J.S. Green (Author of Lost in the Shadows)

J.S. rated a book really liked it The Booklover's Library by Madeline Martin (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
It's Emma Taylor and her daughter, Olivia, against the world. As a single parent raising a young girl, Emma takes a position at a lending library. It's something she's ideally suited for, having been raised by her widowed father who ran a bookstore u ...more
Aug 30, 2024 05:35PM · 3 likes · like · see review
J.S. rated a book really liked it Insects: Braga's Gold by John Koloen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Several years after the disaster at Biodynamism's labs, Howard Duncan is comfortably out of work. Supported financially by the royalties from a book where he tried to set the record straight, and supported emotionally by his wealthy girlfriend, Maggi ...more
Aug 19, 2024 03:05PM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Insects by John Koloen. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Insects by John Koloen <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
J.S. rated a book really liked it Cloudspotting for Beginners by William Grill (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I'm not sure anything reminds me more of childhood than clouds. Laying on the grass – with or without friends – looking up at the clouds as they drift by in a brilliant blue sky, changing shape from a rabbit to... some kind of blob, or... whatever. O ...more
Aug 15, 2024 10:49AM · 5 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Cloudspotting for Beginners by William Grill. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Cloudspotting for Beginners by William Grill <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
J.S. rated a book it was amazing The Lost World of the Dinosaurs: Uncovering the Secrets of the Prehistoric Age by Armin Schmitt	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
As a fan of dinosaurs who's read a number of the more recent non-fiction books on them (as well as some of the good and bad fiction; see my "dinosaurs" shelf), I had to wonder what this one might bring to the table. Is there really so much new inform ...more
Aug 14, 2024 10:55AM · 4 likes · like · see review
J.S. rated a book really liked it A Case of Blackmail in Belgravia (Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures #1) by Clara Benson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 31, 2024 12:59PM · like
J.S. rated a book it was ok A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places by Christopher Brown (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
After his divorce and the 2008 market crash, Christopher Brown purchased a vacant lot in Austin, Texas. Not a vacant residential lot, which wouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary, but a vacant lot in an industrial area. Littered with trash a ...more
Jul 26, 2024 04:09PM · 3 likes · like · see review
J.S. rated a book really liked it Dr Rip’s Essential Beach Book: Everything you need to know about surf, sand and rips by Rob Brander	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I grew up in the mountains and - other than one vacation to SoCal when I was 6 - didn't get to know the beach until I was in my 20s, and I quickly fell in love! (It coincided with my falling in love with a California girl!) I love the waves, the sand ...more
Jul 19, 2024 11:51AM · 4 likes · like · see review
J.S. rated a book really liked it The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Empire: Forty Years that Shook the World from Stalin to Yeltsin by Fred Coleman	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Fred Coleman, a news correspondent who spent over 30 years reporting from the Soviet Union, explains the collapse of the USSR. Coleman explains the back and forth cycles after Stalin's death in the Communist party between reform and hardline - Khrush ...more
Jul 17, 2024 06:18PM · 4 likes · like · see review
J.S. rated a book it was amazing Pied Piper by Nevil Shute	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
As British troops are being driven from Dunkirk in 1940 and while the Germans have begun to bomb England, John Howard tries to volunteer locally to help. His son John, an RAF pilot, was recently killed in battle, and while he'd like to do anything to ...more
Jul 01, 2024 05:03PM · 2 likes · like · see review

J.S. rated a book really liked it

The Booklover's Library
by Madeline Martin (Goodreads Author)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

It's Emma Taylor and her daughter, Olivia, against the world. As a single parent raising a young girl, Emma takes a position at a lending library. It's something she's ideally suited for, having been raised by her widowed father who ran a bookstore u ...more

J.S. rated a book really liked it

Insects: Braga's Gold
by John Koloen

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Several years after the disaster at Biodynamism's labs, Howard Duncan is comfortably out of work. Supported financially by the royalties from a book where he tried to set the record straight, and supported emotionally by his wealthy girlfriend, Maggi ...more

J.S. rated a book really liked it

Cloudspotting for Beginners
by William Grill (Goodreads Author)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure anything reminds me more of childhood than clouds. Laying on the grass – with or without friends – looking up at the clouds as they drift by in a brilliant blue sky, changing shape from a rabbit to... some kind of blob, or... whatever. O ...more

J.S. rated a book it was amazing

The Lost World of the Dinosaurs by Armin Schmitt

The Lost World of the Dinosaurs: Uncovering the Secrets of the Prehistoric Age
by Armin Schmitt

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

As a fan of dinosaurs who's read a number of the more recent non-fiction books on them (as well as some of the good and bad fiction; see my "dinosaurs" shelf), I had to wonder what this one might bring to the table. Is there really so much new inform As a fan of dinosaurs who's read a number of the more recent non-fiction books on them (as well as some of the good and bad fiction; see my "dinosaurs" shelf), I had to wonder what this one might bring to the table. Is there really so much new information since the books which came out in the last few years that can be shared? Is it possible to tell it in a different way, or that makes sense to those of us who aren't paleontologists but still love to read about them and wish to understand them better?

