Ninett
This is an interesting piece of writing. In some bizarre way, it reminds me of a meticulously curated pen and pencil library I made when I was a child. Each writing utensil had a serial number, and there was a ledger in which I kept detailed records about each item in the library.
The story was good, the illustrations were beautifully drawn and the typesetting around them was lovely.
A short side-story from the Kingkiller Chronicles world, featuring Bast. I'm happy to see his character expanded a bit more, and showing a more cunning side of him rather than the servile character that he is in the mainline books. The story is quite short, and can be read in a single sitting, especially since there are some very nice illustrations in the book.
Not bad. At first I was annoyed because I thought the plot was just going to be a repeat of the first book, and it kind of still is, but at least there is a twist in the appearance of an AI bad guy . I did find myself annoyed that at times I was just essentially reading a tldr of a twitch stream rather than an actual story.
Still entertaining, but also it's hard to write a continuation story about an underdog character who is no longer an underdog.
I didn't realise this was a children's book, so this review comes from a place of ignorance. As someone who can no longer even rightly be described as a young adult, I found out hard to connect with characters written for high school students, and the holes in the plot didn't help. A great idea for a story executed to the level of expectation of a teenager and marketed as such. My fault for not being about to read the signs, really.
This is a natural history of Europe as a continent and as an ecosystem. The chapters are short and crammed, but worth reading for the clever language and because this is a topic that is sorely neglected amongst hundreds of history books about the time of the dinosaurs and thousands about human history. The in-between time is often cast aside.
I think that perhaps the chapters could have been fewer and more detailed rather than so many brief cursory treatments of varied aspects of the topic.
DNF'd a long time ago. I tried to read it as an 18 year old. It was the summer holidays, I read this while baking in the sun between nights spent going out with friends. I was off to uni in September and this book just fell out of my life. It's ten years later and I still haven't come round to finishing it (or university). Also, I was reading a Hungarian translation - not usually an issue, but I was never a fan of Russian literature Hungarian translations.
Update for new attempt: I picked this out as my commute read a few moons ago in an effort to finish at least one Russian classic. It surprised me. Life has evidently given me a lot to ruminate over since I was 18. I found myself reflected in Raskolnikov's character. This time I saw depth and complexity where before I fell asleep in boredom. Maybe some books just require maturity.
Contains spoilers
I really enjoyed the clever ending for this series. I think Grayland becoming an AI in the end was a masterstroke, and I loved to see her enemies shamed and outdone. I am glad that the relationship that she had with Marce did not stop the author giving her a ruthless death.
The writing can be a bit filthy in more ways than one, which I don't always enjoy, but at least there is a realism there that reminds us that Scalzi writes about humans and not just about concepts and plot points.
Really intersting and packed full of information. Well written, engaging science writing from an expert in his field. I really appreciated that he did not play the blame game, but outlined with empathy the situation that many people in the world are facing today.
He does not dole out unsolicited diet advice, he just writes down the scientific effects of ultra-processed foods on our biologies, with clear reasoning and evidence from published papers. He does go into the economics of the industry and the entertwining of the UPF industry with pharma and government, relationships which lead to higher profits and less regulation.
I found this to be an enlightening read, and have taken pains to change certain elements of my diet as a result. I think this is an important book at this point in our history.
Hard to rate the middle book of a series separately from the others. This instalment was just as fast-paced and complex as the first. The story does not skip ahead much, and is a direct continuation of where the previous one left off, seamless. I love the intricacies of the political system and economy in Scalzi's universe. They leave a lot of room for plotting and scheming, lots of differing perspectives and motivations to emerge.
Not a bad book! Great as an intro or reference for runners, especially in the latter half, in which the author gets into the technicalities of gait, cadence, and form.
My major gripe is that there are lots of theories on form that are put forth strongly, but with really only anecdotal evidence to back them up. In contrast, Lieberman's book about exercise (absolutely amazing book) backs every claim up with scientific publications, and the reader can draw their own conclusions.
I realise that not all sports writers can have a PhD in evolutionary physiology, but I do expect some level of rigor in the scientific aspects of the writing, otherwise I am likely to dismiss it as opinion (which I think it is in this case).
Still a good intro and still has some interesting thoughts and observations, and with it being a quick read, I do recommend it to beginner runners even if only for the inspiration and basic technical knowledge.
Quite good. I don't even mind the swearing, but the liberal application of sex kind of bothers me, although I am not averse to reading it when it furthers the plot. The world-building is great, and there are lots of unique elements to this story which make it fresh. Scalzi's writing style is engaging and does not bear around the bush, making this a fast-paced story that does not assume the reader is an idiot.
This book caught me off guard a little bit. I expected mindless fun, action: a filler. But instead, it was a very human story which happens to be set in a science fictional universe. While the plot does lean heavily into time travel, which is the obsession of the main character's father, the centrepiece is not the time travel itself but the emotional journey of a man raised by a parent who sacrificed everything to his work. Also currently reading GEB and found the self referential nature of several elements of the book interesting. All in all a weird but welcome detour into unhappy man themed sci fi.
Overall quite good, easy to understand and well written, especially like the summary table. My main trouble is that I read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and found this to be 80% a repeat of that book. I can't really rate it down for that (but I kind of did anyway), but it also didn't really bring much news to the table. Sound, actionable advice, and I did manage to get something out of it ultimately, but I just found the book by Duhigg (which is mentioned in atomic habits as an inspiration) more well written if a bit less directly actionable.
