A one-star rating of this book is entirely my 'fault'; it doesn't say anything about the perceived quality of the book. I expected this book to be somA one-star rating of this book is entirely my 'fault'; it doesn't say anything about the perceived quality of the book. I expected this book to be something entirely else. The name 'Periodic Table' made me think it'll be a concise history of elements in the Periodic Table, but alas, it's a memoir. Not that I don't like the genre - I remember consciously reading only memoirs for a full month - but here, this was not what I signed up for....more
A primer on statistics and probability. Could've been a much more interesting read in the hands of a better writer. Only if the writing had as much ofA primer on statistics and probability. Could've been a much more interesting read in the hands of a better writer. Only if the writing had as much of a sharp edge as the content inherently had. Also, irregular structuring of sentences sometimes sticks out of the page, takes you right out of the book. Maybe English is not Mlodinow's first language, I don't know, but it felt like he was thinking about it in some other language before penning down his thoughts in English....more
Biography of the most curious man that ever walked on Earth. It has many things to teach one, but my number one takeaway was awakening of an interest Biography of the most curious man that ever walked on Earth. It has many things to teach one, but my number one takeaway was awakening of an interest in art.
Have been meaning to complete this book since a year now. Finally got the time to go through that last chapter today. I appreciated the depth of detailing of Leo's life and his various ventures, but the same thing irked me when the author launched into the nitty-gritties of paintings, since I had no knowledge of the craft whatsoever. But as I said, it generated a curiosity I didn't know I had in me. I've been watching a lot of art videos on YouTube and visiting museums, exhibitions, etc. whenever I can. And I may not paint even a single stroke in my life, but I'll stop and appreciate a work of art when I come across one. I'll actively look out for places where such conversations happen. This will be the book's lifelong gift to me....more
Look, I may be a complete idiot, maybe I don't 'get' things, but I'll risk going on record and say it - I think Gödel's work was bullshit.Look, I may be a complete idiot, maybe I don't 'get' things, but I'll risk going on record and say it - I think Gödel's work was bullshit....more
If you ever feel down, if you think you're not privileged, read this book.If you ever feel down, if you think you're not privileged, read this book....more
The first fifty or so pages, chapters 1 to 3, were repetition of ideas I've read in other books. Chapter 4 onwards, there was a deluge of novel ideas The first fifty or so pages, chapters 1 to 3, were repetition of ideas I've read in other books. Chapter 4 onwards, there was a deluge of novel ideas and topics I have never encountered before. It was like a new world opened up. That's the magic of books, isn't it?
GMOs, the importance of soil sustainability in agriculture, vegan meats (say what?), technological revolutions in agriculture, lab-grown meat substitutes, land use change, product life-cycle assessments, insights into carbon capture, multi-faceted complex issues faced by farmers in the developing and developed worlds, agro-policy, etc. these were things either I had the littlest idea of or no frickin' clue. I thank my stars for letting me pick this up on a random bookshop stroll.
The author also has a markedly different approach when talking about all things climate change, which was refreshing to read. The book has an undertone of doom, which is understandable and arguably necessary, considering the extent to which we have messed up the planet, though it's fairly optimistic on the whole and ends with a resounding call to action. Topical and extremely important in the current climate, literally and figuratively....more
Coldplay's concert in my city Ahmedabad last month (and the exorbitant ticket rates by scalpers) led me to check out A hit-and-miss book, mostly miss.
Coldplay's concert in my city Ahmedabad last month (and the exorbitant ticket rates by scalpers) led me to check out more about concerts. There's a book to satisfy any itch, ergo Rockonomics.
The author has some interesting points to share, but he hasn't been able to execute it properly. This book could have been so much better than the final product in my hand.
There's mainly one source that's he's relied on for numbers, Pollstar. Though there's a dedicated Appendix at the end that explains his reasoning for going all-in with Pollstar data, I think a more balanced approach would've been more apt. Secondly, I hate books where authors keep telling us what they are gonna tell us next. Foreshadowing is understandable in fiction, but why can't they just get on with it in non-fiction? Why unnecessarily add to the page-count? Also, the chapter titled 'Global market for music' covers only Chinese music scene for the most part, I don't know why.
