It gets 5 stars for the contents, but 3 for the book itself. There are several interviews with the author online that cover the material in a more engIt gets 5 stars for the contents, but 3 for the book itself. There are several interviews with the author online that cover the material in a more engaging way.
Definitely a lot of interesting points about the benefits of limiting the time in which you eat during the day....more
Wynn-Williams is an intensely frustrating narrator. She makes absolutely insane decisions about her health and life and blames them on needing the incWynn-Williams is an intensely frustrating narrator. She makes absolutely insane decisions about her health and life and blames them on needing the income and the insurance (but seems to mostly be driven by an inability to appropriately have a work-life balance. If this is the story from her perspective, I can only imagine what her husband was thinking while this was all going on, let alone their children)
The stories about Facebook are not as shocking as they should be. Zuckerberg's awkwardness around world leaders is well documented, his not-a-run-for-president was reported on at the time, and everyone knows that the Facebook and Instagram algorithms are poisonous to teenagers. The description of the sexual harassment could unfortunately be told at any number of companies large and small. I have long thought Sandberg's Lean In stuff was tone deaf and shallow, so no big surprises there.
It's worth reading, just to get a feel for what an insane mess Facebook was/is. But this is not objectively a great book. Had it been about any other company, it would not have gotten this kind of buzz. (of course Facebook themselves have helped it along. They should know about the Streissand effect)...more
I'm expecting we will soon see more memoirs from the children of YouTube mommy vloggers. The Franke family was such a shocking mess, it's no surprise I'm expecting we will soon see more memoirs from the children of YouTube mommy vloggers. The Franke family was such a shocking mess, it's no surprise this was one of the first.
The book is interesting, but also very emotional, and written in more of a flowery style than a straightforward telling....more
I was trying to explain the premise of this book to a coworker, and couldn't... The whole alignment of technology to the calendar and the premise of hI was trying to explain the premise of this book to a coworker, and couldn't... The whole alignment of technology to the calendar and the premise of how Cheris and Jedao lead the attack on the fortress are unexplainable. I was so confused for the first third of the book, but super worth it.
That said, the best military-focused sci-fi I have read in years....more
Can I give this book 10 stars? Easily the best book I've read in the past few years.
I was in 1st grade when Challenger exploded. I had a professor whoCan I give this book 10 stars? Easily the best book I've read in the past few years.
I was in 1st grade when Challenger exploded. I had a professor who had been a payload specialist on a shuttle flight. I went with a friend to see one of the shuttles (Columbia, I think? I'd have to go back into old photo albums to be sure) when it was in driving distance of Nashville while I was in college. And mostly, I have always wanted to go to space. I remember all the NASA talk when I was a kid about how the shuttle flights would be the beginning of routine trips to space, ultimately making access to space available to normal people.
So it turns out that all of NASA's promises about the shuttle were a lie. And this book is one hell of an indictment. The explosion happens 3/4 of the way into the book - it's focused lot more on how they got there, than on the investigation afterwards. It's simultaneously detailed and a well paced engrossing read. It feels like a novel, then it hits you that it's real, and people really were so careless.
Also, definitely going to follow it up with a re-watch of Challenger: The Final Flight on Netflix, which is much narrower in focus, but the interviews and footage in the documentary make a great companion watch....more
First of all, the book moves fast, and is a pretty good beach read if you don't think about it too hard.
It does not stand up to closer scrutiny. ThereFirst of all, the book moves fast, and is a pretty good beach read if you don't think about it too hard.
It does not stand up to closer scrutiny. There are a bunch of loose ends (though I figured out the villain about half way through) there was a major Chekhov's Gun moment early in the book ((view spoiler)[The moment the loose railing was brought up, it was obvious someone was going to fall to their death later (hide spoiler)] Though the thing that had me scratching my head was that the One Lucky Winner show was obviously an online reality show, not a TV show. But the book totally glossed over what it would take to actually manage such a thing with $16m viewers and viewer voting on who gets kicked out - Fern describes it as if she did all the work to set this up, but that would be impossible. It would take a huge number of people to manage this....more
Not sure if this one deserves 2 or 3 stars, but I was curious enough to read all the way to the end, so I guess that counts for something.
This is a weNot sure if this one deserves 2 or 3 stars, but I was curious enough to read all the way to the end, so I guess that counts for something.
This is a weird, weird book. Basically none of the characters are likeable (except Marissa, who is not really a fully fleshed out character anyway) The crypto currency thriller ish part of the book is rushed and not well fleshed out. It rambles right up to the end, then gets all tied up in one final scene in a pretty unsatisfying way. The relationship between the sisters feels like the author was determined to use a tragic back story to create weird main characters.
