Complete

We chose the topic of philosophy for the second read our three-person book club, and after a brief consideration of Nicomachean Ethics itself we pivoted to this book to get more of a broad introductory take on the subject.  This ended up being a perfect fit for me, who had essentially zero knowledge on philosophy and its characters.

This really expanded my knowledge of so many things, especially the history of Greece, Italy, Egypt, etc. as it relates to the great thinkers that bounced around the area over the centuries.  The relationship of these thinkers and their ideas to religion was also particularly interesting.  And of course the core idea of the book, the diverse platforms of Plato and Aristotle, is something that I will enjoy thinking about and reading more directly about for years to come.

But first I will need to read some lighter stuff.  This book is lengthy and I read a lot of it in 10 minute chunks, so it seemed to drag on and on.  Worth it though: this ranks as one of the most impactful books I have read.

I did not realize how old this was when I started reading it.  I was thinking early 90s for some reason--off by 20+ years!  So my initial thoughts of mediocre quality of framing of technology and processes were similarly off and it is really a great book in that regard.

I am not a fan of the report/write-up structure, with the frequent wry sidebars about how the scientists were missing things.  One or two of them did nice foreshadowing but that is all I will concede.

I recently read Project Hail Mary and I wonder if some concepts with regards to the organisms in that were inspired by this book.  Or maybe it is kind of a genre and other examples exist.

First book of a three-person book club that I am in.  The "He might have a kid of his own at home" message of the opening sequence really set the tone for the rest of the book--it is a message of positivity and being thankful.

I found myself a bit bored in the middle of the book.  It was repetitive but also firmly established some kind of Americana vibe, so fine overall.

Great sci-fi

I found this book on in a bookcase at work and spent the second half (and then some) of my lunch break reading it.  The story of Marty is great, to the point, and tugs at the heartstrings--a good reminder to do a little better and care about people.

The first thing that hooked me about this book is that it that the author farms just outside of Bismarck.  Local connection!  I had never heard of him or the farm, but Anna was given the book by someone so we threw it on the bookshelf to read eventually.  Then we happened to see Gabe at the recent Pride of Dakota exhibition and said we already had the book, which he had on display.  I bought some horseradish beef sticks from him (actually were not amazing tasting...) and made a mental note to read the book soon.

So I brought the book to read over Christmas vacation and it was a great read.  It was very interesting to read about advanced or maybe even "hippy" farming techniques.  Never have I felt such desire to buy some destitute land and spend 15 years bringing it back to life--hopefully that fades rapidly!  I have limited knowledge of the other side of the story (traditional farming) so it would be interesting to hear that perspective.  But everything in this book does seem to make sense.

Ehhh...let's just say I mostly agree with the two or three out of five reviews.  At 40% I was reasonably certain I wouldn't finish the book, but I guess I just needed a little break (also motivated to finish a book to mark that goal off of my list).

This book is notably lacking of interesting science concepts.  Also, I can't remember anything truly interesting about the ways in which the alternate history deviates from real history.

As I am a former employee of the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, both summers during college and 4.5 years full time, this book told some stories I had heard already but also filled in a lot of very interesting history that I knew very little about.  I really should have read it while I still worked in Medora.  I would also recommend it--more mildly but still--to residents of Bismarck who are interested in history.  Relatedly, my occasional search queries about the book led me to stumble upon readnd.org which seems like a nice resource for finding books related to North Dakota.

The biography is well split in topics between personal and Gold Seal.  Likewise the balance in coverage of Harold's two marriages is good.  The almost entirely linear narration means that cuts to a backstory (a literary device that I find quite annoying) are graciously kept to a minimum, and I enjoyed the frequent foreshadowing at section and chapter ends.  Though there were a few that I couldn't figure out even with my substantial existing knowledge-base.

I'll say that my great rating does include that the topics covered are of great interest to me, and for the average person it would probably be ranked as a good biography.

These stories and thoughts of the author's travels around the western US capture the experience of long-distance motorcycle riding in an incredibly great way.  I found myself nodding in agreement so often, having had many of the same thoughts, encounters, and feelings on my trips.

A lot of the writing is very good--so expressive, yet there are a few instances where some camp or amateurishness pokes through.  I guess many editors would fix that, but would it lose some authenticity in the process?  I think so, and I think overall the result is great.

There are philosophical sections, and the first thing that comes to mind when I heard motorcycles combined with philosophy is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  I recommend Freedom's Rush 100x more unless you are a philosophy major.  Long ramblings about Phaedrus are out and replaced with relatively simple wonderings and views inside the author's head.  That's all I need.  And the ratio of motorcycle to philosophy is much better too.