Andy's bookshelf: read en-US Mon, 28 Oct 2024 09:42:52 -0700 60 Andy's bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century]]> 134741
Cooper argues that there are three types of states in the world that deal with each other in different ways: 'pre-modern' parts of the world, without fully functioning states, 'modern' nation states, concerned with territorial sovereignty and national interests, and 'post-modern' states in which foreign and domestic policy are inextricably intertwined, tools of governance are shared and security is no longer based on control over territory or the balance of power. Among first world nations, societies may operate on the basis of laws, openness and cooperative security. But when dealing with a hostile outside enemy, civilized countries need to revert to tougher methods from an earlier era � force, pre-emptive attack, deception � if we are to safeguard peaceful co-existence throughout the civilized world

Like Robert Kagan’s best-selling Of Paradise and Power, The Breaking of Nations is essential reading for a dangerous age, a cautionary tale for superpowers, and a prescient examination of international relations in the twenty-first century.]]> 192 Robert Cooper 0802141641 Andy 4 3.79 2003 The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century
author: Robert Cooper
name: Andy
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/28
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Echo of Worlds (Pandominion, #2)]]> 181031840
Two mighty empires are at war - and both will lose, with thousands of planets falling to the extinction event called the Scour. At least that's what the artificial intelligence known as Rupshe believes.

But somewhere in the multiverse there exists a force - the Mother Mass - that could end the war in an instant, and Rupshe has assembled a team to find it. Essien Nkanika, a soldier trying desperately to atone for past sins; the cat-woman Moon, a conscienceless killer; the digitally recorded mind of physicist Hadiz Tambuwal; Paz, an idealistic child and the renegade robot spy Dulcimer Coronal.

Their mission will take them from the hellish prison world of Tsakom to the poisoned remains of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and finally bring them face to face with the Mother Mass itself. But can they persuade it to end eons of neutrality and help them? And is it too late to make a difference?

Because the Pandominion's doomsday machines are about to be unleashed - and not even their builders know how to control them.

Discover the conclusion to the spectacular Pandominion duology - an exhilarating science fiction series from the author of the million-copy bestseller The Girl With All the Gifts . Perfect for fans of The Space Between Worlds, The Long Earth and Children of Time.]]> 496 M.R. Carey 035651806X Andy 2
When I reviewed the first volume in this series, I noted that while it was a cool concept, it suffered from "series bloat" - the tendency of writers to pad out stories that should really be one book in order to turn them into a series. And after reading the second volume, I'm even more convinced of this than ever.

For most of this book, nothing happens except supposedly suspenseful action sequences that in reality lack all suspense because it's obvious that the author is not going to kill off our favorite characters. Almost nothing is done to further flesh out the (interesting) universe, or the characters. Some of them become extremely tiresome - I'm looking at you, Moon - whereas others just sort of chug along.

Then comes the ending, which has been obvious since fairly early in the first book. [spoilers removed]. This happens in about thirty minutes (I was listening to the audiobook) and with a bare minimum of logic or explanation. [spoilers removed]

I beg authors and publishers to stop doing this. Yes, you got me to buy two books, even if the second purchase went against my better judgement. But I'm never going to read anything in a series by this author again, because I expect a repeat of the experience. Why not just give us good, well-rounded, one-volume novels that work and are not 50% padding? I like this author's ideas and I like the writing style. I want to want to read more. But whatever incentives are causing this to happen - whether they come from the publisher or the author or both - are getting in the way of me ever committing to reading M.R. Carey again. And in the long run, that's not a win for anybody.]]> 4.25 2024 Echo of Worlds (Pandominion, #2)
author: M.R. Carey
name: Andy
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
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review:
GAH.

When I reviewed the first volume in this series, I noted that while it was a cool concept, it suffered from "series bloat" - the tendency of writers to pad out stories that should really be one book in order to turn them into a series. And after reading the second volume, I'm even more convinced of this than ever.

For most of this book, nothing happens except supposedly suspenseful action sequences that in reality lack all suspense because it's obvious that the author is not going to kill off our favorite characters. Almost nothing is done to further flesh out the (interesting) universe, or the characters. Some of them become extremely tiresome - I'm looking at you, Moon - whereas others just sort of chug along.

Then comes the ending, which has been obvious since fairly early in the first book. [spoilers removed]. This happens in about thirty minutes (I was listening to the audiobook) and with a bare minimum of logic or explanation. [spoilers removed]

I beg authors and publishers to stop doing this. Yes, you got me to buy two books, even if the second purchase went against my better judgement. But I'm never going to read anything in a series by this author again, because I expect a repeat of the experience. Why not just give us good, well-rounded, one-volume novels that work and are not 50% padding? I like this author's ideas and I like the writing style. I want to want to read more. But whatever incentives are causing this to happen - whether they come from the publisher or the author or both - are getting in the way of me ever committing to reading M.R. Carey again. And in the long run, that's not a win for anybody.
]]> Translation State 62873999
Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. The realization that they might want something else isn't "optimal behavior". I's the type of behavior that results in elimination.

But Qven rebels. And in doing so, their path collides with those of two others. Enae, a reluctant diplomat whose dead grandmaman has left hir an impossible task as an inheritance: hunting down a fugitive who has been missing for over 200 years. And Reet, an adopted mechanic who is increasingly desperate to learn about his genetic roots--or anything that might explain why he operates so differently from those around him.

As a Conclave of the various species approaches--and the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presger is on the line--the decisions of all three will have ripple effects across the stars.

Masterfully merging space adventure and mystery, and a poignant exploration about relationships and belonging, Translation State is a standalone story set in Leckie's celebrated Imperial Radch universe.]]> 422 Ann Leckie 031628971X Andy 2
- The writing is so much less rich and dense than it was in the original trilogy, as is the plot. Whereas the original trilogy bent your mind, this book is light and insubstantial. The amount of repetition and hammering the same themes and points down your throat is out of this world.

- Example: the Presger Translators are prissy - we get it!!! Granted, there are times when Leckie makes this genuinely funny. One of the funniest moments in the original trilogy is when Translator Zeiat says "Well, Fleet Captain, I must say, this war of yours is very inconvenient". It was an intriguing glimpse into the weirdness of the Presger Translators and years later I still sometimes think about that line. But in this book, it just becomes boring and overdone, crammed down your throat and definitely no longer funny.

- The characters are mopey and annoying. It's basically a YA coming-of-age novel set in the Imperial Radch universe. The one older main character is a trope, basically Miss Marple in space.

- People will disagree about this, but I find it annoying to read a 400+ page book centering on the Presger and not really learn anything about the Presger. What we learned about the Translators was somewhat interesting, but the constant references to "mysteries you simply will never be able to comprehend" is just frustrating and hammy. It was okay in the original trilogy because most of it wasn't explicitly centered on the Presger, and it was very exciting to think that we might one day learn more about them. But apparently we won't. So, like, that sucks.

- Much of the book seems like it aims to simply evoke a sort of cozy feeling without really worrying about plot/characters. As with the Monk and Robot series (which are also by an amazingly talented writer), many people are bound to find this really annoying.

Part of this is no doubt about expectations, and Leckie has set them sky high with the original trilogy. I don't remember Provenance that much, but I do remember thinking that it was still satisfying and worthwhile. Then, perhaps, I was aglow with the warmth of the original series. But I still feel the same now - I was more excited about this novel than about any other in years. Writers of course evolve and move on to new things, and they reach new audiences by doing that - but in this case, sadly for me, Leckie left me behind.]]> 3.96 2023 Translation State
author: Ann Leckie
name: Andy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/03/16
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review:
I will read every word Ann Leckie writes until she stops writing them. She is an amazingly talented writer. But this was a big miss for me. Why?

- The writing is so much less rich and dense than it was in the original trilogy, as is the plot. Whereas the original trilogy bent your mind, this book is light and insubstantial. The amount of repetition and hammering the same themes and points down your throat is out of this world.

- Example: the Presger Translators are prissy - we get it!!! Granted, there are times when Leckie makes this genuinely funny. One of the funniest moments in the original trilogy is when Translator Zeiat says "Well, Fleet Captain, I must say, this war of yours is very inconvenient". It was an intriguing glimpse into the weirdness of the Presger Translators and years later I still sometimes think about that line. But in this book, it just becomes boring and overdone, crammed down your throat and definitely no longer funny.

- The characters are mopey and annoying. It's basically a YA coming-of-age novel set in the Imperial Radch universe. The one older main character is a trope, basically Miss Marple in space.

- People will disagree about this, but I find it annoying to read a 400+ page book centering on the Presger and not really learn anything about the Presger. What we learned about the Translators was somewhat interesting, but the constant references to "mysteries you simply will never be able to comprehend" is just frustrating and hammy. It was okay in the original trilogy because most of it wasn't explicitly centered on the Presger, and it was very exciting to think that we might one day learn more about them. But apparently we won't. So, like, that sucks.

- Much of the book seems like it aims to simply evoke a sort of cozy feeling without really worrying about plot/characters. As with the Monk and Robot series (which are also by an amazingly talented writer), many people are bound to find this really annoying.

Part of this is no doubt about expectations, and Leckie has set them sky high with the original trilogy. I don't remember Provenance that much, but I do remember thinking that it was still satisfying and worthwhile. Then, perhaps, I was aglow with the warmth of the original series. But I still feel the same now - I was more excited about this novel than about any other in years. Writers of course evolve and move on to new things, and they reach new audiences by doing that - but in this case, sadly for me, Leckie left me behind.
]]> The Lionheads 8165843 144 Josiah Bunting 0283982799 Andy 4 3.50 1972 The Lionheads
author: Josiah Bunting
name: Andy
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Infinity Gate (Pandominion, #1)]]> 61237044
The Pandominion: a political and trading alliance of a million worlds - except that they're really just the one world, Earth, in many different realities. And when an AI threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they'll eradicate it by whatever means necessary, no matter the cost to human life.

Scientist Hadiz Tambuwal is looking for a solution to her own Earth's environmental collapse when she stumbles across the secret of inter-dimensional travel. It could save everyone on her dying planet, but now she's walked into the middle of a war on a scale she never dreamed of.

And she needs to choose a side before it kills her.]]> 499 M.R. Carey 0316504386 Andy 3
The other problem with it was what I call "series bloat". This is the first in a series rather than a standalone. This means that the author leaves all of the major questions unresolved at the end of it. This is in itself extremely frustrating, but it also results in a ludicrously overstuffed book - there is so much filler in here which it feels like the author jammed in purely to avoid having to actually resolve any of the plot, and to create the need for the next entry in the series.

This book would have been much better if it was half the length, and I would have been much more willing to read the next one. Now, having invested nearly 17hrs into listening to a slog of on audiobook and not getting any resolution at the end of it, I have to decide whether I'm going to put a similar amount of time into the next one. It feels insulting to the reader.]]> 4.06 2023 Infinity Gate (Pandominion, #1)
author: M.R. Carey
name: Andy
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/03/05
shelves:
review:
What's interesting and unusual about this book is the way that it draws on the tropes of three different genres - hard sci-fi, military sci-fi, and YA - and explores each through one particular character whose paths eventually cross. How you feel about it is going to then turn on how you feel about those genres. But it also seems like quite a bold move to put such radically different genres into the same book - how many people like both hard sci-fi and YA? For me, this meant that I enjoyed the first half, but then got majorly turned off by the YA adventure in the second half. When the [spoilers removed], I really started to check out of the book.

The other problem with it was what I call "series bloat". This is the first in a series rather than a standalone. This means that the author leaves all of the major questions unresolved at the end of it. This is in itself extremely frustrating, but it also results in a ludicrously overstuffed book - there is so much filler in here which it feels like the author jammed in purely to avoid having to actually resolve any of the plot, and to create the need for the next entry in the series.

This book would have been much better if it was half the length, and I would have been much more willing to read the next one. Now, having invested nearly 17hrs into listening to a slog of on audiobook and not getting any resolution at the end of it, I have to decide whether I'm going to put a similar amount of time into the next one. It feels insulting to the reader.
]]> <![CDATA[The Savage Wars Of Peace: Small Wars And The Rise Of American Power]]> 18244 464 Max Boot 046500721X Andy 3 3.99 The Savage Wars Of Peace: Small Wars And The Rise Of American Power
author: Max Boot
name: Andy
average rating: 3.99
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/06/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2)]]> 45154547 WINNER OF THE 2022 HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL
Now a USA Today bestseller!
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2021
Amazon's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2021
Bookpage's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2021
Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Choice Awards Nominee for Best Science Fiction Book of 2021

A Desolation Called Peace is the spectacular space opera sequel to Arkady Martine's genre-reinventing, Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire.

An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options.

In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass—still reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empire—face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity.

Their failure will guarantee millions of deaths in an endless war. Their success might prevent Teixcalaan’s destruction—and allow the empire to continue its rapacious expansion.

Or it might create something far stranger . . .
]]> 496 Arkady Martine 125018648X Andy 2
Here were a few problems I had with it, in no particular order:

- Very little happens! A Memory Called Empire also felt slightly over-long and definitely had parts which engaged me less, but the character development and world-building made it all worthwhile. I was completely sucked into Teixcalaan and always hungry to know more about it. In this book, there is very little additional world-building or character development and a greatly increased problem with pacing. The narrator and the characters just talk the same problems and themes to death for hundreds of pages without really progressing, until suddenly everything happens in the last fifty pages. This book could have been half the length and would have been much better.

- There is a significant tonal shift from the first book. The first book felt... stately. It sometimes lived up to its pretensions to be philosophical. The characters acted in ways which felt realistic and like adults, albeit adults who were experiencing profoundly difficult events. Instead this volume is suffused with a sort of you-go-girl, Young Adult immaturity which makes it feel like it's aimed at a completely different audience. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that audience or writing books for them - it's just not what I expected after the first.

- The author also has a few stylistic tics such as over-use of italics and parentheses which disrupt the flow and make you very aware that you're reading a book rather than being sucked into a story.

