Read
-
How Are You Going to Pay for That? Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics
Finished
Lots of interesting stuff in this book. Oddly though the actual title of the book seems to be … not really the main thrust. The main thrust is all the things that need to be done; how those things are paid for seems to mostly be “it’s not actually that important” and I think that’s fair but it makes the book title kind of funny.
-
Red Team Blues
Finished
Starts off interestingly. Then the protagonist has sex with a few beautiful women and several men tell him how much they admire him, and then the intrigue fizzles to an “I guess that’s it?” and then the book is apparently over.
-
The Pariah
Finished
-
The Writing Retreat
Finished
-
Careless People A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
Finished
I think this reinforced a lot of my existing feelings about Facebook and Zuck and despite my disdain for hand-wringing about “echo chambers” I do have alarm bells going off off when I notice that type of thing is happening: am I receptive to this info because it’s compelling and legitimate or because I want it to be true? I did not go in with any real preconception of Sandberg and her portrayal here was pretty shocking. Started out as a kind of “well I guess it makes sense that a powerful person behaves this way” but it gets worse and weirder as it goes on.
I intend to seek out some more info about some of the stuff in this book, but I will say very little in here seemed on its face to be unlikely to be true given other things I know or have heard—or if not “true” then at least an honest recollection of events.
-
Sunrise on the Reaping
Finished
-
Stay Awake
Finished
-
The Poacher's Son
Finished
-
Ashes of the Sun
Finished
-
Semiosis A novel of first contact
Finished
-
Scythe
Finished
-
After the Ending
Finished
-
Impossible Creatures
Finished
This has been getting major marketing and though the cover had me interested right away I was a bit skeptical for that reason (that and it was presented in one store very closely connected to the now-poisoned HP franchise). But boy, I really enjoyed it. It’s comfortable and built on a lot of tropes, but in a really nice way. The world felt distinct, and the characters were charming. The writing is smart and not at all cynical, and it’s hard to write without cynicism and not come off as saccharine. Definitely recommend.
-
After World
Finished
-
Last Argument of Kings
Finished