Cams

It's not really my cup of tea at all. I bought it because an ad came up on my Kindle and I liked the cover. That said, the last 20% or so was just beautiful and had my eyes moistening a little I'm not afraid to admit.

I don't really get it. And the pages smell awful. I bought this at a concert I really enjoyed. The book was expensive and pretty rubbish. Maybe I'm just not the right audience, but I do get JoCo's songs, so I thought I would be the right audience. I only really bought the book to support him and do my bit to make sure he keeps making great music, so I'm that sense it was worth it.

It's fine. I just don't have time for it in my reading schedule. I got it from the library after hearing a BookTuber haul video that made it sound appealing. 

I got this from a very good friend as a birthday present like the day after another friend had recommended it to me. The Universe was obviously conspiring to get me to read this phenomenal book.

My eyes are a little moist. What a novel. It captures Glasgow as a character perfectly.

This was a helpful book. I've been sober since 2005 and still learned a lot from this book. I got sober through AA so I am very well aware of its tenets. It was interesting to hear the author's view on the idea that alcoholism is a disease. My biggest takeaway was the section on FAB memory. I mean I knew about it before, but I'd never really thought about it where blackouts are concerned. I'm still curious to learn more. Maybe I'll listen to volume 2.

As I was reading this, I was thinking to myself that this should be compulsory material for schools. Then the author hit upon that very point towards the end of the book. He talked about how school pupils surveyed responded that they had learned about sex, about nutrition, about general health and exercise but NOT about the importance of sleep.

I can see me buying this book for people as gifts. In fact, I'm going to do just that today for my wife. Then there will be a hardcopy round the house for me to dip into as well.

The Audible version is very well narrated: easy to follow and a pleasant voice to listen to.

12 Tips for Better Sleep from the Appendix:

1. Sleep schedule. Set a bedtime alarm.
2. Exercise not too late in the day.
3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine. It can take 8 hours for caffeine to leave your body.
4. Avoid alcohol before bed. It robs you of REM sleep.
5. Avoid large meals late at night.
6. Avoid medicines that delay your sleep.
7. Don't nap after 3pm.
8. Relax before bed.
9. Take a hot bath before bed to reduce your core temperature.
10. Dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget-free bedroom.
11. Get exposure to daylight through the day.
12. Don't lie in bed awake. Get up after having been awake for 20 minutes.

This one's had a lot of negative reviews and I almost didn't bother with it on the strength of those reviews, but I'm glad I did. Perhaps that's what's pushing me to go four, rather than 3 stars: my expectations were exceeded. It ties in nicely with [b:Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance 27213329 Grit The Power of Passion and Perseverance Angela Duckworth https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1457889762l/27213329.SY75.jpg 45670634], by Angela Duckworth. It talks about many of the same ideas and I'm at a stage in my life where I feel like I need to hear these ideas and act upon them. I'm 49 and starting again, again. I need to believe that I can be what I want to be and my fixed mindset is holding me back in quite a big way. I loved the idea that came out at the end of the book that you can name your fixed mindset characters and acknowledge them when they show up in a mindful way. I'm going to give that some thought, though I don't have a name chosen yet. Yes, the sports analogies DO get a little tiresome, but as examples of the book's primary message, it's hard to find a better example. Grit seems to be synonymous with the growth mindset, so you could really read this or that book and get the same takeaway. If you had to choose just one, I'd go with this one, especially the Audible version as it's narrated so well by Bernadette Dunne.

As a user of Apple products and a follower of their fortunes, this was a must-read for me. I have listened to many pundits discussing the book, and no review was better than that of Ars Technica's John Siracusa on the 5by5 podcast, Hypercritical. He was rather scathing of the book in so much as it was written by the wrong guy. Isaacson is not a tech guy and is writing about something he does not really understand.

That said, I still had to read the book for myself and, although I didn't enjoy it a great deal, it was still worth reading.

Make of that what you will.

I got this as a Christmas present and tucked into over the holidays. It brought back to me instantly why I've read so many Stephen King novels. I love his writing style and it gives me great pleasure to read such a master of his craft. As with other King novels, this one grabbed a hold of my attention and wouldn't let me go until I was done. No TV, no Facebook, just Doctor Sleep. And d'you know what? It was helluva enjoyable.

So, why only three stars? I felt let down slightly by the end section. I can't really put my finger on why and I don't want to add spoilers to my review. It's also, as I've found with a lot of Stephen King novels, quite forgettable. Thrilling, attention-grabbing and forgettable. It's a strange combo.

I did love the AA and recovery that permeated Dan Torrance's story. Let's just say I can relate.

And the reference to the Dark Tower made me laugh out loud with joy. I think this is the first of his novels I've read since finishing that series. His reference in the afterword was a peach, too.

I've just added The Shining to my list for the year. Of course I've seen the movie, but never read the book, and that's rather unlike me.

A crime novel by Stephen King. I don't know why I keep persevering with SK's novels. Somehow I keep going till the end even though I'm not really enjoying it. It's easy listening I suppose (audiobook). This one was two stars, barely.

Just finished the audio book of Stephen King's latest novel. It was very enjoyable, but I feel empty afterwards. Good entertainment but does not feed the soul. A throw-away page-turner.

The concept was very clever and the characters were wonderful and deep, as Stephen King's characters always are. That's what kept me going I think.