I feel that we are finally getting a taste for what the broader world that this story is set in entails. The epilogue in particular is great because I thought it was an omission all along to exclude Lindon's family entirely, and I do love Orthos. I wish there was more overarching story rather than what I call ‘secluded plot bubbles (1. Jai long challenge, 2. Ghostwater, 3. Uncrownded king tournament, etc ) ‘, which are set up to promote advancement rather than to serve a greater plan.
A good tour of some of the ways fungi are shaping us, whether those avenues are medical, culinary, or even social. The writing is entirely accessible and the personal narrative weaving its way through gives it life and brings the sometimes disparate topics together into a cohesive book.
I have learned and thought a lot because of this book. The author seems like an intriguing personality.
In spite of these favourable views, I did still find myself thinking about whether certain things were repeated too often, and I did miss the presence of some kind of mycological scientific primer.
This book was actually fantastic as an introduction. That said, the problem I have with books written about scientific topics but not written by scientists is that they often don't delve deep enough for my liking. I realise this may be a tall order given that this is a whistle-stop tour of the human body and not a thesis, but I nevertheless did feel like I was reading a collection of semi-popular facts at times. There were a few chapters from which I made no notes (with my note-taking policy being only write down things you didn't know previously).
The tone and language were excellent, however, and I did still manage to take away some newfound knowledge.
P.S: What about the lymphatic system?!
This is a genre I tend to avoid because real life-adjacent stories are not usually engaging enough for me, but the hype around this novel a few years ago was intense, and I was landed with a copy through no fault of my own. I am currently making my way through a long progression fantasy series, and needed a breather, so I decided to just read this as a break.
Right off the bat: I really did enjoy this, despite my preconceptions of the genre. I was pretty much hooked from the start, and finished in two days. The characters are well written, with complex emotional worlds, and histories in which they can be interpreted as both good and bad people. They are in the grey-zone in between, and that is refreshing.
I had a look online to see how much $10,000 USD in 1982 would be worth now in 2024, and the sum is about $32,500 USD (??25,600 GBP). I personally would not volunteer to carry a child for someone and birth it for even ten times that amount, and that's because I don't think permanent changes to my body are something I could put a price on like that. I am not sure if this is meant to show Mia's sheer desperation or whether the author thinks that is a reasonable, believable amount for a surrogate pregnancy.
note: I did just Google it, and the prices do appear to start at $35,000 for surrogacy in the USA, and about ??10,000 in the UK. I find this unbelievably cheap.
A bit more muddled after the big event at the beginning goes down. I'm not sure how structured the plot will be, or whether to expect a series of events that are indeed unfortunate but not particularly influential to one another? I can see where Lindon is headed, though, and I am certain he will reach that goal given his history. Furthermore, I am glad that some of the Suriel elements have taken more of a front stage position this time.
I am pleased that we are no longer outside of civilisation, and I enjoyed the city from dragon bones idea and setting. I love Orthos. One thing I will say though, which is still a longstanding grievance I have with this series, is that Lindon is a bit insufferable because he succeeds ceaselessly. I understand that this is like a microcosm and we are following this guy because he is the chosen one, and I know this is kinda like some kind of book version of the anthropic principle - you'd never write a book about someone who just isn't a main character. BUT it's maddening. Best iron body, fastest progression, most prepared, wins against higher ranks who should demolish him, most creative, inventor of techniques, charming, tall, handsome, smart.... endless list of stand-out qualities and not a single flaw other than being unsouled (quickly overcome in the first book). Anyway, the read at least is enjoyable and if you don't mind the above mentioned, which I myself have grown used to, then it will certainly be fun to read.
I learned quite a bit from this book. It was informative and digestable, not to mention easily actionable, and I can definitely begin to see certain elements of my body in a new light now that I have been shown the tools to do so. What brings the score down is that I found the narrative stories a bit contrived and I got completely lost in all the metaphors (monitor, flock, garden, one ring, and so on). As a STEM girl myself I appreciate clarity over metaphorising everything, but I also understand some audiences may need the illustrative style.
The cover lured me into reading a book that belongs to two genres I'd normally never read: a short story collection, and a crime one at that...
But I'm glad it did. I have been meaning to open up my reading a bit recently. I liked the classic twists in each little story and the image of an era that it left imprinted on my brain (both this era of crime fiction writing and the era the stories were set in in general). The writing was excellent - flowing well and reflecting astute observations about what we're like as humans.
The second installment of the Cradle series picks up exactly where the previous left off - almost as seamless as if they weren't separate books. This series is lamentably a bit predictable, but the light reading entertainment it provides nonetheless is sometimes exactly what's needed. Eithan in particular is an interesting character, and I'm pleased we're following him into the next book.
Excellent writing for a science book. Lots of evidence-backed information and an engaging narrative throughout. I found myself adding unprecedented quantities of new words to my vocabulary bin, and really enjoyed the shake-up of traditional exercise advice and the evolutionary perspective. As a sedentary person in a job best described as a complete sinecure, I have certainly been inspired to exercise, but can I keep it going and turn it into a habit?
Great review of the current state of the neuroscience and psychology around learning. Dehaene initially spends a considerable amount of time making comparisons of the brain to modern AI, which might put some readers off. There are lots of valuable insights in the book about the impacts of various factors on learning and retention - some I already knew from previous reading and a long academic journey, but some novel.