Absolutely Fascinating
924614
This book opens with a bunch of professors trapped on a ship that is trying to navigate through these monster waves and survive the night.  They were to do nothing more frightening than take some measurements in Iceland.  However, the ocean is not only unpredictable but it also has monster, freak waves.  These waves used to be considered tall tales told by the few people who came back and survived them.  However, on this ship as on others, they were able to measure the waves during the onslaught.  Thus, we now know that they do exist and they are becoming more frequent with our global climate change.

The author also covers the cataclysms of nature which take place after earthquakes, the tidal wave or tsunami.  There are only a few survivors of these, able to describe them to the rest of us. One was up in Alaska in the 1950s after an earthquake along the Fairweather fault.  It caused avalanches, the mountains to twist in the air, and basically destroy the entire coastal enclave.  A fascinating harbinger of this tsunami was that all the birds took off in a panic just a little over an hour before it hit.  Also, the porpoises in the water headed away from the bay and back out to sea.  The fisherman docked there were able to see the flashes of their backs as they headed away. Both the birds and the porpoises thus survived, feeling the tsunami coming.

Another aspect she covers is the relatively new sport of giant wave surfing. This was once considered impossible.  However, by using towing and a partner, it is now possible for some surfers to surf on waves which are sixty, eighty or more feet high. Laird Hamilton is one of the top athletes in this field who she follows. The places where they surf, Peahi in Hawaii and Teahupoo in Tahiti, to name just two, are fascinating places as well.  My reviewer's copy did not have pictures so instead I looked up the places online in the Google image search engine as I came across them in the narrative.

Fascinating stuff and a great read but I'm glad I don't live along an ocean coast after reading about the monster waves!

Visit my blog with link given on my profile page here or use this phonetically given URL (livingasseniors dot blogspot dot com). Friday's entry will always be weekend entertainment recs from my 5 star Amazon reviews in film, tv, books and music. These are very heavy on buried treasures and hidden gems. My blogspot is published on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.
2923463
Absolutely fascinating, beautifully written window into a fascinating world. What an amazing research job that the author did. If you like literary non-fiction, this page-turner is a must-buy.
3230597
I am at loss of words due to total wonderment. I have just finished reading the book. It is a wonderful plot, a clever set-up (frame) but mostly a superb sensitive wondrous look into the souls of those whose life has not been simple to them (probably a description of many, most or all of humanity). So first and for most HELELUYAH!!!! It is a great story and super reading experience rich in colors and shapes of nature around us and the nature within us. I loved every page of it. Could not put the book down. It was beyond fascinating. Can hardly wait for the sequel. Na'ama certainly has a remarkable and fantastic way with words, and with the worlds they can build (or destroy).
1054676
This was an absolutely fascinating book.  Of course the language is what stands out first.  I had very little trouble understanding it, but since your brain can no longer chunk whole sentences, it forces you to slow down and read every word (and it reads almost like poetry).  It's a deeply immersive experience which both enhances the other-worldly feel of this distant time period, and at the same time makes you really feel a part of it.  (I confess I was a bit disappointed that after finishing the book, I took a look at some real Old English text, and still couldn't make head or tail of it!) I've read a fair amount of historical fiction, but none from quite this time period -- it seems well-researched and historically accurate, and the story is compelling.  I've recommended this book to several people -- I really enjoyed it.
1267594
This is really a one of a kind book, just fascinating.  When I first saw the size of this book I thought, oh no, that's not for me.  After a while, I started reading excerpts from the book and it just seemed too interesting not to buy it.  Also, there is so much to read it's the kind of book you can read over and over again.  Very illuminating, lots of fun, and a great read.
2475471
I honestly don't know how Mr. Bryson can pull together this amount of research and write it up as an entertaining book in as short an amount of time as he manages.  To anyone at all interested in the history of Western society and culture, or technology as it impacts on daily living, would find this book well worth their time.

I can highly recommend all of Mr. Bryson's books.  He's one of the few authors who can make me literally laugh aloud as I'm reading (in his travel books and memoirs especially) and yet astound me with the amount of information and detail he's amassed in a fascinating, very readable manner.

