James

Hmm, I'm not sure what to make of this one.

I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first half, which felt a bit generic. It's a fairly short book so a lot seems to happen in not much time but then we find out later it was about 5-6 months that have passed.

The Darkling is a terrible name and I think it would go a long way to making me take his character more seriously. As it stands every time he's mentioned or in a scene I can't help but think of some shoddy romance novel that's trying to hard to have a “mysterious” and “intriguing” character without doing any of the work. Alina so far has been fairly bland, but towards the second half she got some more character about her. Hopefully the next two books continue developing her. Mal is a bit better but I don't think we spent enough time with him to know - but again we do see more of him in the second half. There's a few leaps of logic (?) that propel him from best friend status (more like they grew up together and he often forgets about Alina) to being deeply in love and willing to die for her. It's plausible, but there needed to be more there before they make that leap. I think by the end of the second book is roughly when their lover status is more realistic. I liked and enjoyed it but I'm glad the book wasn't too long and drawn out. Not sure if I'll continue the series.

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flaws: -generic characters -basic good v bad story -pacing is a bit wonky (at times) pros: +interesting world +potential for improvement +good writing +story peripheries boost the basic structure

> Bardugo is so far much better in Six of Crows / Crooked Kingdom (which I read first) so it's interesting so her development - because it is a significant level of growth she made. I am unsure of what score to give to be honest. 3-stars feels too low, but 4 seems to high and 3.5 doesn't sound quite right either. I think the major flaw is her generic characters (so far, at least) and the other more minor flaws aren't so bad, but keep it from being a proper 4-star book. Strong 3- to light 4-stars.

Ooh my this was a good book. It's been a long time since I read young adult and this was a good book to do it with. I'm not really sure how it's young adult, maybe on a technicality? I'm not too familiar with the genre but it has very rich and deep characters with all their flaws and goodness wrapped up into distinct characters. Not just one, not just two ... but 6 uniquely fleshed out characters in just two books. Many books struggle to develop one or two so I am very impressed here. Bardugo really manages to capture the humanity of each character, including the side characters outside of the main six.

Pacing is good, characters are strong, ending is fulfilling and satisfying, story is interesting. The story is brutal when it needs to be and gentle when it's time. A really well done book, thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's been a long time since I've read a book that made me stay up hours after bed but this one did it. I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Each had personality, with their own uniqueness, and flaws which I appreciated - giving realness to the characters. I enjoyed the jovialness of the group dynamic. Whilst they were in many ways strangers to one another, there was a level of friendship despite the bickering, that made for very pleasant reading. The ending of the book gets pretty intense and I am very eager to begin to the next book.

I'm not sure the story itself was anything fantastic, but everything else more than makes up for it. It's essentially a heist story with a ragtag crew. I am aware this book is set in a larger universe (Grishaverse) with prior novels in a seperate series. There were times I felt I needed to know more about this world to understand it better with descriptions and references that felt like assumed prior knowledge (though I suppose in many ways it is) but it wasn't difficult to wrap my head around it.

There were a few times when I felt cracks in Bardugo's writing, but these were kept to a minimum (maybe like 3 times), where I couldn't quite follow or make-out what was happening or who had said what. Overall, the writing isn't anything to write home about it but it does get the job done very adequately. The first half of the book required more plot as well as the story doesn't truly begin until halfway through.

In short: the characters are awesome, the story is pretty good, these a few minor flaws here and there but overall a very good book. 4 stars.

Finally got around to this book - I've had it on my to-read list for a while now.

The first half of the book mostly focuses on the gods themselves, their origins, personality and any other key details. The second half mostly focuses on mortals, minor deities, nymphs, etc. which I found less enjoyable.

I particularly enjoyed the etymology, as Fry often points out words of our modern English that came from ancient Greek language and myth. I also enjoyed Fry's retelling of these myths.

However, the topic is one that didn't inspire nor interest me as much as I would've thought (enough to still get through the book though). So I'm giving this one a very subjective 3-stars.