- The main antagonist is never really fleshed out beyond a cliche. [spoilers removed] Likewise, Twenty Cicada's pseudo-space-Buddhism becomes significant in the end, but this isn't really fleshed out at all either, beyond "he likes nature and harmony!"

I could go on, but I'll leave it there. Martine showed she's worth reading in the first volume, and I'm not completely convinced to give up on her yet.]]> 4.31 2021 A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2)
author: Arkady Martine
name: Andy
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2022/12/16
shelves:
review:
I was a big fan of A Memory Called Empire so I really wanted to read this book. It's taken me about two years to get around to it because I wanted to wait until I had time to really savor it. But in the end it was a huge disappointment which feels rushed and padded with filler (something the author eludes to in the acknowledgements).

Here were a few problems I had with it, in no particular order:

- Very little happens! A Memory Called Empire also felt slightly over-long and definitely had parts which engaged me less, but the character development and world-building made it all worthwhile. I was completely sucked into Teixcalaan and always hungry to know more about it. In this book, there is very little additional world-building or character development and a greatly increased problem with pacing. The narrator and the characters just talk the same problems and themes to death for hundreds of pages without really progressing, until suddenly everything happens in the last fifty pages. This book could have been half the length and would have been much better.

- There is a significant tonal shift from the first book. The first book felt... stately. It sometimes lived up to its pretensions to be philosophical. The characters acted in ways which felt realistic and like adults, albeit adults who were experiencing profoundly difficult events. Instead this volume is suffused with a sort of you-go-girl, Young Adult immaturity which makes it feel like it's aimed at a completely different audience. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that audience or writing books for them - it's just not what I expected after the first.

- The author also has a few stylistic tics such as over-use of italics and parentheses which disrupt the flow and make you very aware that you're reading a book rather than being sucked into a story.

- The main antagonist is never really fleshed out beyond a cliche. [spoilers removed] Likewise, Twenty Cicada's pseudo-space-Buddhism becomes significant in the end, but this isn't really fleshed out at all either, beyond "he likes nature and harmony!"

I could go on, but I'll leave it there. Martine showed she's worth reading in the first volume, and I'm not completely convinced to give up on her yet.
]]> Childhood’s End 414999
But at what cost? With the advent of peace, man ceases to strive for creative greatness, and a malaise settles over the human race. To those who resist, it becomes evident that the Overlords have an agenda of their own. As civilization approaches the crossroads, will the Overlords spell the end for humankind . . . or the beginning?]]> 224 Arthur C. Clarke Andy 1 4.12 1953 Childhood’s End
author: Arthur C. Clarke
name: Andy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1953
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2021/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> The Human Son 49917739
A startling, emotional, beautiful (and at times funny) book � one that feels like the best sort of science fiction, a book that should be enjoyed widely, a book that speaks of what it is to be human, a parent, and a child.

It is 500 years in the future and Earth is no longer populated by humans.

The new guardians of Earth, the genetically engineered Erta, have reversed climate change. They are now faced with a dilemma; if they reintroduce the rebellious and violent Homo Sapiens, all of their work will be undone.

They decide to raise one final child; a sole human to help decide if humanity should again inherit the Earth.

But the quiet and clinical Ima finds that there is more to raising a human than she had expected; and there is more to humanity’s history than she has been told.

Ìý±Õ±Õ> 473 Adrian J. Walker 1781087881 Andy 5
The plot revolves around an Erta named Ima who is given the task of raising the human son, and how the broader community of Erta react to his presence. The author fully explores all of the humor and tension which comes from a clinical and precise super-human trying to raise a human infant, and the development of their relationship over time was one of the most satisfying parts of the novel. At the same time that Ima is finding meaning and fulfillment in motherhood, the solarpunk vibe slowly gives way to a darker and more baroque one as the Erta become increasingly detached, cultish and anti-human in pursuit of transcendence.

Along with this fantastic world-building and character-building, the plot was fresh and unpredictable - I never felt we were just plodding along for no reason, or that it was too easy to tell where things were going. I've seen people in other reviews say they disliked the ending. I often struggle with endings too - it's difficult to avoid being anti-climactic - but I didn't find that the case here at all. I was in floods of tears in the closing few pages because everything fell so neatly into place.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Alison O'Donnell, and this was an example of where the audiobook really added to the experience. The Erta live in Sweden and have a kind of Celtic vibe to them, so hearing them rendered in a sometimes-otherworldly Scottish accent added so much to the richness of the story.]]> 4.03 2020 The Human Son
author: Adrian J. Walker
name: Andy
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/06/29
shelves:
review:
This was such a fresh and brilliant book. It seems to draw inspiration from solarpunk, a relatively new genre of speculative fiction which imagines how the future might look if humans solve major environmental challenges and manage to live in harmony with nature. Here there's a catch - humans engineered a race of super-humans called the Erta to solve these problems, but have themselves ceased to exist. Having completed their work, the Erta are ready to move onto a new plane of existence - transcendence - and are debating whether to reintroduce humans into the biosphere before they do. The title character, the human son, is an experiment they create in order to observe humans and see if they can be trusted to return.

The plot revolves around an Erta named Ima who is given the task of raising the human son, and how the broader community of Erta react to his presence. The author fully explores all of the humor and tension which comes from a clinical and precise super-human trying to raise a human infant, and the development of their relationship over time was one of the most satisfying parts of the novel. At the same time that Ima is finding meaning and fulfillment in motherhood, the solarpunk vibe slowly gives way to a darker and more baroque one as the Erta become increasingly detached, cultish and anti-human in pursuit of transcendence.

Along with this fantastic world-building and character-building, the plot was fresh and unpredictable - I never felt we were just plodding along for no reason, or that it was too easy to tell where things were going. I've seen people in other reviews say they disliked the ending. I often struggle with endings too - it's difficult to avoid being anti-climactic - but I didn't find that the case here at all. I was in floods of tears in the closing few pages because everything fell so neatly into place.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Alison O'Donnell, and this was an example of where the audiobook really added to the experience. The Erta live in Sweden and have a kind of Celtic vibe to them, so hearing them rendered in a sometimes-otherworldly Scottish accent added so much to the richness of the story.
]]> <![CDATA[Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1)]]> 55278507 The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us an extraordinary space opera about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all.

The war is over. Its heroes forgotten. Until one chance discovery . . .

Idris has neither aged nor slept since they remade him in the war. And one of humanity's heroes now scrapes by on a freelance salvage vessel, to avoid the attention of greater powers.

After earth was destroyed, mankind created a fighting elite to save their species, enhanced humans such as Idris. In the silence of space they could communicate, mind-to-mind, with the enemy. Then their alien aggressors, the Architects, simply disappeared—and Idris and his kind became obsolete.

Now, fifty years later, Idris and his crew have discovered something strange abandoned in space. It's clearly the work of the Architects—but are they returning? And if so, why? Hunted by gangsters, cults and governments, Idris and his crew race across the galaxy hunting for answers. For they now possess something of incalculable value, that many would kill to obtain.]]> Adrian Tchaikovsky 1549106392 Andy 2
If you are going to read this novel hoping that Tchaikovsky is back to the form he found with Children of Time, do not! This is a totally different beast which feels like it is aimed at a young adult audience or one which doesn't usually read sci fi.

The basic plot is that some Moon-sized entities called the Architects had been destroying humanity's planets, they were sent away by humans with special abilities called intermediaries, and now they're back. The world-building isn't too bad, but it's also not particularly fresh or interesting. To be honest it feels like a real mash-up of different elements from Mass Effect, Becky Chambers, Alistair Reynolds and The Expanse.

The main problem with the book is the woeful character-building. The book revolves around a crew of blue-collar, salt-of-the-cosmos spacers who have about the same level as character development as a lance corporal with a bit part in a Terry Pratchett novel. Their entire "characters" consist of saying things like "see right?" and complaining about the Man, with almost nothing about personal history, inner struggles, etc. One human who we encounter on a planet with a strange and deadly biosphere turns out to be (you guessed it) some kind of space Australian, who says things like "he's just opened up a whole bloody can of research on us!" (Nearly DNFed right there and then). There's an alien whose entire schtick is that they are overly polite, layering every sentence with things like "my friend, my comrade, my sister". But WHY do they do that? What does it tell us about their society, their inner life, their relationship to humans? Nothing like this is explored. There is literally nothing deeper there than "haha see aliens talk funny!?"

The book is "plot-driven" in the sense that some petty thing is always happening to the crew, but for most of it nothing. important. is. happening. This book is so long given how shallow it is and you find yourself continuing just because you're convinced some amazing development must be right around the corner, given how long you've been bored for. The characters don't really have any interesting response to what is happening around them, and their interpersonal relationships - which are supposed to drive a lot of the plot - are underdeveloped and mostly static, just gestures to establish where they stand with each other. It's so hard to care about the plot because it's so hard to care about the characters. I actually found myself pleased when some fairly major characters died, if only because I thought it might signal the book was moving into a more interesting phase. One thing I will say is that after a while I picked up my audiobook speed to 1.5x - the equivalent of skimming - and it moved along more briskly. But it's not a good thing that you have to do that!

I gave this two stars rather than one because I realize maybe it's just not for me, and if you're into the space opera equivalent of an action movie, it probably has something to offer you. Becky Chambers has really spoiled me for this kind of thing now - she's just light years ahead of everyone else and it's hard to go back to something so shallow afterwards. I usually feel compelled to finish trilogies even if I don't enjoy the first novel, but no way am I reading the next two of these.]]> 4.09 2021 Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: Andy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2021/06/29
shelves:
review:
I usually don't like writing negative reviews but I was super-disappointed with this and wish I had known more about it before I started reading (actually, listening to the audiobook).

If you are going to read this novel hoping that Tchaikovsky is back to the form he found with Children of Time, do not! This is a totally different beast which feels like it is aimed at a young adult audience or one which doesn't usually read sci fi.

The basic plot is that some Moon-sized entities called the Architects had been destroying humanity's planets, they were sent away by humans with special abilities called intermediaries, and now they're back. The world-building isn't too bad, but it's also not particularly fresh or interesting. To be honest it feels like a real mash-up of different elements from Mass Effect, Becky Chambers, Alistair Reynolds and The Expanse.

The main problem with the book is the woeful character-building. The book revolves around a crew of blue-collar, salt-of-the-cosmos spacers who have about the same level as character development as a lance corporal with a bit part in a Terry Pratchett novel. Their entire "characters" consist of saying things like "see right?" and complaining about the Man, with almost nothing about personal history, inner struggles, etc. One human who we encounter on a planet with a strange and deadly biosphere turns out to be (you guessed it) some kind of space Australian, who says things like "he's just opened up a whole bloody can of research on us!" (Nearly DNFed right there and then). There's an alien whose entire schtick is that they are overly polite, layering every sentence with things like "my friend, my comrade, my sister". But WHY do they do that? What does it tell us about their society, their inner life, their relationship to humans? Nothing like this is explored. There is literally nothing deeper there than "haha see aliens talk funny!?"

The book is "plot-driven" in the sense that some petty thing is always happening to the crew, but for most of it nothing. important. is. happening. This book is so long given how shallow it is and you find yourself continuing just because you're convinced some amazing development must be right around the corner, given how long you've been bored for. The characters don't really have any interesting response to what is happening around them, and their interpersonal relationships - which are supposed to drive a lot of the plot - are underdeveloped and mostly static, just gestures to establish where they stand with each other. It's so hard to care about the plot because it's so hard to care about the characters. I actually found myself pleased when some fairly major characters died, if only because I thought it might signal the book was moving into a more interesting phase. One thing I will say is that after a while I picked up my audiobook speed to 1.5x - the equivalent of skimming - and it moved along more briskly. But it's not a good thing that you have to do that!

I gave this two stars rather than one because I realize maybe it's just not for me, and if you're into the space opera equivalent of an action movie, it probably has something to offer you. Becky Chambers has really spoiled me for this kind of thing now - she's just light years ahead of everyone else and it's hard to go back to something so shallow afterwards. I usually feel compelled to finish trilogies even if I don't enjoy the first novel, but no way am I reading the next two of these.
]]> <![CDATA[A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2)]]> 29475447
Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for - and learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.

A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to Becky Chambers' beloved debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effect and Star Wars.]]> 365 Becky Chambers 1473621445 Andy 5
There are three things I love about this book. The first is how seriously it takes children, something which is rare in sci-fi (and also a strong point of the sequel, Record of a Spaceborn Few). A large part of the story revolves around Jane, an escaped child slave, who is raised by a sentient AI called Owl as they work together to escape the planet on which Jane is born. The narrative of Jane growing up is by far my favorite part of the book, and it's so distant from the usual intergalactic politics and space battles which dominant space operas. Throughout all of the Wayfarers books Chambers focuses on the marginal figures in the galaxy - indeed, in her galaxy, humans themselves are marginal, a species of refugees - and giving so much of the book to focus on a child, who is the most marginal figure of all, made it very special to me. Nor is the "child slave" theme, which seems incredibly grim for the first few pages, followed for long enough to turn this into some sort of spectacle of misery. Your mileage on this part might vary, but if you're a parent, I suspect you're going to love this book.

Secondly, the way that all of the pieces of this story fit together are masterful. Sometimes having two timelines doesn't really add anything or can be annoying, but that's not the case here. You figure out almost immediately that Pepper, the present-day narrator, was Jane, and that her experiences when she was younger shape how she treats Lovelace, the sentient AI in a human's body who is the other protagonist. Seeing Pepper's relationship with Lovelace unfold at the same time as Owl cares for Jane allows you to see the symmetry between the two experiences, and how both are acts of mercy and justice set against a grimmer backdrop of social (and, in a sense, racial) injustice. People sometimes say that Chambers' novels are far too cheerful and kumbaya, and it's true that on the surface they are - that's what makes them a joy to read. But that's not the case when you fill in the gaps and the silences and pay attention to the background details.