Armin Schmitt actually does a very good job on all accounts. Yes, it still covers a lot of the same territory as some of my favorite books, but he does so in a way that felt new to me. He discusses the mass extinctions that lead to the dinosaurs dominance for so many millions of years. He the goes through the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous and highlights some of the species from each period. And he frequently does so by focusing specifically on the fossils and how they were found and excavated. But it's not all dry and dusty paleontological history - although he has a very entertaining section on "The Bone Wars" between Marsh and Cope - but he manages to bring it all alive and tell what is known (or believed) about how the animals existed and their environment.

Also, Schmitt is from Germany, whereas I believe most of the books I've previously read were by American and British writers. Because of this I think he brings a slightly different perspective to his narrative, and I noticed more information on "international" finds. And he also interjects just enough personal stories into the writing to make it interesting but not take away the focus from the dinosaurs.

So I was very pleasantly surprised with not only how readable the book is but also how it didn't feel like I was just reading a rehash of what others have already said. I think this one is a very worthy addition to the literature about dinosaurs. (I received an advance electronic copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley.) ...more

J.S. rated a book really liked it

A Case of Blackmail in Belgravia by Clara Benson

A Case of Blackmail in Belgravia (Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures #1)
by Clara Benson (Goodreads Author)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

J.S. rated a book it was ok

A Natural History of Empty Lots by Christopher Brown

A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places
by Christopher Brown (Goodreads Author)

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

After his divorce and the 2008 market crash, Christopher Brown purchased a vacant lot in Austin, Texas. Not a vacant residential lot, which wouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary, but a vacant lot in an industrial area. Littered with trash a After his divorce and the 2008 market crash, Christopher Brown purchased a vacant lot in Austin, Texas. Not a vacant residential lot, which wouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary, but a vacant lot in an industrial area. Littered with trash and concrete as well as an old petroleum pipe, the site needed plenty of cleanup before he could build a home there. And in the years it took to accomplish all this he started a new family and explored the area, which abutted the Colorado River which runs through Austin, finding more wildlife than he had expected, and chronicled it in this memoir.

Brown, a lawyer and science fiction writer, has built a truly amazing house - I looked it up online and it's really cool. It's not an embarrassing mansion but rather a modern concrete and glass structure that incorporates its design into nature - the roof is covered in native soil and plants, practically hiding it from certain angles. He even has a triangular pool out front that complements the house beautifully. And the high point for me really was when he discussed the house itself and the way it invites nature - sometimes in unpleasant and unplanned ways, such as the snakes that found it to their liking.

But while I applaud his admirable accomplishment, there's a profound sense of ennui from Mr. Brown's writing which saturates the book with weariness and cynicism. He continually refers to pretty much everything as polluted, destroyed, and even brutalized by us. He seems to have such a deep disdain for humanity, especially the white "colonists" of the US, that everything about us is a plague. It's so pervasive that I found little joy in his descriptions of seeing foxes, owls, and hawks. He even describes the trash along the river in great detail. Of course, environmentalist that he is, he complains when the real estate crowd starts looking at the area for redevelopment after he sets in motion the gentrification of his neighborhood by publicizing his beautiful home in the dumps. The optimism (or at least the small measure of joy) I hoped to find in the book was too weighed down by Brown's pessimism, and I had to force myself to finish. In the end, I found the book simply 'meh' - nice in a few parts, but mostly not an enjoyable read. (I received an advance electronic reviewer copy from NetGalley and the publisher.) ...more

J.S. rated a book really liked it

Dr Rip’s Essential Beach Book by Rob Brander

Dr Rip’s Essential Beach Book: Everything you need to know about surf, sand and rips
by Rob Brander

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

I grew up in the mountains and - other than one vacation to SoCal when I was 6 - didn't get to know the beach until I was in my 20s, and I quickly fell in love! (It coincided with my falling in love with a California girl!) I love the waves, the sand ...more

J.S. rated a book really liked it

The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Empire by Fred Coleman

The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Empire: Forty Years that Shook the World from Stalin to Yeltsin
by Fred Coleman

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Fred Coleman, a news correspondent who spent over 30 years reporting from the Soviet Union, explains the collapse of the USSR. Coleman explains the back and forth cycles after Stalin's death in the Communist party between reform and hardline - Khrush Fred Coleman, a news correspondent who spent over 30 years reporting from the Soviet Union, explains the collapse of the USSR. Coleman explains the back and forth cycles after Stalin's death in the Communist party between reform and hardline - Khrushchev/reformer, Brezhnev/hardliner (also Andropov and Chernenko), Gorbachev/reformer (also Yeltsin) - in an effort to both maintain control of the people and try to fix the economy. Published in 1996, this book ends while Yeltsin was still in power but after he had swung back towards authoritarianism. Coleman offers the lessons he's seen from his long time living and working in Moscow.