A fairly short book which I liked. Books like this tend to be too long and include too much useless information but Atomic Habits managed to stay on point for the most part.

There were a lot of good points here about habits that could be very useful for people. There were a few cases where analogies and examples weren't relevant to the author's message within the chapter (each chapter focuses on a specific topic related to habits) but that's a very minor issue. Another reviewer mentioned that the author's Benjamin Franklin story left out key details where Franklin actually gave up the habit of journaling because it wasn't helpful but the author here includes it anyway (omitting the crucial part) and using it as his example anyway in support of his point anyway.

In one of the later sections Clear is discussing boredom and habits, and makes the case that we shouldn't expect to find everything fun about it (e.g. lifting weights) but the people who are successful do it anyway each day despite the boredom, not because of some hidden passion they have. He cites a well-known trainer as his evidence. All fair points, and one of the key takeaways for me. However, Clear further talks about “loving” boredom which I found to significantly subtract from his argument.

I liked that the end of each chapter also includes a well-written summary, making it easy to double-check what each chapter discussed (something more books like this could implement). For the most part the writing is succinct and well-written with relevant and useful advice. 4-stars.

After reading Morgenstern's earlier work, The Night Circus, I decided to dive straight into The Starless Sea. At first it seemed The Starless Sea would be left second best, but as I approached the half way point it became clear this was my preferred pick of the two – going against the grain of many Goodreads reviews.

While The Night Circus undoubtedly has the better prose, The Starless Sea bests it when it comes down to the story. At times I felt like The Night Circus was carried by it's incredible writing; and while the story is pleasant and engaging, it's ultimately rather simple. It is a book you read if you want to enjoy good writing. The Starless Sea isn't as beautifully written (although by no means is it bad) but it is the story that keeps you turning the pages. It is a story devoted entirely to stories. As another reviewer said, “an ode to story-telling”. I found it unique, and I am a big fan of the fantastical, almost fairy-tale like manner she crafts the story. There are many overarching themes and subplots (each could go on to become their own story (which is the point) and they all tie in together nicely). Maybe I'm not experienced enough, but for me, Morgenstern has pushed the boundaries of how I thought novels could be constructed.

My only knock is that sometimes the characters say some cringe things. Not the kind of cringe no one would ever say in real life but rather exactly the kind of cringe I could imagine someone similar in real life saying. Barely noticeable though and easy to look past. Beyond those 2 “negatives” the book remains a solid 5 star rating for me since I can't think of anything worth taking a star for.

An enjoyable read, but I wish it was longer. It sticks to the movie very tightly but I think fleshing scenes out more could have differentiated the book from the movie more. As it stands there's not much reason to pick this over the film.

A coincidental time to read this book given the pandemic of COVID-19 that would occur a month after picking this up.

Can't say it's a crazy page turner, but it's an interesting read nonetheless. Brooks has captured the human spirit very realistically, from all our good to all our bad. There's not much to say – it's a zombie book. But a very realistic one.

This is the first Stephen King book I've read and I did so in 5 days after getting for Christmas, and all I can say is woah. I flew through this book and I didn't have to try. I genuinely read this book for hours at a time without getting tired or forcing me to go on. If King writes his others books like this I am definitely picking up a few more of his works.

The GOOD: I really liked the premise of the story. Kids with telekinetic and telepathic abilities taken away to a mysterious organisations. The entirety of the story leaves you wanting to know more and about their abilities, and the organisation, the tests, etc. You really don't want to put this book down. The character development is excellent, one of the best in any book I've read. They genuinely feel like real people changing and growing and adapting.