Bravo, Mr. Bryson!
4575829
For me, Alif the Unseen opened windows into worlds I had seen only keyhole glimpses of before: the complex combination of people in Northern Africa and India who lead Muslim lives; the world of hackers; and the world of Jinn.  This book took me to magical and horrible places.  It is populated with fascinating and well-realized people and creatures of all types.  The storyline is muscular and supple and weaves through dark and light places, illuminating fabulous details everywhere.
1456628
I don't usually write reviews but felt compelled to do so here because I found myself say 'oh wow' at almost every page. This book is for anyone who has ever bought clothes (everyone), thought about clothing trends (almost everyone), or just lived on this planet for the last 30 years. Syl Tang really does an amazing job a shedding light to how so many seemingly unrelated things tie together and explain the world we live in. Super fascinating and super recommended!
713035
As possibly the most popular and influential Christian intellectual of the 20th century, Lewis has generated great interest in his literary and spiritual influences. As one looks further and further into the subject, there is an impossible desire to read every book that Lewis loved. This book (the most fascinating "Lewis-related" book I've seen) collects short excerpts (most are a single page) from writers who influenced Lewis, thus giving the reader a taste of many fascinating writers and making it possible for one to focus in on a few avenues for further exploration in the future. Looking through the book, it's just hard to believe that no one ever thought of doing this before.
2484803
This book tells a truly fascinating story in an engaging and captivating way.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, spies, defeating Nazis, badass women, codebreaking, eccentric millionaires, romance, the military ... Okay, everybody. I recommend this book for everybody.
402823
lehrer's compelling prose conjoined to a fascinating subject matter
makes reading his book a pleasure at so many levels:
it's impossible to overstate
how astonishingly stimulating and informative this book is.

which is why i am baffled by those one-star reviews.
they might have read it with their peevish-lens on.
but pay them no mind: reading it sends one's brain and heart soaring.

every page is packed with awe-inducing insights.
thus i began rereading it as soon as i finished it.
1170413
Far more detail than  you are anticipating, then dig into it and every page proves to be fascinating reading.
1502894
Absolutely amazing!  Fabulous weaving of scientific phenomenon with stories of personalities involved.
3093661
Wow. The farther I got in to this lengthy book, the more I loved it.  I wondered at the outset if I would be able to finish it.  When it concluded, I was left wanting more-- so now I'm reading Chernow's bio of Alexander Hamilton, also lengthy and also superbly interesting, just like his Washington bio. Washington, the man, is fascinating in his own right, but the flurry of history surrounding him goes to make this book a compelling read for anyone with an inquiring mind.  The depth of detail might wear heavily on the casual reader, but those interested in history will lap it up, as did I.  So many men and women from our distant past and from our textbooks come to life in this brilliant bit of nonfiction--making it as exciting as fiction.  I shudder to think what all I would have missed had I not embarked upon this beautifully written book.
2803218
Utterly fascinating and engrossing. There were times when I almost literally could not put this book down.  McCullough is a master storyteller with a knack for germane and interesting details. I read a few reviews suggesting that he loses the plot amid pointless rabbit trails and a glut of extraneous details. I couldn't disagree more. Some of the most jaw-dropping and thrilling details were ancillary: Gorgas's battles with mosquitoes and his quest to convince a skeptical public of the germ theory; de Lesseps's quixotic and almost surreal attempts to continue to publicly fund a woefully and obviously sinking project, even on the very day of his company's death; even-handed but saddening details of the lives of black vs. white workers; the continued comparisons to Suez; the utter (and still current) madness of trying to beat back Culebra; the list goes on. And these subjects are all outside his massive and thrilling treatment of the project itself. The Path Between the Seas is a master work, one I happened upon completely by chance and read on a lark, despite a relative lack of interest in the subject matter. What a wonderful voyage this book ended up being. I now feel totally immersed in and enthralled by this canal, thanks to McCollough's story of the massive, totally controversial project and the determined, single-minded, and sometimes borderline maniacal men behind it.
4386961
LOVED IT - fascinating.  The science alone is interesting, but what makes this very interesting is the dealing with ethics, morals and politics in understandable ways.  The characters are instantly 'real' the situation instantly identifiable and what would likely occur under the 'human copies/clones' political and religious circumstances instantly recognizable (and scary).

And to top it off it was an easy delightful read that builds it's climax in a way that absorbs you.

I welcome more writing from this excellent writer.
1645162
Very highly recommended for anyone with keen interest in the history of technology, society, and business.  I love this book.  Let me list a few of its many virtues:

First and foremost, it is a learned and fascinating account of the history of many key technologies of the past two hundred years.  It is rich with detail about the technologies, their invention process, the people involved and both the scientific and societal contexts into which they emerged.  Second, it burts the popular myth of the singular invention arising out of the mind of one genius -- and replaces it with the story of how most of these technologies were in some way inevitable once the scientific ground had been prepared -- and how in many cases, there were many fathers of the "inventions."  It also sheds very interesting light on the roles of both societal and commercial inhibiting and accellerating forces on the development and profusion of technologies.

For someone who makes his or her living in the business of new technologies, this is an unforgettable if slightly challenging read.  It will change the way you view invention and technology and how they enter and move through our societies.