Reviews and Comments

(read over a few nights this past winter, from a older, nicely illustrated hard cover) ... Memorable story, neatly told. Bits and pieces seemed vaguely familiar. Count it among the many pieces of folklore that deserve to be more widely known & reflected upon. Greek & Roman, Norse, & Celtic get almost all the attention at least in the English-speaking, Western popular culture.

It's showing up as read two times because I don't know how to edit the date read from read with no date to a guess of when I read it, but I've only read it once so far. Will reread though, I'm sure.

The premise is clever enough, and maybe if I'd read it 20 years ago I'd've liked it. The stories and poems for me lacked a cohering spirit, lacked the magic required. 3.5 rounded down. YMMV.

Abandoned. I just can't with this apparently thriving category of over-described possibly wish-fulfillment or whatever. I think more work went into this than some, it gave me a sense of craftsmanship and care, but not always in a good way.

Way too much description, especially of magic stuff, as if describing one's actions to a persnickety dungeon master with a reputation for catching players in small errors. Irritating heroine

Three stars is generous. Maybe I'll pick it up another time. And I can't help but wonder if I'd have managed to breeze through it in paperback, where I can read, skim, and flip faster than with an ebook.

An absolute delight. Gentle, informative, encouraging, clarifying, personal, non-combative, intimate memoir. Friendly. Highly recommended.

This book about a certain type of devotional jewelry which may or may not contain relics is an absolute "gem"! Packed with details like dates, names, photographs, even maps, it is somehow both readable by the uninitiated such as ourselves or could be used as a reference text. It introduces the reader not just to a type of jewelry, but its place in history and culture in various places around the world.

We heartily wish there were more books like it. ALL TEH STARZ

Another entertaining Great Courses lecture series. For the most part, I find McWhorter entertaining as well as educational -- this is our 2nd of his titles. Sometimes his kinda sorta dad jokes (linguist version) fail, but I'd rather that than a dry style, or one that takes itself too seriously.

Listening while driving makes it hard to take notes, but he does repeat certain things enough that they stick a while. Some of his cultural references are already dated, but on the other hand placing these lectures in time can be helpful when following up.

I listened to this after having listened to Language Families of the World, and believe that was a more helpful order than vice versa would have been, but it would probably stand alone OK too.

3.85 stars, as he seemed a little punchy or flippant the last two lectures, imo.

Was hoping for a deeper dive into Venetian beads and their place on the world stage over the centuries, but this is just another title in the genre of books about how to make a bunch of specific projects, albeit with snippets of bead history, travel photos, and sight-seeing advice.

I found the font distracting. The decidedly Christian theme to several projects may seem in keeping with Catholic Italy, but medieval trade was hardly so limited.

The jewelry designs generally didn't appeal to me personally, but I liked the variety. Each project was designed around one or two Venetian bead types. The author also attempted to teach Viking knit and something called a Coiling Gizmo.

Overall the book felt like it could have used a better editor or project manager. It's probably not a terrible book, really, but I found it disappointing.

One of those lightweight little fast reads that sets you up to want to learn more about the people and places it describes. I hope there are more of these about ancient places in Central and South America, even North America, because why not?

A slim volume of Mr Brunelle's popular comics, engaging, and often excruciatingly on point.

A fun little book, and I learned a few things too. I like the way it naturally includes both Spanish and English in Beto's narrating. Most of the story is made up of two-page spreads, and the opening one is especially cute & fun.

It feels impertinent to try and capture the contemporary power, love, creativity, and reality of this book with my late-20thC idiom.

I recommend it unreservedly.


At the same time, in places i found Audre's narrative voice inconsistent -- her Trini dialect seemed to fall away sometimes, which was distracting. That, however, is my only critique.