I adored this book as much as I’ve adored all the books in this series. As I’ve seen others comment, I’m not sure exactly what it is about them that is so fantastic . . . I think maybe it’s just that the main character, Sookie, is so darned likeable in an authentic way. She’s no Mary Sue, but she’s just wonderful. Plus, there are so many great characters, and I always read through these books very quickly – can’t put them down – and then can’t wait to read the next one, so I can find out what’s going to happen next. But WAH! This one was just released in May, so it might be a while before Book 7 is published! Ah well. It will be worth the wait. 10/10

We checked this book out of the library to complement our current study of ancient Egypt. My son really liked it – it’s a rhyming picture alphabet book, showing the hieroglyphs used in ancient Egyptian writing. I found the rhymes pretty uninspired, but the additional information that accompanied them was interesting, although rather a random assortment of facts about ancient Egypt. The illustrations are good. At the end of the book, there is a prose section with some historical data, and the book is meant to come with a stencil, so children can do their own hieroglyphic writing. (This library copy no longer has the stencil, but we have one around here somewhere, so my son will be able to do this as soon as we find it). According to other research that I’ve done in the past, the instructions this book offers as to how to write in hieroglyphics is not accurate, but it was a nice introduction to the subject, nonetheless. 7/10

A very basic beginning reader book about the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Although very simple, I thought it gave a nice overview for children. 8/10.

This is an amazing film, showing a fairly recent exploration down to the wreckage of the Titanic. Mad props to Bill Paxton, who actually went down to the wreck several times in a submersible (no thanks; that’s definitely not something on my “to do” list). Incredible footage, and a very interesting look at the lives of these scientists. I also loved the “re-enactments” they did, superimposing filmed footage (with actors) over film of the actual wreckage. I think my very favourite thing, though, was seeing the stained glass windows in the first-class dining room – still intact. Mindboggling. I loved this film. 10/10.

I got this one episode from Netflix; apparently, it is part of a boxed set, but we’ve only seen the disc about the Titanic. Very interesting – it not only features the very first footage ever taken of the wreckage, it also had some footage and still photos from 1912 which I’d not seen before. 9/10

The third in the Vampire Huntress series, this book was a lot longer than the other books, with a more intricate plot. I did enjoy the book – the story is getting interesting, but I found the length a bit daunting at times (and I’m not intimidated by long books; I just need them to really engage me). I felt like I was reading and reading and reading, and not really making much progress – the book didn’t grab me and pull me in like some books do. On the plus side, though, I didn’t find the use of slang as distracting in this book. I don’t know if she’s cut back on it, or if I’ve just gotten used to it. This book has some pretty steamy sex scenes, too, although in a way, I found the romantic aspects almost oppressive. There is a LOT of angst going on here, for a number of characters. Which, in one way, is interesting, but I did find it almost too much at times.

I think I will keep reading – I know there’s at least one more in the series, and maybe more. I do hope the next one isn’t quite as dense, though. 7/10

My son and I read this together for history. It’s a very basic book, with some lovely photos, but on the whole I wasn’t particularly impressed. Some of her dates seemed off, and I just didn’t like the way she presented some of the information. It does give an overview of several areas of Egyptian life, but not very detailed. 6/10

My son and I read this for his book club, and then the kids had a great discussion together about the books (and even did some speed-painting). These are fun little mysteries, although my son isn’t quite to the point yet where he can solve them for himself. I think we’ll wait to read any other EB books until he’s a bit older. 7/10

I got this one from Netflix, to watch with my son. It gives a good overview of human evolution, from about 3 million years ago, IIRC. Visually, I thought it was very good, and they give a lot of information, including some ideas about the environmental changes that contributed to the development of the modern human mind. Some of it, though, is highly speculative, but they make the mistake of never actually saying this, and instead present everything as fact. Somewhat annoying, and I found myself pausing the show occasionally to discuss with my son why I thought something they said was not necessarily true.

My other gripe is . . . how to phrase this . . . I thought they reverse-anthropormorphized at times. (If that makes any sense. :D). Meaning, they made too big of a deal about some of the ways in which these early humans were vastly different from other animals. The most glaring example was the claim that Homo ergaster was the first creature on the planet to ever be monogamous . . . um, probably not, since it’s well-known that several species of animals and birds practice monogamy.

So, there were some little factual things here and there that I could pick at, but on the whole, I thought it gave a nice over-view for my son, who is just beginning to study evolution and the ancestry of the human race. He really enjoyed it, too, and has watched it twice so far. He’ll probably watch it a third time before we return it.

Good film. A documentary about the excavation of the Jarkov mammoth, which was found about a decade ago in Siberia – what they hope will turn out to be an entire mammoth frozen in the tundra permafrost. It was cut out of the ground in a big block, and will be unfrozen bit by bit as the paleontologists (and other scientists: paleobotanist, etc.) see what’s inside in a very methodical manner. Really interesting.

These people are also continuing to search the tundra for more fossil finds – work which can only go on a few months out of each year, because of weather constraints. There was also a lot of great information about the current understanding of what life was like for these Pleistocene mammals, and also some speculation about why they became extinct. My only criticism is that the animation was hideous, at least compared with BBCs. But this was a very informative and interesting film.

Actually, I’ve just remembered that I wanted to do a bit of searching to find out the current status of that project. The film ended with them having excavated only a few inches down into the block – it’s such painstaking work that it will take years to fully complete the excavation. But the film was about 5 years old, so they’ve surely made some progress since then. Google, here I come!

Also worth noting that this is the first Netflix film that we received and watched! W00t! (It’s already in the mail back to them, too, so a film about the Titanic will be dispatched in return).