Absolutely loved it!! Did not disappoint and I’ve now found a new favorite authors. This book kept me guessing and had me gasping out loud. Pulled on the heart strings so hard but just enough to be pleasant.

I loved the movie and didn’t realize there was a book. I loved all the added detail in the book!!!!!

Absolutely devoured this read. Made driving to the grocery store so much easier! Definitely will recommend this listen to a fellow book nerd

I loved the fact that tom umhanks was the voice of this book kept in this used ………………………………….,,………..

I love reading classics from my childhood!

Garland compares beliefs about the afterlife, funerary issues like mummification and embalming, and general attitudes to death and dying across the peoples of the ancient world. Unfortunately the ancient world in this book only covers the various ancient societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome (only the original kingdom, not the full empire), plus the Etruscans, Jewish people, early Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Zoroastrians. That's a lot of course, but look at a map and you see what a very small part of the ancient world. Nothing east of India or west of Italy, north of Italy or south of Egypt. So while it is really interesting, I'm hoping for a volume two covering the Far East, Africa, Australia, and the whole western half of the world.

Donovan explores board games from ancient Egypt (senet) and Ur (the royal game of Ur) up to the biggies of the 21st century (Pandemic, Catan, and Ticket to Ride). He describes some less than ethical dealings by the big US game companies, but seems to downplay them. Trying to play nice, maybe? His chapter on Monopoly portrays the execs of Parker Brothers as being unfortunately duped instead of deliberately squashing The Landlord Game and its creator, Elizabeth Magie. It’s All a Game even touches on Google’s AlphaGo defeat of a (human) grand master go player, one of the big steps in AI development.

Herbert Lee Clark mixed folk wisdom with his own observations to write practical notes on all aspects of rural/farm life. Unfortunately good advice is mixed with very questionable or flat out bad ideas. Do not read the section on training pups to hunt coons or the having a stranger (to the dog) whip your dog as part of guard dog training. Do not inject Lysol into any animal for any reason. I discussed that tip with a vet; it’s too bad Clark didn’t before adding it to his journals.

Steve Smith is recently out of prison. He’s sworn he’s not going back to his old life, not going back to prison again. He has an adult son he’s never met. And Steve has memories of the book he found on a bus that led to a favorite teacher disappearing when he was 14. We follow Steve through transcripts of recorded notes he left on his phone. Because in trying to find out what happened to Miss Iles (or “missiles” per the transcription software) Steve falls down the vast Twyford Code conspiracy rabbit hole. Was Twyford just a children’s author? Or a spy who hid messages to other WWII spies in her books? Maybe she was a double agent? Did she help the Nazis steal Britain’s gold reserves? Or did she save the gold via bluffs and double bluffs? Her code (does it even exist?) leads to the stolen (or possibly saved) gold. Or to a supervirus and it’s vaccine. Or aliens. Or it’s the biggest internet conspiracy hoax ever. Who knows what? Who’s lying about what they know? And what did happen to Miss Iles in 1983?

This is always an ongoing read for me. I bought the special edition from b&n years ago and read it with my teen and tween