If you've enjoyed other Stephen King novels, chances are you'll enjoy this.

Just got the super bumper edition of all the Sherlock Holmes stories read by Stephen Fry on Audible. I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed this quite so much if anyone else had been reading it. Plot wise, it's a 3. Performance by Stephen Fry, 4. Writing style and engagement, 4. The descriptive writing at the beginning of the second part, the back-in-time part, is excellent. It drew me right in and felt just a little bit like Steinbeck. Not a lot mind you, but enough that I was drawn right in which, up until then, the novel hadn't done.

Classic!

Makes me want to read Salem's Lot. Clever on the author's part!

I enjoyed the previous novel in the series more than I did this one, but they both get three stars. This one was entertaining, and good enough to hold my attention enough for me to delete unheard podcasts to make way for it. A good sign. But it feels bloated, with too much padding.

A surface-level book that looks at the culture wars as it stands in 2022, using the former Soviet Union as a foil to guard against. 

Awesome, throw-away fiction. Entertaining as anything I've ever read, and completely unlike the movie.

I really enjoyed the Tao of Pooh; not so much the Te of Piglet. That one got a little too icky for me with the politics and all.

The information contained in this book is potentially life-changing. I know I will be buying it or recommending it for friends and family. But see if he calls me ‘Buttercup' or refers to my ‘fanny' one moe time? I'll unread the book and give it one star. Honest to God. Does Robb Wolf he think that this kind of ‘friendly' chat will balance the science? Well, for this particular reader, it doesn't. It just annoyed me. Surely an editor would pick up on the fact that this book would be read outside the USA, where fannies are the exclusive domain of the fairer sex.

But I cared enough about the content to try and ignore the annoying sugar coating, and it was worth persevering. I'll probably have to read it again, armed with the general layout of the eating requirements, the science might make more sense second time around.

A friend bought me this to convert me into a graphic novels guy. I enjoyed it well enough, but I wouldn't say I'm all in. I shall not, however, close my mind to trying another one.

An absolute trip down memory lane and a moving tale in so many ways. It has led me to question many aspects of my own life. If only I and my group of friends in the 80s had had a Yauch in our midst. I feel like we and the Beasties grew up together, though they were a little older than we. But they were there through our teenage years and further. I remember delivering the whole of Paul Revere in C Troop corridor during basic training when I was 16 under orders from my troop sergeant. The VW badge thing? Yep, we did that too.

And now I find myself tearing up at the What If question posed at the end of the book. Imagining what it must be like to lose a friend like that.

I shall not regret the past now with to shut the door on it, but I will think about it nostalgically, as I often do.

I might be a little dusted...

I heard about it on the back of the TV show. Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson were talking about it on Security Now.

I was an enjoyable book in a similar vein to Dan Brown. There was some good science in it which, to a non-science person like me, seems to have been well researched. I always enjoy books that make me think, and time travel is a thing that really fascinates me. It was dealt with very well in this novel, but it wasn't turgid to the point where the story was lost or the pace was slowed down.

I give it three stars.

This came along at a good time for me. I discovered it via an excellent post by Merlin Mann on his 43folders.com website, entitled No One Needs Permission to be Awesome, in which he states:

If that sounds like fancy incense for hippies and children, perhaps in a way that seems frankly un-doable for someone as practical and important and immortal as yourself, then go face death.Go get cancer. Or, go get crushed by a horse Or, go get hit by a van. Or, go get separated from everything you ever loved forever.

The part in bold is the part that relates to Viktor Frankl.

I've been in the 12-step AA program for over 5 years now and it has helped me immensely in finding meaning. The whole idea of ‘not regretting the past nor wishing to shut the door on it' ties in nicely with Viktor Frankl's philosophy.

I shan't give a synopsis of the book. Amazon does that nicely. What I will do is illustrate the parts that jumped out at me.

Firstly, it's okay not to be happy. There is huge potential for growth in suffering. This I have learned for myself, but to have it set down on paper with such great examples is very helpful to me.

Next, the true meaning of one's life may not be truly discernible until one reaches the end of one's life. People can actually change; this I know to be true through AA. The example he gives is of a doctor who was monstrous during the holocaust, but about whom he heard tales of goodness years later.

More may come back to me and I really shouldn't be attempting to write this in the few minutes that I have, but I know that if I don't write it now, it may not get written at all!

The first half of the book as about Frankl's time in concentration camps. The second half covers his philosophy of logotherapy (meaning therapy), which he had started to formulate before being arrested and deported to the camps. He actually refused to emigrate to the safety of the USA, knowing full well that he would end up in a concentration camp, because he felt it was his duty to remain with his family. His expectant wife, brother and both parents did not survive the camps. Imagine finding meaning after that? But he does.

If 42 no longer suffices for you as an answer, try this book. It could help!

A quick wee enjoyable read, covering some big topics such as racism and egotism. Might be a good one to read with my son (9) on the school run as Wil Wheaton reads it well and there is a lot of dialogue to drive the plot forward, not to mention some pretty decent humour. And who wouldn't love a dog that could set off explosives!

Some wisdom for sure, but very surface level and platitudy. I don't see this helping me all that much. You never know: I might find myself going back to it, but I doubt it. Certainly not worthy of a ‘top 3 books that changed my life' list, which is where I got the recommendation from.