Sam Messer
Decent short story that only sort of fills in a missing plot point from Elantris.
An enjoyable 10-minute read. Nothing really noteworthy, other than Sanderson's motivations for writing the story (very sweet).
Entertaining but annoying.
I understand that Matthias and Percy and Alia were raised by a religious man and he taught his beliefs to them but it's ridiculous how much Matthias invokes God. Solid story, but infuriating religious references.
Depressing.
This book evokes a sense of the futility of life and is ultimately just depressing. Can be difficult to read as McCarthy isn't a big fan of punctuation.
A solid 3 stars.
An interesting primer on some microeconomic concepts.
This book was fine, not great. I really liked some of the explanations for behaviors of pirates that we may attribute to other causes, and I think it was nice to look at microeconomics through the lens of a pirate. The last chapter is rather grating as Leeson pontificates on his libertarian beliefs (as one might expect from a George Mason economist) and gives little credence to other views.
A beautifully written reflection on mortality.
Bradbury trades a story-long plot for several shorter stories that are connected in some way to Douglas as he explores his life and mortality. Ultimately not the sort of book I would normally pick up, but nonetheless a very striking portrait of the fleeting nature of time.
“The first thing you learn in life is you're a fool. The last thing you learn in life is you're the same fool”
Very interesting discussion of experimental economics.
This book is decent. Some chapters were more interesting than others, and it really feels more like a collection of essays than a cohesive book.
I appreciate the fact that the authors are not directly prescriptive other than to say one should experiment before big decisions. Too often in “pop” econ books the author lets his/her political views dictate the economics (looking at you, George Mason economists) rather than letting the economic theory speak for itself.
I'm interested in seeing how some of the longer term work described in the book turns out, and would honestly enjoy seeing the chapters on discrimination rewritten to better reflect the current political environment.
Utterly fantastic.
King weaves a n enthralling plot with well-realized characters into a masterpiece well worth the steep 1100-page price tag. Tom Cullen is the most lovable, Trash the most interesting. I'm interested in understanding how this ties in with the rest of the King multiverse.
The world is developed beautifully in this book, with some really interesting ideas for alien races (novel to me, at least). The figments, kitsen, and dione are really neat and I like how Sanderson develops the history of the universe so that a lot of the first book becomes clear.
Incredibly entertaining read, and the only thing I don't like is how long I'll have to wait for the third book.
A good story.
I appreciate how Luke is developed in this book, and his relatability is a huge boon for the novel. The fact that one of the biggest events in the book is a failure is a choice that I liked, especially because children's books tend to have everything go well for the characters.
Spensa is incredibly written. Sanderson captures her emotions so well, and I almost felt what she did the whole way through. The plot was exciting, and I cannot wait to read the sequel.
Really nice addition to the Witcher universe.
I really like that this book returned to the action we came to know the Witcher for. The return of the swords is a really confusing point and Sapkowski doesn't really go into the detail about Yennefer's motivations that I was hoping for.
Incredible.
This book was everything I wanted it to be and more. Less broody Rand and more of Nynaeve, Egwene, and Elayne being badasses. Of course Rand and Mat are wool-headed at the end thinking it's all over (there are still 11 more books!)
I'm really starting to like Perrin, and I'm looking forward to how he evolves in the next books.
Very excited to read book 4.
Another great story from Earthsea.
This story follows Tenar, later Arha, then later again Tenar in a fascinating entry in The Earthsea Cycle. The story is gripping, the world is beautifully developed, and the writing is once again fantastic.
A decent entry in The Reckoners.
Not good, not bad, but passable. Missing a lot of detail that I've come to expect in Sanderson's work.
Didn't live up to the high expectations set by The Martian.
Artemis was enjoyable to read - the clean and simple scientific explanations are the strongest aspect of Weir's writing. Unfortunately, the plot was sub par. Jazz gets lucky at basically every turn, and even when something goes wrong, she's quickly able to weasel herself out of the situation. The most egregious example is when she returns to the Apollo landing site after disabling some of the harvesters and she's met at the door by Dale, charged to bring her to justice. Instead, Dale offers Jazz her freedom if she'll agree to try to be his friend again.
Entertaining, but not fulfilling.
A brilliant mix of political maneuvering and engrossing action.
This has been the best book in the Witcher saga so far. We get a healthy dose of Dandelion which is always appreciated, and there wasn't any superfluous erotica. Has me really excited for the next book.
A beautiful coming of age story.
Ged is a fascinating character and I think his story is developed very well. From curious child to gifted student to arrogant teen to humble adult, Ged feels relatable in a way that few characters I've read ever achieve.
Le Guin's writing is incredible, and I'm excited to read future entries in this series.
This book was excellent, but not my taste.
Very interesting concepts and fascinating political maneuvering, but written in a largely inaccessible style for a significant part of the book. Le Guin introduces Gethenian concepts and doesn't explain them right away, leaving me very confused a lot of the time.
Cool concept, execution wasn't for me.
Moves the story along nicely.
Blaine is a fascinating character and I'm looking forward to his plot's resolution. Also 10/10 illustrations.
A fulfilling conclusion that made me cry several times.
Incredibly exciting action and politicking, though bits of it felt unnecessary (Boreas Mun chapter). I like the ambiguity of the ending, but it was achieved in kind of a strange way. I wish the narrative style had stayed consistent throughout the series. Nimue and Condwiramurs are interesting storytellers and it would have been nice for them to be involved from the beginning.
Entertaining, but bad.
Dan Brown is not a good writer, but his books are entertaining. The plot is exciting if you can get past how frequently Brown uses Deus ex machina to get Langdon out of a tight spot. Vittoria is horribly written, as are all the women in Dan Brown's books, existing primarily as an object for Langdon to ogle.
Despite all the negatives, the book is an entertaining read, and I intend to read more of Robert Langdon's adventures in the future.
A good sequel.
Plot is entertaining and allows readers to really feel the struggles Luke is going through.
An enthralling introduction to Roland and the world of the Dark Tower.
I'm very interested in where the story goes. The man in black's commentary on size is fascinating. I really like the raven Zoltan for some reason.
The Dark Tower will see me trying my hand at reading an entire series back-to-back, and I'm excited at the prospect.
Not 100% satisfying end to an interesting series.
Bummed by how easily the Population Police fell.