Thirdly, I love the sheer complexity of the themes. I can think of at least a half dozen ways in which the theme of "a closed and common orbit" plays out in the book - the closed and common orbit understood as the lifetimes we share together as families, the karma we pass forward or don't pass forward, the planet we share together with other beings who we care for or don't care for enough, and more. Chambers' books are so much more about the moods and emotions and tableaux they evoke than intricate plots, which means that you want to return to them like you return to a piece of poetry, even if you already know it by heart. It didn't leave me wanting more because this was just enough, and I know it'll bring me joy again in the future.]]> 4.35 2016 A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2)
author: Becky Chambers
name: Andy
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/04/26
shelves:
review:
There aren't many books which I not only say are among my favorite, but also that just make me feel so much better about the world to know that they're in it - but this is one of the latter. And I almost didn't read it. After finishing A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet I jumped into this with glee, then got turned off when I discovered that it isn't really a sequel - it's based in the same universe, and stars one of the characters from A Long Way, but that's about it. What Chambers excels at is creating a set of characters which you really care about and exploring the social dynamics of her galaxy, and the focus is much more on doing that than on plot. A Long Way was so great that it left me wanting a continuation of that plotline, and I was disappointed not to get it. But when I finally came back to A Closed and Common Orbit and gave it a chance on its own terms, I was so glad that I did.

There are three things I love about this book. The first is how seriously it takes children, something which is rare in sci-fi (and also a strong point of the sequel, Record of a Spaceborn Few). A large part of the story revolves around Jane, an escaped child slave, who is raised by a sentient AI called Owl as they work together to escape the planet on which Jane is born. The narrative of Jane growing up is by far my favorite part of the book, and it's so distant from the usual intergalactic politics and space battles which dominant space operas. Throughout all of the Wayfarers books Chambers focuses on the marginal figures in the galaxy - indeed, in her galaxy, humans themselves are marginal, a species of refugees - and giving so much of the book to focus on a child, who is the most marginal figure of all, made it very special to me. Nor is the "child slave" theme, which seems incredibly grim for the first few pages, followed for long enough to turn this into some sort of spectacle of misery. Your mileage on this part might vary, but if you're a parent, I suspect you're going to love this book.

Secondly, the way that all of the pieces of this story fit together are masterful. Sometimes having two timelines doesn't really add anything or can be annoying, but that's not the case here. You figure out almost immediately that Pepper, the present-day narrator, was Jane, and that her experiences when she was younger shape how she treats Lovelace, the sentient AI in a human's body who is the other protagonist. Seeing Pepper's relationship with Lovelace unfold at the same time as Owl cares for Jane allows you to see the symmetry between the two experiences, and how both are acts of mercy and justice set against a grimmer backdrop of social (and, in a sense, racial) injustice. People sometimes say that Chambers' novels are far too cheerful and kumbaya, and it's true that on the surface they are - that's what makes them a joy to read. But that's not the case when you fill in the gaps and the silences and pay attention to the background details.

Thirdly, I love the sheer complexity of the themes. I can think of at least a half dozen ways in which the theme of "a closed and common orbit" plays out in the book - the closed and common orbit understood as the lifetimes we share together as families, the karma we pass forward or don't pass forward, the planet we share together with other beings who we care for or don't care for enough, and more. Chambers' books are so much more about the moods and emotions and tableaux they evoke than intricate plots, which means that you want to return to them like you return to a piece of poetry, even if you already know it by heart. It didn't leave me wanting more because this was just enough, and I know it'll bring me joy again in the future.
]]> Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) 61179 288 Larry Niven 0575077026 Andy 3
The basic plot is that four people - two humans and two aliens - set out to explore a Ringworld, a huge habitable band completely surrounding a star. They are led to do so by an alien called a Puppeteer, for reasons which never become clear. Towards the end of the book one of the characters says something along the lines of "do you think they're called Puppeteers because they manipulate us towards their own unfathomable ends?", which the reader figured out about 200 pages back. In general the book telegraphs big developments way in advance, so nothing really comes as a surprise to the reader, and you often feel that you're just slogging towards whatever obvious thing is about to happen.

The plot actually moves quite briskly before the characters arrive on the Ringworld, but then it becomes a dead zone of plot. The Ringworld is mostly desolate and inhabited by "savages" who the main characters can't communicate with for most of the book, and the whole thing is about as exciting as it sounds. I realize that a lot of sci-fi books set up the outline sketch of a broader universe and then focus intently on a micro-narrative happening to the main characters, but in order to do that you have to actually make the main characters and the things happening to them interesting. The Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers is a fantastic example of this which works really well. Niven's characters are sometimes entertaining - it's a genuinely witty book at times, and doesn't try too hard to be constantly funny like say John Scalzi - and the world-building behind his alien species is interesting, but the characters are too one-dimensional to sustain our attention all the way through.

The book's treatment of its female characters is appalling. The male gaze is everywhere in this book, even in the narrator - for instance "she was one of those rare women who wasn't ugly when she cried". Of the two main female characters, one is an attractive 20-something who has sex with the protagonist and the other is an attractive prostitute who has sex with the protagonist. Women in the book aren't entirely without agency, but one of the main plot points is that the 20-something is genetically lucky and, having never been hurt, is innocent and naive and exerts a power over men and events without being aware of it. She has a sort of power (as does the prostitute, who turns out to be more intelligent than she is originally cast and uses sex to get her way) but cannot be called empowered.

Why then three stars? Niven throws a lot of interesting ideas at the wall in this and some of them do stick. I'm definitely going to read the sequels, if only because the overall universe he sketches out is interesting and I would like to see it fleshed out more. The moments of understated wit are genuine and funny. He needed to do a lot more to color in either the Ringworld or his characters, but he does enough to leave me wanting more.]]> 3.96 1970 Ringworld (Ringworld, #1)
author: Larry Niven
name: Andy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1970
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2021/03/26
shelves:
review:
Ringworld is a sci-fi "classic" which really shows its age. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Tom Parker. On the one hand this really improved the experience - Parker's voice is perfect and he sounds like just sort the sort of elderly gentleman rogue who should be voicing the protagonist, Louis Wu. On the other hand, it made the experience worse because this is the sort of book where I think you really want to be able to skim - which tells you something about its quality.

The basic plot is that four people - two humans and two aliens - set out to explore a Ringworld, a huge habitable band completely surrounding a star. They are led to do so by an alien called a Puppeteer, for reasons which never become clear. Towards the end of the book one of the characters says something along the lines of "do you think they're called Puppeteers because they manipulate us towards their own unfathomable ends?", which the reader figured out about 200 pages back. In general the book telegraphs big developments way in advance, so nothing really comes as a surprise to the reader, and you often feel that you're just slogging towards whatever obvious thing is about to happen.

The plot actually moves quite briskly before the characters arrive on the Ringworld, but then it becomes a dead zone of plot. The Ringworld is mostly desolate and inhabited by "savages" who the main characters can't communicate with for most of the book, and the whole thing is about as exciting as it sounds. I realize that a lot of sci-fi books set up the outline sketch of a broader universe and then focus intently on a micro-narrative happening to the main characters, but in order to do that you have to actually make the main characters and the things happening to them interesting. The Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers is a fantastic example of this which works really well. Niven's characters are sometimes entertaining - it's a genuinely witty book at times, and doesn't try too hard to be constantly funny like say John Scalzi - and the world-building behind his alien species is interesting, but the characters are too one-dimensional to sustain our attention all the way through.

The book's treatment of its female characters is appalling. The male gaze is everywhere in this book, even in the narrator - for instance "she was one of those rare women who wasn't ugly when she cried". Of the two main female characters, one is an attractive 20-something who has sex with the protagonist and the other is an attractive prostitute who has sex with the protagonist. Women in the book aren't entirely without agency, but one of the main plot points is that the 20-something is genetically lucky and, having never been hurt, is innocent and naive and exerts a power over men and events without being aware of it. She has a sort of power (as does the prostitute, who turns out to be more intelligent than she is originally cast and uses sex to get her way) but cannot be called empowered.

Why then three stars? Niven throws a lot of interesting ideas at the wall in this and some of them do stick. I'm definitely going to read the sequels, if only because the overall universe he sketches out is interesting and I would like to see it fleshed out more. The moments of understated wit are genuine and funny. He needed to do a lot more to color in either the Ringworld or his characters, but he does enough to leave me wanting more.
]]> <![CDATA[The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)]]> 22733729
Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.]]> 518 Becky Chambers 1500453307 Andy 5 4.15 2014 The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)
author: Becky Chambers
name: Andy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1)]]> 7670
Two years later, seventeen satellites are sent into the outer fringes of space to collect organisms and dust for study. One of them falls to earth, landing in a desolate area of Arizona.

Twelve miles from the landing site, in the town of Piedmont, a shocking discovery is made: the streets are littered with the dead bodies of the town's inhabitants, as if they dropped dead in their tracks.
--back cover]]> 327 Michael Crichton 0060541814 Andy 1
The book is an early example of a "techno-thriller", in which the reader is supposed to be gripped by anxiety as in a traditional thriller, but also to be thrilled by the technology displayed in the book. Crighton certainly did a lot of research into biology and medicine, but sometimes the book reads almost like an encyclopedia entry - the narrator or one of the characters describes at great length, and rather confusingly, some principle of biology or medicine. It's not just because the technology now seems hopelessly outdated that the book fails to thrill, but also because the book gives us little incentive to care about these long technological digressions. These sections don't tend to amplify the dramatic tension but to completely diffuse it. It's hard to be gripped by the impending death of a character via alien microbes while five pages into struggling through what reads like a Wikipedia entry about disease.

A big part of the problem is the writing, which is linked to the values the book is trying to communicate. Even when not slipping into encyclopedia mode, the book has all the charm of a document written by a government bureaucrat. The reader gets the sense this is supposed to be part of the appeal - the book is communicating a hyper-rational, hyper-masculine set of values in which reason overcomes nature and anything else that humans do and which usually form the subject matter for novels (social relations, emotions, impulses, conflict) is and should be irrelevant. But this just ends up leaving the book feeling alienating and dead.

At first I was tempted to think that perhaps the book had just aged badly, but then I thought more about the time at which it was released. In 1969 the Vietnam War was at its height, and there was no excuse not to be more critical of everything that this book worships - military efficiency and expertise, government secrecy, technology, bureaucracy. The book could have been much more intellectually interesting by creating some some sort of moral dilemma which made us question the appeal of these values, even if they were eventually redeemed. But in the end we get no human struggle at all, only the struggle between male military expertise and the virus, with the virtues of the former unambiguously demonstrated.]]> 3.92 1969 The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1)
author: Michael Crichton
name: Andy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1969
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2021/02/22
shelves:
review:
I've long wanted to read The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crighton, but when I finally got around to it late last year I was almost gobsmacked by how bad it is. How did this book attain such critical acclaim?

The book is an early example of a "techno-thriller", in which the reader is supposed to be gripped by anxiety as in a traditional thriller, but also to be thrilled by the technology displayed in the book. Crighton certainly did a lot of research into biology and medicine, but sometimes the book reads almost like an encyclopedia entry - the narrator or one of the characters describes at great length, and rather confusingly, some principle of biology or medicine. It's not just because the technology now seems hopelessly outdated that the book fails to thrill, but also because the book gives us little incentive to care about these long technological digressions. These sections don't tend to amplify the dramatic tension but to completely diffuse it. It's hard to be gripped by the impending death of a character via alien microbes while five pages into struggling through what reads like a Wikipedia entry about disease.

A big part of the problem is the writing, which is linked to the values the book is trying to communicate. Even when not slipping into encyclopedia mode, the book has all the charm of a document written by a government bureaucrat. The reader gets the sense this is supposed to be part of the appeal - the book is communicating a hyper-rational, hyper-masculine set of values in which reason overcomes nature and anything else that humans do and which usually form the subject matter for novels (social relations, emotions, impulses, conflict) is and should be irrelevant. But this just ends up leaving the book feeling alienating and dead.

At first I was tempted to think that perhaps the book had just aged badly, but then I thought more about the time at which it was released. In 1969 the Vietnam War was at its height, and there was no excuse not to be more critical of everything that this book worships - military efficiency and expertise, government secrecy, technology, bureaucracy. The book could have been much more intellectually interesting by creating some some sort of moral dilemma which made us question the appeal of these values, even if they were eventually redeemed. But in the end we get no human struggle at all, only the struggle between male military expertise and the virus, with the virtues of the former unambiguously demonstrated.
]]> The Stars Are Legion 29090844
On the outer rim of the universe, a galactic war has been waged for centuries upon hundreds of world-ships. But these worlds will continue to die through decay and constant war unless a desperate plan succeeds.

Anat, leader of the Katazyrna world-ship and the most fearsome raiding force on the Outer Rim, wants peace. To do so she offers the hand of her daughter, Jayd, to her rival. Jayd has dreamed about leading her mother’s armies to victory her whole life—but she has a unique ability, and that makes her leverage, not a leader. As Anat convinces her to spend the rest of her life wed to her family’s greatest enemy, it is up to Jayd’s sister Zan—with no stomach for war—to lead the cast off warriors she has banded together to victory and rescue Jayd. But the war does not go at all as planned�

In the tradition of The Fall of Hyperion and Dune, The Stars are Legion is an epic and thrilling tale about familial love, revenge, and war as imagined by one of the genre’s most imaginative new writers.]]> 512 Kameron Hurley Andy 5
The world-building in this book was some of the best I've ever read. About the first quarter was spellbinding, introducing the reader to a world which is so imaginative and just flat out weird that I found it hard to put the book down. In the middle sections it settles down a little bit, becoming almost like a fantasy quest, and I found the lack of pace here slightly frustrating. But everything comes together brilliantly at the end, and when one of the characters says the words which form the book's title - "the stars are legion" - it suddenly all fit together for me. This is a book about the depths of depravity which humans can endure and the horrible things they can do to each other, but also one about our striving for something better, and the suffering it takes to get there. There is always something over the horizon. The stars are legion.

