Chris

I was sold on Rainbows End as a great book about AI, but it’s not really. As best I can describe, it’s Vinge’s version of Snow Crash, a portrayal of the absurdity of the future that he sees coming. For that, he does a fantastic job. Wearable computing and a person’s contacts showing them what a thing should look like instead of the blandness underneath.

However, the plot felt clunky and unfocused and some of the future-tech explanations were confusing. I still enjoyed Vinge’s writing but this was not what I expected, unfortunately.

A bite-sized reinvigoration of our connection to the earth and the natural reciprocal relationships we resist in the interest of market share. Robin Wall Kimmerer is at once asking more of us but in the compassionate correction of a well-practiced schoolteacher. Well worth revisiting on a regular basis.

Mostly I like the book. Weird and fast-paced, not sticking with a group or story for too long. However, I think it could’ve been trimmed in some places and expanded in others. I wanted more from some ideas and could’ve gone without others. I can see why it was shortlisted for the Mann Booker prize though. An interesting and thought-provoking read.

Dungeon Crawler Carl continues to offer up crazy adventures and bizarre characters in the second installment. It’s slightly frustrating for it to be considered a second book, when really the series is one continuous story. There’s no closure at the end of one book.

But whatever, it is what it is, and Dinniman is very good at what it is. I am excited to see what happens to our heroes next, so I’m never bored or unsatisfied. I also appreciate the throughline of Carl’s resistance to the game and the people running it. He won’t let them break him.

A delightful and funny novel about how we grow and see each other and the flaws everyone must work through. Each character manages to be who we expect and yet also more complex than we realize.

A mostly funny and lighthearted adventure story. I thought the LitRPG aspect (whatever that is) would annoy me but it didn’t. I don’t need to keep track of the characters’ stats and can just enjoy the story. It is at times a bit too sophomoric for my taste, but the author knows what he’s doing as the MC’s distaste over the injustices he faces is made more and more apparent as time goes on. A solid adventure story even though it isn’t really a standalone novel.

A solid sci-fi adventure story. Zahn has a fun and lighthearted style that helped the book breeze past, but still a bit too long that it needed to be. Would have worked better 100 pages lighter maybe. But a fun and interesting cast of characters!

A fascinating examination of how burglars think and utilize environments to their advantage. At times it felt like it could have been a lengthy article in a magazine, confirmed by the end revealing that several chapters had already been published in different places.

Still, a very interesting book examining how others think outside the box.

I gave this book a try after hearing it would scratch my Mass Effect itch. The world of the story certainly does and I appreciated learning the backstory of various species as humans joined the galaxy, but the writing is overwrought and clunky at times and often the characters have very bland, rote responses to things. Overall, I am interested in continuing the series but I hope the writing gets better.

I’m conflicted on this book. It is very imaginative and I can understand why it captures people. It is very short and a breeze to get through, but it also doesn’t say particularly much. It is a thought exercise more than a fully formed journey. But definitely an existential crisis in book form!

I no longer know what to make of the Red Rising series. I loved the original trilogy, but was less taken by Iron Gold. Dark Age feels like more of the same. After a tidy and rewarding end in the original trilogy, Brown has gone all in on the flair for dramatics that made the series so fun.

Early on in this book, the MC describes another as "horny for violence", and honestly that's a fantastic encapsulation of the entire series. While it originally felt like a way to define itself beyond The Hunger Games comparisons, now it's become its own absurd calling card. Every experience of the main characters needs to be as gruesome as possible, although they themselves gleefully slaughter enemies in the thousands without a passing thought. It's over the top, but it works for the world Brown has created, although I find myself more tired of it than in the past.

One big weakness in the book, besides its length, is Lysander essentially gaining supernatural abilities to make him a better foil for Darrow. Which, sure, I get. I can see how down the road it will end up as a very satisfying arc for the characters, but in the moment it feels extra cheesy. Brown makes this worse by putting Lysander through absurdly lethal situations and he makes it out of each with ease. I suppose the same could be said for Darrow in every book, but it fits with his character never giving up. With Lysander it just feels clunky.

In conclusion, I've written far more about this book than I ever expected. In comparison to the original trilogy, the newer books have taken a dip in quality. Dark Age feels decidedly "mid".

Kid Sent Off to Magical Fantasy School could be a genre all its own, and The Will of the Many struggles from that trope and from that same kid being coincidentally good at all the things, but the writing and characters are interesting enough that you can forgive it for it's similarities to other works.

