Adam TikTok test

Andy Weir hit it out of the park with The Martian - leaving me to wonder if he would be a one-hit wonder. He's not. Artemis sets a tone that's different enough to feel new, but still like Weir. The setting: a future where the Moon is inhabited by 35,000 people - mostly tradesmen and service jobs who support the thriving Moon tourism industry. Like The Martian, what makes this book great is the attention to detail in the science and world building. Ever details makes sense - down to the science behind why coffee sucks in space.

I've always had a fascination with Alaska. It's always seemed like the most expansive wilderness that's still mostly untamed. That would be even more true back in 1974 where this book takes place. I'm that wild setting, The Great Alone ties together enough different storylines, all from the same household, that you feel connected to their lives, their fears and their dreams. This had similarities to Educated, but with more tears, less fundamentalism and equal amounts of fear that the government is out to get you.

Just as fun as the first one. Great next step to the story – continuing on the overall narrative while having fun. Completely a kids book, but still solid.

After hearing Amanda's Ted talk, I was excited to hear she had a book out that elaborated on the topic. The title of the book makes it sound like it's in the self help genre, but actually this is a memoir using asking for help as a unifying theme throughout her life. The openness of the memoir, and the issues she faced were refreshing to hear. An optimistic story that left me feeling good and wanting to read more by Neil Gaiman (her husband).

When the movie came out, I couldn't help but hear people comparing it to the book. I hadn't realized the book was much more of a short story than a full novel. The movie touches on a number of even more emotional deep moments, including the inclusion of the dog. The book much more humanizes the vampires, as well as going deeper into the science side of things. By having a main character who also isn't a scientist, it helps show the passage of time more as he learns what he needs to learn. The endings are of course drastically different – even from the alternate ending.

The 2nd book in the legion series is a little longer than the first. This one answers some of the questions I had after the first one about the background of the main character. The problem being investigated in this one (I won't spoil up) was interesting to me as well.

I'm a sucker for stories where the main characters is stuck in a time loop. Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow stand out, but this one took it to an entirely new level. The title itself is a giveaway for the time loop – an entire lifetime. The concept of replaying your entire life sounds interesting, but the complications that come up when you (and perhaps others) can do this were problems I hadn't seen explored in Sci-Fi before.

While the other two books I read were more focused on dealing with tenants or building a large base, this one focused almost entirely on the why and how of investing in houses with the idea of holding them for a while.

After enjoying the first book in the series, I dove into the 2nd. It didn't hurt that it was nominated for another Hugo award, on a number of short lists for great sci-fi. Unfortunately it wasn't nearly as interesting as the first in the series. Many of the concepts explored in the first one were put aside to tackle a case of discrimination on a subset of people on a space station. Still great sci-fi, but I didn't get the same level of enjoyment out of the story as the first one – which might have set my expectations a little bit too high.

The 2nd book in the Red Rising trilogy, this follow-up brings the story in an un-formulaic direction. Somehow this book was able to make the switch from personal battles to space battles without skipping a beat all while keeping motivations realistic.

I love the original trilogy. The Golden Compass was one of the books that restarted my love for reading/audiobooks. When I heard Pullman was writing a new series I couldn't wait. When I read it, it felt very much in the same world. There were mysteries that organically unraveled to open new possibilities in the world while introducing the characters. This one had a lot of groundwork being laid that I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes in the next book.

After the amazingness of books 1-2 it was going to be hard to match up. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and did gasp at many times at what was going on. At first I wanted more of certain characters, then I started to realize Sanderson was concentrating on the characters with the most areas of growth - which made for a more interesting story.

If you ever listened to the Radiolab episode about high frequency trading, you should give this a listen. Lewis goes into much more detail on the same subject, including the concept of “dark pools” which I was unaware of. It's crazy how differeny things are from when I learned about the stock market in high school, but this one does an entertaining job of explaining why.

I'd rate this one a 1 in character development, but a 5 in some of the later sci-fi themes discussed. Almost any discussion of this book could be a spoiler, but I would say that it unravels in interesting ways I hadn't ever seen before. This one was actually translated from the Chinese version and is the first in a trilogy. I'm looking forward to the others in the series coming out to figure out where they take the story next.

