jeffphilly's reviews
247 reviews

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Serious Reflections During the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe: With his Vision of the Angelick World by Daniel Defoe, John Butler Yeats, George Atherton Aitken

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slow-paced

2.0

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I struggled to finish this book.  So many people have raved about the television series, I actually never saw it.  I will not be continuing on with the series.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

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dark emotional informative sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre

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adventurous informative inspiring tense fast-paced

5.0

If you are at all interested in Cold War/spy type stuff READ THIS BOOK. It reads very quickly and the author effectively draws the reader into the story. Without giving too much away it’s safe to say that there is so much going on in this book. Basically everything and much more that you might expect from Cold War/spy book is in the book. The main focus of the book, his initials OG, displayed an unbelievable amount of courage and made some risky or poor decisions along the way. However, he was under an enormous amount of stress later in the book. Along the way he made great sacrifices which are still impacting him to this day.
Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger

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emotional funny informative inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

Seizing the Enigma: The Race to Break the German U-Boat Codes, 1939-1945, Revised Edition by David Kahn

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challenging informative slow-paced

2.75

Disappointing, I love reading about history and had thought that this book would be very intriguing and compelling to say the least.  I was way off the mark on this one.  I'm not sure if it was the author's writing style or what the problem was but I just thought it was very dry.  It was certainly informative, however I really struggled to finish it which I found to be highly unusual given my interest in history of all sorts.
The Collected What If? Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been by Robert Cowley

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informative reflective relaxing slow-paced

4.0

Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert

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challenging slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter by Joseph Henrich

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challenging informative relaxing slow-paced

4.25