Vinay Pulivarthi
3.5/5.
Ever read a book in which you thought every single character is crazy except for one and then it turns out that it was actually the later that made everyone crazy in the first place?
Not a big fan of reading fiction novels but wanted to give this series a try because of all the hype around the movies. This book was a good read and introduced me to the LOTR universe and I would've probably enjoyed it more if I were younger lol. My fav character so far is definitely Bilbo. With all the buildup to the dragon fight, the way it died was anti climatic lol.
If you enjoy sci-fi novels, this is a must read. This is the first book I read that was written by Andy Weir. So my expectations were high going in and somehow this book exceeded them. 5/5 would recommend. Jazz Hands.
P.S: if you have access to audiobooks, I would highly recommend listening to this in audiobook format (narrated by Ray Porter). This is the best audiobook I have heard so far and it's not even close.
I really liked the buildup in the first half, kept me hooked to the audiobook. Later on when the author went more into Theo's personal life, I was kinda like “I don't care about Theo. Tell me what happened to Alicia.”. Little did I know that was all another buildup for the finale. Great listen and would recommend. 4/5.
The missing star is because of various holes in the plotlines that were not closed. (Max abusing Alicia, Paul borrowing money from Alicia, Jean Felix). Also, in the first few chapters Theo says the entrance to The Grove is so strict that won't even let him take his lighter but in later chapters everyone seems to be smoking inside The Grove.
This book delivers exactly what it promised in the title, A brief history of Humankind. Yuval takes us through (almost) all of the pivotal moments in history (cognitive revolution, agricultural revolution, and scientific revolution) that lead us to our current society. Would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a history 101 on Homo Sapiens.
Excellently written crime thriller based on true stories that happened in the 1920s which led to a “reign of terror” on the Osage Indians. This book gives a glimpse of what happens to anyone who wasn't supposed to get rich get richer.
Centrist take. Maybe I missed the point of the book but the reasoning from the author to be more accommodating to the right is not convincing enough for me.