Tadhg
would have given this 4.5 stars, but auto/biographies just are the kind of book I love enough to give a fifth star from me. This was so easy to read, I actually laughed out loud several times (embarrassing on the train, thanks Will!). Really enjoyed the insight into his life before the happiness he seems to enjoy now, and long may it continue.
one of the more readable sci-fi classics I've tried, but I found it difficult to read it slowly enough to fully understand it. Found the psychology somewhat implausible but that only threw me out of the plot a few times. The twist did not surprise me; I've probably read too many books with that particular kind of twist, though that is hardly the fault of a book which is 60 years old.
Overall, an enjoyable enough read
I liked this and highlighted several passages of it.
As I found newspeak a very interesting concept in 1984 (the only Orwell book I've previously read) I was interested to see how he viewed the use of language. I especially agreed that partially-formed ideas cannot be well explained in clear language.
This isn't holding my interest anymore. I guess I'm at the stage of the overall story where the scene is being set of how the keys are harming their lives but the story should be moving along. Maybe it's just me though: I read the first three whilst travelling so I don't have to like the story as much for it to hold my interest
Warning #1 - read whilst alone; or only with people you are willing to cry in front of. It takes a lot to make me cry and I was blubbing whilst reading this.
Warning #2 - do not start reading at 11pm. It may be a fairly quick read (2.5 hours for me) but it will keep you awake for hours afterward.
This has been at the top of my to-read list for months now but I've been putting it off because it was getting such great reviews, so it couldn't possibly be great, right?
There was no ‘getting into' this book, first couple of pages and I was hooked. Whilst I expected a couple of the big events to happen, they didn't feel like the author was taking the easy choices (not in the slightest).
I am very glad this book did not end the way I expected; finishing is important.
Overall I liked this; found it hard-going whilst it was split between several viewpoints simply because I wasn't interested in some of the ‘voices'. Don't think I'll be carrying on with the series; the ‘mystery' is not enough for me to come back because it's fairly obvious what it is. I'd probably read more of it if there weren't so many books on my to-read list, maybe one day...
This is a brief overview which is fine, overviews have their place as ‘gateway' books. I found the bits about the rise of Scottish radicalism particularly interesting, probably because it doesn't get much focus in ‘popular' Scottish history.
This did feel a bit propaganda-esque to me and I'm pro-independence. There is, at least, no pretence at objectivity, it is campaigning for it's objective.
There were parts, particularly regarding wars where the author spoke about Scotland being dragged into England's wars. I doubt there was a significant difference in the attitude of the English working class and the Scottish working class; and the Scottish aristocracy/'rulers' were involved in the decisions to go to war as well.
The better-known aspects of Scottish history were covered fairly quickly, which is good, no point rehashing stuff; but some of it made me question it's accuracy. I am no expert so I'm not saying there were mistakes, but parts of it didn't seem to match what I remembered. The more radical parts of Scottish history is something I would like to read more about, and this book has encouraged me to do so, particularly about John MacLean.
I would rather have given this 2.5 stars, but as that's not an option I'll try to be more positive :)
Simple, entertaining read. I was never sure where the story was going and in a sense it didn't go anywhere as there was no ‘quest' element to it.
I don't know if it was written as an introduction to a universe but if it was it does it well.
I feel like this is not a particularly positive review, but it is: this was the sitcom rather than a hard-hitting drama. The drama's good to get your teeth into, but sometimes you want to relax and laugh
The character of Cazaril grabbed me immediately, something that has been missing in several books I've read recently. The plot was well paced and kept the momentum going. This feels like a solid stand-alone to me not sure I want to see more of this universe in case it doesn't live up to its beginning
A good depression memoir. I found the passages where she wrote about religion difficult, but I recognise that this is my issue rather than a problem with the book per se. I did find some of the parallels she drew between aspects of christianity and mental health thought provoking.
I like that she presented depression as having a positive effect on life, forcing us to identify where we're pushing ourselves in the wrong direction; this is what I found to be the case with my first ‘big low'.
