Mari
This book has a dark, insightful sense of humor and I'm here for it! QualityLand highlights how aspects of our online lives drive our offline lines even when we don't realize it. Algorithms and ads unknowingly shape wants and desires in a way that can change personalities and real life relationships. Sound familiar?
"Machine Breakers" are QualityLand's anti-Utopia crowd who reject Universal Basic Income and investing in everyone's intellectual and physical health. Machine Breakers live in their own echo chamber and anything outside of that is suspect, discouraged, and violently destroyed.
Can algorithms be wrong? Yes. Can we easily update what those algorithms are based on? Not necessarily and that's where Peter Jobless' Sisyphean quest begins. In QualityLand vestigial, irrelevant data from years ago ends up throwing a wrench (in the form of a a little pink dolphin vibrator) in Peter's current life in the funniest and saddest ways.
Without saying much more, if you love movies like Minority Report, Idiocracy, and Don't Look Up, then QualityLand is for you.
This is a fun, quick and dirty tips to The Gottman Institute relationship courses and I'm here for it. I also welcomed the personal stories of how couples fight and repair. Oh and the songs! Nothing like a few fun songs and pantomiming clay pigeon shooting to get out any frustration.
This book is as hopeful as it is heartwrenching, but it's also a testament to the incredible human ability to persist and endure for the truth. Also, Alabama courts have elevated systemic racism to an unspeakable horror that leaves me breathless. One in ten inmates on death row are statistically innocent, yet courts tried everything in their power not to hear appeals on what should've been a mistrial. People can serve their time, but the death penalty shouldn't exist. Full stop.
This is not a light or fast read but what a beautiful, interesting journey. The swirling prose describing self-discovery, love, and loss are dense and enthralling. The defiant feminist fire lit in the first half ceded to quiet strength and acceptance and celebration of self in the second half. The imagery is as flighty as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl but the emotional bread crumbs left along the way kept me engaged. I wanted triumph for the author, I wanted a lot of things, but I didn't get them all and that's okay.
Jazz hands!
Ryland and <spoiler>Rocky</spoiler> are a dynamic duo for the ages. Every fist bump, every "amaze" made me giggle. The moment Ryland woke up on the Hail Mary felt like a nod to the <spoiler>1968 Planet of the Apes</spoiler>—the disorientation, fear, and realizations hitting all at once that made my skin prickle.
The scientific breakdowns were thankfully limited and used sparingly to drive the story forward. Ryland's wry, sardonic tone definitely helped keep me engaged too. Honestly, I cared more about Ryland and <spoiler>Rocky</spoiler> than Earth for most of the book. Honorable mention for that badass Eva Stratt, who basically lit a match, threw it over her shoulder, and walked away from an explosion in slow motion in an unexpected courtroom scene.
Oh and the ending! The moment Ryland walked through that door I knew and <spoiler>my heart expanded three sizes this day</spoiler>. The final chapter felt 100% earned.
Andy Weir writes the most engaging characters in sci-fi period.
Entertaining, eye-opening voyage into everyday cultish words and behavior. The tea is piping hot.
What a runaway train of rising stars and broken dreams in the Golden Age of Hollywood! The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo managed to keep both past and present storylines captivating while developing her characters and keeping pace. Great read.
Fast read but wow! Lots of entertaining information and travel adventures. I wish there were more travel stories instead of big recipes in the last few sections of the book. The recipes in this book would be better served as a companion bug cook book.
Underdeveloped characters, meandering tension build-up constantly interrupted by unearned relationship drama/wealth-related events, and no resolution. Absolutely not reading the rest of this series just for the satisfaction of an ending.
Every chapter taught me so many things about interpretation across cultures in both verbal and physical language. Meyer lays all her observations out on the table, framing countries into scales of communication, etc. This book will be a permanent fixture on my shelf once I get a copy of my own!
Zinnia and Charm have my heart. What an incredibly fun and breezy read! There's a fun smattering of subtle cinephile, book and board game references that thankfully lightened the darker undertone of Zinnia's situation--she's a realistic, nerdy heroine with fire and Charm is right there with some pizzazz. I only wish this novella was a full novel.
Liked the premise and loved the prose, but did not love the characters as much I thought I would. Still, this was a fun adventure around heaven, hell, and the spaces in between.
I didn't expect to enjoy this book so much! A lost princess finding where she belongs, a forbidden romance, hilarious quippy exchanges and misunderstandings--this book is fresh and effervescent. Just ride the frothy, sweet wave that is this rom-com and learn more about Japanese culture than you ever expected to learn from a contemporary romance. If you liked Crazy Rich Asians, you'll love this one.