My largest criticism is that the whole Magic system of this world is kind of hand-wavey and poorly explained, but it's also explained enough that it works in the broader sense even if it's confusing if you think about it too long.

Regardless, the book works. I am left dying to know when the sequel will come out and I am excited to see where things go and perhaps most importantly I am rooting for the main character. All in all a really thrilling fantasy adventure. That the culture is modeled on the Roman Empire is only icing on the cake, since men think about it every day anyway. Looking forward to more from Islington.

While I don't always agree with Brooks' conclusions, I did enjoy The Second Mountain as a soulful and introspective look at how we can improve ourselves and the world around us. The book is stuffed full of beautiful examples of people doing the good work Brooks is encouraging as well as great quotes from artists, writers and philosophers. It's both humbling and inspiring to consider the kind of world we could build if we could all get on that second mountain.

This was a brave and brutal read, at times hard to stomach but easier to get through knowing McCurdy herself wrote it, that she has been able to heal this far, knowing there is some light at the end of her tunnel.

McCurdy is able to tell a tale of mental illness, abuse, ED, and acting without judging her mother or her younger self. She simply unflinchingly presents the story of her life and lets the reader digest it, rather than telling us how we should feel in those moments. And it leaves us shaken and disturbed, hoping that this tale, while entirely unique, will help others who might be trapped in a similar cycle.

A perfect little time-travel romp that delights and bails out before the shine wears off. Smart, thrilling, and hilarious, I wish I could read it all again for the first time, but maybe there's a me out there doing just that tomorrow.

I'd give it 3.5 stars. This is a great dad book since it's about WWII and Gladwell has that classic dad book style anyway, but the book doesn't back up Gladwell's thesis. It's full of interesting vignettes and anecdotes that are fascinating to discover, but much of Gladwell's premise that the concept of precision bombing as a way to prevent larger casualties hasn't panned out in reality.

Gladwell essentially argues that carpet bombing may have won WWII, but obviously that was because of the existence of the precision bombs of today. It ends up being a weak thread to connect the strong individual stories within.

The story and the dragons and dragon school are fun concepts, but the world-building is paper thin and the characters feel more like late 90s CW teen drama than anything of substance. It's a fun, easy read but could have benefited from a bit longer in the oven. Also, she the author should find a synonym for “subluxate”.

Ultimately I'm not the target audience and that's ok!

Johnson does a wonderful job of weaving together the tangled, complicated web of innovation and genius, taking many examples throughout history and breaking them down to strip away their “eureka!” moments and reveal their gradual, delicate, and complex formation. Inspiring and insightful and hopeful for whatever revolutions are percolating in our midst right now!

Super fun characters, fun political gamesmanship, and Avasarala, the most delightful and piss-and-vinegar old lady to ever appear in fiction, possibly.

Dayle's work is biting, hilarious satire that sinks its way into you and provides the only acceptable relief when encountering the daily news: laughter. The more he writes, the sharper he'll get. So in that case, let the man cook ( one of my kid's friends taught me that phrase).

I think this is more of a 3.5 stars. An interesting concept of a future where anyone left in Lagos has to survive in a single gargantuan tower, but I think I would have appreciated more meat on the bones. Some of the depth goes unexplored and the characters feel too shallow, but it's a quick and curious read nonetheless.

Less carefree than The Blacktongue Thief, but no less gripping. Buehlman is able to depict brutal and tragic circumstances without it ever feeling cheap or maudlin. And even through it all things still feel hopeful and worth fighting for. That balance is no small feat and I can't wait for more from this world.

A whole new fantasy world whose excellent world-building was consistently matched by its plot and characters. Delightful, funny, crass, touching, and entertaining, you can't help but be drawn in by Buehlman's creation.

A fleeting glimpse of possibilities that doesn't overstay its welcome. Chambers paints worlds of what hope could create and then fills them with characters who love like us, who wonder like we do, who find themselves wrestling with our same big questions. Journeying with the characters is a salve, a mug of hot tea, a hug that goes on longer than you thought you needed.

Chambers is always able to craft a story that feels like a warm mug of tea and a blanket wrapped over your shoulders. And this book might be her crowning achievement, at least in that aspect. Hopeful, optimistic, funny, and smart, a book for everyone who doesn't know what they're doing but hoping they're headed in the right direction.