Emma Goto

Alex is a girl with an edgy dark past who can see ghosts. So she ends up at Yale with the job of watching over a bunch of rich kids in secret societies perform very unethical magic (e.g. operating on some random dude to tell the future).

For the short period of time Alex's mentor, Darlington, was around he came off as super pretentious mansplainer. As soon as he disappears though I kept reading hoping for him to come back. The book doesn't feel as exciting when Alex has to fumble through solving a murder mystery by herself.

I do enjoy how the story jumps between different periods of time as we build up to finally learning how Darlington disappeared.I also liked how it turns out that Daisy was right there all along, but the concept of Alex and other murdered girls being a “wheel” kind of comes out of nowhere and just feels like the setup for book #2.

It reminds me a lot of The Way of Kings in that the main character is an underdog from a lower “class”, who strives to become as strong as the warrior nobles (a feat considered impossible).

However, unlike TWOK it only follows one character's perspective, and he spends all his time surrounded by dudes as they train together and fight against each other. Even though their society is supposed to be matriarchal, the only evidence of that is that people take their mother's surname. Beyond that I'm not really seeing anything different and would've liked the author to explore that aspect a bit more.

I think I did feel a bit disappointed that although the women have strength (they can summon dragons) they still need to be protected by the men, and the main female characters only seem to exist as potential love interests. I've probably been spoiled by the Priory of the Orange Tree!

Nonetheless it was still an enjoyable read though, would recommend for fantasy lovers.

Loved how the Angela's backstory (one of the main characters) was revealed throughout the book. The potential alien lurking throughout the book was pretty gripping too. The book was longer than it needed to be though.

I didn't find Angela's romances to be that convincing either. She's put on such a pedestal (in terms of appearance) and then gets with some ordinary dudes. She uses Paresh, but then ends up caring for him, but I feel like a hardened badass like Angela would end up ditching him?Also Ian's creepy stalking near the end of the book was sort of acknowledged, but then all swept under the rug as soon as he got with the girl. His coworkers didn't even care that he was abusing police powers to watch her on cameras. Felt useless as a side plot if there wasn't going to be any consequences for it.

So Scout finds out that her dad Atticus is a racist, and she's not because she's “color blind” (but would never marry a black person so is she really) and then in the end she forgives him and all is well.

Feels bizarre to me because the climax of the book is Scout's argument with Atticus, and the resolution is that she was wrong to argue because Atticus is a racist but at least he's not a mega-racist?

Feel like the book should have come with an introduction explaining that it's just a draft of a book, it feels wrong that it's been sold as-is.

There was a lot more action in this than the first book (which I gave 4 stars).

I'm really hoping there isn't going to be a love triangle in one of the future books but it seems like it's heading that way. Or maybe Adolin can be killed off so that Kaladin will swoop in. Also it felt convenient that in the end the Parshendi were considered the bad guys, and it was the right thing to do to kill them off, so that our characters could remain as the heroes of the story. Would have liked to see more of the "good" Parshendi (maybe that will come in a future book?)

I'll give it a 4.5 stars. An interesting retelling of Achilles' story, focusing on his relationship with Patroclus. The Iliad itself doesn't outright mention any sort of romance between the two of them but interestingly, other ancient Greeks did interpret it as a romance. It's only more recently that people were keen to interpret their relationship as a friendship instead.

I enjoyed how flawed Achilles' character became as his pride got the better of him.The ending didn't really make me as sad as I thought it would, since in the end the two were reunited in the afterlife. Another fun fact I learnt was that Achilles and Patroclus were really buried in the same tomb, and that Alexander the Great and his male "companion" (friendship or romantic, who knows) paid it a visit.

A meandering look at the Mormon religion - its history, right from its founder Joseph Smith and his secret proclivities for polygamy, the founding of Utah, through to present-day Mormonism and its many offshoots (notably the fundamentalist Mormons who still practice polygamy). Krakaeur also makes a connection between some of the violence committed by Mormons in its early history with the murders carried out by two fundamentalist Mormons in the present day.

Published in 2003, I can imagine this book did some good towards exposing some of the church's dark sides (for instance it wasn't until 2013 when they stopped discouraging interracial marriage at their youth groups). However it did feel anti-religion and anti-Mormon (although weirdly Krakauer preferred to express this via quoting from books/other resources rather than outright saying it himself) which as a non-religious person I'm fine with but is probably very off-putting for any potential Mormon readers.

