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A review by jenbsbooks
Landlines by Raynor Winn
2.5
I think I stumbled upon this book in a Little Free Library. Just a random pick, that when I checked it out on Goodreads, I saw that it had good reviews/rating. I hadn't heard of it, and it wasn't at my local library (I actually go with audio, and like to have the kindle copy too) but at one of my other (on Hoopla).
General thoughts - the author is the narrator ... I didn't love her voicework, but there was nothing really bad about it. Apparently, while not a series, there were two books written before ... I have a hard time imagining that the first book would be much different than this one? That book, and that experience are touched on here, but I didn't feel like I "should have" read that one first.
This just felt a little preachy ... and honestly, I agree with many/most of her assessments, just to hear them over and over again. How humans are ruining the planet/climate change, how the rich buying up second homes and pricing out locals are ruining communities, how homelessness could be fixed/and how the homeless are treated (they are basically "homeless" while out walking the trail). Talk of nature, pollinators, food production. Also addressing Brexit (which, living in the US, doesn't impact and I don't know that much about it or it's impact ... and still don't after finishing this book) ... and most of this is happening during Covid too.
So. Many. Midges. I did a Kindle search, and "midges" was said 48 times. Now I'm sure this little fly was super annoying to the author, but it was also uber annoying to me! I have this aversion to repetition.
What are blister plasters (x21 mentions) and are they really magically effective? We've had some blisters in the family, and band-aids, even moleskin, nothing really seemed to help except for time and rest from rubbing.
Some of the other reviews rave about the descriptions of nature ... I guess I just didn't get into it that much. While some might see the positivity, I guess I felt like the negativity outweighed it.
While I'm happy that apparently these walks helped the author's husband's health improve ... I do wonder what doctors would think. Does it give false hope. What are the chances? And how many people can just drop everything and go walk a trail for months (physically, financially, time and obligations).
I liked the title tie-in. I liked the cover.
It wasn't bad, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Speaking of tea, in the audio, there is a whole extra section of the author and her husband in the kitchen just chatting (about tea) and reminiscing. I didn't listen to the whole thing ... I was done.
ProFanity x 30.
General thoughts - the author is the narrator ... I didn't love her voicework, but there was nothing really bad about it. Apparently, while not a series, there were two books written before ... I have a hard time imagining that the first book would be much different than this one? That book, and that experience are touched on here, but I didn't feel like I "should have" read that one first.
This just felt a little preachy ... and honestly, I agree with many/most of her assessments, just to hear them over and over again. How humans are ruining the planet/climate change, how the rich buying up second homes and pricing out locals are ruining communities, how homelessness could be fixed/and how the homeless are treated (they are basically "homeless" while out walking the trail). Talk of nature, pollinators, food production. Also addressing Brexit (which, living in the US, doesn't impact and I don't know that much about it or it's impact ... and still don't after finishing this book) ... and most of this is happening during Covid too.
So. Many. Midges. I did a Kindle search, and "midges" was said 48 times. Now I'm sure this little fly was super annoying to the author, but it was also uber annoying to me! I have this aversion to repetition.
What are blister plasters (x21 mentions) and are they really magically effective? We've had some blisters in the family, and band-aids, even moleskin, nothing really seemed to help except for time and rest from rubbing.
Some of the other reviews rave about the descriptions of nature ... I guess I just didn't get into it that much. While some might see the positivity, I guess I felt like the negativity outweighed it.
While I'm happy that apparently these walks helped the author's husband's health improve ... I do wonder what doctors would think. Does it give false hope. What are the chances? And how many people can just drop everything and go walk a trail for months (physically, financially, time and obligations).
I liked the title tie-in. I liked the cover.
It wasn't bad, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Speaking of tea, in the audio, there is a whole extra section of the author and her husband in the kitchen just chatting (about tea) and reminiscing. I didn't listen to the whole thing ... I was done.
ProFanity x 30.