forward to watching the upcoming feature film. 

Maeve Fly is a disgusting, gutting novel of a young woman with bloodthirsty inclinations. It is vile in every way possible, and yet I loved being introduced to Maeve and her perverse viciousness. Leede is a talented writer in encouraging us to feel enchanted by this story, even as it grows increasingly repulsive. We understand Maeve even as we witness her at her most deplorable, and we understand that she was destined for predation, no matter how regal she once pretended to be. This is a horrific romance only for those not turned away by a sizeable ick-factor, although I couldn't in good conscience recommend it to anyone. I don't want to be held responsible for how much Maeve is sure to repulse you.