There are some significant takeaways it has to offer, like how today musicians earn more from concerts than recorded music, how the advent of streaming has spelled doom for piracy, how music is intrinsically connected with our well-being, and many more, but he's chosen to dedicate a chapter each to these points, and that leads to repetition. I feel all of the content here could've been effectively communicated under a hundred pages, or even less.
I don't regret reading the book, but I am certainly disappointed. This could've turned out a lot better. What it has done, though, is stir my curiosity to check out more music books. Also, all this talk of music spurred a ton of recommendations throughout its pages, so I'll certainly be exploring these artists online....more
A book that's more interested in 'I' than the content. 'I' statements galore - I said this, I warned, I suggested, I advised, I thought, I came up witA book that's more interested in 'I' than the content. 'I' statements galore - I said this, I warned, I suggested, I advised, I thought, I came up with, I did that, I saw it coming, I am still seeing it, I am warning everyone it's coming, no one's listening to me, what the heck, am I the only intellectually sound person in the whole wide world or what?
AI doomerism. That's what it's all about. I understand the subject is grave, and the warnings are not at all exaggerated, but give me something more than that. I didn't sign up for an entire length of a book for the author parroting the same thing over and over again like a broken record. And I felt even that did not come close to scratching the surface. You had one job...
This is the kind of a book where prologue and conclusion sound the same. Remember those high and mighty self-help books where the author pretentiously claims 'transforming your life' repeatedly? This one matches it beat for beat, albeit the focus is on AI.
Another characteristic that matches with those conceited self-helps looking down their noses on readers? You turn 20, 50 or even a 100 pages at random and you won't find much of a change in the content you were exposed to a hundred pages before. Recall that scene in the film 'Robot' when Rajnikant just hovers the book in mid-air, seemingly gulping down its contents with just a flick of the wrist? That's the unparalleled, unassailable, unshakeable miracle of cock of the walk books - you Krish- jump over a hundred pages, and voila, no meaningful content lost at all! Reading a book without reading a book! Isn't that a superpower?
Just for the fun of it, I went on Audible, downloaded the book and listened to it on 2x, 3x and 3.5x, to see if I was losing any meat at all. Nope. The author takes meandering ridiculous detours before coming to the point. Now I don't have a problem with it - the same thing was done by Yuval Harari artfully in his latest book 'Nexus' and I savoured the tactic, as mentioned in my review of the book - but here, it just contributed to length for the sake of length. If you don't have anything meaningful to contribute, better shut up and stay silent than risking opening your mouth and exposing what an ingenious fool you are!
What can be said if a book about the dangers of AI seems to have been written predominantly by AI? Ironic!...more
It continues from where Daniel Yergin's last book The Quest left off and expands on the topics tackled in that book to cover everything that has happeIt continues from where Daniel Yergin's last book The Quest left off and expands on the topics tackled in that book to cover everything that has happened in the intervening 10 years.
This was my first full-fledged audiobook. And I'd say this was the best narration I could've hoped for - crystal-clear voice, optimum speed, smooth inflection and proper modulation wherever necessary. Though I have the sample size of exactly one, I'd still say it was the best (credit to Robert Pekoff). I did hear sample narrations of another books on Audible and none came close to my taste.
Yergin expounds on energy geopolitics, the energy maps of America, China, Russia and Middle East get a dedicated section each. The fifth section covers transportation, appropriately titled 'Roadmap', as the chapters cover electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, ride-hailing revolution, and the rise of 'Auto-tech'. The final segment talks about climate change and emerging novel solutions to combat it, like CCUS, i.e. Carbon Capture, Use and Storage.