The MEH: The ending was good, and sad. A little bittersweet. But I didn't want it to end. I wanted to read more, find out more, know more. Being a bit nitpicky, I did find the ending slightly lackluster. Butttt, honestly only because the rest of it is so good. It's not really a bad thing, it's just, it's a story that would lend itself well to a series. I could easily seeing it going on for longer, but alas. The only weak point I felt in the book was when Frieda dobs Avery and Luke in. It was such a frustrating thing to read that their awesome plan almost got undone from something so dumb! Also Avery drawing attention to the hole under the fence when he tried to hide when the Institute honestly would not have noticed it til way later. One of the adults even tells him he should've left it alone. These two little mistakes were frustrating to read, and were a little out of place considering the context. Also, we never heard of Frieda again after she dobs them in. I would've loved a follow up on her towards the end.

The BAD: Nothing. Other than I want more!

It was OK. Parts of it were interesting. Others I found a bit dull and unnecessary, especially for a book on the science of sunlight. I would've enjoyed more science and less recounting of Geddes holidays to various sunlight-themed travel destinations.

When the science was their it was interesting but as someone who has read ‘Why We Sleep' by Matthew Walker (read it by the way it's really good) (also mentioned in this text and cited for further reading) a lot of it wasn't that new. Would've been better suited as an article with the fluff taken out. Or include more data and studies, etc.

I don't regret the read, at least it was fairly short, (although it did take me a while to finish it admittedly) I wouldn't actively recommend it to anyone unless they were already interested. To which I would say “yeah if you want shrug”.

I quite enjoyed this read. I understand why many people read it multiple times now. As you read on you understand more of the world and some things aren't understood until the very end. Re-reading with this prior knowledge would (I imagine) be a very different experience.

It is a little difficult at times to follow, but with a little help from Google (and slowing down and re-reading passages) you'll be rewarded with a fairly rich story. The only reason I probably wouldn't give this a 5-star is because I don't like having to look up a lot of terms and definitions (and being confused by what paragraphs are referring to even when I do know each definition) when reading so I understand what's happening. A second read however could have the potential to earn that 5th star since I would have a better intrinsic knowledge of the text.

I'd never watched the movie so everything in this book was new to me. It's fast paced, rich, and full of character. There's lots of twists that keep you hooked and reading more. The start is top notch and was on its way to a 5-star – since it was amazing. However, it does get bogged down a little in the middle, and gets a decent payoff at the end. Whilst unfortunately the middle and end don't quite capture what it managed to do at the start, it was still a very fun read and one you could read for hours at a time.

Unlike some books where it takes a while to get into, this book hits the ground running. I was hooked with the first two pages which is uncommon for me.

It's not an absolute “must-read, you're life is terrible if you don't”, but I recommend it someone who is interested in this kind of stuff.

I must note that I did learn things from this book about interacting and dealing with people. It painted a new way of thinking for me when it comes to being “respectful” and doing people favours. There's some wisdom in here from the Don himself, namely, his opinions on anger, remaining reasonable, and being respectful. It was an interesting dive into another time and culture. That will be my main takeaway from this book in years to come.

There's probably not much more to say about Tolkien and Lord of the Rings than what's already been said a thousand times over by a million different people, but nonetheless I'm going to give my 2 cents anyway.

This one was an interesting one for me. Tolkien and LoTR had always been (to me) hailed as an untouchable work of pure fantasy and imagination. Tolkien himself, godlike in name and fantasy fiction personified. At least in my circles, and the reputation that precedes the name, Tolkien appeared to me as the culmination, the high point, of the fantasy genre.

So when I cracked it open at last and found flaws in the work, I was a little confused at first. I suppose it's kind of like opening up the Bible expecting pure and literal God-like perfection, but finding story and allegory about the shortcomings of humankind instead. It's not bad per se, it's just not what everyone around you tells you it's about.

In a way, this may represent the end of childhood naivety: doctors give perfect diagnosis and prognosis, parents always know what's best for their children and themselves, society is always looking out for you, etc. etc. In much the same way a child grows up, I begun the journey wide-eyed and a little ignorant on the nature of the world. But as we all go along, we learn things aren't always as they seem. Not everything is perfect, and there's a dark side to life (at times). Just is. Always has been; always will be. Nothing's perfect – everyone and everything has flaws.