The fact the book has all-female characters is also integral to its message and value. Too often in fiction what is male is generically human and what is female is specifically and narrowly female, but this book contains the full range of human nature in its all-female cast.

Highly recommended.]]> 3.66 2017 The Stars Are Legion
author: Kameron Hurley
name: Andy
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/02/19
shelves:
review:
The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley is unlike anything I've ever read. The story is set among a collection of organic ship-worlds called The Legion in which an all-female population live a brutal and bizarre existence. While they take their plight for granted, the protagonist - Zan - is recovering from amnesia and so she with us questions life within the The Legion as she explores more and more of it.

The world-building in this book was some of the best I've ever read. About the first quarter was spellbinding, introducing the reader to a world which is so imaginative and just flat out weird that I found it hard to put the book down. In the middle sections it settles down a little bit, becoming almost like a fantasy quest, and I found the lack of pace here slightly frustrating. But everything comes together brilliantly at the end, and when one of the characters says the words which form the book's title - "the stars are legion" - it suddenly all fit together for me. This is a book about the depths of depravity which humans can endure and the horrible things they can do to each other, but also one about our striving for something better, and the suffering it takes to get there. There is always something over the horizon. The stars are legion.

The fact the book has all-female characters is also integral to its message and value. Too often in fiction what is male is generically human and what is female is specifically and narrowly female, but this book contains the full range of human nature in its all-female cast.

Highly recommended.
]]> The Lionheads 2074588 224 Josiah Bunting 0283979364 Andy 4 4.00 1972 The Lionheads
author: Josiah Bunting
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2020/03/18
shelves:
review:

]]> To Be Taught, If Fortunate 43190272
Ariadne is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds and wake up each time with different features. Her experience is one of fluid body and stable mind and of a unique perspective on the passage of time. Back on Earth, society changes dramatically from decade to decade, as it always does.

Ariadne may awaken to find that support for space exploration back home has waned, or that her country of birth no longer exists, or that a cult has arisen around their cosmic findings, only to dissolve once more by the next waking. But the moods of Earth have little bearing on their mission: to explore, to study, and to send their learnings home.

Carrying all the trademarks of her other beloved works, including brilliant writing, fantastic world-building and exceptional, diverse characters, Becky's first audiobook outside of the Wayfarers series is sure to capture the imagination of listeners all over the world.]]> 153 Becky Chambers 0062936018 Andy 5 4.19 2019 To Be Taught, If Fortunate
author: Becky Chambers
name: Andy
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/01/14
shelves:
review:
Wonderful. I haven't read the Wayfarer series (and from what I know, I'm not sure I'd like it), but this is fantastic. It's a novella about an expedition to explore exoplanets and what the expedition finds. It's hard sci-fi which still manages to be concise and inspirational. Highly recommended.
]]> Cage of Souls 40803025
Bearing witness to the desperate struggle for existence between life old and new, is Stefan Advani, rebel, outlaw, prisoner, survivor. This is his testament, an account of the journey that took him into the blazing desolation of the western deserts; that transported him east down the river and imprisoned him in verdant hell of the jungle's darkest heart; that led him deep into the labyrinths and caverns of the underworld. He will treat with monsters, madman, mutants. The question is, which one of them will inherit this Earth?]]> 602 Adrian Tchaikovsky Andy 3 3.98 2019 Cage of Souls
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: Andy
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/01/14
shelves:
review:
For the first third of this book I was convinced it would end up being a five-star read, but ultimately it suffers from significant pacing problems and a lack of sustained development of the many ideas and storylines it introduces. I loved the premise but the book ultimately just ended up feeling like a slog which did not reward the time investment. In particular, I really hoped for an ending which would provide some answers about the past and future within which this story was situated - but in the end, it just sort of fizzled, leaving me with questions that will never be answered.
]]> <![CDATA[On the Future: Prospects for Humanity]]> 39204073 A provocative and inspiring look at the future of humanity and science from world-renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees

Humanity has reached a critical moment. Our world is unsettled and rapidly changing, and we face existential risks over the next century. Various outcomes--good and bad--are possible. Yet our approach to the future is characterized by short-term thinking, polarizing debates, alarmist rhetoric, and pessimism. In this short, exhilarating book, renowned scientist and bestselling author Martin Rees argues that humanity's prospects depend on our taking a very different approach to planning for tomorrow.

The future of humanity is bound to the future of science and hinges on how successfully we harness technological advances to address our challenges. If we are to use science to solve our problems while avoiding its dystopian risks, we must think rationally, globally, collectively, and optimistically about the long term. Advances in biotechnology, cybertechnology, robotics, and artificial intelligence--if pursued and applied wisely--could empower us to boost the developing and developed world and overcome the threats humanity faces on Earth, from climate change to nuclear war. At the same time, further advances in space science will allow humans to explore the solar system and beyond with robots and AI. But there is no "Plan B" for Earth--no viable alternative within reach if we do not care for our home planet.

Rich with fascinating insights into cutting-edge science and technology, this accessible book will captivate anyone who wants to understand the critical issues that will define the future of humanity on Earth and beyond.]]> 272 Martin J. Rees 069118044X Andy 2 3.64 2018 On the Future: Prospects for Humanity
author: Martin J. Rees
name: Andy
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2018/11/04
shelves:
review:
I didn't feel that the way this book was marketed at all reflects its contents. It has no real unifying argument or point to make, but is just a collection of the author's brief thoughts on various subjects. Sadly he never really spends long enough on any one topic to say anything interesting or new about it. Perhaps it would be good for someone who doesn't read the science section in the newspaper and has never read other popular science books on the various topics addressed here, but otherwise you're unlikely to find anything new. And if you are new to these topics and want a deep dive, there are better books for that.
]]> <![CDATA[Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth]]> 36236156 272 Adam Frank 0393609014 Andy 1
If you were hoping for a volume that reported the latest research on exoplanets, this is not it. I honestly don't think there's anything here that someone who just casually reads about this topic whenever it makes the news wouldn't know already.]]> 3.92 2018 Light of the Stars: Alien Worlds and the Fate of the Earth
author: Adam Frank
name: Andy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2018/06/28
shelves:
review:
This book doesn't deliver what it promises at all. I was very disappointed. It promises to tell us "what the latest thinking on alien civilizations reveals about our own", but in reality it just gives four or five simple points, none of which are based on even recent research. For instance, one whole chapter is dedicated to pointing out that Mars and Venus have had various climates over their history. Another chapter tells us that Earth has too. Each of these chapters could have been boiled down to single sentences. The rest of it is filler: "dramatic" retellings of astronomers making observations, biographies of scientists, etc.

If you were hoping for a volume that reported the latest research on exoplanets, this is not it. I honestly don't think there's anything here that someone who just casually reads about this topic whenever it makes the news wouldn't know already.
]]> <![CDATA[Westmoreland's War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam]]> 23027457 320 Gregory A. Daddis 0199316511 Andy 4 4.00 2014 Westmoreland's War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam
author: Gregory A. Daddis
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Vietnam: Anatomy of a War 1940-1975]]> 17558323 638 Gabriel Kolko 0049590049 Andy 5 4.75 1986 Vietnam: Anatomy of a War 1940-1975
author: Gabriel Kolko
name: Andy
average rating: 4.75
book published: 1986
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/10/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Death's End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #3)]]> 25735618
� The War of the Worlds for the 21st century� packed with a sense of wonder.� � Wall Street Journal

The New York Times bestselling conclusion to a tour de force near-future adventure trilogy from China's bestselling and beloved science fiction writer.

With The Three-Body Problem , English-speaking readers got their first chance to read China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu. The Three-Body Problem was released to great acclaim including coverage in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and reading list picks by Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg . It was also won the Hugo and Nebula Awards, making it the first translated novel to win a major SF award.

Now this epic trilogy concludes with Death's End . Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance of Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay. Earth enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the infusion of Trisolaran knowledge. With human science advancing daily and the Trisolarans adopting Earth culture, it seems that the two civilizations will soon be able to co-exist peacefully as equals without the terrible threat of mutually assured annihilation. But the peace has also made humanity complacent.

Cheng Xin, an aerospace engineer from the early twenty-first century, awakens from hibernation in this new age. She brings with her knowledge of a long-forgotten program dating from the beginning of the Trisolar Crisis, and her very presence may upset the delicate balance between two worlds. Will humanity reach for the stars or die in its cradle?

The Remembrance of Earth's Past series:
The Three-Body Problem
The Dark Forest
Death's End

Other books:
Ball Lightning
Supernova Era
To Hold Up The Sky (forthcoming)

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 605 Liu Cixin Andy 4 4.51 2010 Death's End (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #3)
author: Liu Cixin
name: Andy
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2016/10/16
date added: 2016/10/16
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)]]> 24375664 This near-future trilogy is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience this multiple-award-winning phenomenon from Cixin Liu, China's most beloved science fiction author.

In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion-in just four centuries' time. The aliens' human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.]]> 513 Liu Cixin Andy 4 4.47 2008 The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2)
author: Liu Cixin
name: Andy
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2016/09/12
date added: 2016/09/12
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sympathizer (The Sympathizer, #1)]]> 23168277
The Sympathizer is the story of this captain: a man brought up by an absent French father and a poor Vietnamese mother, a man who went to university in America, but returned to Vietnam to fight for the Communist cause. A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story, The Sympathizer explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.]]> 371 Viet Thanh Nguyen 0802123457 Andy 5 4.00 2015 The Sympathizer (The Sympathizer, #1)
author: Viet Thanh Nguyen
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves:
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One of the best novels I have ever read. As a book dealing just with its particular time and place it would be remarkable enough, especially because it opens a window onto the moral complexities of the Vietnam War in a way that so few cultural remembrances of it do, but it transcends this context to address the enduring human questions that are the domain of great literature. The author's style is also creative and captivating, with perhaps a shade of Kundera. Quite simply brilliant.
]]> <![CDATA[The Edge of the World: A Cultural History of the North Sea and the Transformation of Europe]]> 23257407 This is the magnificent lost history of a thousand years. It was on the shores of the North Sea where experimental science was born, where women first had the right to choose whom they married; there was the beginning of contemporary business transactions and the advent of the printed book. In The Edge of the World, Michael Pye draws on an astounding breadth of original source material to illuminate this fascinating region during a pivotal era in world history.]]> 360 Michael Pye 1605987530 Andy 3 Only read if interested in era

This book was enjoyable in parts, but I found it lacked focus and depth. If this is an era you're particularly interested in or want a broad overview of, maybe worth it. But it tries to do too much.]]> 3.80 2014 The Edge of the World: A Cultural History of the North Sea and the Transformation of Europe
author: Michael Pye
name: Andy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/08/07
shelves:
review:
Only read if interested in era

This book was enjoyable in parts, but I found it lacked focus and depth. If this is an era you're particularly interested in or want a broad overview of, maybe worth it. But it tries to do too much.
]]> <![CDATA[The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)]]> 18245960 The Three-Body Problem is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience the Hugo Award-winning phenomenon from China's most beloved science fiction author, Liu Cixin.

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.]]> 400 Liu Cixin Andy 5 Brilliant

Excellent and thought-provoking book that blends hard sci fi with evocative scenes from the Chinese Cultural Revolution. This book makes China's most renowned sci fi author available to English readers for the first time. It's also hence insightful as a window into Chinese history and literature. ]]> 4.14 2006 The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #1)
author: Liu Cixin
name: Andy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2016/08/07
date added: 2016/08/07
shelves:
review:
Brilliant

Excellent and thought-provoking book that blends hard sci fi with evocative scenes from the Chinese Cultural Revolution. This book makes China's most renowned sci fi author available to English readers for the first time. It's also hence insightful as a window into Chinese history and literature.
]]> <![CDATA[War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism]]> 7572604 704 Douglas J. Feith 0061209317 Andy 4 3.00 2008 War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism
author: Douglas J. Feith
name: Andy
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/05/11
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]]> Race of a Lifetime 19656025 Forget everything you think you know about the making of the most powerful man on the planet. President Barack Obama's triumph was not inevitable: it was the end product of a brilliant, calculated, convention-defying political campaign. In a race that will be talked about for years to come, he faced down his rivals with ruthless focus and efficiency.

Race of a Lifetime is the gripping inside story of those thrilling months: from the meteoric rise of Obama and the collapsing House of Clinton to the erratic John McCain and the bewildering Sarah Palin.

Brimming with exclusive revelations, this compulsively readable book lays bare the characters of the candidates, warts and all; exposes the inner workings of their operations; and charts the true path to the White House. It's a tour de force: the sometimes shocking, often funny, and ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.

]]> 464 John Heilemann Andy 5 4.36 2010 Race of a Lifetime
author: John Heilemann
name: Andy
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/01/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Meltdown Iceland: How the Global Financial Crisis Bankupted an Entire Country]]> 21377140 Meltdown Iceland is an authoritative and compelling account of the financial destruction of this tiny, icy but vibrant country.]]> 293 Roger Boyes 1408810808 Andy 3 4.00 2009 Meltdown Iceland: How the Global Financial Crisis Bankupted an Entire Country
author: Roger Boyes
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/10/23
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think]]> 15721051
Is your dog purposefully disobeying you? Probably, and usually behind your back. Should you act like ‘top dog� to maintain control? No, you’re better off displaying your friendliness � and not just to your dog. Which breed is the cleverest? That’s the wrong question to ask.