I appreciated the humour in her writing, though I'm not sure it lives up to being “a cheerful book about depression”
I really liked the idea, but not the execution - much like [b:Redshirts 13055592 Redshirts John Scalzi http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348617890s/13055592.jpg 18130445] which I plan to give another try in hopes I was simply in the wrong mood for it. I doubt I will give this another chance.I view this as primarily a humorous farce type of book, but I only laughed a couple of times. Strange things were given really long descriptions which did not advance the plot - in certain places stalling it completely. It was a fast-paced book, which is not a problem, but some things seemed to just happen and not get any description (counter to the aforementioned too long descriptions). Perhaps the pace was too fast, not giving time for important plot points to sink in.Maybe I was just too excited to read it and had too high expectations :(PS - the Linux geek in me did like the computer stuff :)
I really wanted to give this 3.5 stars, but had to round up because 3 stars was too low.
I'm not generally a fan of books which have a subtle story (sounds better than saying nothing happens). I've recently read a couple of books like that, such as Post Office which I did not like at all. I think the main difference for me is that I identified with Mori; I suspect you have to care about the character if the book is about the character rather than about a big event/quest.
I really enjoyed all the book references even though I haven't read most of them
I'm going to lead with: not really my type of book. I read this because it was the May pick for The Perks of Being a Bookworm group; what I like about book clubs is that they are introducing me to books I would never think of reading. Sometimes this is a success, this time it wasn't.I did not enjoy actually reading this book, in fact I was somewhat reading it; I didn't have to force myself to read it, but I didn't care if I read it, I had no ‘need' to know what happened. If it had not been a group read and reasonably short, I would have stopped reading before I got halfway. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't really care about any of the characters apart from Singer and Biff, partly because of their selfishness regarding Singer, projecting their need onto him without caring about him for his own sake. I don't think it was simply that because even unlikeable characters can be compelling to read about, but not these. I did like the writing; I got a sense of each of the characters fairly quickly, some more than others, Dr Copeland in particular. This style of story does not grab me; I suppose I need a ‘quest' or similar to drive the story for me, even if that is used for social commentary. I recently read [b:Post Office 51504 Post Office Charles Bukowski http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347432080s/51504.jpg 823130] by [a:Charles Bukowski 13275 Charles Bukowski http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1361445522p2/13275.jpg] and I was reminded of it whilst reading that; I didn't particularly enjoy it either (2 stars again).
Finished this simply because the Sword & Laser forum led me to believe it would get better (it did, but only marginally) and then because I'd read over half of it, it seemed a waste to give up. Will not be reading any more in the series and it's very unlikely I'll try another C.J. Cherryh book; I think I disliked the writing style as the plot was interesting but I just couldn't get into it
I realise that this is supposed to be a critique of society and so forth, but it doesn't stand out to me in any way. Read it in one go, but mainly because it's so short and very simply written; that is not a criticism, having just forced myself through a very dense SF book.
Easy to read, but I'm left with nothing, just meh. It really reminds me of another book, can't place it though
Maybe this suffers because I was so excited by the premise; but I didn't enjoy it or laugh very often. Maybe I just don't know enough sci-fi references...After the he said/she said was pointed out to me, it was all I could see!Plan to give this another chance though, because I liked the premise so much and I think it may have suffered from being read between [b:A Feast for Crows 13497 A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4) George R.R. Martin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358261107s/13497.jpg 1019062] and [b:A Dance With Dragons 10664113 A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5) George R.R. Martin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327885335s/10664113.jpg 2936175]. I'd just read the first 4 books of A Song of Ice and Fire very quickly and wanted a break for a completely different type of book; but maybe I was too much in the Ice and Fire world and was expecting a book with equal depth which was impossible for this book to deliver as that's not what it's trying for.OK, second reading has been lemmed (T said). I don't know why I ever wanted to give this a second chance (said T). Even Wil Wheaton's narration couldn't save this (T said); in fact, listening to the audiobook may have highlighted the sheer pain of the ‘Dahl said/Duvall said/Hansen said/etc' every few seconds (said T).