After loving Childhoods End, I wanted to check out more by Clark. Rama is different book than I imagined. In a future earth where we've settled the solar system, a large cylindrical spaceship decides to make its way to us. The book explores the interactions with this unknown ship.

It is the first in a four-book series, but it could also be thought of as the first half of a story. I felt somewhat incomplete with the way it ended, although it is as likely an ending as any.

Anthony Bourdain is someone I could watch do anything. He was so entertaining and captivating that it was hard to turn away. Kitchen Confidential is no different, even if the subject is the dark underbelly of being a chef.

Very much an introduction to SEO rather than a deep dive. Audio perhaps isn't the best medium to dig deep into such a visual, text-based topic.

I've always been fascinated by the battle of Troy. There are so many different ways to tell that story, yet this one is completely new to me. Rather than following Achilles, this one follows in the first-person from Patroclus point of view, digging into his complicated relationship with Achilles. While the movie Troy does a great job of telling many things, it portrays Achilles much differently than Homer does in The Illiad. “The Song of Achilles” leans closer to Homers telling, shedding light on the secret affairs, dark prophecies and battle of egos.

After winning this years Arthur C. Clarke Award, and constantly seeing it on Goodreads, I knew I wanted to give this one a shot. I appreciate the storytelling and literary side of this book more than the characters and the story. The narrative jumps time, focusing on a world before a pandemic, then again years into the future. The focus of the story is around a traveling symphony making their way around the Great Lakes. I liked the characters and the post apocalyptic world, and especially how the characters were connected, but was distracted by the Station Eleven storyline – a comic book created by one of the characters – which didn't add much to the story for me beyond it's symbolism.

The other real estate books I read gave a more beginner approach to buying and holding houses, but this one used that as a starting point to theorize on how far you could go if you kept it up. Now, I don't think that's for me, but it's interesting to hear about what kind of commitment you would need to buy that many houses, or manage that many.

I love the power of a personal vision, story or goal. Whether in a job or my personal life, I feel lost without one. Donald Miller comes at this idea from a perspective I've never seen before - by learning how to write a good story and applying that to his own life.

What could have been a dry, goal oriented book is actually a hilarious, fun, brilliantly written autobiography. I loved how Miller recognized and wrote about the littlest moments and somehow jumped around time without it seeming out of place.

His take on advertising was brought back to stories too:

Advertising and marketing try to sell us a story that by buying their products, OUR story will match their perfect one.

If you can live a better story, there is no reason to buy into someone else's. Find a story you want to live and live it.

The first 3 chapters of this one were my favorites.

For years I've heard mentions of this book. I can see why! One of the most often quoted parts of this book is the idea that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become highly proficient in anything - from a musical instrument to programming, to writing. Gladwell explains this not from a hypothetical standpoint, but by talking with experts and looking back on how they got there.

These experts share one other trait - they were fortunate to have the opportunity to devote 10,000 hours to their craft. I loved the stories in this one about how different experts (outliers) in their fields achieved greatness. For each, there is a bit of luck in having the chance, but also the immense effort needed. There is something to be said for being in the right place at the right time and having the right opportunity – then working your ass off capitalize on the chance.

Some great stories about the history of cadavers, but not too much else beyond that. I was looking for more humor interjected into the explanations, but it was far from Bill Bryson.

Ever since I watched Somm on Netflix, I've been fascinated by sommeliers. The amount of work and dedication needed to become a Master is nothing short of crazy. While the movie Somm focuses mostly on the test for those already experienced, Cork Dork follows a path from pure curiosity to career.

For those who want to “break in” to the wine world, it's no small task. It's painted as completely unrealistic to do it on your own, unless you happen to have a few million extra dollars lying around. Instead, the way to do it is to get a job at a restaurant with a notable wine list and use every chance you have to start tasting wines and learning.

The process that upcoming somms go through is far more painful than I thought. Restaurant work aside (which has it's own issues), trying to do that while ALSO becoming a master in taste, service and knowledge is something I'm good not pursuing – but hats off to people who make it their calling.

If nothing else, I got better tips on how to speak to somms as a drinker to communicate what I'm looking for.