These are just some of the extraordinary insights to be found in 'The Genius of Dogs' � the seminal book on how dogs evolved their unique intelligence by award-winning scientist Dr Brian Hare. He shares more than two decades of startling discoveries about the mysteries of the dog mind and how you can use his groundbreaking work to build a better relationship with your own dog.]]> 384 Brian Hare 0525953191 Andy 1 3.95 2013 The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think
author: Brian Hare
name: Andy
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2013
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2015/02/28
shelves:
review:
Awful book. Marketed as something that it isn't. The book is actually mainly a memoir about the author's research, which isn't really very interesting memoir material. (He had vodka in Russia. Can you imagine?). Then there's some very basic, patronizing yet tedious explanations of experiments. If you want an insight into dog cognition, there are better books than this.
]]> <![CDATA[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]> 25004163 15 Yuval Noah Harari Andy 3 4.14 2011 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Andy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2011
rating: 3
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date added: 2015/02/28
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The only parts of this book that really grabbed my attention were the chapters on early humankind, and especially the interaction between Homo Sapiens and other Homo species. The rest of it is a very pedestrian and basic journey through some aspects of human history, with the author making a lot of sweeping assertions and tending towards a rather vague and disembodied explanation of things like culture, money, etc. These sort of general explanations might be good for someone new to the study of history, but the reader should beware that they don't get taken in too much by the author's often simplistic and one-sided explanation of these concepts. The unifying theme of it being "a history of humankind", focusing on Homo Sapiens as a species, often disappears and it becomes a general plod through whatever aspects of history the author is interested in. More on Homo Sapiens' relations with other species and with nature might have been good.
]]> <![CDATA[The War of the Running Dogs: How Malaya Defeated the Communist Guerrillas 1948-1960]]> 149581 329 Noel Barber 0304366714 Andy 1 3.99 1971 The War of the Running Dogs: How Malaya Defeated the Communist Guerrillas 1948-1960
author: Noel Barber
name: Andy
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1971
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2015/02/28
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review:
A very journalistic account of the Malayan Emergency written by a novelist. It was written in 1971 and is very much a book of its times, with a tone which is heavily sympathetic to the British Empire and extremely shallow in its understanding of the Communist movement in Malaya. Making much the same mistake as some Americans were in the process of doing in Vietnam at the time, the author seems to regard the Communist movement as being entirely directed by outside provocateurs. The book also adopts a very patronizing tone when discussing "the natives", as fans of empire were wont to do. For instance, a Chinese lady who was perplexed and upset were confronted with being forcibly removed from her home by British soldiers is said to have "seemed stupid". There are many examples of this sort of thing. I wouldn't recommend this book at all.
]]> <![CDATA[The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience]]> 349037 172 Emory M. Thomas 0872497801 Andy 5 3.96 1991 The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience
author: Emory M. Thomas
name: Andy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1991
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/12/31
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review:
An excellent short volume which examines how the creation and life of the Confederate States of America was experienced by enthusiastic supporters, arguing that many whites saw it as a second American Revolution. The book goes on to demonstrate the ways in which the CSA transformed many aspects of Southern life in the quest to win the civil war. As Emory demonstrates, the meaning of Confederate nationalism went through a revolutionary transformation of its own during the war - until, in the final months, the Confederate Congress decided even to undermine slavery itself in a bid to maintain CSA independence. The book also demonstrates how, although the CSA trumpeted its commitment to states' rights, the insurgent states had to centralize a great degree of power in Richmond to carry on the war. By taking Confederate nationalism seriously, this book is an important contribution to Civil War and Southern history.
]]> <![CDATA[The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War]]> 15802422
Based on secret documents, private emails, and interviews with more than one hundred key characters, including Petraeus, the tale unfolds against the backdrop of the wars against insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the main insurgency is the one mounted at home by ambitious, self-consciously intellectual officers - Petraeus, John Nagl, H. R. McMaster, and others - many of them classmates or colleagues in West Point's Social Science Department who rose through the ranks, seized with an idea of how to fight these wars better. Amid the crisis, they forged a community (some of them called it a cabal or mafia) and adapted their enemies'techniques to overhaul the culture and institutions of their own Army.

Fred Kaplan describes how these men and women maneuvered the idea through the bureaucracy and made it official policy. This is a story of power, politics, ideas, and personalities - ;and how they converged to reshape the twenty-first-century American military. But it is also a cautionary tale about how creative doctrine can harden into dogma, how smart strategists today can win the battles at home but not the wars abroad. Petraeus and his fellow insurgents made the US military more adaptive to the conflicts of the modern era, but they also created the tools, and made it more tempting, for political leaders to wade into wars that they would be wise to avoid.]]> 418 Fred Kaplan 1451642636 Andy 2 4.05 2013 The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War
author: Fred Kaplan
name: Andy
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2014/11/01
date added: 2014/12/31
shelves:
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I stopped reading this book because it made a number of very basic historical errors which led me to distrust its coverage of issues on which I'm less qualified to recognize the errors. It's a work of boosterism for the COINdistas and only really useful as a primary source which lets you see how these people see themselves.
]]> <![CDATA[Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long]]> 147374
White taps invaluable new source material to present a fresh, vivid portrait of both the man and the Depression era that catapulted him to fame. From his boyhood in dirt-poor Winn Parish, Long knew he was destined for power–the problem was how to get it fast enough to satisfy his insatiable appetite. With cunning and crudity unheard of in Louisiana politics, Long crushed his opponents in the 1928 gubernatorial race, then immediately set about tightening his iron grip. The press attacked him viciously, the oil companies howled for his blood after he pushed through a controversial oil processing tax, but Long had the adulation of the people. In 1930, the Kingfish got himself elected senator, and then there was no stopping him.

White’s account of Long’s heyday unfolds with the mesmerizing intensity of a movie. Pegged by President Roosevelt as “one of the two most dangerous men in the country,� Long organized a radical movement to redistribute money through his Share Our Wealth Society–and his gospel of pensions for all, a shorter workweek, and free college spread like wildfire. The Louisiana poor already worshiped him for building thousands of miles of roads and funding schools, hospitals, and universities; his outrageous antics on the Senate floor gained him a growing national base. By 1935, despite a barrage of corruption investigations, Huey Long announced that he was running for president.

In the end, Long was a tragic hero–a power addict who squandered his genius and came close to destroying the very foundation of democratic rule. Kingfish is a balanced, lucid, and absolutely spellbinding portrait of the life and times of the most incendiary figure in the history of American politics.]]> 384 Richard D. White Jr. 140006354X Andy 3 3.89 2006 Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long
author: Richard D. White Jr.
name: Andy
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/11/30
shelves:
review:
This is a good, straightforward narrative of the political life of Huey P. Long, governor of Louisiana and U.S. senator and one of the nearest things to a dictator (albeit in one state) that the U.S. has ever had. A good introduction but with a very anecdotal style. It's very much in the "Great Man" tradition of historiography and doesn't tell you much at all about the context that produced Long. A book that situated him better by explaining the politics and economics of Louisiana, the Deep South and the nation during this period would be much more satisfying to history buffs. This is why despite being a page-turner, this book left me wanting a lot more.
]]> Double Down: Game Change 2012 17707705 "Those hungry for political news will readÌý Double DownÌý for the scooplets and insidery glimpses it serves up about the two campaigns, and the clues it offers about the positioning already going on among Republicans and Democrats for 2016 ... The book testifies to its authorsâ€� energetic legwork and insider access... creating a novelistic narrative that provides a you-are-there immediacy... They succeed in taking readers interested in the backstabbing and backstage maneuvering of the 2012 campaign behind the curtains, providing a tactile... sense of what it looked like from the inside." Michiko Kakutani,ÌýThe New York Times

In their runaway bestseller Game Change, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann captured the full drama of Barack Obama’s improbable, dazzling victory over the Clintons, John McCain, and Sarah Palin. With the same masterly reporting, unparalleled access, and narrative skill, Double Down picks up the story in the Oval Office, where the president is beset by crises both inherited and unforeseen—facing defiance from his political foes, disenchantment from the voters, disdain from the nation’s powerful money machers, and dysfunction within the West Wing.

As 2012 looms, leaders of the Republican Party, salivating over Obama’s political fragility, see a chance to wrest back control of the White House—and the country. So how did the Republicans screw it up? How did Obama survive the onslaught of super PACs and defy the predictions of a one-term presidency? Double Down follows the gaudy carnival of GOP contenders—ambitious and flawed, famous and infamous, charismatic and cartoonish—as Mitt Romney, the straitlaced, can-do, gaffe-prone multimillionaire from Massachusetts, scraped and scratched his way to the nomination.

Double Down exposes blunders, scuffles, and machinations far beyond the klieg lights of the campaign trail: Obama storming out of a White House meeting with his high command after accusing them of betrayal. Romney’s mind-set as he made his controversial �47 percent� comments. The real reasons New Jersey governor Chris Christie was never going to be Mitt’s running mate. The intervention held by the president’s staff to rescue their boss from political self-destruction. The way the tense détente between Obama and Bill Clinton morphed into political gold. And the answer to one of the campaign’s great mysteries—how did Clint Eastwood end up performing Dada dinner theater at the Republican convention?

In Double Down, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann take the reader into back rooms and closed-door meetings, laying bare the secret history of the 2012 campaign for a panoramic account of an election that was as hard fought as it was lastingly consequential.]]> 476 Mark Halperin 1594204403 Andy 2
There are, however, three main problems with this book which would lead me to recommend against reading it unless you're the most die-hard of political junkies.

Firstly, it's written terribly. A lot of people have complained about excess verbiage, and the authors' tendency to never use a small word when a longer one that they may have made up will do instead. But the main problem is the grating use of insider lingo - presidents are frequently referred to by number rather than name (i.e. Obama is "44", Clinton "42", etc), states are rarely simply called by their name but instead by their nickname (not "New Jersey", but "The Garden State" - ad nauseum, for every state, for 500 pages), and the "double down" metaphor is crammed virtually anywhere it will fit and plenty of places that it won't.

Secondly, it's way too long. It's an info dump, but too short on analysis. I don't need to know what hotel Mitt Romney was staying in or what he had for breakfast; these sorts of details frame newspaper articles and provide colour, but in a book I'd rather the words were used to tell me something interesting. Or just omitted entirely. The amount of excess detail what is present in every chapter, and the short-changing of interesting analysis, is even more remarkable given that this book is actually LONGER than the authors' much better volume on 2008.

Finally, the 2012 election just wasn't that interesting, and the broad outlines of it are obvious to anyone who followed the media at the time. A book that hadn't made mistakes one and two might have been able to make it interesting; this doesn't.]]> 3.85 2013 Double Down: Game Change 2012
author: Mark Halperin
name: Andy
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2014/11/30
date added: 2014/11/30
shelves:
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Like most people writing here, I enjoyed their volume on the 2008 election but had serious problems with this one. However, to start with the positive, you will learn some things from this book that weren't previously reported - given the state of politics now as we head into 2016, the most interesting chapters are probably about Chris Christie. We learn how close Romney came to picking Christie as a running mate, but how he backed down because of concerns over skeletons in Christie's closet.

There are, however, three main problems with this book which would lead me to recommend against reading it unless you're the most die-hard of political junkies.

Firstly, it's written terribly. A lot of people have complained about excess verbiage, and the authors' tendency to never use a small word when a longer one that they may have made up will do instead. But the main problem is the grating use of insider lingo - presidents are frequently referred to by number rather than name (i.e. Obama is "44", Clinton "42", etc), states are rarely simply called by their name but instead by their nickname (not "New Jersey", but "The Garden State" - ad nauseum, for every state, for 500 pages), and the "double down" metaphor is crammed virtually anywhere it will fit and plenty of places that it won't.

Secondly, it's way too long. It's an info dump, but too short on analysis. I don't need to know what hotel Mitt Romney was staying in or what he had for breakfast; these sorts of details frame newspaper articles and provide colour, but in a book I'd rather the words were used to tell me something interesting. Or just omitted entirely. The amount of excess detail what is present in every chapter, and the short-changing of interesting analysis, is even more remarkable given that this book is actually LONGER than the authors' much better volume on 2008.

Finally, the 2012 election just wasn't that interesting, and the broad outlines of it are obvious to anyone who followed the media at the time. A book that hadn't made mistakes one and two might have been able to make it interesting; this doesn't.
]]> <![CDATA[Burma Victory: Imphal, Kohima and the Chindits - March 1944 to May 1945 (Osprey Digital Generals)]]> 19148990 David Rooney examines the aims of both sides alongside the battles themselves, which secured victory in Burma, and the roles of Wingate, Stilwell and the Chindits.
Following the defeats of 1942 the Allies re-emerged to fight the Japanese; their troops had seen a revival of morale with the new Fourteenth Army under General Slim and the development of new tactics and and Allied air and firepower superiority.]]> 274 David Rooney Andy 3 3.33 1992 Burma Victory: Imphal, Kohima and the Chindits - March 1944 to May 1945 (Osprey Digital Generals)
author: David Rooney
name: Andy
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/11/05
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Power Trip: A Decade of Policy, Plots and Spin]]> 18582090 320 Damian McBride 1849545960 Andy 4
The author says he is being entirely honest and does seem to provide a lot of revelatory detail, including about his own misdeeds. But while it's hard to imagine McBride having a role in the Labour Party any time in the near future, he is fiercely tribal and retains his loyalty to Gordon Brown and Ed Balls - but certainly not Ed Miliband, who he sticks the knife into as often as possible. Caveat emptor.]]> 4.03 2013 Power Trip: A Decade of Policy, Plots and Spin
author: Damian McBride
name: Andy
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/10/12
date added: 2014/10/12
shelves:
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A great, anecdotal look at what the Labour policy/media complex was like under the last government, as well as at Labour's civil wars. Provides an inside look at many incidents, especially the election that never was, the end of David Miliband's political career, and the phone hacking scandal. An interesting book for those interested in whether modern media management in politics is just a necessary response to an insatiable 24/7 media, or has improperly focused politics on the mere management of image. Also quite a disturbing look at the role of alcohol in Westminster politics.

