Mercer

Second time through and goddamn this book is just so artful. Hurrying to reread the rest before the new book comes outttt.

Many really awesome things in here, but also many extremely problematic things. I worry that someone could read this and assume that this narrow-mindedness is actually what business has to look like, and the thought of that early indoctrination makes me feel deeply sad.

As holier-than-thou as Pollan is, I love his writing. I learned a lot from this book, and left it feeling inspired and driven to try new things. A must-read for foodies and home chefs.

This was...fine. I appreciated the threefold method of telling the story: the history of D&D, the author's personal narrative, and the “in-game” story. However, it felt like a stretch at times and was distracting and schtick-y rather than an effective means of storytelling.

I'm a D&D nerd, so I enjoyed most of it anyway. My only complaint is: what's this dude's beef with LARPing? The holier than thou attitude didn't fit for me.

Good story for kiddos. Didn't like how often it used the words “stupid,” “crazy” and “dumb.” Luckily I was reading aloud so I just changed them.

I think that this was mostly fascinating to me because of the fact that it wasn't written from the perspective of someone that now hates the church. The more understanding perspective was one that is really unexpected in a “shock-jock” memoir like this one. It was not well written by any means, but the perspective was an interesting one.

Mine childe loves this book.

This star rating is for the content of the book rather than the book itself. I learned a lot by reading and got much deeper insights into this culture. But, my god, is the author smug as get out. It was torturous to read in places because he was so full of himself.

I loved this book as a kid, and even acted in it in a theatre production. However, it was far less adventurous than I remembered, and reading it had me wondering what kind of messages I was instilling in my kiddo. Stuart throws so many tantrums about basically nothing! Charlotte's Web feels better to me, but ultimately both are less strong than I remember!

Some good stuff. Outdated and definitely designed with larger companies in mind, but a good “thinking” point for leads of smaller teams.

Excellent for parents, care givers, and any folks that are in positions of power with compromised or younger people.

At a 4.5. This was such a good book. It had some very good Scott Pilgrim vibes and, obviously, had books and history. Which I love.

Pros: so fun, loved the characters, loved the puzzles.
Cons: poorly developed female characters.

A very sweet, enjoyable read.

Tempted to give this a two, but there were some interesting stories so I will rank it a 3. I was tasked with reading this for work, and had never read any of the authors previous works.

There is language used in this book that makes me take the author's points less seriously, as it feels like name calling: he frequently uses the word “sissies” and has made up his own: “fragilista.” It's tiresome.

The perspective is that the opposite of fragility isn't resilience, it is getting stronger through damage (like how you build muscle). The rest of the 400+ pages are just specific micro-examples of how that plays out in life.

Could have been shorter, but I imagine for some the tons of examples are helpful? Felt like Malcolm Gladwell but much more disjointed.

Excellent, just as all of Gaiman's other books are. I loved seeing this vignette of death.

I'm a fan of Epistolary novels and fantasy. This had the feel of both combined. As some others said in their reviews: this certainly isn't the type of fantasy that most would expect, but that doesn't make it bad. It's an easy, quick and interesting read that draws me in just as a natural history of some other creature I am interested in would.

A good read. Lots of reinforcement for work we are already doing at home. Good to just get a refresh though.

There were parts that I loved, and there were parts that were so tiresome.

So glad that I read this prior to watching the show (which I still haven't watched) Becayse this is easily a new favorite.

This is a prime example of how SF should be written. I loved that I discovered and learned about the world as the characters did. I loved the tension and pressure and relief I felt when the characters felt it.

I went in totally unawares to this book and couldn't be more delighted. Anyone who is a fan of SF set in “our” world should read this.

I get worried reading nonfiction that people are obsessed with. As someone who has written and read a ton of nonfiction, and has degree in nonfiction, I am picky.

This was excellent. It was honest and moving but not trite. I will read this again.

More good, rollicking fun from Butcher.

This book definitely started to drag on for my 5 year old as we went. While the plot was interesting for ME to read to him, it was certainly slower going than the other books in the series. The characters were less compelling and more deeply flawed than the others, though, which is saying something!!

Finishing this book has made me never want to read again.

I really hate that this book wrecked me, but it totally wrecked me.

I hate rating a Le Guin book so low, but I couldn't finish this. It felt like a slog. So, per my rating standards, I am giving it a 2. Can't give it a 1 because maybe I would have loved it if I got past 60%, but also just...don't have time to waste reading books I don't love.

This is a delightfully absurd and bizarre book. I appreciated the layering of stories and unique characters and would recommend it to anyone looking for a book that mixes religious storylines with rollicking fiction.