"To quote the poets ... it is possible to drown in information ... and die for lack of wisdom."
I adore this graphic novel series and tore through this volume, though I did go back and flip through it more slowly so as to better savor the art. The art is fantastic and might be some of the best I've ever seen in a comic. Combine that with a wonderful story and color me delighted. We get to meet a whole new cast of characters, and learning more about the worlds this story is set in is delightful. The Isle of Bones is especially wonderfully illustrated, and the various factions and their agendas makes this a compelling read. It's hard when you don't fit neatly into any of the boxes, but can Maika come to terms with her dual nature without turning into a monster herself? I docked a star because some of the plot lines are rather murky but I expect things will clear up as the series continues. Sexy, violent, wonderful. Cannot wait for the next installment. Rating: 4 stars.
100. Frommer's Portland day by day
This little guide book is a wonderful and practical introduction (or review) for a visit to Portland. Easy to use, chock-full of information with good maps and fun itineraries. If you're looking for just one guidebook to take along with you for a city visit, I'd suggest trying this one out. Rating: 4 stars.
101. The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey
Book blurb: "The Oregon Trail" is a major work of participatory history: an epic account of traveling the 2,000-mile length of the Oregon Trail the old-fashioned way, in a covered wagon with a team of mules--which hasn't been done in a century--that also tells the rich history of the trail, the people who made the migration, and its significance to the country.
I love reading books about or set in places I visit, so moved this one up my TBR in anticipation of our Oregon trip for the Great American Eclipse event in August.
This is a memoir of a trip that two brothers, Rinker and Nick Buck, plus dog, Olive Oyl, undertake to traverse the trail the old fashioned way. I quite enjoyed learning about both their day to day predicaments and achievements, and the history of the early pioneers on the trail. The early section on mules alone makes this one worth picking up. As you'd expect with a story that has two dudes, a dog, and three mules, there's a bit of repetitiveness to this story, but I learned many things I didn't even know, for example Hollywood did mules a huge disservice when they pretended that horses did all that glorious work in getting the early travelers across the country. It wasn't horses, but mules that made Manifest Destiny possible, so where are all the odes to mules I ask?
I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by the author, and I would not recommend going that route. He's got a way of reading that emphasizes incorrect parts of a sentence, and there were some strange pronunciations that kept pulling me out of the yarn. I really liked the historical facts woven into the story, but felt that there was much that could have been edited out to make this a tighter story. I tend to love travel/adventure stories, and this one while good wasn't great. Still, I enjoyed learning about prairie schooner travel logistics, and it gave me a better appreciation for the ease of air travel as I flew across the country. Rating: 3 stars.
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