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Expanding on the Hyperion universe while introducing new realistic and thoughtful characters.
Oh boy. As much as I like the idea behind the Illium/Olympos series, this one required some suffering to make it through. I loved Hyperion, and the wealth of characters, and how well their stories intertwined in time, but for this one, most characters I could not connect with. Perhaps it has to do with basing the story around a first person point a view, which made it more difficult for me to think the story was more than the main character. The Illium storyline and the Gods were easily the most interesting, but when it came down to an explanation I wasn't satisfied with it.
Simmons creates an intriguing world, but somehow this one didn't draw me in nearly as much as Hyperion. A world with time travel, Trojans, Achilles, Odysseus, Mars, Gods and other mysteries which are unraveled sounds amazing, leaving me unsure of what the missing piece was. Either way this did leave me wanting to read the next in the series.
The first book in the Wheel of Time series. I've heard numerous people say to skip this one - and I can understand why. It was extremely slow, and monotonous at times. For a series that I always hear touted as one of the most amazing, must read tales, I was completely underwhelmed by it. I can see how the bigger world is being built up, but this story was more about a call to action without much else (besides some running around). I didn't feel attached to the characters or care too much about the weight on their shoulders. Ironically, I did feel that way for the Sword of Truth series – which was released after Wheel of Time and shares a VERY similar narrative. I'm not sure if I'll have the dedication to complete this series, but still aim to try a few more.
This short story is a prequel to Mystborn, introducing Kelsier new to his powers, learning the basics of allomancy. It was apparently released in the guide to a tabletop game. It's meant to both be entertaining, and give the entire backstory to the world in 22 pages. Not something to be read on it's own, but an interesting backstory.
Dan Lyons previous book “Disrupted” ranks as one of my all time favorites. It's a look into startup culture and it's oddities. Lab Rats picks up on that with an exploration into many other companies that are all imitating and following the “startup feel” - for better or for worse.
Nearly everything mentioned gave me a hint of stress hearing about, as many were part of workplaces I was a part of (and many things that I as a manager did). As a small example, this book mentions personality tests, open offices, ping pong tables, “we are a family” mentality, burn out culture and even a mention of Domo, a company just around the corner from me that is worth billions but operates at a loss.
One theme that stands out from this book is how all these “companies for millennials” aren't actually making millennials any happier. The key to workplace happiness and even productivity is safety, something that includes physical safety, wellbeing of the company, of your job and gives room to experiment and grow. I feel like the times I've been most productive in a role have been when I've felt safe in this way as well. Lyons includes some recommendations on how we can move more companies to grow this in their cultures.
Unlike Anathem, this one drew me in right away. Unfortunately it didn't keep me. The scope and theme makes for a great story – something happens that destroys the moon. How does humanity react? I felt like things went from entirely too optimistic, to way too pessimistic real fast. While relying on imperfect characters to move the plot along, the story leaned too much on their impact on everyone else in a way I felt didn't hold true to those people. Not as good as Anathem, but some interesting points. This book in 3 parts could easily have been 3 books. I appreciate the storytelling, and Stephenson's desire to tell an entire tale at once, but I would have preferred more “Gravity” and less a series of unfortunately decisions.
Leading up the 2008 and 2012 elections, I learned more than I ever expected about Barack Obama. Somehow in all that time, Michelle Obama played the classic wife role, away from the spotlight unless it intersected her husband. Her story is so much more driven by grit, inspiration and an overwhelming drive to improve things for other people. This was a refreshing look into what public service can and should look like - even when it's split between the public and private sector.
I didn't watch Mr. Rogers Neighborhood when I was a kid. I have no idea why – it seems like an amazing show. I've watched a few episodes since as an adult and have been amazed. Reading this had me tearing up in places at the empathy displayed by Fred Rogers throughout his life. There's something to just listening to people and telling them they're important just the way they are.
This was the first book I read in 2013 by a female author – after reading 36 other books. After finishing it, my initial reaction wasn't altogether positive. The more I reflected on the book, I came to realize how amazing a world Atwood created in this dystopian tale. Not one of my all-time favorites, but still great storytelling.
After months hearing my wife talk about this series I finally gave it a shot. I loved the first book as well as the movie and didn't want to wait until the next movie to see what happened next.
While the first book focuses almost entirely on Nick & Rachel, the shift to focusing on different characters in part 2 makes sense in the expanding cast. Kitty Pong's character, as well as Rachel's family, makes sense without being forced while staying entertaining (even if a bit telenovela).
After hearing this one was similar to “The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August”, I knew I had to check this one out. The mechanism for the “life after life” affect took me a little while to understand, but made sense after a while. I didn't feel that I was able to connect with the main character by the end, leaving me withdrawn from the overall direction.