The issues discussed here are topical. Indeed, frequent mentions of the coronavirus and what impact it'll have on economies around the world make it abundantly clear it was written in the aftermath of the epidemic. Such writing is bound to be obsolete after a certain point in time but reading it today in 2025 felt relevant and urgent, barring the mentions of the virus, as we are still in the throes of 'energy transition' the book deals with. I guess Yergin will need to write another book in 2030 yet again to report the state of the world....more
I can see why the book became the most borrowed title from libraries across the world for two consecutive years. It's a clever, zeitgest-y blend of feI can see why the book became the most borrowed title from libraries across the world for two consecutive years. It's a clever, zeitgest-y blend of feminist defiance, scientific curiosity and deadpan humour. I finished it in a single sitting. But while it has mostly the right ingredients, I can't help but feel it overcooked a few elements.
Set in the 1960s, it follows Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist turned unlikely TV cooking show host, as she battles systemic sexism with her unflinching, no-nonsense attitude. She's straight-faced and refreshingly unapologetic. "I am always serious," she says at one point. It could have easily turned into a dry, lifeless character, but the author has crafted her so impeccably she carries the book on her shoulders. Her refusal to conform to patriarchy, her journey as a single mother raising a precocious daughter, her dry, sardonic wit that keeps you on edge, she's the star of the show throughout.
That said, here's my rub(s) with the book. I didn't understand the authorial prerogative to adopt an omniscient narrative. It's all over the place and frankly, quite unnecessary at times. Garmus hands over the narrative reins not only to the supporting characters, but also the dog Six-Thirty and even minor secondary (scratch that, tertiary) characters who appear only for a scene or two! What? Why?? I guess she went for it as it allowed her to cover more ground, but seriously, what an amateurish mistake to make! (I had a nagging doubt, and I checked afterwards - it did turn out to be a debut.)
Furthermore, that twist at the end? Absolutely unwarranted. Didn't add anything to the plot. Not only the 'twist' is irredeemable, but I now realise after the fact that a couple of intermittent never-ending lengthy scenes building up to it were also uncalled for. All considered, what with the questionable narrative choices and ill-advised detours in the name of a 'twist', the author violates a cardinal tenet of writing. Garmus fires the proverbial gun in the third act, but the tragedy being it wasn't even needed to appear in the first act! It's a misstep that undermines an otherwise thoughtful plot.
Despite its flaws, Lessons in Chemistry has its moments of brilliance. It leaves a lasting aftertaste, the hype is well-deserved. If you're shrewd enough, you'll know when to skim and when to savour....more
Luscombe divides the book into 6 segments (or 6 Fs), six dimensions of a relationship where couples need to tread carefully - Familiarity, Fights, FinLuscombe divides the book into 6 segments (or 6 Fs), six dimensions of a relationship where couples need to tread carefully - Familiarity, Fights, Finances, Family, Fooling around (a euphemism for Fucking), and Finding help.
I found myself nodding along on some things, having experienced them in a past relationship (like fights and how to handle them), while others were not something that I'd gone through, but nevertheless were not so alien to me (like the section about kids) and again I agreed with the author on almost everything.
Which is to say that while this book may not offer anything particularly new, it was still evidently an exciting read for me. A major part of what made it satisfying to me was the author's sense of humour. She interweaves her personal marital anecdotes with numerous studies about different aspects of marriages. Relationship counseling articles/books are worth a dime a dozen, but if one has to choose between the myriad options, I'd say this one won't turn out to be a bad choice....more
This one has a unique blend of noir elements, dark comedy, and philosophical musings, offering readers a thought-provoking and entertaining exploratioThis one has a unique blend of noir elements, dark comedy, and philosophical musings, offering readers a thought-provoking and entertaining exploration of life's fragility and the human capacity for resilience in the face of impending death.
But it fell flat for me.
It starts with an intriguing premise—Jaakko, a mushroom entrepreneur, learns he is being slowly poisoned and sets out to find his killer. The idea of blending a murder mystery with dark humor and existential musings had great potential, but the author couldn't capitalise on it.
