Read this out of order. Sorry. :-D Great story. Wondering why I never read Holmes before 54?
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Read a bunch of stuff pre-2020 and almost nothing since. Sad, that.
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plaws rated Arthur Conan Doyle - The Valley of Fear: 4 stars

Arthur Conan Doyle - The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
Even Sherlock Holmes, well-accustomed to the bizarre, finds the elements of this case unusual; the scene of the crime, a …
plaws rated RETURN of SHERLOCK HOLMES by ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: 4 stars

Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Double i: RETURN of SHERLOCK HOLMES by ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE (2019, Independently Published)
RETURN of SHERLOCK HOLMES by ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE by Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Double i
The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by Arthur …

Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle: Detective and Mysterious Story the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (2020, Independently Published)
Detective and Mysterious Story the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle by Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle
A collection of Sherlock Holmes mystery adventures, including "A Scandal in Bohemia," "The Red-headed League," and "The Adventure of the …
plaws reviewed The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
In this classic mystery set in 19th-century England, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are faced …
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5 stars
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4 stars
Good story of Herr Diesel's life albeit with a sad ending. Enjoyed the story of the meeting of Diesel and Edison - they were very different men and at least one of them realized it. :-) I was a little surprised to not see any real mention of using peanut oil for fuel. I had read elsewhere, some time ago, that that was a big thing with Diesel, allowing farmers to grow their own tractor fuel ... but it is unmentioned in the book. Perhaps urban legend.
The last two chapters were kind of a "fan boy" cataloging where Diesel engines were in service (and what type they were and how many cylinders and ...) ... but at the time of publication ... c.1965. So not of any real use.
I did enjoy the first-person account of Herr Diesel's side trip to Fayetteville, Ark, not to visit my alma mater …
Good story of Herr Diesel's life albeit with a sad ending. Enjoyed the story of the meeting of Diesel and Edison - they were very different men and at least one of them realized it. :-) I was a little surprised to not see any real mention of using peanut oil for fuel. I had read elsewhere, some time ago, that that was a big thing with Diesel, allowing farmers to grow their own tractor fuel ... but it is unmentioned in the book. Perhaps urban legend.
The last two chapters were kind of a "fan boy" cataloging where Diesel engines were in service (and what type they were and how many cylinders and ...) ... but at the time of publication ... c.1965. So not of any real use.
I did enjoy the first-person account of Herr Diesel's side trip to Fayetteville, Ark, not to visit my alma mater but to inspect the McKeen car that the Saint Louis & San Francisco (the Frisco) was testing on their Saint Paul branch that ended there. I have an interest in McKeen Motor Cars (way ahead of their time - so far ahead that they didn't work well) and was happily surprised by this inclusion.
plaws rated The Sign of Four Arthur Conan Doyle: 5 stars

The Sign of Four Arthur Conan Doyle by Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Doyle (non valido), and 1 other
The Sign of the Four (1890), also called The Sign of Four, is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written …
A Study in Scarlet (STUD) is the first Sherlock Holmes novel written by Arthur Conan …
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5 stars
Great story. Don't know why I never read any of the Holmes stories before. Thanks BBC and Bandersnatch Cumberbund!
plaws rated Railroads in Oklahoma (Oklahoma, Vol 7): 3 stars
plaws rated Frontier medicine: 3 stars

Frontier medicine by David Dary
From the Publisher: In his new book, David Dary, one of our leading social historians, gives us a fascinating, informative …
plaws reviewed Champlain's Dream by David Hackett Fischer
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4 stars
Good story. Kindle version has terrible typography and poor image reproduction. From the writing, the pagination is wrong - the appendices should be after the end notes.
BUT ... the story is great and filled huge gulfs in my English-language, Quebec education. If you're looking for Champlain-bashing, which it appears that the late René Lévesque may well have been -- see quote from his memoir in the book -- this is not the correct book for you.
plaws reviewed Door to Door by Edward Humes
plaws reviewed Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert
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4 stars
Pretty interesting. Never understood the saying "capitalism is violence" but am beginning to now. Also enlightening to see that there has been global trade in at least some commodities for 200+ years. I didn't understand that. I have to say the book kind of gets repetitive towards the end and I was having trouble staying focussed.