So with that, I realised and accepted Lord of the Rings isn't perfect. It, like everything else, was created by a human being. With all his own biases and flaws. But, of course, with all their strengths too.

This in a way allowed me to see Tolkien and LoTR for what it really is. One of many, many books out there in the world. But, at the end of the day, regardless of all that it does, is still, just a book. I would say in fact it made me appreciate LoTR, and books in general, in a different light. I'm not sure why yet, but it has somehow left me with a greater sense of appreciation for books. Unfortunately I can't see that being an intention of the book, so I won't bump it's score for it.

But without further ado, I'm giving Lord of the Rings overall a 3.5-star. Despite it's flaws, I still enjoyed it. So let's break it down:

The GOOD:
- Tolkien is an excellent writer. His prose is fun to read, purely for the craft in and of itself. Even when the story drags, his skill keeps it alive (although sometimes barely)

- The world building. Although I'm not fussed about this in books since I like many books that aren't particularly fleshed out, Tolkien has done an incredible job. The people's, the languages, the history... it's all great. Very fascinating and fun to learn about. Unfortunately, a lot of it isn't actually in this book. See below.

-The Fellowship of the Ring is an incredible read. It's some of the most fun I've had with a book in a long time. It's magical, it's thrilling, and really gives you a sense of the fear and scope of the world. It's a really fun adventure book.

The MEH:
- The Two Towers is... well... meh. For me it marks the begin of the decline. It's still good, and I did enjoy it a lot. But as far as internal consistency goes, it's not as good as Fellowship in my option. The pacing speeds up, the characters are split apart, and this means each group gets their own half of the book. We don't spend as much time with everyone and things start to get skipped over. References begin to be referenced without much explanation, Google searches begin being required, re-reading of passages is needed. The world building starts to get in the way of the journey.
- The length of the book. This book either had to be a lot smaller (to keep it tight knit), or a lot bigger (to keep the pacing and detail the same as the beginning of the book). Instead it tries to do both and loses some of its identity along the way.
-The appendices. The appendices are fleshed out, and fairly interesting. However, the fact I have to refer to them at the end of the novel so I can get the rest of the story that gets skipped over is a little jarring. It was cool it's there, I like the idea of appendices as general further information. But to have to read it so I know what was happening in the rest of Middle-earth wasn't my favourite thing. But it was by no means a bad thing.

The BAD:
- The Return of the King isn't very good. King continues what Towers begun. Pacing speeds up even further, even more references are being made, things are brought up with not enough explanation, even more Google searches are being entered, time absolutely flies by. Whereas Fellowship describes each day on the road fully fleshed out, King will just skip days out a time in a single sentence. Internal consistency of the book from Parts 1 -3 are completely lost here with the pacing. King completely ignores the rest of Middle-earth. Which would be fine, if the story remained about the Fellowship, but it balloons to encompass everything. Which it simply cannot do with the structure of the rest of the book. And it suffers for it. We have no idea what's happening anywhere else, but it feels like we should. The Dwarves, the Elves, anywhere that's not Gondor? No idea. Had to Google it and read appendices that fill in the rest of the story that's missing. It's redeeming feature is that it concludes the story begun in the Fellowship.
- The ending. I'm all for a happy ending, but this was absolutely ridiculous. In a story where there's an attempt for so much realism; the history, the language etc., my goodness is the ending so over the top. It's pretty much 5 chapters to say “and everyone lived happily ever after (except like maybe one or two people, but apart from that, everyone lives in complete and utter pure bliss”). Middle-earth is such a rich fantasy world, the ending of LoTR doesn't do it justice.

To sum up:
The Fellowship of the Ring: 4.5 / 5 Stars
The Twin Towers: 3.5 / 5 Stars
The Return of the King: 2 / 5 Stars.

An excellent read. Very inspiring.

Despite being light-hearted and humorous, it explores a tonne of thought-provoking themes and ideas.