Okay, so this book started out strong with Steel Magnolia vibes. Then, I somehow simultaneously hurked and cheered for wilting Patti to kick some butt a lá J.Lo in Enough. The midway point ignited my hatred for Carter (seriously f*ck that guy) and his Good Ol' Boys club–they were easily bought and obviously useless. Most interesting was which women chose to turn a blind eye because they were comfortable with their situations and which women chose to flex for some positive change. All in all, a fun spooky season read complete with those don't-go-in-there-shouting-at-the-screen feels.
This reads as a collection of historical vignettes where you're the detective and a Mike Rowe memoir. Unexpected but delightful! And poignant at times. Definitely a great read.
Pretty Good Number One accurately (sometimes hilariously!) tells all about the wonders of an American family eating they're way across Japan – Tokyo, Asakusa, Nakano, Kyoto and beyond.
No matter if you have or haven't been to Japan, if you love food and travel, this is a mega-fun read!
From cover-to-cover expect:
- A lot of helpful travel and food details
- Japanese micro-lessons
- Parenting anevdotes on raising an American pre-schooler to be an adventurous eater
Every chapter is as satisfying as the last, and reading this book was like revisiting Japan just a tiny bit.
The story lacked any kind of true antagonist, and although the main character had some interesting personal strife, that part of the story took a back seat to the constant cooking and decorating. The heroine is a skilled surgeon and discovers she is not as normal as she thought, and seeing her deal with the loss of control was interesting, but I wish that aspect of her character was expanded a little more. Instead, she spent her time shopping, decorting, et cetera. The story stagnated because of it. Then, the one mysterious person that could have shed light on the heroine's abilities disappears to be saved for another sequel, I'm sure.
The father-son relationship in this book was well-developed, and even though this book is just a part in a series, those characters felt whole.
Overall, I had a bland experience reading these characters, and I wouldn't read this book again or recommend it to friends.
Kaling's book is a fun read and written in a very conversational style, although the subjects change from paragraph-to-paragraph so often in the second half of the book like BuzzFeed listicles. If Kaling had a LiveJournal, this book is how I imagine how that LiveJournal would read.
Character motivations fell flat for me. The ending was also too abrupt. I went into this book thinking I'd get a Knives Out murderous romp, especially judging by the summary and tagine, but I was wrong.
This book is packed with interesting historical and zoological facts, but oy what a slog! Every other chapter is disorienting with points of view changing and strange asides that don't keep to a clear storyline. Zookeeper's Wife is a fine book but it's really all over the place. I would not recommend it or read it again.
Just had my heart filled to the brim and then gutted by this book. A friend recommended it to me, so I didn't look at the summary and just dove in. What a gorgeously written book. The language is poetic and heartfelt. Seeing everything through Ana's eyes was an organic-feeling primer for the class system and the catalyst for many religious movements in Biblical times. This book felt like a sister book to Circe by Madeline Miller in many ways.
The summary is a jumping off point for this novelette, but the story itself is a series of Isabel's remembrances. The turns of phrase describing Portland and observations of other people are spare and vivid. The vintage dresses and old postcards pulled me in but Isabel's wistful wanderlust and endearing awkwardness sat me down until the last page.
This book is so beautifully written. The temporal espionage quietly simmers underneath the back and forth between Red and Blue. As the book progresses, Red and Blue's familiarity with each other subtly evolves through every letter as even their names change Blue to Indigo and so on. The unraveling of time lines, duty, and what's right and what's wrong are gentle and menacing at the same time. I'm reading this one again right now!
2nd Read: Still exceptional. I had a slightly different interpretation of Red and Blue this time around but am still delighted.
An eloquent, heady read from the road to the Oval through Operation Neptune Spear with some much-needed levity threaded throughout. I understand more about the Great Recession, Iran sanctions, and a myriad of other things than I ever did before. This book reinforces the idea that the White House and what it stands for is not about one person but instead what a team of people entrusted with America's values and safekeeping can chieve together. What a fascinating look inside that sphere and how far respect, listening, and compromise can truly take us as a nation.
The first book in this series, “Sapphire Dream”, is a fantastic read! “Amethyst Destiny” has a we Dream”, is a fantastic read! “Amethyst Destiny” has a well-developed hero and heroine, but suffers from a sloppy ending. I think I need to go back and re-read the last few pages due to quick scene changes and choppy sentence structure. Still, this second book was a strong sequel.