After hearing Nir give a local talk at a user group, I knew I had to check out his book. It's been on my list to read for far too long. The concepts from the book a 10/10. They're a great dive into user behavior and what triggers change in people. I feel like I learned a lot, even if the book is rather short.
The downsides though - the audiobook narrator feels like he's reading a technical manual. It's just not a good listen. Looking at the Audible reviews it's non-stop 1 star reviews for performance. The other side is that this book requites a good deal of reflection time. That's not a good fit for the audio format. I felt like I learned more from hearing Nir talk live for an hour than from the book, but I still look forward to referencing it later in products I'm building.
The idea of a single person company, or a small lifestyle business is increasingly interesting to me personally. In an age like today where one person can create something that provides value and people pay for, its amazing how low the barrier is to entry — assuming you put in the work.
A memoir of mother going through a breakup and talking to a therapist about it? Yeah, like I'll enjoy that. But... it was a great story! It kept me entertained, drawn to the characters and wanting to learn more. Lori writes about her past and future through the lens of person in therapy, while also exploring different timelines with different patients. This allows the story to jump around - at one time talking about death, another addiction, another grief and another loss. I don't have much experience with therapy, but this look into that world was both informative and made me want to learn more about therapy in general.
This book brought up some interesting feelings for me. I haven't been publicly shamed, but a number of the incidents documented here I was aware of when they happened – and took a sense of schadenfreude in the incidents. It's hard to understand just how out of proportion some of the responses from the media and public were though, which this book did a good job of highlighting – and following up on those shamed.
I went in expecting a memoir about travel interwoven into someone life - which is what this was. However, it seemed disjointed, with explorations into various trips the author took over many years. The attempts to join the trips in a larger idea fell short for me. I did finish this wanting to visit a number of places I'd never seriously considered before.
There's something nostalgic about Novik's writing. Both “Spinning Silver” and her previous book “Uprooted” feel like German fairy tales written a hundred years ago. They have a sense of danger you wouldn't see in a Disney fairy tale, while incorporating the fear and reality of an old-time tale. Spinning Silver jumps between first-person stories following a money changer and her growth into the role. The story takes a turn when a mystical character asks her, a regular person, to change silver into gold after hearing of her skills out of context. What follows is a tale through distant worlds that still feels familiar.
What would happen if all men on the planet died – except one? With every other post-apocalyptic story involving the same struggles, exploring an entirely new take on the world offered a refreshing change. For the entire series, I was thinking “one more...”, and enjoyed the eventual payoffs.
It's difficult to write a book on character without taking a strong opinion on what it takes to “have character”, but I felt like this one did. This left me without as much of a takeaway as I would have hoped. The main focus is on biographies of various people, looking into how they lived. The leading thread throughout these was relatively simple: develop your own beliefs, stick to them through the hard times, don't showboat and base your life on the journey rather than the outcome.
On the Goodreads Best Books of 2015, one book stood out amongst all others as being the overwhelming winner in their category – The Girl on the Train. Mystery isn't a genre I generally approach, but the storytelling and characters in this one drew me in from the start. The story is told from the first-person from three women in the story. All of these women have their own quirks and flaws that make them interesting and keep the storyline from being predictable.
I appreciate the premise: How do you do the least amount of work possible? For any developer that's a goal. That's not the goal because then you can take off though - it's so you can get more done. Most of the projects suggested in the book contribute nothing to society, and are usually self serving.
I was looking forward to this one for a long time. From the end of Firefight when more background on Calamity was revealed, I was aching to know more backstory. The evolution of the world, and the new salt city stood out. Even the new epics had time to shine in this relatively short book. To say much more is a spoiler, but if you've already read the first two, you'll probably enjoy the finale. Maybe not love and rave about it, but it's a worthy ending to a fun series.
As someone who grew up in Pinellas County Florida, watching Hulk Hogan, spending a lot of time online during a time when Gawker Media sites were wildly popular and following Peter Thiel's career (and reading his book), every bit of this book was oddly familiar to me.
Conspiracy is a story about a lawsuit. That lawsuit is a claim by Hulk Hogan against Gawker media after they published a sex tape made without the wrestlers' permission. The lawsuit seemed like David vs Goliath, but in actuality, Hogan had the full backing by a billionaire to keep the lawsuit going.
I read Gawker back when it was running - usually when a scandalous story was linked to on Digg. This book turned that history on its head, causing me to realize just what I was supporting with those pageviews.
Although I don't back Thiel either. As a prominent Trump supporter, he lost all credibility with me as someone fighting against bullies.
Even with a cast of questionable characters, this story reads like a real-life version of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Great follow up to the first of the series. Sanderson develops on the world in just the way you'd want - with twists and turns leaving you wanting more. I already can't wait for the next one in this series.