Boom Time by Michelle E. Lowe

Boom Time by Michelle E. Lowe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I got a review copy of Ms. Lowe’s first novel of her Legacy series and quickly ran through the other five in just over a month (I sort of did have other reading on my plate!) Through a smattering of snippet correspondence with her over some questions and feedback, I learned she’d written the six in succession over a year and a half. And she sent me a copy of this with a kind inscription, “To Jim, I’m glad our paths have crossed {smiley face} Enjoy Boom Time!” Between a December vacation, holidays, a bout of flu, and just life, not to mention finishing a few other reading projects, I didn’t get back to this until the end of January. And of course, I got interrupted…

Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past by Sarah Parcak

Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past by Sarah Parcak

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I requested an advance review copy of this last year but I wasn’t selected. As I only request books I am interested in (novel concept, I know, but some people just like to get lots of books and shotgun their requests…I’m judicious with the reading time I have left!), I filed it away for some day in the future to look for after it was published. So it’s someday. Actually, last month was someday. I finished this at the end of January, but have had a hard time taking the time to write reviews. Call it “reviewer’s block”. Anyway…

No One Left But All Of Us by Stacey Roberts

No One Left But All Of Us by Stacey Roberts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a review copy of this from BookSirens, and it was published a little more than a month ago in December 2019. It’s a simple book, seemingly aimed at early high school. Even then, in a world where Congress is told that foreign policy would be announced on the Twit-ter, and millions applaud, that may be too high of a bar. So…simple. Simple, and short. But Mr. Roberts packs a lot into this short book. He outlines the problems and he provides solutions. Now, some of his solutions are near impossible (Constitutional amendments on term limits, changing House terms to four years, eliminating all campaign contributions except the individual one), but some are not.

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist by Richard P. Feynman

The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist by Richard P. Feynman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I know this may be a shock, but I’ve never read Feynman until now. Of course, I pick a transcription of a three night series of lectures for my first, rather than his…more thought out writings. But, one gets a sense of his humor. The three lectures, in 1963 Seattle, were titled, “The Uncertainty of Science”, “The Uncertainty of Values”, and “This Unscientific Age”. Feynman’s first two lectures had structure, and yet this still reads like the spoken lecture it was – sidetracks here and there. Okay, he was all over the place, and he admits his third lecture is a collection of thoughts, with less structure, certainly, and it reads like it.