I was also expecting more of a “true crime” style novel but instead I felt like there was a lot of jumping around. The author would mention present-day Mormons towards the start of the novel and then reference them again towards the end (although making sure though to remind you who they were) which didn't really help me to connect with their stories.

A detailed look into the history of Scientology. Honestly scary how much they can get away with without the US government being able to do anything. E.g. all the stalking they do to try and get people who leave to come back, or how they abuse their followers (technically willingly, but cmon they're basically brainwashed).

I've given it a 5 since it was very detailed and well researched, however it isn't quite as gripping to read as something like a book on Jonestown for example (which is morbid to say) so it's probably more like a 4.5.

A fun read, I devoured it in one sitting. Not sure I'm super keen on the ending though.

It's really good if you don't think about it too hard. But Addie and Henry didn't really have anything in common other than the fact that there was literally no one else they could be in relationships with. But Addie is happy to give that away (and Henry seems fine with it also) and seems fine with being with the devil for the next however many years. I dunno, it feels like it shouldn't have been a happy ending.

The author has had a very, very impressive career helping to champion the art of hostage negotiation within the FBI.

It goes into detail on both Ruby Ridge and Waco, which has coincidentally been mentioned in a couple of other books I have recently read (like Educated) so it's been good to get that additional context on American history.

Obviously Gary Noesner's done a lot of great things and has saved a lot of people but I felt at times he was patting himself on the back a bit too much. There was a lot of “I'm right and you're wrong” which I wanted to take seriously but at the same time felt like I had to take with a grain of salt due to the heavy bias throughout the book.

Listened to this one (+ its follow-up, “Habits for Happiness at work”) for free through Audible.

There's the usual suspects - getting enough sleep, getting enough exercise. Tim Sharp also recommends creating a vision board for what happiness would look like for you, and then setting SMART goals to work towards achieving them.

One highlight for me was the mention of the “tyranny of when” (which after Googling looks like is a phrase he coined himself). i.e. we shouldn't be falling into the trap of “When X happens I will be happy”. I'm definitely guilty of this one!

Might be worth a listen if you've used up your credits on your Audible account but I wouldn't go out of your way to listen to it otherwise.

Listened to the audiobook version, well narrated.

A very “Aussie” coming-of-age story, set in 1980s Brisbane, filled with a bunch of colourful characters - Vietnamese drug dealers, a bikie gang member, and real-life Slim Halliday (“The Houdini of Boggo Road”) who escaped twice from a Brisbane jail. What makes it all the more amazing is the book is partially based on the author's own childhood (Slim was once his babysitter, and his dad really did spend his days living as a chain-smoking recluse who read books all day).

One of the major themes of the book is what makes someone a "good man". The main character Eli is trying to figure out if he is a good man, as well as if the people around him (who have criminal backgrounds) are also good men. It's interesting that people like convicted felon Slim and bikie gang member Alex are portrayed in that "good man" light even after their past misdeeds, but someone like Teddy is "bad" once their bad deeds are uncovered. Maybe would have been cool to get that redemption, but also highlights Eli's potential naivety / young age throughout most of the book.

3.5 stars - I wouldn't recommend you go out and read it, but it's not complete trash either.

The book covers the concept of nudges - how small changes to the way people are presented choices will change their decisions. The key point being you aren't removing the ability to choose or removing certain choices, just the way they are presented.

E.g. adding health warnings to cigarette packs or making organ donation opt-out rather than opt-in.

However the book also does a lot of pondering on the way American society could be improved by these nudges (e.g. healthcare) and even gets side tracked onto the topic of changing how marriage works.

As a non-American and non-politician, a lot of this felt irrelevant to me. The authors made good suggestions but at the same time they're just telling me things that I'm not going to be able to do anything about anyway.

It's also a bit dated. At one point the authors make a joke that women in Sweden were more likely to choose a portfolio because the authors' wives are organised (idk, some sort of stereotype about women? Felt weird to read).

The book wasn't horrific (I finished reading it!), but I've definitely read better sci-fi. 3.5 stars.

I was a huge fan of the Eragon books as a kid so I was interested to see what Paolini had come up with next.

In Eragon, the dude bonds with a dragon (which makes him OP and very unique), runs into some elves and dwarves, and then has to save the world from evil.