The author says he is being entirely honest and does seem to provide a lot of revelatory detail, including about his own misdeeds. But while it's hard to imagine McBride having a role in the Labour Party any time in the near future, he is fiercely tribal and retains his loyalty to Gordon Brown and Ed Balls - but certainly not Ed Miliband, who he sticks the knife into as often as possible. Caveat emptor.
]]> The Army and Vietnam 379349 318 Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr. 0801836573 Andy 2 3.91 1986 The Army and Vietnam
author: Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr.
name: Andy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1986
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2014/10/04
shelves:
review:
This book is now very dated. As someone deeply familiar with the historical record on the Vietnam War through archival research, I can say that while this book captures one part of the American experience in Vietnam, it fails to be comprehensive. Yes, the points and themes highlighted here were relevant to some units at some times, but the tendency to view Krepinevich's argument as being universally valid has led to an overly simplistic view of the Vietnam War. This has had consequences for recent literature like Nagl and Kilcullen. I wouldn't tell people that this book isn't worth reading at all, but I would take it with a large pinch of salt and read alongside Greg Daddis, Dale Andrade and Graham Cosmas.
]]> <![CDATA[Foreign aid, war, and economic development: South Vietnam, 1955-1975]]> 4341387 324 Douglas C. Dacy 0521303273 Andy 5 5.00 1986 Foreign aid, war, and economic development: South Vietnam, 1955-1975
author: Douglas C. Dacy
name: Andy
average rating: 5.00
book published: 1986
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/10/04
shelves:
review:
Excellent. Has no competitor in providing an economic history of South Vietnam. You can't truly understand the Vietnam War until you read this book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Economics of Insurgency in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam]]> 4908987 304 Robert L. Sansom 0262190648 Andy 4 4.50 1970 The Economics of Insurgency in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam
author: Robert L. Sansom
name: Andy
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1970
rating: 4
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date added: 2014/10/04
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review:
A good book but very much "of its time". The author was working in the National Security Council of the Nixon administration at the time of writing the book. It early chapters give a good précis of the recent economic history of Vietnam, and hence the background to the Vietnam War. The rest will be interesting only if you're interested in the detail of South Vietnam's economic history. Douglas Dacy's work from 1986 gives a more complete overview, however.
]]> <![CDATA[The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene (Popular Science)]]> 61538
Dawkins makes a convincing case that considering one’s body, personality, and environment as a field of combat in a kind of “arms race� between genes fighting to express themselves on a strand of DNA can clarify and extend the idea of survival of the fittest. This influential and controversial book illuminates the complex world of genetics in an engaging, lively manner.]]> 336 Richard Dawkins 0192880519 Andy 4 4.11 1982 The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene (Popular Science)
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Andy
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1982
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/10/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design]]> 117047 ***30th Anniversary Edition***

Cover note: Each copy of the anniversary edition of The Blind Watchmaker features a unique biomorph. No two covers are exactly alike.

Acclaimed as the most influential work on evolution written in the last hundred years, The Blind Watchmaker offers an inspiring and accessible introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. A brilliant and controversial book which demonstrates that evolution by natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind yet essentially non-random process discovered by Darwin - is the only answer to the biggest question of all: why do we exist?]]> 466 Richard Dawkins 0141026162 Andy 5 4.09 1986 The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Andy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1986
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/10/04
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]]> The Selfish Gene 61535 360 Richard Dawkins 0199291152 Andy 5 4.15 1976 The Selfish Gene
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Andy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1976
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/10/04
shelves:
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]]> The Nicomachean Ethics 19068 ‘One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy�

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle sets out to examine the nature of happiness. He argues that happiness consists in ‘activity of the soul in accordance with virtue�, for example with moral virtues, such as courage, generosity and justice, and intellectual virtues, such as knowledge, wisdom and insight. The Ethics also discusses the nature of practical reasoning, the value and the objects of pleasure, the different forms of friendship, and the relationship between individual virtue, society and the State. Aristotle’s work has had a profound and lasting influence on all subsequent Western thought about ethical matters.

J. A. K. Thomson’s translation has been revised by Hugh Tredennick, and is accompanied by a new introduction by Jonathan Barnes. This edition also includes an updated list for further reading and a new chronology of Aristotle’s life and works.

Previously published as Ethics]]> 329 Aristotle 0140449493 Andy 3 4.00 -350 The Nicomachean Ethics
author: Aristotle
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: -350
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Blind Oracles: Intellectuals and War from Kennan to Kissinger]]> 50565

The book looks at how the country's foremost thinkers advanced their ideas during this time of United States expansionism, a period that culminated in the Vietnam War and détente with the Soviets. Beginning with George Kennan after World War II, and concluding with Henry Kissinger and the Vietnam War, Kuklick examines the role of both institutional policymakers such as those at The Rand Corporation and Harvard's Kennedy School, and individual thinkers including Paul Nitze, McGeorge Bundy, and Walt Rostow.


Kuklick contends that the figures having the most influence on American strategy--Kissinger, for example--clearly understood the way politics and the exercise of power affects policymaking. Other brilliant thinkers, on the other hand, often played a minor role, providing, at best, a rationale for policies adopted for political reasons. At a time when the role of the neoconservatives' influence over American foreign policy is a subject of intense debate, this book offers important insight into the function of intellectuals in foreign policymaking.]]> 264 Bruce Kuklick 0691123497 Andy 3 3.44 2006 Blind Oracles: Intellectuals and War from Kennan to Kissinger
author: Bruce Kuklick
name: Andy
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America's Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War]]> 50566 Many other authors have written about what they thought happened -- or thought should have happened -- in Vietnam, but it was Henry Kissinger who was there at the epicenter, involved in every decision from the long, frustrating negotiations with the North Vietnamese delegation to America's eventual extrication from the war. Now, for the first time, Kissinger gives us in a single volume an in-depth, inside view of the Vietnam War, personally collected, annotated, revised, and updated from his bestselling memoirs and his book Diplomacy.
Here, Kissinger writes with firm, precise knowledge, supported by meticulous documentation that includes his own memoranda to and replies from President Nixon. He tells about the tragedy of Cambodia, the collateral negotiations with the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, the disagreements within the Nixon and Ford administrations, the details of all negotiations in which he was involved, the domestic unrest and protest in the States, and the day-to-day military to diplomatic realities of the war as it reached the White House. As compelling and exciting as Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August, Ending the Vietnam War also reveals insights about the bigger-than-life personalities -- Johnson, Nixon, de Gaulle, Ho Chi Minh, Brezhnev -- who were caught up in a war that forever changed international relations. This is history on a grand scale, and a book of overwhelming importance to the public record.]]> 640 Henry Kissinger 074321532X Andy 3 3.65 2002 Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America's Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War
author: Henry Kissinger
name: Andy
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2002
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia (Yale Agrarian Studies Series)]]> 6477876
In accessible language, James Scott, recognized worldwide as an eminent authority in Southeast Asian, peasant, and agrarian studies, tells the story of the peoples of Zomia and their unlikely odyssey in search of self-determination. He redefines our views on Asian politics, history, demographics, and even our fundamental ideas about what constitutes civilization, and challenges us with a radically different approach to history that presents events from the perspective of stateless peoples and redefines state-making as a form of “internal colonialism.� This new perspective requires a radical reevaluation of the civilizational narratives of the lowland states. Scott’s work on Zomia represents a new way to think of area studies that will be applicable to other runaway, fugitive, and marooned communities, be they Gypsies, Cossacks, tribes fleeing slave raiders, Marsh Arabs, or San-Bushmen.]]> 464 James C. Scott 0300152280 Andy 5 4.14 2009 The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia (Yale Agrarian Studies Series)
author: James C. Scott
name: Andy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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An excellent and exciting work by an old master. We are so used to seeing history from the standpoint of the state (as Scott demonstrated in his earlier work Seeing Like a State), but this is history from the standpoint of people who refuse to be subject to the state, in one of the last areas of the world where such a thing is possible. Interesting for students of history in general, and especially historians of Southeast Asia. After reading this work, one sees a deep continuity between the early Thai rulers who used to tattoo their subjects to signify ownership and 20th century Southeast Asian rulers.
]]> On War 117031 On War is the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy. Since the work’s first appearance in 1832, it has been read throughout the world, and has stimulated generations of soldiers, political leaders, and intellectuals. First published in 1976 and revised in 1984, Michael Howard and Peter Paret’s Princeton edition of Clausewitz’s classic work has itself achieved classic status and is widely regarded as the best translation and standard edition of On War in English. This feature-rich edition includes an essay by Paret on the genesis of Clausewitz’s book, an essay by Howard on Clausewitz’s influence, and an essay by Bernard Brodie on the continuing relevance of On War. In addition, Brodie provides a lengthy and detailed commentary on and guide to reading On War, and the edition also includes a comprehensive index.]]> 732 Carl von Clausewitz 0691018545 Andy 3 3.98 1832 On War
author: Carl von Clausewitz
name: Andy
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1832
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[More Than a Soldier's War: Pacification In Vietnam]]> 4170102
More Than a Soldier's War joins together, in one man's experiences, the beginning of the war, the ensuing agonizing course of events, and the ignominious end of one of modern history's most controversial and tormenting conflicts. It vividly describes Americans' efforts to save lives from the grinding daily carnage, shield the innocent, and provide hope for a future of peace and security, all while entangled in a relentless, grisly people's war. Individual Vietnamese emerge in dramatic relief in these greedy, imperious army officers; intelligent, sympathetic village leaders; parents willing to risk their lives for their children's future welfare.

This eyewitness account, with its close-up look at an important side of the war, takes the war out of the strictly military arena and puts faces on those who worked hard to achieve a lasting victory. Arguing that more attention to the needs of the people and less to military tactics might have led to a different result, Metzner fairly lays blame for hindering the progress of the pacification effort at the feet of both South Vietnamese and American military leaders. Through his own experiences, he demonstrates that those involved at a grass-roots level accomplished a great deal that was never accurately reflected in reports on the war.]]> 224 Edward P. Metzner 0890966664 Andy 5 4.50 1995 More Than a Soldier's War: Pacification In Vietnam
author: Edward P. Metzner
name: Andy
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1995
rating: 5
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]]> Leviathan 91953 'The life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short'

Written during the chaos of the English Civil War, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan asks how, in a world of violence and horror, can we stop ourselves from descending into anarchy? Hobbes' case for a 'common-wealth' under a powerful sovereign - or 'Leviathan' - to enforce security and the rule of law, shocked his contemporaries, and his book was publicly burnt for sedition the moment it was published. But his penetrating work of political philosophy - now fully revised and with a new introduction for this edition - opened up questions about the nature of statecraft and society that influenced governments across the world.]]> 736 Thomas Hobbes 0140431950 Andy 4 3.71 1651 Leviathan
author: Thomas Hobbes
name: Andy
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1651
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Laughter in the Shadows: A CIA Memoir]]> 21078949 194 Stuart Methven Andy 3 3.75 2008 Laughter in the Shadows: A CIA Memoir
author: Stuart Methven
name: Andy
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2008
rating: 3
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]]> The Quiet American 11282454 ASIN B00452V1Z2 moved to this edition.
Into the intrigue and violence of Indo-China comes Pyle, a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious 'Third Force'. As his naive optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch. But even as he intervenes he wonders why: for the sake of politics, or for love?

With an introduction by Zadie Smith.]]> 210 Graham Greene Andy 4 4.14 1955 The Quiet American
author: Graham Greene
name: Andy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1955
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Counterinsurgency Era: U.S. Doctrine and Performance, 1950 to the Present]]> 4475671 359 Douglas S. Blaufarb 002903700X Andy 5 4.17 1977 The Counterinsurgency Era: U.S. Doctrine and Performance, 1950 to the Present
author: Douglas S. Blaufarb
name: Andy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1977
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression]]> 134959 From The New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Vulcans, an exploration of Chinese authoritarianism and Western capitalism

In The China Fantasy, bestselling author James Mann examines the evolution of American policy toward China and asks, Does it make sense? What are our ideas and hidden assumptions about China? In this vigorous look at China’s political evolution and its future, Mann explores two scenarios popular among the policy elite. The Soothing Scenario contends that the successful spread of capitalism will gradually bring about a development of democratic institutions, free elections, independent judiciary, and a progressive human rights policy. In the Upheaval Scenario, the contradictions in Chinese society between rich and poor, between cities and the countryside, and between the openness of the economy and the unyielding Leninist system will eventually lead to a revolution, chaos, or collapse.

Against this backdrop, Mann poses a third scenario and asks, What will happen if Chinese capitalism continues to evolve and expand but the government fails to liberalize? What then and why should this third scenario matter to Americans? Mann explores this alternate possibility and—in this must-read book for anyone interested in international politics—offers a startling vision of our future with China that will have a profound impact for decades to come.

]]> 144 James Mann 0670038253 Andy 4 3.51 2003 The China Fantasy: How Our Leaders Explain Away Chinese Repression
author: James Mann
name: Andy
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets]]> 1491906 Freakonomics. Gang Leader for a Day is the fascinating full story of how Sudhir Venkatesh managed to gain entrée into the gang, what he learned, and how his method revolutionized the academic establishment.

When Venkatesh walked into an abandoned building in one of Chicago's most notorious housing projects, he was looking for people to take a multiple-choice survey on urban poverty. A first-year grad student, he would befriend a gang leader named JT and spend the better part of the next decade inside the projects under JT's protection, documenting what he saw there.

Over the next seven years, Venkatesh observed JT and the rest of the gang as they operated their crack selling business, conducted PR within their community, and rose up or fell within the ranks of the gang's complex organizational structure.

