john holst

It's a very interesting topic and had a lot of ideas I found appealing (as an American). Not sure how hopeful I'd find his predictions if I was not American. Though, the whole book I kept wondering. Wouldn't all itd take for this not to pass is Americans as a collective to not abandon the rest of the world. We seem to like to get into other people's business. Seems weird to assume that it'll peter out as we b come energy independent. Who knows. It's been 7 years. The world doesn't seem that much different from 2014 from here. Pandemic aside. 

This book has a lot of syntax and lingo that takes a while before you get submerged. Once you're in, it's a very engaging read. It's a very interesting take on a sci-fi future. Vr/ar was especially engaging. Highly recommend!

This was a very well written, well paced book. I loved the version of the future that was depicted. It felt very real. The idea that the “replicator” would turn us into healthy “potatoes” instead of the federation of planets seems very possible given social media and streaming entertainment services and how you basically never have to leave your home already. 

This was a very good look into game development. Listening to podcasts and reading articles during the development of all these games gave me some insight into the surface level of what happened but Schreier definitely dives deep and gives context. It is a hard look into a difficult art form and career. Highly recommend to anyone who has a passing interest into video games.

I loved the three body problem trilogy but ball lightning was no where near those levels. The first 2/3s of the book were alright but after a character comes back and starts telling their 20 page long life story it got very long in the tooth. The bit at the very end got me interested but all in all I can't say this lives up to three body.
Still worth a read but skim the parts you don't like.

The book was written in a style that was hard to get into. Deforest, the man, was just so inspiring and interesting that he kept me reading. The ending was terribly sad and poignant. I don't consider 3 stars to be a bad rating.

This should be classified as a horror book. It was gripping and terrifying but very informative. Micheal Lewis does it again.

Some of the short stories were interesting but not big and awesome like his longer series' or other big books.  Some of them felt so small they didn't even need to be the 100 or so pages they were. 

This definitely felt like a dark middle chapter of a trilogy. There were long stretches where I knew there was a plan but I couldn't decipher what it was. It kept me hooked until the end where I was surprised. I like this book but not on the same level as the first book.

This book at times required a weird amount of suspension of disbelief on my part for a large portion of the plot points and the “physics” of how things happened. That being said I really enjoyed this book. The concept and the plot beats were really fun. I love AI concepts in general and this one was really entertaining.
If you can get past the idea of an AI scanning dna with a blue tooth espresso machine and see the good parts - check this out.

I am not normally a reader of non-fiction let alone historical near-biographical non-fiction. Having said that, this was an extremely interesting book written about the Wright brothers. It was recommended to me by a coworker who knew nothing about my reading habits but he talked it up so much that I had to give it a try and I was not disappointed.
Reading about the early 1900s really puts into perspective the differences in attitudes and the differences in how we react to new inventions; new technologies. Its easy to become jaded and apathetic about the insane things that come out these days. Reading about the excitement and wonder of watching a plane fly really puts those things into perspective.

This book is exceptionally good. It took me years to read it because no library near me carried it but I eventually found the form on the library site for them to procure it and books 2 and 3 in the series. Well worth the wait. The concept is very interesting and I like the idea of a Star Trek v'ger style ship but instead of gaining sentience, it was a human in a computer. I can't wait to see where the series goes and how this ramps up to a true ‘Bobiverse'.

I got to page 472 which is where So Long And Thanks For All The Fish starts. For years upon years people have told me to read the hitchhikers guide and after finally getting around to it, I've realized its not just not written in a way that appeals to me. There is comedy there I know there is but the way its written is hard for me to get through.

My rating is based on my personal preferences and I do not think it should preclude anyone from trying the book out themselves and seeing if its for them. Just because I couldn't get through it doesnt mean that there isn't quality there for someone else to find.

This book starts off fun and engaging but after he breaks out of jail it really slows down for me. The idea of gravity mirrors and super science gone wild is fun. This did not live up to my idea. 

This was probably my favorite since the first book. I rather dislike the large chapters in the other books in the series that aren't involving the Roci crew. Nemesis Games was ALL them. It was more personal and I enjoyed it.

Maybe it's the nature of reading graphic novels but I feel like the stories blow by real fast. I guess they are just better read issue by issue instead of all at once in a compendium.

These giant books are great compilations of the comics. Very well drawn lots of extra stuff sketches and cover art.

This was a good continuation of the Old Man's War series. it's not easy to talk about this book with out spoiling it but suffice it to say the universe Scalzi builds in this series is incredibly detailed and unique. as I catch up to the current novel I find my self forcing my self to slow down so the wait between books isn't so long.

These books are deceptively insightful and well written. You wouldn't think Hank would be that good at first and second bat until you realize a lot of the metaphors subtle and overt are directly related to things I'm sure Hank has gone through. Things we as a society are currently going through. It's crazy to realize Hank could distill the themes down to a cool sci-fi-esque story that is fun to read. Good job Hank.

It's about 3.5 stars. I really liked this book but the first fourth to maybe third of the book is tough to read. The main characters style of speech and level of understanding of what's happening around her make it hard for you to suss out what's happening. After that though it really picks up and I blew through the rest of the book.

If you've read the first book, this is about on par quality and enjoyment-wise as that one. The cool old photographs I think are a little less literally a thing they are looking at like in the first one and more an accompaniment to the story. Still very cool.

Its hard to rate this book. I enjoyed the story. The characters were kind of bland, stock noir archetypes. I enjoyed the setting. The future jargon was a bit too far, I was still trying to decipher it by the end of the book. Because of the pace and the high bar set by the future jargon I wasn't reading this as fast as I normally do despite enjoying the book after I stopped reading it.

It is a conundrum. I gave this book 3 stars but really its like 3.7 stars. I will probably read another book set in this universe. I can only imagine it gets easier to parse and becomes more of a ride and less of a puzzle.

I found this book by looking for a list of books about long-term relationships and making them work. This was a very good read, not so much for relationships exactly but a way to frame your own thinking and life to get the most happiness out of it. She repeats throughout the book that you cannot control other people but you can control yourself. Making yourself happy makes the people around you happy.

Would highly recommend.

This is not my genre, my girlfriend, who never rates books, told me this was 5/5 for her. She has different tastes in books than me. I am more hard sci-fi or science-related non-fiction. She appreciates the fiction that takes place early or pre 1900's and has to do with drugs or has a spiritual bend to it. This book covers all over her pre-requisites.

I will say I appreciated the story. It's about a family dealing with death, drugs, vague spiritual powers that they don't really discuss, prison, being black in the early 1900s (?). I like that they jumped perspective a lot. The son, the mom, the spirits, the grandparents.

That said I tended to skim some parts that got a bit confusing. Multiple characters talk at once, but only one character can hear one of them and also the dialect and accents are hard to read but I believe that is just period appropriate.

I would recommend this book, especially if this is the genre you gravitate towards.

This book was pretty good. I enjoyed the overall plot. Each chapter is a different characters story and some of the characters are hard to like but the good ones make up for it in spades.