It could be seen as a self-help book, in a way, through its overall message. But it does so better than any self-help book. It's personal. It's real. It's funny. And it teaches you a brilliantly simple moral: Say yes more.

Highly recommend to anyone.

After reading Yuval Noah Harari's other work, Sapiens, I knew I had to read more. Thankfully, I was gifted this book. At first I thought it was Harari's attempt at a self-help book, which I was OK with, but I was very pleased to learn that it was not such a thing. It turned out to be way better than I had thought (the title deceived me).

The book is broken into 5 broad topics, with each topic encompassing a range of “lessons” relating to that topic's theme. Each lesson is more of a conversational essay designed to give the reader a broad understanding of the issue, and leaving the reader to go away in their own time and ponder it's implications. A more appropriate title for the book would perhaps be: 21 Things to Think about in the 21st Century (/s). Kidding aside, it is a very good book for the modern day person, and I would recommend it to almost anyone. Just don't expect Harari to be giving you answers on these topics; that's your job, he's just the conversation starter.

Not one to typically read a mystery crime novel, but I enjoyed this one. The use of religious symbology captivated me. My biggest issue is realising half way through that a lot of the references were fabricated, or “creatively” altered. It didn't ruin the story as a work of fiction, but I can't say it didn't take some of the wonder out of it. Of course, there are aspects that are true, and I did learn a few things. If you're someone interested in the history of Rome, the Catholic Church and the Illuminati, you will have to put the book down to do some fact checking before you go repeating cool “facts” you've learnt. But don't let that wreck the book for you, it still stands up well.

An excellent book on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Harris breaks down complex ideas into easy to understand plain English, and I would recommend this book to anyone. The start and end are phenomenal, the middle pretty good. Although it's very easy to read, you will definitely take your time due to the subtle complexity of the text. Make sure you complete his exercises, even when you don't feel like it, they're absolutely worth it to getting the most out of the book.

Overall I enjoyed this book. The first half was more enjoyable and eye-opening than the latter half. That said, there were moments in the second half that contained quality wisdom. Unfortunately I didn't share the sentiments many others have had about the life-changing nature of this book, so I can't say it's something I will re-read or highly recommend to others. If someone is curious about this book, though, I would suggest reading it for yourself.

I gave this book a 3-star because I liked it, but I didn't “really” like it to warrant a 4-star.

Here's a couple quotes from Frankl I think contain some solid wisdom:
- “Live as if you were living for the second time and had acted as wrongly the first time as you are about to act now.” (p. 151).
- “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he should recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.” (p. 113).
- “Pleasure is, and must remain, a side-effect or by-product, and is destroyed and spoiled to which it is made a goal in itself.” (p. 125).

Originally played the Witcher 3 and found myself quickly obsessed with the story. I just knew I had to pick this series up and discover the world of Geralt. Despite knowing the end to a lot of threads in this books, I think it improved the reading experience as I was able to pick up on little details and appreciate what they meant, or would later mean. Something that be amiss on a blind reading. Despite spoilers the book remains very solid.

Some say a weaker book in the series, but I disagree. While at first only reading half of the characters is an issue, it quickly disappears and what you get is a more personal insight into individual characters as every character is only a few chapters away. It allowed me to become more immersed with each character as I felt I was spending more time with each person.

Read it in 6 days.

Couldn't motivate myself to read even 5 minutes per day. 

It's just a generic self-help book with vague associations to Japanese culture. 

Miller's story delved extensively into childhood anecdotes, often at the expense of meaningful exploration of the central case. Whilst a personal touch can enhance storytelling, the narrative felt bogged down by excessive detail, leading to a repetitive and formulaic structure. As a reader seeking deeper insights into the case and the events of 2015–2017, I found myself unable to engage fully with the material.

It was pretty generic and not very focused. The author started talking about all these historical figures he looked up to for inspiration; all male, and without consideration for the terrible things they'd done in their lives. Overall, it was too “bro” for me.