Ninett

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. 

Sleep is my religion (I guess it's Dr. Walker's, too). I was an excellent sleeper before I read this book. Now, I lay awake thinking about needing to sleep, and I wake up in the night regularly when before I never once did. Have I gone against the popular adage of “don't fix what ain't broken”? Will this phase pass? Do I need to purchase an air conditioning unit?? 
Very good book, on the whole. I spend lots of time in academic circles myself, so the clear use of language and the scientific detail was very much appreciated - though I can see why it might be dense for a newcomer to scientific language. I found every morsel of information delicious. 

As much as I understand it's the product of its time, I simple cannot read so much sexism and not be put off. The story is interesting, but every character is odious and there's not that much comeuppance. I would have loved it if Dorian were slewn by the brother of Sibyl, but I know this would have deprived us of the dramatic self-kill at the end and thus could not be the ending.

If the reader is able to defeat the seamingly insurmountable disconnectedness of the first 50 pages where the mains are children, the characters' internal ruminations and conciousnesses do become intersting and worthwhile. Woolf peers into the human soul and pulls out what is not often said, and shows us the motivations behind each character's actions. Sometimes it is hard for us to be as honest with ourselves about our reasons for doing things as Woolf is with her protagonists' reasons.

The two stars I knocked off were because of the protracted, often repetitive sentences, and for the part in the beginning where we are thrust into the random, scattered thoughts of children (that nearly put me off the whole book altogether).

Good book. Every aspect of it was thoroughly revolting. I did find that the descriptions of the deaths of everyone Grenouille left behind gave him a kind of mystical aura through no action of his own. He's almost like an unwitting ominous talisman. It's a good thing books cannot physically convey smells, some of the things described were truely disgusting.

I read this book as part of a halloween readathon challenge on bookly. In keeping with classic gothic style, it's set in a manor house and the weather is awful the entire time. I felt Paver really did her best here to personally antagonise me with the absolutely despicable man she wrote to be Maud's father, and I am sure that getting lobotomised is comeuppance enough for this man, but I do wish something happened to him to make him regret his actions more desperately...  
I liked how Ivy was written in as a multifaceted person who had motivations in line with her very unfortunate circumstances, not just as a bitch whole and pure. 
Poor Maman, poor Clem, poor Jubal, poor Chatterpie

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. 

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.

3.5

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. 

A great introduction to the world of emotions. I am someone who leans far and heavily into a pure rational interpretation of the world, often neglecting or discounting my own and by extension the emotions of others. It's incredibly hard for me to understand why people do certain things, as well as why I feel the way that I do. This book is seeing the world through a different lens, finding out that there is a different, equally important perspective that I've been dismissing. It doesn't help too much in the way of actionable points, but definitely can serve as a lucid and compelling eye-opener for the completely uninitiated. 

I wish I had read this as a child! It really threw me for a loop. I truely hated the main character, the further down the path of brattiness be went, the more I despised him. But the story brought a series of enlightenments to the reader and to the boy, which shed light onto his actions and kind of vindicated him.
I enjoyed the pace and the sheer creativity that went into building this story, which gave an unusual sort of met-experience involving the reader herself as well as the characters. As a child I would have doubtless rated this five stars, and as a somewhat jaded adult I can still award four.

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.

A challenging read in many ways, but so well written and so deeply moving that it kept me awake at night when I wasn't reading it. It's been a long time since I read a book that touched me on this level. 

It's always hard to rate someone's life story, so the rating I've given pertains mostly to the writing itself. It was immediately obvious that the book is, like almost all celebrity memoirs, ghostwritten. There is nothing inherently offputting about the fact itself, but a lot of the time, the writing felt ungenuine, detached from the emotional depth that Cher experienced in some of the most pivotal moments of her early career.

Additionally, I felt there were parts with maybe a bit too much self congratulatory narration, and some of the classic 'not like other girls'-esque thoughts. Maybe the memoir genre is always like this, I don't read enough of them to know. Writing a whole book about oneself is probably always going to cast the writer in the role of the egotist. And Cher did achieve a lot.

The story itself is inspiring, and the magnitude of the achievement comes across despite the writing. In particular, I really love the image of Cher at the awards show, wearing the midriff revealing outfit with a fur coat, Sonny looking at her in rapt admiration. That speaks volumes of her nonconformist persona much better than a lot of the writing does.

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.

Hobb's writing is definitely a slow burn. I got stuck near the middle, not sure if the story was progressing onwards or just stagnating, everything felt like a side quest. I put it down for a few days before picking it back up and plowing through the 'training arc'/setup sections.

Given this early floundering, I thought I wouldn't be rating the book higher than three stars, but the second half more than made up for it. I rarely read more than an hour of a book at a time, but this gripped me completely. The ending was unexpected and sort of beautiful in a way.

Though I never liked him much, I was devestated that Shrewd died after such a long suffering. I really thought he'd shake his tormentors and make a comeback. It was a great piece of writing to have Shrewd apologise for what he has made of Fitz. I am not a fan of the Molly storyline, once again I think it detracts from the story, but I reckon she'll be back - and pregnant - in the next book. We also didn't get any inkling on whether Nighteyes will be back after that ending, poor fella.

The writing has emotional depth and the characterisation is impeccable. Everyone is a real person, people with flaws, realistic motivations, goals, and agendas.

The cover has a quote from George R.R. Martin proclaiming this book to be a breath of fresh air, and I am inlcined to agree. The pacing is quite slow, but the focus on creating realistic, engaging characters and building a story that readers are able to invest in won me over by the time I was a quarter of the way through. The writing is beautiful for a fantasy book. It may be because this book was published over 20 years ago, and different styles were en vogue at the time, but I liked that there was only a wisp of a hinted romance, but Hobb doesn't plow indiscriminately on in that direction at the expense of storytelling and worldbuilding as happens in many modern fantasies.

Lastly, the first person perspective doesn't usually work very well for fantasy because you are so limited in scope in what you are able to see from one character's perspective, but here I think it works well because there is such a focus on the characters. Plus, there are some 15 books still including the novellas - more than enough to find out about the world.

I cried at the last paragraph.

4.2

3.5

I love the character dynamic between Howl, Calcifer, and Sophie, and would have loved to see more books featuring these characters front and centre. They do make an appearance in this book, but the main characters are two young magicians tasked with looking after a multi-dimensional house while the wizard who owns it is away sick.

Even so, the storytelling was full of the hallmark whimsy and adventure of Diana Wynne Jones. The magic in the book is classical in every sense of the word, and her books feel like touching grass to a fantasy reader.

I love the whimsical storytelling style of Diana Wynne Jones. It's absolutely written for kids, but I think the best kinds of children's books are still good for adults, too. I loved the twist on the classic 'save the princess' tale in which the many princesses essentially rescued themselves. I imagine that if Abdullah hadn't gotten to the castle, then his princess would have found her own way out sooner or later. I also liked Sophie and Howl, both in disguise.

This is the kind of writing that allows an adult to relive the magic of childhood, and that's quite a rare quality!

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. 

The unnamed main character is prone to lengthy reveries that are invariably misguided and clich??d. The book is slow. The women all defer to the men in their lives. A man gets away with murdering his wife. An overwhelming majority of the characters are loathsome. But it's not simple. The book is complex, the reader feels the plot shrouded in fog until the very end, never knowing for certain what's coming next. I loved it. 

PS. I'd never call this a romance.