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Dana (24 KP) rated The Consolation of Philosophy in Books

Mar 23, 2018

This is more of a 3.5 than just a 3.

This was a very insightful book about how people of this time period worked through their thinking processes as well as how they dealt with the concepts of God.

While reading this in tandem with Dante's Inferno, I was able to understand Inferno a lot more than if I had read it on its own.

Boethius explains many difficult concepts relatively clearly. (These concepts were made even more clear by my professor of Italian 150 [The Divine Comedy] rooting the concepts in examples from today)

Many of the concepts are repeated often, so they are driven home, but this also means that they get a bit boring. I found myself wanting to skim more as the book went along because it was saying the same thing for what seemed the millionth time.

I enjoyed how each Prose section has a brief blurb about the main concepts it was going to talk about. This made it easier to prepare myself for the upcoming reading.

The characters, Boethius and Lady Philosophy, felt a little too preachy for me at times, but they were talking about religion, so I guess it worked.

Overall, it was very insightful and interesting to read.

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2532 KP) rated Academic Curveball in Books

Oct 16, 2018

Kellan Faces One of Life's Curveballs – Murder

Kellan Ayrwick has returned home for a few days to attend a dinner in honor of his father's retirement from Braxton College. While Kellan's there, he is supposed to meet up with a woman who has done some research for the true crime TV show that he works on. However, Kellan gets distracted when, near the end of the dinner, he finds a dead body. The victim was a professor at Braxton. With everything swirling around the at college, Kellan is afraid that someone he loves will be arrested for the crime. Can he figure out the truth before that happens?

I wanted to like the book, but I felt it had some flaws to it. It was overly wordy, especially with some rehashing of things we already knew and theories we'd already considered. Additionally, there were several nitpicks, like this dinner several months before Kellan's father planned to fully retire. The mystery, overall, was strong, however. There were several believable suspects that kept me guessing until Kellan figured things out. Likewise, I really liked the potential series regulars, and the book introduced several threads that will make for great future books in the series.

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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2532 KP) rated The Pawful Truth in Books

Jul 21, 2019

As the Campus Turns

Charlie Harris has decided to indulge his love of history by auditing a class at Athena College. On his first day, he is impressed with his professor, Dr. Carey Warriner, who is obviously popular not only because of his good looks but also because of his abilities as a lecturer. However, part of an exchange between Dr. Warriner and a fellow student as Charlie is leaving concerns Charlie. When that student dies under mysterious circumstances, the campus rumor mill heats up, and Charlie is left to wonder if he is taking a class from a murderer.

Before you ask, yes, Diesel (the “Cat” of Cat in the Stacks) is a very active part of this mystery, and is as charming as ever, although the new kitten in Charlie’s life does his best to steal the show. Honestly, the entire cast of regulars, human and animal, are at their best, and it is always a delight to spend time around these characters. The plot is a little weak, however, feeling more like a soap opera at times and filled with speculation at others. However, it does reach a logical conclusion. Honestly, time with these characters is never really wasted, and I enjoyed my time with them again here.