Switch genders, replace dragon with magic spacesuit, and have aliens instead of fantasy characters and it's the same sort of thing.


Things I didn't like:
* I love sci-fi because it feels realistic - like humans are going to get there in 100 or 500 years. Unfortunately I didn't really get those vibes from this book. It felt a bit too fantastical. In a way the suit the main character obtains just feels like magic powers that help propel the plot by getting her out of sticky situations
* The above-mentioned suit makes the main character seem like an invincible Mary Sue who can get out of any situation. She suddenly gets strong like halfway through the book and turns into a killing machine
* Her main personality trait is that she's a xenobiologist. Paolini loves to bring up every two seconds how she's so interested in studying the foreign environment around her but can't stop because she's saving the world
* Main character's original boyfriend's only purpose is to die immediately and then she spends the rest of the book thinking about him. Felt very shallow. You could also see the second romance coming from a mile away, and it felt pretty cringe, like he was the only option on board and she just went with it
* There was a character very similar to Angela from Eragon (the eccentric / mysterious cat lady) who I think was originally based off of Paolini's sister. I guess it's supposed to be a nice nod to previous fans but it did feel out of place and overall unnecessary to the plot.
* So much travelling back and forth between locations. Honestly the characters spend sooo much time on the ship, it really doesn't help to bring out that sci-fi feel i.e. exploring different societies and cultures in depth (we do get to see a bit of it among the aliens but I would've loved to see more, even among the humans)

I will admit the one thing I didn't see coming was how she suddenly turned into Mother Earth at the end of the book, which conveniently does away with the second cringey romance which was nice. Again though it's kind of just making the character super OP (like she just builds a space station out of magic basically) and doesn't really feel sci-fi.

As someone who has only read one of King's books (the one on JFK's assassination) and is currently not aspiring to be a fiction author, I don't think I was the target reader for this book.

Some of the writing tips from King:

* Read a lot (King reads 70 - 80 books a year) especially in the genre that you want to write in
* Write a lot. King was submitting short stories from a young age.

Note that for both of the above points, the author doesn't consider them to be “chores” but finds them genuinely enjoyable (i.e. don't become a fiction author if you don't love every minute of it).

* Have a set schedule - King spends each morning writing until he is finished
* Write in a room with the door. The room should be free of distractions, and you shouldn't leave the room until you've reached your goal e.g. 1000 words.
* The second draft should be 10% shorter than the first draft.
* Have an “ideal reader” in mind when writing. King uses his wife.
* Steer clear of adverbs and try and use mainly “he said, she said” in dialogue. The context should be what's getting your point across and thus making the additional adverbs/ different verbs redundant.
* Use active voice, not a passive voice, because it sounds better.

I give this one a 3.5/5 because while it wasn't necessarily terrible, I wouldn't recommend anyone else to read it.

It tries to sort of explore the morality of self-driving cars (and who should die in case of an accident) but it felt fairly shallow. The main character gives fairly obvious arguments against the “evil” people who want autonomous cars to take over the road. I think at times the dialogue wasn't that great. The cringiest moment for me was when a social media expert walks into a courtroom and says:

“Nobody knows more about mass communication that I do. I know my machine learning from my micromoments; my conversions from my clickbait; my organic reach from my omni-channels and my big data from my business intelligence...” (He keeps going too!)

Like, who talks like that? Maybe it was on purpose to highlight how silly his character is but it just made me cringe, really.

I accidentally started this book 70% of the way through (I must have accidentally tapped a chapter title from the index at the beginning and my kindle took me to it). I didn't even notice! I finished it, and thought “wow, that was so short”.

I dunno what that says about the book that I could skip most of it and not realise.

I think the ending was a bit too much “wow I'm fully cured now here I go to live happily ever after”. It didn't feel too realistic. The moral of the story is probably “the grass is always greener” and you don't realise what you have until you lose it. Yes, her brother and bestie are alive and well but is she really going to be fulfilled for the rest of her life knowing what she's missed out on?

12-year old Edward is the sole survivor of a plane crash that kills his parents and his brother.

The book starts off in the hours before the plane takes off, as we are introduced to Edward and his family, as well as other people who boarded the same plane. At first it feels a little bit pointless, getting to know all these people who are going to die. It gets more interesting once the book starts switching back and forth between Edward's life in the years after the crash, and the moments leading up to the crash itself.

