Chris
Devastating and beautiful, it is incredible that Baldwin was able to get this published in the 1950s. An intense and vulnerable examination of sexuality, masculinity, and how damn confusing and confounding life can be when you're young! A book everyone should read in their late teens or early twenties as they try to figure out themselves, their relationships, and their place in the world.
What a delight! Scalzi is very funny. Sometimes I think he might be too funny for his own good, which can take away from the drama of a situation, and sometimes his humor reminds me of cheesy dad jokes, but that's not always a bad thing!
And yet at the same time, Scalzi is technically thorough. All of the science in this book is apparently based on real theoretical concepts, particularly his mind-blowing explanation for Faster Than Light travel, which is impressive and also makes me feel smart. But the good news is that this stuff isn't presented in a stuffy or highly complicated manner.
Another thought: it's amazing how much this book feels like how video games work. HUDs, enhanced abilities, multifaceted weapons, etc. I don't know if you could make a good game out of it, but all of the game mechanics are already there and solidly built. So glad I chose to read this and I can't wait to check out more of Scalzi's work.
Fun, GOOD science fiction can be hard to find (or at least hard to find in the mountains of available books), but here is Old Man's War, and it's just the right kind of thing to read when you're looking for a good space romp. It's not Ender's Game, but it doesn't need to be either.
An intense and emotional journey, should probably be read by every high school student in the country if we had any sense. An examination of what it means to seek identity and also have that identity stripped from you at every opportunity. James is the kind of literary hero we need.
The main thing this book did is make me want to book a flight to New York to experience all the legendary dining experiences described within. But it also made me think about the different ways to go above and beyond in my own life, even in ways that might actually be unreasonable! Guidara's narration is full of mirth and enthusiasm that you can easily imagine what it might be like to sit at one of his tables. The only thing missing? More of his wise dad, who seemed to have the perfect response to every dilemma!
A creative writing grad student writes about the first time she saw a globe.
Occasionally poetic, largely aimless, plotless, and characterless. Decidedly not for me.
To Slow Down The Time is a great coffee table book, if people still place books on their coffee tables. For one thing it can sit there looking interesting all by itself. The cover is like the best kind of art, both familiar and intriguing. More than that though, the book offers up a selection of short stories, the chance to delve into another world for a few minutes between other activities. You can sit down on the couch for a moment, pick it up, and taste a sampling, enjoying a story before the rush of life takes over again.
The stories appeal on two levels. Ian Dingman's artwork is beautiful and engaging, and as you look at each picture, stories begin to sprout from your head all on your own, trying to second-guess, if you can, what Matthew Allard has come up with instead. I would love to put some of those pictures up on my wall, even. And then Allard's stories take you into the world of the picture. If the stories have a weakness, it is that they are all too brief. Each one comes off like an amuse-bush of something more, and you can't help but wonder where the extra pages went.
It is an interesting collaboration, the pictures and words presented here, the kind of book you don't find much any more. Dingman and Allard are not worried about seducing you. The stories are not overall scandalous or headline grabbing. Instead, they have the uncomfortable and exciting feeling that perhaps they are not quite fiction. Perhaps these stories have happened to real people in some real place. Allard's ability to draw you into the stories with only a few pages, to connect with his characters, makes the book a pleasure to sit down with. And when guests come over, it's a great thing to have on your coffee table, because they'll find that pleasure too.
A beautiful and tragic collection of tales from the Rwandan genocide. Gourevitch gathers stories and presents them with a stark sincerity. We get to understand the genocide through the detached eyes of a journalist while never relinquishing emotional connection to the individuals we're introduced to. Reading this book moves you and hurts you and makes you hope for a better future.
The Dane Cook of self-help books, as if someone's Philosophy 101 notes gained sentience during a frat party. I am genuinely shocked that Manson has not been a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast. The bones of this book aren't inherently bad. There are little nuggets of wisdom inside. But those nuggets are packed in such a self-absorbed, sarcastic, and pandering case that it is exhausting waiting for the smart stuff. Two stars because those nuggets are there, somewhere and clearly this book is not for me. There are hundreds of books that can communicate the same ideas in more hopeful, encouraging, and insightful language. Manson isn't it. DNF.
A solid 3, maybe 3.5. An interesting premise and Marrs knows how to keep your pages turning, with plenty of cliffhanger chapters and exciting reveals as you go. Unfortunately, those same reveals eventually become a bit too soap opera-y for my liking, limiting my enjoyment and feel like the book ends with a sputter. Would likely make a great tv series though!
I loved it. It takes a steady hand to write a book so charming, yet curious, yet suspenseful and yet still tender. A novel that is bursting at the seams to be turned into a blockbuster film.