The story drags for long stretches, bogged down by repetitive observations about Jaakko's impending death and meandering subplots. The "humor" often feels forced. And the mystery itself lacks real tension. While the reveal at the end was unpredictable, I wasn't surprised at all. This was not what I wanted to read. It was uninteresting and anticlimactic.
This was my third and last tryst with the author. The books got progressively worse and I don't feel inclined to give another one a chance. So far, Tuomainen....more
Is it too early to say I may have found the most interesting essay I'd read this year? This is only my fourth book of the year, but I can assert with Is it too early to say I may have found the most interesting essay I'd read this year? This is only my fourth book of the year, but I can assert with a certain degree of confidence that 'Prussian Blue', the first essay of this book was staggeringly good, though I can't say that for the rest of the book.
The Chilean author presents us with a collection of five stories in which he chronicles the life and works of five scientists, namely Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Karl Schwarzschild, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger. I say 'stories' because that's what they are, a fictionalized version of their lives, for most of the book.
I don't know why the author chose this structure, but here's what he's done: the quantity of fiction steadily increases throughout the book, with each passing essay. Prussian Blue, a rundown on the origins of the poison cyanide and the amazing contradictory achievements of Fritz Haber - my favourite of the lot - is 99% fact, with only the last paragraph added for embellishment, while the final essay is 100% fictional. Never thought I'll say this, but I think I just read a non-fiction novel.
Here's my nagging question: why? Why couldn't you stick with one? I couldn't help wondering about everything I read, is this fact or fiction? There's only so much googling you can do. You could've just told me the real story. I get that historical fiction is a thing, but then you don't dive into them expecting it to be true in the first place; you just go for the pleasure of the ride. Here, I felt cheated in a way, to be honest.
Look, these scientists led such extraordinary, unimaginable lives that the dramatic points and high-conflict tensions required to tell a good story are inherently present within their life stories! Heck, they make UP the story!! You didn't need to add any superficialities to it, all you needed to do was stick faithfully to the facts, and what a book it would've turned out to be! But Labatut chooses to go down this inexplicable path of endowing his subjects with perplexing hallucinations, erotic dreams and mysterious visions. Case in point: while Schrödinger's affair with a 14-year old girl was undeniably a part of his life, here it gets central attention (as attested by the inordinate page-count dedicated to the incident) rather than his unparalleled scientific career.
I'll recommend you to ignore the last two stories, read the intermediary ones if you feel up to it, but Prussian Blue is essential reading. Shocking, exhilarating and mind-numbing, any number of adjectives won't do it justice. As I said, I doubt I'll find something more interesting this year to top THIS level of crazy!...more
Just like the last book, this sophomore volume in The Rabbit Factor trilogy follows the textbook style of plot development. The second paragraph of myJust like the last book, this sophomore volume in The Rabbit Factor trilogy follows the textbook style of plot development. The second paragraph of my review of the first book holds true for this one too, except that this time, the 'all is lost' moment just before the climax was spelt out too clearly, too on-the-nose. I don't have a problem with that, but if you're going to make it look like there's no way our protagonist is gonna get out of this, please don't offer unsatisfying magical solutions in the very next chapter when every problem suddenly disappears into thin air. Frankly, I think the author was in a rush to end things and send the manuscript to the publishing house as soon as possible, because hey, you've got to write the final volume too and you're already running behind schedule!
I liked the way how it started, steadily introducing new characters and conflicts they brought to the plot. Then it seemed like things were scattering hither-thither too fast for my liking, yet it felt like it wasn't progressing at all. I don't know how something can be too fast and too slow simultaneously, but in my humble estimate, that's exactly what happened.
On top of that, after things rearranged themselves to a nice spot with a flick of the magic wand, I expected the author to at least provide me a suitable explanation in the final chapter, a connection between the myriad events that followed one after another. You see, that's what he did in the last book, giving a rundown of the events, lifting the veil, if you will. I rightfully expected him to explain what the hell was going on under the covers, seeing as I cared to slog through this fog for over five hours, hoping it'll clear in the end, but no, the pay-off didn't come. Instead, problems just mysteriously vanished. What's more, the final chapter that was supposed to provide an explanation, is used as a springboard to tease the plot of the third book. Again, as I said, the writer was definitely in a hurry to not only complete the book, but to start and finish the next one before the deadline.