Ultimately it's a book about survivor's guilt and surviving the loss of your entire family. I felt it reached a quite satisfying conclusion, as well.

Half of the Galvin family's 12 children (incl 10 boys!) have schizophrenia. A riveting read into the Galvin family, the toll schizophrenia takes, and the advances made in the research of schizophrenia over the last 50+ years.

Commendable that the many of the Galvin family came forward to give interviews for this book. They suffered a great deal. I hope this book helps them to heal and/or gives them some consolation that their family ended up being a help to the advancement of schizophrenia research.

The main character has a year of rest and relaxation - by bingeing on pills that let her sleep for days at a time, only waking up to eat and watch TV.

Looking at the reviews, it seems like this book is one you either love or hate, depending on whether you have sympathy for the main character or not. She's kind of a terrible person but at the same time I enjoyed her as a character. I'm not about to binge on pills but I can sort of relate - sometimes I just want to play videos games alone all day and not have to think about doing anything else (definitely not for an entire year though!).

As the author rightly points out, most productivity books are written by men. It's good to see this book tackle things from a slightly different perspective - a woman who's trying to balance both her career ambitions as well as raising a family and running a household.

Vanderkam reasons that in order to have enough time to do the things we need, we should outsource the things we aren't good at, like household chores. Since people spend so much money on cars, etc., what's a little bit more money spend on outsourcing your laundry, etc.? Not sure I completely agree with this concept, or that outsourcing is as cheap as the author claims it is (maybe that's because I don't live in America).

Standout point for me was the author's mention of “flow” states and how a study was done that shows that people who spend more time in flow (focused on challenging yet doable work) are happier. Heard of being in a state of “flow” before but didn't know that it actually makes you happier (but that makes sense). Going to go research that more.

This book was definitely a mindfuck. Docking a star because the sex scenes were super cringey (the dude has possessive vibes, sort of reminiscent of Edward from Twilight or the main guy in Fifty Shades which I guess is what people want).

Especially when Lowen tries to get pregnant, like you barely know the guy and his comatose wife is in the house! Please stop!

However it all redeems itself by the end.

I didn't see that twist coming! What I don't get is that Jeremy knew about the manuscript from the beginning, but had to go and re-read it when Lowen gave it to him. Feels a bit random.In a way the book gave me Rebecca vibes. New wife lives in house, feels haunted by old wife.

Vaguely reminds me of New Moon where Bella switches from Edward to Jacob. I actually found it kind of hilarious how the first book hypes up the romance so much and then BAM she gets with another dude lmao. The author goes straight to painting the original romantic lead as a villain and it felt very one dimensional, like it completely removed him from the equation. Feel like it could've been more spicy if both the dudes were still options.

It's kinda cool to go back and read the scenes with Rhys from the first book and you're like ohhh.

Also the main character literally has like 3 male friends and her sisters are getting with 2 of them??? Feels a bit too forced, not everyone has to be in a romance.

I still enjoyed it tho? Not sure I want to give it 4 stars, maybe 3.5.

I love a good sci-fi novel!! The main character Mahit becomes the new ambassador for her small mining station and gets to fulfill her childhood dream of visiting the Empire. Of course there's one small problem in that her predecessor died under mysterious circumstances and a bunch of politics ensue.

Even though the Empire is this overwhelming force that could at any time annex her home, I likex how it wasn't just Empire = bad and Mahit's station = good. Mahit grew up enjoying a lot of the empire's cultural exports e.g. poetry and gets to know some of its people as well through her work as an ambassador.

The other cool part about this book is the maintaining of heritage through copies of people's consciousnesss. Essentially you have a copy of the mind of your predecessor living in you, so that with each successive generation the knowledge can continue to grow and be passed down. I would love to see this concept explored more in future books.

The book starts off quite abstract as we are introduced to the concept of New York being “born” into a human body. Once we are introduced to the five boroughs of NY, also in human form, it becomes a lot easier to follow. Basically there's a big bad enemy trying to kill off New York (the city and the person) and the boroughs have to team up to try and stop them.

Overall this was an alright read. Since there was a lot of character introducing to do, and the book is fairly short, it feels like this one did a lot of setup for book #2. Might give it a read if it turns out good or I might not.