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It had been awhile since reading the first book so it took me a bit to re-immerse myself in this story. Once I did it was enjoyable but at times I found myself thinking "ok, get on with it". Diana is a good storyteller and great at weaving through complex storylines but there are times I wish she weren't quite so long-winded. I kept going because of my own previous knowledge of the battle of Culloden so I wanted to see where she would take the story. In the end I was not disappointed and the pace certainly picked up. I'll definitely keep reading this series, even if it's only now and then.

I must say I quite enjoyed this book, but as I was an art history major that's not exactly a surprise. I'm also glad I read this after having the chance to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston as the settings were that much more vivid for me. The other aspects I enjoyed were the layerings of forgeries, the technical research and descriptions of the craft involved in painting, the politics of museums and galleries and the art world in general. All had a ring of truth to them. If it weren't for these aspects I doubt the storyline or the characters would have held my interest for long.

I love the topic of geography and maybe that's why I found this book on the thin side. I didn't learn much that I didn't already know. Overall it's a decent book that reads like a series of magazine articles. If you're not familiar with geopolitics this is a great introduction. And as long as you don't expect more than introductory level thinking about this topic then you'll probably like it. I was hoping for more.

A pleasant enough read and a decent diversion between other books I'd rather read. Played like a rather low budget costume drama in my head.

This has been on my "to read" list for too long. Was well worth the wait I suppose I could say. Compelling storytelling and artful writing with multiple twists and turns. The end felt a little weak but still satisfying if somewhat expected.

An enjoyable quick read that taught me about pieces of history I was unaware of. The writing is ordinary and the second half of the book, where Hedy is in Hollywood, was somewhat disappointing. Not a lot of depth or literary value, but worthwhile for the history and perspective on the devaluation of women's contributions.

I had hoped there would be more ideas in this book about what the new stories could be and how to get there. Instead I found compelling arguments detailing what is wrong with current cultural myths. A lot of what's wrong and not enough about what could be better. Still worth reading though.

A simply delightful book. It gave me a new appreciation of how some autistic people perceive the world around them.

A pleasant and interesting read. If I'd read it twenty years ago when it came out I might have been more impressed than I am now. It seems well researched and the story is nicely told. Beyond that it's not particularly memorable for me.

This didn't have as great an impact on me as "The Handmaid's Tale" but I still enjoyed it. So for anyone interested in how Gilead fell it's worth reading.

I'm not much of a fan of graphic novels but I'll admit I enjoyed this one, mostly because I'm fascinated by the topic - radio storytelling. And in the end it's about radio and a whole lot more . . . collaboration, the creative process, the bones of good storytelling of any kind, not just on the radio.

I absolutely loved this book! If you have any interest in color I highly recommend it. It's a mix of chemistry, history, archeology, anthropology, and travelogue as the author travels the world in search of the origins of the colors in our rainbow.

I rarely give a book a full five stars but this one definitely deserves it. I took much longer than usual to read this one, partly because most chapters are super short and I could pick up/put down this book waiting for this or that. On the surface this book is a science fiction story about an alien inhabiting a human and it's observations of our species. It is also much much more than that. A book that will have you laughing, any crying, and sighing, and thinking, and maybe making the reader a little more human in the process.