Interesting but blinkered
359792
[...]

Chesler's book has much information of value, but the description of her research as "impeccable" is somewhat belied by the fact that she dismisses some reported quotes she dislikes from Dayan and Ben Gurion by saying they "don't sound right or in context to me".  [...]

What I particularly dislike about the book is Chesler's constant and hysterical attempts to lump anyone who believes, for example, that the settlements should be dismantled in with Holocaust Deniers and Suicide bombers.  This kind of "you're with us or against us" absolutism of course plays very well among a certain sector of the American electorate but has no place whatsoever in a serious debate about important issues.

[...] If you are looking for reasoned and inclusive debate [...] I would suggest looking elsewhere.

9/23/06
I am thoroughly appalled that the quite lengthy, unfavorable yet entirely non-profane, and (I would contend) objectively non-offensive review I wrote of this book has been completely bowdlerised.  On the other hand a favorable review containing the line, "the pedophile terrorist prophet Mohammed and their pagan god allah" has been allowed to stand.

Amazon editors, you ought to be ashamed.
3066494
The best aspect of this novel was the sequence of sites in Europe, including some presumably obscure or fictional features; secret passageways and small hidden doors. The story is a fun ride, and focuses on the authentic topics of worldwide overpopulation and imagined scientific advances in genetics. I may go back through this book before I go to Italy for a list of art and architecture to visit. I found the story and writing to be middling. Good book for a slow day.
3613975
Fairly fast moving but some stalling in description.
615921
The prize is an interesting story about egos in the art world and relationships. While it held my interest, it was not as finely written as many
Of my recent reads
4930
I'm afraid I didn't manage to get this book completely finished before having to return it to the library (the book didn't work for me!).

However, it was quite an interesting read, and I've given it three stars, since I feel it will probably help some who really wish to increase their reading speed.

An initial chapter includes a description of various finger methods to use to help you to read faster. Although I've never regarded myself as an idiot, my intelligence is apparently lower than idiot level (though I understand idiots have an IQ of 0-20), since I failed to comprehend what was involved in some of the methods - I just couldn't grasp it. But I'm sure all you others will be able to.

Most of the passages at the end of the book for test purposes I found extremely boring, and when I attempted to speed-read these I had from 0-10% comprehension, or at least retention, as far as I could judge. Though the author does inform us that if we continue to speed-read, eventually we will end by focussing to such an extent that we will eventually gain more comprehension than we usually have even when reading slowly. But I didn't get that far, unfortunately.

I DID find out:

1) that the books I read are in general books I really want to read and that I find interesting (as far as the present book is concerned to a slightly lesser extent) and that I don't really want to read these books any faster than I do, since I also really want to understand them and retain some memory of what I've read.

2) that when I occasionally read works of fiction or other not too intellectually challenging books I do actually read quite fast - this happens automatically.

For those who sometimes have to read material they don't really find interesting, for example, students, who are obliged to take boring courses, or businessmen having to read dull reports, I feel that with a bit of application these persons could probably increase their reading speed considerably with the help of this book. But that is just a conjecture.

To revert to the finger (and also hand) methods of increasing speed, the author presents various of these, too many as far as I was concerned. I got bored trying them all, and I PERSONALLY didn't find any of them helpful. I find it best just to command my eyes to read faster without help from my fingers. But we are all different.

The author informs us that the key to achieving faster reading rates is "learning to spread your peripheral vision". We are introduced to "eye warm-ups" and special techniques such as looking for keywords and reading in "thought chunks". I PERSONALLY found that this slowed down my reading considerably as I had to think about what "thought chunks" were not to mention locating them.

There's a chapter about skimming, scanning and skipping. The author is correct when she states that some of us feel obliged to read everything, when there's no need to. I too have that problem. But in the case of this book I took her at her word and skipped the 2 or 3 final chapters, which, as I stated above, I didn't have time to read anyway.

Apart from the obscure explanations about finger methods, the book was well-written and easy to read. It is probably worth reading for those really committed to increasing their reading speed. One of my problems with the speed reading may be that i have not really taken time to practice, and practice is of course essential.
2002864
This was a pretty good story, an intriguing concept and portends some interesting metaphysical questions.  I got tired of every line of dialogue beginning with the name of whoever was being addressed...like the author wanted to sure you knew who was being spoken to.  Too much.  It was distracting.

Reading some other reviews, let me address a couple comments I read.  Frankly I did not notice particular overuse of profanity, but then I use some myself now and then and am not easily offended when my mind is engaged.  ANd the concept was engaging.  On the uni-dimentionality  of the women I concur.  Not a lot of depth and not all women look like playboy bunnies.  I guess if you're imagining, you can imagine whatever, but real women are more interesting..

