Corey McCaffrey

Shadows of Self is an exceptionally good entry in the Mistborn series. I was so impressed with how Sanderson leveraged the original Mistborn trilogy to tell this fresh and exciting story. Even if you weren't completely sold on Wax and Wayne after The Alloy of Law, I highly recommend sticking with them long enough to get to this one.

This book is a short introduction (well, relatively short, by Sanderson's standards) to the second Mistborn era. I can't think of another series I've read like this one where the first part becomes the lore and religious background of the second part. The setting and style of these books is totally different but still immensely entertaining. There is continuity with the magic system, but it turns out there is still plenty more to it than we thought we knew.

The Hero of Ages is a satisfying conclusion to the first Mistborn trilogy. I was a little disappointed with the arc several of the characters took, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the series. I've heard that Brandon Sanderson carefully outlines his books, considering himself an architect in his craft, and it shows. As someone who appreciates an author's efforts to tie up loose ends and reward readers who pay attention to the little details, Sanderson does not disappoint in the slightest.

I enjoyed the second book of the first trilogy in some ways more than The Final Empire. I understood the basic rules of the world and the magic system, and it was enjoyable seeing how one of the central characters has grown into her power. This entry builds a bit more slowly, but the last third or so unputdownable.

5 stars for the thesis and big ideas, 1 star for dated examples, old-fashioned sexism, and sprawling chapters.

Brief, enjoyable addition to His Dark Materials / Book of Dust. I reread it shortly after finishing La Belle Sauvage. The other short stories Once Upon a Time in the North and The Collectors are also good, but this is the only one featuring Lyra.

This is probably a five-star book, though I can't help but compare it to The Golden Compass / Northern Lights (the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy), which is hard to beat. I also probably expected too much—I have been anticipating this book for about twelve years.

I was also a little surprised by the use of so many horror tropes, especially the way the main villain, increasingly injured and insane, kept popping back up to terrorize the protagonists.

Still, I found Malcolm endearing (albeit perhaps a little too much like Will), and I am looking forward to the next two volumes.

I've been following Cal Newport's blog, Study Hacks, for a while, so a lot of the ideas presented here were familiar, but it was still a great, great book with organization, depth, and insight that has inspired directly measurable improvements to my productivity and satisfaction with work.

This book should be at the top of your list for 8th grade graduation gifts. Look past the somewhat sensationalist title—this book is a practical, insightful guide for navigating high school toward college admissions with less stress, competition, and busyness.

I recommend Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You instead. And also his more recent book Deep Work.

Great book, but I just skimmed it. It was preaching to the choir.

The Final Empire was the first Brandon Sanderson book I had read, and I read every Mistborn book published so far (through Bands of Mourning and Secret History) almost back-to-back. The series is exceptionally enjoyable, with a fun magic system and compelling characters and story.

If this first book had been the only Mistborn book ever written, I think it would have stood well on its own. For anyone daunted by the prospect of starting a new series with six books and counting so far, you could read this one and stop. But once you've read this one, you'll probably want to keep going.

I learned about this book during an OK interview with the author on Betterment's new podcast. I was curious, and it's a short, super-quick read. Mostly I didn't like it—the style, the attitude, questionable hypotheticals, and questionable advice (overemphasis on 401(k), bonds, and homeownership). It's mostly aimed at personal finance beginners, but I hesitate to recommend it even for beginners because there are better sources of information out there.

It gets two stars because the underlying thesis (automate everything related to saving and spending) is spot on. If you're not automating everything already, maybe this is worth a couple hours. Or skip this and read Nudge and The Willpower Instinct instead.

I have fond memories of reading this book as a kid, and I recently reread it with my kids. My kindergartener was captivated by the characters and the descriptions of Willy Wonka's fantastical inventions.

Not bad, but I thought the author's more recent book The More of Less was better, more or less. If you're already familiar with the author's material, you can either skip this one, or skim it for the practical suggested habits in each chapter.

Action-packed page-turner. A Science Friday interview with the author made the first 50 pages or so a lot less mysterious and surprising than the author intended, but the rest of the book was an exciting, character-driven exploration of a popular interpretation of quantum mechanics.

This book is good for fans of The Minimalists. If you're not familiar, start with their TED talks, their blog, or their podcast. However, by the time you are acquainted with them, most of this book will be a review of familiar stories.

A skeptical, cynical introduction to secular meditation and mindfulness, nestled within a memoir full of ABC News inside baseball.

Failed to inspire me. There are better introductions to focused work (Deep Work by Cal Newport is my favorite. Essentialism was pretty good too.)

Quick read. If you can ignore the occasional sprinkling of Christian scripture (author is a former pastor), the rest is pretty good guidance for suburbanite families.

A good reminder that appearances can be deceptive, but I didn't particularly enjoy the book, and it's not really helpful as, say, a guide to personal finance.

A fun tour of important concepts in statistics, probability, and other areas of math, with effective storytelling and connecting concepts through mathematician biographies and modern applications. A highlight was the story of the MIT Cash WinFall lottery team that rivals stories of the MIT Blackjack Club.

Picked it up when I heard that a TV series is in the works. It's an entertaining twist on modernized mythology, but it's nothing like Percy Jackson.

I'm glad I finished the series, but I found it a lot less compelling than the first two books.

Must-read Holocaust literature. I finally picked it up shortly after Elie Wiesel's death. I regret not reading it when I was younger.