Gang Leader for a Day is an inside view into the morally ambiguous, highly intricate, often corrupt struggle to survive in an urban war zone. It is also the story of a complicated friendship between two young and ambitious men, a universe apart.]]> 302 Sudhir Venkatesh 1594201501 Andy 3 4.05 2008 Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
author: Sudhir Venkatesh
name: Andy
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2008
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam (American Empire Project)]]> 12292260
Americans have long been taught that events such as the notorious My Lai massacre were isolated incidents in the Vietnam War, carried out by “a few bad apples.� But as award-winning journalist and historian Nick Turse demonstrates in this groundbreaking investigation, violence against Vietnamese noncombatants was not at all exceptional during the conflict. Rather, it was pervasive and systematic, the predictable consequence of orders to “kill anything that moves.�

Drawing on more than a decade of research in secret Pentagon files and extensive interviews with American veterans and Vietnamese survivors, Turse reveals for the first time how official policies resulted in millions of innocent civilians killed and wounded. In shocking detail, he lays out the workings of a military machine that made crimes in almost every major American unit all but inevitable. Kill Anything That Moves takes us from archives filled with Washington’s long-suppressed war crimes investigations to the rural Vietnamese hamlets that bore the brunt of the war; from boot camps where young American soldiers learned to hate all Vietnamese to bloodthirsty campaigns like Operation Speedy Express, in which a general obsessed with body counts led soldiers to commit what one participant called “a My Lai a month.�

Thousands of Vietnam books later, Kill Anything That Moves, devastating and definitive, finally brings us face-to-face with the truth of a war that haunts Americans to this day.]]> 370 Nick Turse 0805086919 Andy 2 4.22 2013 Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam (American Empire Project)
author: Nick Turse
name: Andy
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2013
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dark Heart of Italy: An Incisive Portrait of Europe's Most Beautiful, Most Disconcerting Country]]> 142538 The Dark Heart of Italy is Jones's account of his four-year voyage across the Italian peninsula.

Jones writes not just about Italy's art, climate, and cuisine but also about the much livelier and stranger sides of the Bel Paese: the language, soccer, Catholicism, cinema, television, and terrorism. Why, he wonders, does the parliament need a "slaughter commission"? Why do bombs still explode every time politics start getting serious? Why does everyone urge him to go home as soon as possible, saying that Italy is a "brothel"? Most of all, why does one man, Silvio Berlusconi-in the words of a famous song-appear to own everything from Padre Nostro (Our Father) to Cosa Nostra (the Mafia)?

The Italy that emerges from Jones's travels is a country scarred by civil wars and "illustrious corpses"; a country that is proudly visual rather than verbal, based on aesthetics rather than ethics; a country where crime is hardly ever followed by punishment; a place of incredible illusionism, where it is impossible to distinguish fantasy from reality and fact from fiction.]]> 314 Tobias Jones 0865477248 Andy 3 3.70 2003 The Dark Heart of Italy: An Incisive Portrait of Europe's Most Beautiful, Most Disconcerting Country
author: Tobias Jones
name: Andy
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2003
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Governing the World: The History of an Idea]]> 13588413
From the beginning, the willingness of national leaders to cooperate has been spurred by the book opens in 1815, amid the rubble of the Napoleonic Empire, as the Concert of Europe was assembled with an avowed mission to prevent any single power from dominating the continent and to stamp out revolutionary agitation before it could lead to war. But if the Concert was a response to Napoleon, internationalism was a response to the Concert, and as courts and monarchs disintegrated they were replaced by revolutionaries and bureaucrats.

19th century internationalists included bomb-throwing anarchists and the secret policemen who fought them, Marxist revolutionaries and respectable free marketeers. But they all embraced nationalism, the age’s most powerful transformative political creed, and assumed that nationalism and internationalism would go hand in hand. The wars of the twentieth century saw the birth of institutions that enshrined many of those ideals in durable structures of authority, most notably the League of Nations in World War I and the United Nations after World War II.Ìý

Throughout this history, we see that international institutions are only as strong as the great powers of the moment allow them to be. The League was intended to prop up the British empire. With Washington taking over world leadership from Whitehall, the United Nations became a useful extension of American power.Ìý But as Mazower shows us, from the late 1960s on, America lost control over the dialogue and the rise of the independent Third World saw a marked shift away from the United Nations and toward more pliable tools such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.Ìý From the 1990s to 2007, Governing the World centers on a new regime of global coordination built upon economic rule-making by central bankers and finance ministers, a regime in which the interests of citizens and workers are trumped by the iron logic of markets.

Now, the era of Western dominance of international life is fast coming to an end and a new multi-centered global balance of forces is emerging. We are living in a time of extreme confusion about the purpose and durability of our international institutions.Ìý History is not prophecy, but Mark Mazower shows us why the current dialectic between ideals and power politics in the international arena is just another stage in an epic two-hundred-year story.]]> 475 Mark Mazower 1594203490 Andy 2 3.78 2012 Governing the World: The History of an Idea
author: Mark Mazower
name: Andy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2012
rating: 2
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]]> Barack Obama: The Story 13063711 672 David Maraniss 1439160406 Andy 5 4.10 2012 Barack Obama: The Story
author: David Maraniss
name: Andy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The China Fallacy: How the U.S. Can Benefit from China's Rise and Avoid Another Cold War]]> 14619519
In this groundbreaking new book, former White House and State Department official Donald Gross challenges the conventional wisdom underlying current policy toward China.Ìý He shows how the strategy of seeking to contain China, developed in the Bush administration and accelerated under President Obama, makes America less secure - and weakens the hands of Chinese reformers seeking democracy and human rights.Ìý He explains why adopting protectionist measures against China - America's third-largest export market - harms U.S. prosperity.

Gross calls for achieving a "stable peace" with China and negotiating inclusive free trade agreements that will bring greater American prosperity - consistent with principles for good Sino-American relations advanced by presidents from Nixon to Clinton.Ìý Sure to provoke controversy, The China Fallacy is critical reading for anyone who wants to understand past, present and future U.S. policy toward China.

See donaldgross.net]]> 320 Donald Gross 1441147896 Andy 2 3.80 2012 The China Fallacy: How the U.S. Can Benefit from China's Rise and Avoid Another Cold War
author: Donald Gross
name: Andy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2012
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West]]> 76401 The New York Times called "Original, remarkable, and finally heartbreaking...Impossible to put down."

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown's eloquent, fully documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth century. A national bestseller in hardcover for more than a year after its initial publication, it has sold almost four million copies and has been translated into seventeen languages. For this elegant thirtieth-anniversary edition—published in both hardcover and paperback—Brown has contributed an incisive new preface.

Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee changed forever our vision of how the West was really won.]]> 509 Dee Brown 0805066691 Andy 4 4.24 1970 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
author: Dee Brown
name: Andy
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1970
rating: 4
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]]> Treasure Island 295 Treasure Island has never been surpassed. From the moment young Jim Hawkins first encounters the sinister Blind Pew at the Admiral Benbow Inn until the climactic battle for treasure on a tropic isle, the novel creates scenes and characters that have fired the imaginations of generations of readers. Written by a superb prose stylist, a master of both action and atmosphere, the story centers upon the conflict between good and evil - but in this case a particularly engaging form of evil. It is the villainy of that most ambiguous rogue Long John Silver that sets the tempo of this tale of treachery, greed, and daring. Designed to forever kindle a dream of high romance and distant horizons, Treasure Island is, in the words of G. K. Chesterton, 'the realization of an ideal, that which is promised in its provocative and beckoning map; a vision not only of white skeletons but also green palm trees and sapphire seas.' G. S. Fraser terms it 'an utterly original book' and goes on to write: 'There will always be a place for stories like Treasure Island that can keep boys and old men happy.']]> 352 Robert Louis Stevenson 0753453800 Andy 4 3.84 1882 Treasure Island
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Andy
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1882
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Embers Of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam]]> 13155847 Ìý
How did it happen? Tapping into newly accessible diplomatic archives in several nations and making full use of the published literature, distinguished scholar Fredrik Logevall traces the path that led two Western nations to lose their way in Vietnam. Embers of War opens in 1919 at the Versailles Peace Conference, where a young Ho Chi Minh delivers a petition for Vietnamese independence to President Woodrow Wilson. It concludes in 1959, with a Viet Cong ambush on a U.S. outpost outside Saigon and the deaths of two American officers whose names would be the first to be carved into the black granite of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In between come years of political, military, and diplomatic maneuvering and miscalculation, as leaders on all sides embark on a series of stumbles that makes an eminently avoidable struggle a bloody and interminable reality.
Ìý
Logevall takes us inside the councils of war—and gives us a seat at the conference tables where peace talks founder. He brings to life the bloodiest battles of France’s final years in Indochina—and shows how from an early point, a succession of American leaders made disastrous policy choices that put America on its own collision course with history: Harry Truman’s fateful decision to reverse Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s policy and acknowledge France’s right to return to Indochina after World War II; Dwight Eisenhower’s strenuous efforts to keep Paris in the fight and his escalation of U.S. involvement in the aftermath of the humiliating French defeat at Dien Bien Phu; and the curious turnaround in Senator John F. Kennedy’s thinking that would lead him as president to expand that commitment, despite his publicly stated misgivings about Western intervention in Southeast Asia.
Ìý
An epic story of wasted opportunities and tragic miscalculations, featuring an extraordinary cast of larger-than-life characters, Embers of War delves deep into the historical record to provide hard answers to the unanswered questions surrounding the demise of one Western power in Vietnam and the arrival of another. This book will become the definitive chronicle of the struggle’s origins for years to come.

Advance praise for Embers of War
Ìý
“Fredrik Logevall has gleaned from American, French, and Vietnamese sources a splendid account of France’s nine-year war in Indochina and the story of how the American statesmen of the period allowed this country to be drawn into the quagmire.â€â€”Neil Sheehan, author of A Bright Shining Lie, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award
Ìý
“Fredrik Logevall is a wonderful writer and historian. In his new book on the origins of the American war in Vietnam, he gives a fascinating and dramatic account of the French war and its aftermath, from the perspectives of the French, the Vietnamese, and the Americans. Using previously untapped sources and a deep knowledge of diplomatic history, Logevall shows to devastating effect how America found itself on the road to Vietnam.â€â€”Frances FitzGerald, author of Fire in the Lake, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award]]> 864 Fredrik Logevall 0375504427 Andy 3 4.44 2012 Embers Of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
author: Fredrik Logevall
name: Andy
average rating: 4.44
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]]> <![CDATA[Blowtorch: Robert Komer, Vietnam, and American Cold War Strategy]]> 16237912
The author highlights Komer's activities during the three years he strove to fulfill the president's vision that Communism could be repelled from Southeast Asia by economic and social development along with military force. Known as - Blowtorch - for his abrasive personality and disdain for bureaucratic foot dragging, Komer came to be seen as the right person for managing that effort, and in 1968 was rewarded with an ambassadorship to Turkey.

The book analyzes Komer's work during the Carter administration as special adviser to Secretary of Defense Harold Brown and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and credits him for reenergizing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's conventional capability and forging the military instrument that implemented the Carter Doctrine in the Persian Gulf - the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force. It also explores his final role as a defense intellectual and critic of the Reagan administration's defense policies. The book concludes with a useful summary of Komer's impact on American policy and strategy and his contributions to counterinsurgency practices, a legacy now recognized for its importance in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.]]> 416 Frank Leith Jones 1612512283 Andy 3 4.00 2013 Blowtorch: Robert Komer, Vietnam, and American Cold War Strategy
author: Frank Leith Jones
name: Andy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 3
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]]> Planet of the Apes 414895
With these words, Pierre Boulle hurtles the reader onto the Planet of the Apes. In this simian world, civilization is turned upside down: apes are men and men are apes; apes rule and men run wild; apes think, speak, produce, wear clothes, and men are speechless, naked, exhibited at fairs, used for biological research. On the planet of the apes, man, having reached to apotheosis of his genius, has become inert.
To this planet come a journalist and a scientist. The scientist is put into a zoo, the journalist into a laboratory. Only the journalist retains the spiritual strength and creative intelligence to try to save himself, to fight the appalling scourge, to remain a man.
Out of this situation, Pierre Boulle has woven a tale as harrowing, bizarre, and meaningful as any in the brilliant roster of this master storyteller. With his customary wit, irony, and disciplined intellect and style, the author of The Bridge Over the River Kwai tells a swiftly moving story dealing with man's conflicts, and takes the reader into a suspenseful and strangely fascinating orbit.]]> 276 Pierre Boulle 0345447980 Andy 5 3.95 1963 Planet of the Apes
author: Pierre Boulle
name: Andy
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1963
rating: 5
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]]> Acts of Union and Disunion 19890718
She examines the mythology of Britishness, and how far - and why - it has faded. She discusses the Acts of Union with Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and their limitations, while scrutinizing England's own fractures. And she demonstrates how the UK has been shaped by movement: of British people to other countries and continents, and of people, ideas and influences arriving from elsewhere.

As acts of union and disunion again become increasingly relevant to our daily lives and politics, Colley considers how - if at all - the pieces might be put together anew, and what this might mean.

Based on a 15-part BBC Radio 4 series.]]> 171 L. Colley 1781251851 Andy 2 3.61 2014 Acts of Union and Disunion
author: L. Colley
name: Andy
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2014
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies]]> 20527133 Superintelligence asks the questions: what happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life.

The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful—possibly beyond our control. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on humans than on the species itself, so would the fate of humankind depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.

But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed Artificial Intelligence, to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable? How could one achieve a controlled detonation?]]> 352 Nick Bostrom 0199678111 Andy 4 3.86 2014 Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
author: Nick Bostrom
name: Andy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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]]> The Odyssey 1381 Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.

So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey.

If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces, during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance.

In the myths and legends that are retold here, Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom, and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery.

Renowned classicist Bernard Knox's superb Introduction and textual commentary provide new insights and background information for the general reader and scholar alike, intensifying the strength of Fagles' translation.

This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the public at large, and to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.