All in all a pretty good read until it ended in the middle of the story which is truly unforgivable.  A story ought to be interesting enough that it can stand alone with an ending not in the middle of a situation.  If the characters and concept are good enough I'll want the next book in the series but it really pisses me off to treat a novel like a soap opera.
819958
The concept was certainly an interesting mash-up, and the pacing was good. I wish, however, the author had resisted the urge to include the two "guest stars" and let the story stand on its own. I think having the two major characters appear took the focus off of the other characters which caused them to be less than fully fleshed out. There was potential for some more backstory that got short-shrift. Still, worth a read.
2294227
Michael Blumlein is clearly a very intelligent and creative writer. This book paints an interesting picture of a world where healers are second class citizens. The problem, however, is that the picture isn't very deep.

Blumlein falls into the habit early in the book of waiting until the last possible moment to explain a new term he's using. Yes, it's interesting that there are Unerrants and Orts and melis and musk, but it would have been MORE interesting if he explained it the first time he mentioned it rather than forcing me to reread the chapter.

He also tends to misuse pronouns, especially in dialog, (When you say "she said", tell me which SHE said it!) leading to confusing passages for the reader.

As for the ending, rather than finding it grand or mythical, I found it rather nonsensical and weird.

The concept of this book is very good and well thought out, however the excecution of it leaves something to be desired.
3805137
I liked the pace of the story, but it was different than Amped, which I had read previously. I did enjoy the implications for human intelligence. I read this as an eBook, of course! :)
2626706
This, not exactly secret, history goes back to President Polk and 'Manifest Destiny' featuring Leland Stanford, Terman and Shockley beginning to advance semiconductor theory. There is interesting, but spotty, corporate background, particularly Netscape, Youtube, and Facebook. There's a long section describing Google technology and culture. The book features motivational psychology in SV and financial development of venture capital organization at Sand Hill Road. The florid laudatory account of SV lifestyle doesn't account for inequality, housing prices or traffic conditions.
2784823
There was interesting historical information about early 1900's Michigan and particularly Detroit. Both of my parents are from Detroit and my mother was Jewish so I was very interested in the description of life there at the time. My problem with the story though is that the author really wasn't able to find any definitive answers as why why his mother ultimately denied having a sister. There was plenty of maybe this or maybe that but in the end he was able to find very little information both about Annie herself and the reason the mother never admitted she existed.
3125561
This book was a quick, interesting read, but the author didn't quite finish writing the book. There were several concurrent story lines...all interesting. An incompetant conman, a not-ready-for-prime-time thug, an adoptee searching for a birth parent...

You just  knew you were reading spokes on a wheel that were all going to come together at the center. And that was pretty much the case, BUT...a few of the spokes kind of glanced off the side of the hub. Or maybe never quite made it to the center. And those that did come to the center got there a little too abrubtly. I still have a lot of  'wonder what happened to...' questions.

  The book was an entertaining Sunday afternoon read, but a forgettable story, once you put it down. Not earth-shattering, but still fun to read
2952678
Eight women who changed the world from the dark ages to the reformation.  The women picked for the review are fascinating in their own right, but fused through the narrative is a subtle bias indicating that they did this by not taking on "masculine traits.  It is not clear that drive, a sense of knowing and grit are strictly masculine traits, or ones that in a very rare occasion, a woman could aspire to these and still remain female.  Raises interesting questions.
2328848
The story is interesting. Sometimes the author does not connect all the dots. Sometimes the dots get connected in the next book. Sometimes they don't. The editing leaves a bit to be desired. Words that don't make sense show up. I know the spell check may have changed a word but it can get annoying.
4361841
Upon seeing the reviews that said that the clicking would continue for a couple clicks after the signal is cancelled, I assumed that those were just flukes. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Like other reviews state, the clicking continues for a moment after I turn the blinker off. This is not a dealbreaker, primarily because of what it took to install this into my second generation Explorer(removing the panels below the steering wheel is a headache). If I were going to buy another relay, I would attempt to find one without this issue, because it's a constant reminder that something is not working properly. Another minor grip I have with this indicator is that it flashes just a bit too quickly for my taste.
Despite the flaws, this is still a good product. I just wish it was more polished before they decided to sell it.
1712417
A fascinating premise and set up, but the writing somewhat disappoints. It's a fast read, and there are some interesting thoughts and observations scattered throughout. However, the narrator's observations about his - and the world's predicament - veer from pretentious to banal to perplexingly out of place. Attachments and emotional stakes are never made clear, although I actually did like the ending, which managed to convey a genuine sense of both resignation and loss.
875768
I enjoyed the forensic details and the bits of information that provided pieces to solve this puzzle. The protagonist's pace was exhausting and the ending was a race to the crossing, but I didn't quite buy all the coincidences.