Overall, I'm mostly baffled by this book, but there's no real substance to it....more
It's not a serious novel or anything, but it's a good time and moves quickly. I always enjoy a good art heist.It's not a serious novel or anything, but it's a good time and moves quickly. I always enjoy a good art heist....more
Not at all surprising to hear that her parents claimed the TV show was "ministry" while being blinded by the money. Jill was phenomenally lucky to havNot at all surprising to hear that her parents claimed the TV show was "ministry" while being blinded by the money. Jill was phenomenally lucky to have married a reasonable level-headed guy, despite her father's heavy hand in the courtship process....more
I don't know why I let this book sit unread in my kindle for 4+ years. I was on vacation, didn't know what I wanted to read next, and somehow The LastI don't know why I let this book sit unread in my kindle for 4+ years. I was on vacation, didn't know what I wanted to read next, and somehow The Last Dance caught my eye. Turns out it's a fantastic mashup of several genres I really like: Space exploration (especially the nuts and bolts of when it gets messy and dangerous) and police/etc procedurals (especially when the crime under investigation is not murder, because there's a whole universe of interesting crime out there!)
The story is mostly told in the form of interviews and depositions, has a little bit of political drama, and you really feel like you get to know the characters. You learn about them, some of them you grow to like some not so much. But no one is truly villainous, just human and fallible, selfish and short sighted in the usual ways.
I ended up buying the second book right after I finished, and was disappointed to see the author seems to have stopped at two books in the series....more
I picked this book up from the library since it recently won the Nebula, and there was all the controversy about it being disqualified from the Hugo pI picked this book up from the library since it recently won the Nebula, and there was all the controversy about it being disqualified from the Hugo probably because Worldcon was held in China this year and the author is unpopular with the Chinese government.
Anyway, this book had so much potential to be really interesting... and fell really flat: - All the characters are cardboard cutouts. every once in a while Kuang would try to give someone some nuance or real feelings, but because she had set them each up to be stand ins for various ideologies or archetypes, the attempts at characterization felt forced. - Up until the end of the book, the whole magic structure in the book produces essentially the world as it was in reality except explained by magic rather than technology. Even the end of the story could as well have been accomplished with (view spoiler)[bombs (hide spoiler)]. Kuang builds this really fascinating magic, then seems to not do anything with it at all. - The book was straight up at least 30% too long. The audiobook was *22 hours* long. It needed a good sit down with an aggressive editor. - Ugh, the ending: (view spoiler)[Sure they weren't going to win, that was a given. And if Robin wants to commit suicide because of his despair or whatever, that's his prerogative. But that he asks other to die with him? for what? They're not hopelessly despairing over their dead friends. At least Victoire seemed reasonable (but that was the archetype her character was representing - a voice of reason.) But why on earth would Kuang present Robin taking two other friends with him into his death over twisted grief as somehow good or admirable? Jesus. (hide spoiler)]...more
Similarly to several of Erik Larson's books, it's a nonfiction book that's theoretically about one subject, but intensely presents a second theme as wSimilarly to several of Erik Larson's books, it's a nonfiction book that's theoretically about one subject, but intensely presents a second theme as well. In this case the book is about Harold Gilles, who significantly advanced methods of facial plastic surgery in his work reconstructing the faces of injured soldiers in WW1. But it also dives pretty heavily into the nature of the warfare in WW1, and the ways in which it resulted in more disfiguring injury than previous wars.
I learned a bunch of generally unrelated things... I knew about mustard gas, didn't know the Germans used flame throwers. Knew about the war and the Spanish flu, had not considered how they overlapped. Some of the discussion of the role of dentists in facial reconstruction were also super interesting.
Overall it is partially a book about Gillies and the early history of facial reconstructive surgery, and partially a book about the medical destruction of WW1. The book is fascinating, but not for the squeamish....more
The first 90% of the book was so, so fun. Intrigue, fights, spies, murder, financial crime, very cinematic. Definitely a great vacation read.
But the lThe first 90% of the book was so, so fun. Intrigue, fights, spies, murder, financial crime, very cinematic. Definitely a great vacation read.
But the last 10% when the whole plot is unwound and exposed... kind of disappointing. The ultimate villain was just kind of nuts, and disconnected from the rest of the action....more
I first read this book in high school, so nearly 30 years ago. I decided it was long enough to maybe go back and re-read (I'm not a big re-reader) andI first read this book in high school, so nearly 30 years ago. I decided it was long enough to maybe go back and re-read (I'm not a big re-reader) and I was completely sucked in to it all over again. I was reminded of why I liked these books so much that I was willing to slog through some of the slowly-paced books later in the series back in the day.
Compared to what I remember of the books the first time around there was less of the girls tugging on their braids (I think that ramps up in later books) and more of the boys complaining that one of the others is better at talking to girls (Possibly not out of character for teenage boys)...more
I read another of Cosby's books earlier this year, and this one is equally great. Titus is a really compelling character, and the town of Charon is a I read another of Cosby's books earlier this year, and this one is equally great. Titus is a really compelling character, and the town of Charon is a character in its own right. It is another very noir-feeling book, but doesn't feel generic or cliched....more
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