The first book was a breath of fresh air. This one lost the plot altogether. While it retains parts of what I liked about its predecessor, I won't recommend someone to invest their time reading it. I am not even sure if I'll check out the final book in the series....more
This is the first (translated) Finnish book I've read. While the names and settings sounded alien to me, the dark humour and the philosophical tidbitsThis is the first (translated) Finnish book I've read. While the names and settings sounded alien to me, the dark humour and the philosophical tidbits found their way through. No matter what the language, stories speak the universal tongue, appeal to the pervasive human desire to be read and admired.
It's a classic three-part structure plot, with a clear beginning, middle and end. You'll get all the elements of a textbook plot - an inciting incident, build-up, a red-herring, a romantic subplot, escalation and eventual resolution. You'll get a cast of eccentric characters with peculiar traits and a couple of twists thrown in for good measure, one I saw coming from miles ahead, the other one I did not. It's so textbookish it apparently seems the idea germinated when the author tried to come up with an answer to the classic 101 exercise they assign you in creative writing - put your regular protagonist in unexpected circumstances, tear his life upside down, make him do things he wouldn't have even imagined in his wildest dreams, and see what you can come up with.
What distinguishes it, however, is Tuomainen's atypical sense of humour. At one point, Henri, an actuary who is obsessed with mathematics and precision, tries to explain to someone the difference between an amusement park and an adventure park, and you can't help but laugh out loud.
The power of stories aside, the only thing I found common with Henri is his choice of philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer. Like myself, he finds solace, courage, the will to go on, and sometimes, the acceptance of suffering and the world as it is, in the Great Pessimist's words. This character aspect may have nearly nothing to contribute to the actual plot - which explains why it finds such criminally less page-time - but what it does is it makes Henri human and endearing to the reader.
I'll certainly be checking out more Tuomainen down the road....more
Daniel Yergin does to the world of energy what Chris Miller did to the world of semiconductors in his book 'Chip War' Phew, that was a lot to take in!
Daniel Yergin does to the world of energy what Chris Miller did to the world of semiconductors in his book 'Chip War' (this book came first though, so the analogy doesn't hold perfectly, but you get the point). He covers seemingly everything there is to say about energy - the history and role of several resources like oil, natural gas, nuclear power, electricity grids, renewables like wind and solar, biofuels, energy conservation, etc. Some amazing stories about extraordinary people who contributed leaps and bounds to their chosen field of work (Hyman Rickover, Samuel Insull, etc.) are interspersed to make the narrative interesting.
Yergin's Pulitzer-winning book on the subject of energy, The Prize, covered about a century and a half's worth of history of oil from its discovery in late-1850s to the First Gulf War. This one starts from exactly where the previous book left off and covers two decades from 1991 to 2011. It is divided into 6 sections. The first section talks about the history and role of various nations and regions in the context of energy, like Russia, the Middle East, Central Asia, United States, Europe, China, etc. and introduces readers to the concepts and quirks of Petro-states and Supermajors. Part 2 is about Energy Security, while Part 3 expounds on all aspects of electricity. Part Four, my personal favourite of the book, talked about Climate Change and its history. Part Five talks about renewables and energy efficiency, while Part Six draws on biofuels and lays out the road to the future.
This was my first full-fledged volume on geopolitics, or specifically, about a solitary but major part of it, energy. While it was satisfying to read and finish the book, I won't deny this was a difficult book to get through (Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ blurb says a bit over 800 pages, but the version I read had 1100+). Author's decision of breaking up the six segments further into innumerable tiny parts does help, as it gets easier to wade through. The writing does get a bit repetitive, and that's what made it miss my bingo score, but that's the only complaint I had with the book. I'll be checking out more of Yergin's work....more
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