While it starts as a solid popcorn movie scifi story, even with the stereotypical characters, by about the midpoint the wheels come off and it truly feels like the author is flying by the seat of their pants. Characters are suddenly not what you'd expect, the plot shifts completely, and the book winds down to a bit of a whimper.
An interesting concept marred by a bored and lifeless execution.
Putting aside the grotesque use of depression and suicide as superficial plot devices, fixed by simply, I don't know, not being bummed (???), the book just fails at ever being interesting.
Imagine the most dense main character who makes virtually no choices of her own, who does almost nothing to move the plot forward, and who seems as bland and incurious as possible. Then imagine that person telling you a story. That's this book. Nora is a dreadfully boring character who doesn't choose anything. All of the characters around her are 2D cardboard cutouts for her to talk to whenever she needs this one or that one. They lack any complexity.
Everything that happens to Nora (and EVERYTHING only happens TO her, never because of her), is riddled with cliche. The book never surprises you. As soon as a situation is presented, you will know the outcome because it is a series of cliche vignettes.
Lastly, the writing TELLS you everything every step of the way. Nothing is shown. It is perfectly fitting given who Nora is, but it is exceptionally boring to read.
I am totally okay with junk food books, with guilty pleasures, with popcorn. But this was none of that. It is only junk, no pleasure, and instead of popcorn tastes more like a slice of week old bread.
I really enjoyed this. 4.5? A very interesting and fascinating take on relationships, misogyny, control, power, etc. Would be perfectly paired with Ex Machina. A spectacular perspective of the sexual politics of our technological future.
Rubin's creative guidance is both inspiring and practical in equal measure, and his voice is the perfect presence to prepare one for contemplative creativity. A beautiful and deliberate book that belongs on any creative person's bookshelf and just as often their nightstand.
This is overall a good meditation on how we work best. A lot more Jewel than I expected, and sometimes the book feels more like a collection of survivorship bias anecdotes than practical studies or applications, but throughout it remains a good reminder to slow down, because that's how we work best.
Particularly depressing in our modern age was discovering that hunter gatherers worked fewer hours than we do now. I guess they hadn't yet discovered the blessings of capitalism.
A great parenting book that acknowledges the shame and doubt we as parents can carry in our parenting and how to grow beyond it as we seek better connection with our kids.
Delightful and mysterious, the main character has an infectious joy about him that draws you into his magical world. A lovely piece of fiction.
The great thing about the upcoming movie adaptation is that I know Keira Knightly should be fantastic as Ruth, and if you've read the book you know exactly what I mean.
Ryka Aoki put together a beautiful portrait of being a trans girl in the Asian community of Southern California. The science fiction aspects play second fiddle (heh) to an intimate look at a young girl trying to find her place in the world and her passion for the violin, shared with a woman who made a deal with a demon.
The book gave me a newfound appreciation for the violin and, as someone who is “cishet” but doesn't entirely know what that means, for what it might be like to grow up as a trans person. It is ultimately a tender, touching, and soulful story of hope.
I am right now trying to decompress from finishing this book. Emotionally, it is like Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It is bleak and harrowing and there is a tension that underlines every moment.
But it is also an intimate journey with a naive stranger, who sees the world and its people differently than we do, and in that difference there is courage and curiosity and determination.
Ultimately this is a book that gnaws at something in the very core of us and leaves us somewhat raw, ready to grow back better.
An interesting sort of romcom with a neurodiverse main character with a penchant for Greek mythology. Really well done overall but a bit too long. I would have liked things trimmed down by a hundred pages or so.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was so good she deserves her own mention. Kristin Atherton's reading of the book was superb and gets 5 stars just on its own. I could listen to the main character's boss for hours he's so perfectly done.
I never expected to be captivated by this book, never expected to dig into the dirt of the earth while I listened to Kimmerer's gentle reading, but here I am. The book is half reflection, half philosophical instruction, and fully inspirational, designed to guide us in better appreciating the world around us, the living beings that make up so much of our day to day but so often go ignored. Kimmerer doesn't chide us, doesn't condemn, but with her mirthful wisdom, gently encourages her readers toward beauty, toward hope, and toward life.
It is a book that makes you want to take walks, or sit quiet in the woods, or pass your hand back and forth over a blade of grass. It is a book about slowing down, motherhood, gratitude, and love.
I mean, it's Tina Fey. If I had any criticism of this book it's that it was written over a decade ago and I'd love to hear more from Fey about ending 30 Rock and life after her SNL/30 Rock run. But it remains a delightful and funny read.