I started reading this 430 page book nearly 2 months ago - which is a long time for me - so it's a pretty heavy read (and I used a highlighter an awful lot). And while it could feel very heavy and tedious at times, I thought it was a fascinating look at the disintegration of an economic system that was never going to succeed. I wasn't aware that Khrushchev implemented reforms (ending Stalin's "terror" among other small measures) or the precipitous decline in the nation during the long and inept Brezhnev rule.

There were two things that bothered me. First, Coleman is an unabashed fan-boy of Gorbachev. Some of his praise is terribly embarrassing and seems especially misplaced when he later recounts all the mistakes and failures Gorbachev made (not to mention how unpopular he was among his own people). I understand that he was the first to try REAL reform, but he also turned to authoritarianism in order to keep his position. Nonetheless, Gorbachev saw just how desperate the situation was for his country and tried to save it (he desperately tried to save communism, too).

The other thing was his repeated criticisms of the US and other Western countries for their mistakes in dealing with the USSR. It's not that I think Coleman was wrong - I think he was right that our presidents were cowed by the Soviets and essentially allowed them to dictate the way things ran and enabled the communists to stay in power much longer than they should have, perhaps by decades. But my criticism is that he doesn't give credit where I believe it's due. He constantly mentions how soft (and fearful) Western leaders were but never acknowledges that Reagan stood up to them and did pretty much what Coleman thinks Western leaders should have done all along. (If Coleman can be a fan-boy of Gorbachev, I can be a fan-boy of Reagan.) Instead, he seems to fall in the camp that believes the USSR was just failing on it's own - which it was, but I'd like to have seen him admit that Reagan was the one who finally gave it the push it needed. Instead Reagan is sparsely mentioned (actually, all Western leaders get very little attention).

Great cold war history, but not for casual readers. ...more

J.S. rated a book it was amazing

Pied Piper
by Nevil Shute

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

As British troops are being driven from Dunkirk in 1940 and while the Germans have begun to bomb England, John Howard tries to volunteer locally to help. His son John, an RAF pilot, was recently killed in battle, and while he'd like to do anything to As British troops are being driven from Dunkirk in 1940 and while the Germans have begun to bomb England, John Howard tries to volunteer locally to help. His son John, an RAF pilot, was recently killed in battle, and while he'd like to do anything to contribute and feel useful, he's deemed too elderly at 70 years old. Instead he decides to take a fishing trip to the Jura near the French/Swiss border before it becomes impossible. But after several weeks he begins to hear of a German offensive into France, and plans for his return to England. But an English couple working for the League of Nations in Geneva asks him to take their young children back to England with him, to which he reluctantly agrees. But it soon turns out that the Germans are moving much faster than he or anyone had expected. And as his plans are disrupted and his return goes much slower than he'd hoped, he finds himself surrounded by a ruthless enemy - and picking up other children along the way.

‘You have been very good to me,’ he said quietly. ‘I think I understand now. That was because of John?’
There was a long silence. She stood looking out across the room, motionless. ‘No,’ she said at last. ‘That was because of the children.’
He said nothing, not quite understanding what she meant.
‘One loses faith,’ she said quietly. ‘One thinks that everything is false and bad.’
He glanced at her, puzzled.
‘I did not think there could be anyone so kind and brave as John,’ she said. ‘But I was wrong, monsieur. There was another one. There was his father.’

I've enjoyed other books by Nevil Shute (On the Beach and A Town Like Alice) but was caught by surprise (again!) by just how good his books are. While this one started a bit slow and sluggishly (perhaps just like a slightly depressed 70 year old man), it soon picks up interest as he finds himself in dangerous situations. The speed of the Blitzkrieg is shown in some ugly events, but his patience and determination to do his duty for the children is an inspiration. And by the end, Mr. Howard finds himself in some truly desperate straits. The heroism of some of the French and both the humanity and inhumanity of some of the Nazi's are shown excellently in this novel that was published at the beginning of 1942, when the outcome of the war was nowhere in sight and looked very bleak indeed. There is quite a bit of dialog in French, German, and even Dutch, and although it's often clear what's meant, the "translate" feature in the kindle was extremely helpful. I also frequently had to look up places in France just to get a feeling for where Mr. Howard and the children were. A highly recommended book! ...more

J.S.’s Year In Books

J.S. Green’s Followers (62)

J.S.’s Bookshelves

J.S.’s Friends (49)

J.S. Green

Goodreads Author

Learn more
Ask the Author

Combine Editions
J.S. Green’s books

J.S. is Currently Reading

rss
J.S.’s Recent Updates

See a Problem?

Preview — Insects by John Koloen

See a Problem?

Preview — Cloudspotting for Beginners by William Grill

J.S.’s Quotes

recent posts
J.S.’s Groups

J.S.’s Friend Comments

J.S. Green’s Followers (62)

J.S. Green

Goodreads Author

rssJ.S.’s Recent Updates

See a Problem?

Preview — Insects by John Koloen

See a Problem?

Preview — Cloudspotting for Beginners by William Grill

rss
J.S.’s Recent Updates