--

Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, presents us with Homer's best-loved and most accessible poem in a stunning new modern-verse translation.]]> 541 Homer 0143039954 Andy 5 3.79 -700 The Odyssey
author: Homer
name: Andy
average rating: 3.79
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]]> Youth 6200 Youth has long been plotting an escape-from the stifling love of his overbearing mother, a father whose failures haunt him, and what he is sure is an impending revolution in his native country of South Africa. Arriving at last in London in the 1960s, however, he finds neither poetry nor romance and instead begins a dark pilgrimage into adulthood. Youth is a remarkable portrait of a consciousness, isolated and adrift, turning in on itself, of a young man struggling to find his way in the world, written with tenderness and a fierce clarity.]]> 176 J.M. Coetzee 0142002003 Andy 4 3.80 2002 Youth
author: J.M. Coetzee
name: Andy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2002
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bridge on the Drina (Bosnian Trilogy, #1)]]> 3140 The Bridge on the Drina earned Ivo Andric the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961.

A great stone bridge built three centuries ago in the heart of the Balkans by a Grand Vezir of the Ottoman Empire dominates the setting of Andric's stunning novel. Spanning generations, nationalities, and creeds, the bridge stands witness to the countless lives played out upon it: Radisav, the workman, who tries to hinder its construction and is impaled on its highest point; to the lovely Fata, who throws herself from its parapet to escape a loveless marriage; to Milan, the gambler, who risks everything in one last game on the bridge with the devil his opponent; to Fedun, the young soldier, who pays for a moment of spring forgetfulness with his life. War finally destroys the span, and with it the last descendant of that family to which the Grand Vezir confided the care of his pious bequest - the bridge.]]> 314 Ivo Andrić 0226020452 Andy 5 4.34 1945 The Bridge on the Drina (Bosnian Trilogy, #1)
author: Ivo Andrić
name: Andy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1945
rating: 5
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]]> The Stranger 49552 The Stranger has long been considered a classic of twentieth-century literature. Le Monde ranks it as number one on its "100 Books of the Century" list. Through this story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."]]> 123 Albert Camus Andy 2 4.04 1942 The Stranger
author: Albert Camus
name: Andy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1942
rating: 2
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]]> A Small Place 69711 A Small Place magnifies our vision of one small place with Swiftian wit and precision. Jamaica Kincaid's expansive essay candidly appraises the ten-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies where she grew up, and makes palpable the impact of European colonization and tourism. The book is a missive to the traveler, whether American or European, who wants to escape the banality and corruption of some large place. Kincaid, eloquent and resolute, reminds us that the Antiguan people, formerly British subjects, are unable to escape the same drawbacks of their own tiny realm—that behind the benevolent Caribbean scenery are human lives, always complex and often fraught with injustice.]]> 81 Jamaica Kincaid 0374527075 Andy 5 4.06 1988 A Small Place
author: Jamaica Kincaid
name: Andy
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1988
rating: 5
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]]> The Drowned and the Saved 6176
Drawing on history, philosophy, and his own personal experiences, Levi asks if we have already begun to forget about the Holocaust. His last book before his death, Levi returns to the subject that would define his reputation as a writer and a witness.

Levi breaks his book into eight essays, ranging from topics like the unreliability of memory to how violence twists both the victim and the victimizer. He shares how difficult it is for him to tell his experiences with his children and friends. He also debunks the myth that most of the Germans were in the dark about the Final Solution or that Jews never attempted to escape the camps. As the Holocaust recedes into the past and fewer and fewer survivors are left to tell their stories, The Drowned and the Saved is a vital first-person testament.

Along with Elie Wiesel and Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi is remembered as one of the most powerful and perceptive writers on the Holocaust and the Jewish experience during World War II. This is an essential book both for students and literary readers. Reading Primo Levi is a lesson in the resiliency of the human spirit.]]> 170 Primo Levi 0349100470 Andy 4 4.42 1986 The Drowned and the Saved
author: Primo Levi
name: Andy
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1986
rating: 4
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]]> If Not Now, When? 136096 331 Primo Levi 014118390X Andy 3 4.25 1982 If Not Now, When?
author: Primo Levi
name: Andy
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1982
rating: 3
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]]> The Bookseller of Kabul 9838
For more than twenty years Sultan Khan defied the authorities—be they communist or Taliban—to supply books to the people of Kabul. He was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned by the communists, and watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. He even resorted to hiding most of his stock—almost ten thousand books—in attics all over Kabul.

But while Khan is passionate in his love of books and his hatred of censorship, he also has strict views on family life and the role of women. As an outsider, Åsne Seierstad found herself in a unique position, able to move freely between the private, restricted sphere of the women—including Khan’s two wives—and the freer, more public lives of the men.

It is an experience that Seierstad finds both fascinating and frustrating. As she steps back from the page and allows the Khans to speak for themselves, we learn of proposals and marriages, hope and fear, crime and punishment. The result is a genuinely gripping and moving portrait of a family, and a clear-eyed assessment of a country struggling to free itself from history.' to 'This mesmerizing portrait of a proud man who, through three decades and successive repressive regimes, heroically braved persecution to bring books to the people of Kabul has elicited extraordinary praise throughout the world and become a phenomenal international bestseller. The Bookseller of Kabul is startling in its intimacy and its details—a revelation of the plight of Afghan women and a window into the surprising realities of daily life in today’s Afghanistan.']]> 288 Åsne Seierstad 0316159417 Andy 4 3.78 2002 The Bookseller of Kabul
author: Ã…sne Seierstad
name: Andy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2002
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[With Their Backs to the World: Portraits from Serbia]]> 12811 340 Ã…sne Seierstad 0465076025 Andy 4 3.86 2000 With Their Backs to the World: Portraits from Serbia
author: Ã…sne Seierstad
name: Andy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal]]> 673659 327 Ã…sne Seierstad 0465076017 Andy 2 3.93 2003 A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal
author: Ã…sne Seierstad
name: Andy
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2003
rating: 2
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]]> <![CDATA[My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story]]> 53693 224 Latifa 1401359256 Andy 2 3.82 2001 My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story
author: Latifa
name: Andy
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2001
rating: 2
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]]> The English Patient 11713 320 Michael Ondaatje 0771068719 Andy 1 3.88 1992 The English Patient
author: Michael Ondaatje
name: Andy
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1992
rating: 1
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]]> <![CDATA[Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall]]> 226369 328 Anna Funder 1862076553 Andy 4 4.20 2003 Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall
author: Anna Funder
name: Andy
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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]]> Ravelstein 324245
Deeply insightful and always moving, Saul Bellow's heartfelt novel is a journey through love and memory. It is brave, dark, and bleakly funny: an elegy to friendship and to lives well (or badly) lived.]]> 233 Saul Bellow 0141001763 Andy 5 3.63 2000 Ravelstein
author: Saul Bellow
name: Andy
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2000
rating: 5
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]]> Herzog 6551 371 Saul Bellow 0142437298 Andy 3 3.77 1964 Herzog
author: Saul Bellow
name: Andy
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1964
rating: 3
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]]> Amsterdam 6862 Amsterdam isÌý"a dark tour de force, perfectly fashioned" ( The New York Times ) from the bestselling author of Atonement.

On a chilly February day, two old friends meet in the throng outside a London crematorium to pay their last respects to Molly Lane. Both Clive Linley and Vernon Halliday had been Molly's lovers in the days before they reached their current Clive is Britain's most successful modern composer, and Vernon is a newspaper editor. Gorgeous, feisty Molly had other lovers, too, notably Julian Garmony, Foreign Secretary, a notorious right-winger tipped to be the next prime minister. In the days that follow Molly's funeral, Clive and Vernon will make a pact with consequences that neither could have foreseen�

Don’t miss Ian McEwan’s new novel, Lessons .]]> 208 Ian McEwan 0385494246 Andy 3 3.46 1998 Amsterdam
author: Ian McEwan
name: Andy
average rating: 3.46
book published: 1998
rating: 3
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]]> On Chesil Beach 815309
It is July 1962. Florence is a talented musician who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student at University College of London, who unexpectedly wooed and won her heart. Newly married that morning, both virgins, Edward and Florence arrive at a hotel on the Dorset coast. At dinner in their rooms they struggle to suppress their worries about the wedding night to come. Edward, eager for rapture, frets over Florence’s response to his advances and nurses a private fear of failure, while Florence’s anxieties run deeper: she is overcome by sheer disgust at the idea of physical contact, but dreads disappointing her husband when they finally lie down together in the honeymoon suite.

Ian McEwan has caught with understanding and compassion the innocence of Edward and Florence at a time when marriage was presumed to be the outward sign of maturity and independence. On Chesil Beach is another masterwork from McEwan—a story of lives transformed by a gesture not made or a word not spoken.]]> 166 Ian McEwan 0224081187 Andy 2 3.61 2007 On Chesil Beach
author: Ian McEwan
name: Andy
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2007
rating: 2
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]]> Saturday 5015
Later, as Perowne makes his way through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors, a minor car accident brings him into a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive young man, on the edge of violence. To Perowne's professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him. But it is not until Baxter makes a sudden appearance as the Perowne family gathers for a reunion, that Henry's fears seem about to be realised.]]> 289 Ian McEwan 1400076196 Andy 5 3.64 2005 Saturday
author: Ian McEwan
name: Andy
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> Drown 531989 Drown, Diaz has harnessed the rhythms of anger and release, frustration and joy, to indelible effect.]]> 208 Junot Díaz 1573226068 Andy 3 4.02 1995 Drown
author: Junot Díaz
name: Andy
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1995
rating: 3
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]]> Homage to Catalonia 9646 232 George Orwell 0156421178 Andy 5 4.09 1938 Homage to Catalonia
author: George Orwell
name: Andy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1938
rating: 5
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]]> Identity 28635
With stunning artfulness in expanding and playing variations on the meaningful moment, Milan Kundera has made this situation--and the vague sense of panic it inspires--the very fabric of his novel. Here brevity goes hand in hand with intensity, and a moment of bewilderment marks the start of a labyrinthine journey during which the reader repeatedly crosses the border between the real and the unreal, between what occurs in the world outside, and what the mind creates in its solitude.

Of all contemporary writers, only Kundera can transform such a hidden and disconcerting perception into the material for a novel, one of his finest, most painful, and most enlightening. Which, surprisingly, turns out to be a love story.]]> 176 Milan Kundera 0060930314 Andy 3 3.73 1997 Identity
author: Milan Kundera
name: Andy
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1997
rating: 3
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]]> Farewell Waltz 50605
And so begins a comedy in which, during five madcap days, events unfold with ever-increasing speed. Klima's beautiful, jealous wife; the nurse's equally jealous boyfriend; a fanatical gynecologist; a rich American, at once Don Juan and saint; and an elderly political prisoner who, just before his emigration, is holding a farewell party at the spa, are all drawn into this black comedy, as in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

As usual, Milan Kundera poses serious questions with a blasphemous lightness which makes us understand that the modern world has taken away our right to tragedy.]]> 288 Milan Kundera 0571194710 Andy 3 3.92 1972 Farewell Waltz
author: Milan Kundera
name: Andy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1972
rating: 3
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]]> Lolita 7604 Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780141182537.

Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Dolores Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.]]> 368 Vladimir Nabokov 0679723161 Andy 5 3.87 1955 Lolita
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Andy
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1955
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[All Quiet on the Western Front]]> 355697
In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to the ‘glorious war�. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. What follows is the moving story of a young ‘unknown soldier� experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches.]]> 296 Erich Maria Remarque 0449213943 Andy 3 4.04 1928 All Quiet on the Western Front
author: Erich Maria Remarque
name: Andy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1928
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Unbearable Lightness of Being]]> 9717 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera tells the story of a young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing and one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover. This magnificent novel juxtaposes geographically distant places, brilliant and playful reflections, and a variety of styles, to take its place as perhaps the major achievement of one of the world’s truly great writers.]]> 314 Milan Kundera 0571224385 Andy 3 4.12 1984 The Unbearable Lightness of Being
author: Milan Kundera
name: Andy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1984
rating: 3
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]]> Immortality 28634
'It will make you cleverer, maybe even a better lover. Not many novels can do that.' Nicholas Lezard, GQ]]> 400 Milan Kundera 057114456X Andy 5 4.16 1990 Immortality
author: Milan Kundera
name: Andy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1990
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Laughter and Forgetting]]> 240976 The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is the novel that brought Milan Kundera his first big international success in the late 1970's. Like all his work, it is valuable for far more than just its historical implications. In seven wonderfully integrated parts, different aspects of human existence are magnified and reduced, reordered and emphasized, newly examined, analyzed and experienced.]]> 313 Milan Kundera 0060932147 Andy 5 4.01 1979 The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
author: Milan Kundera
name: Andy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1979
rating: 5
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]]> The Joke 26114
The present edition provides English-language readers an important further means toward revaluation of The Joke. For reasons he describes in his Author's Note, Milan Kundera devoted much time to creating (with the assistance of his American publisher-editor) a completely revised translation that reflects his original as closely as any translation possibly can: reflects it in its fidelity not only to the words and syntax but also to the characteristic dictions and tonalities of the novel's narrators. The result is nothing less than the restoration of a classic.]]> 371 Milan Kundera Andy 5 4.05 1967 The Joke
author: Milan Kundera
name: Andy
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1967
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man]]> 7588 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a novel of sexual awakening, religious rebellion and the essential search for voice and meaning that every nascent artist must face in order to blossom fully into themselves.]]> 329 James Joyce 0142437344 Andy 2 3.64 1916 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
author: James Joyce
name: Andy
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1916
rating: 2
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]]> To Kill a Mockingbird 2657 "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film.]]> 323 Harper Lee 0060935464 Andy 3 4.25 1960 To Kill a Mockingbird
author: Harper Lee
name: Andy
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1960
rating: 3
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]]> The Metamorphosis 485894 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0553213695 / 9780553213690

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."

With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."]]> 201 Franz Kafka 0553213695 Andy 3 3.90 1915 The Metamorphosis
author: Franz Kafka
name: Andy
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1915
rating: 3
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]]>