msaari's reviews from LibraryThing

Numerot : Kuinka matematiikka muutti maailmaa by Peter J. Bentley

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:35:20 -0400

msaari's review: "Hyvä aloitus, mikäli matematiikan ja numeroiden historia kiinnostaa. Ei erityisen syvällinen, mutta viihdyttävä ja helppotajuinen."
Ajatus Kirjat 2009

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

Fri, 29 May 2009 03:33:40 -0400

msaari's review: "Absolutely hilarious, a real treat."
Anchor (2002), Paperback, 224 pages

A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:11:30 -0500

msaari's review: "Not the strongest book from Carroll... The Answered Prayers sequence is the weirdest Carroll, and this is the weirdest of the sequence, I think — and I found the book a bit too opaque and the ending left too many questions open. If you don't like open-ended books with lots of surreal mystery, avoid this one! But still, a weak Carroll is still almost a four-star book in my records."
Legend paperbacks (1990), Paperback, 272 pages

Johdatus baarisököön : lisänä tikki ja uusi peli, sökötikki by Otso Kantokorpi

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 06:07:45 -0500

msaari's review: "Erinomainen johdatus Suomen kansallispokeripelin sääntöihin ja ennen kaikkea pelikulttuuriin, sellaisena kuin se eräässä punavuorelaisessa sököringissä toteutuu. Fantastinen kirja."
Helsinki : Rosebud, 2008

Teach Yourself Mahjong by David Pritchard

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:09:48 -0500

msaari's review: "A decent guide to a British variety of Western mahjong. The game explained here is based on the Chinese Classical game. Not my favourite rules, but they do work pretty well for beginners. There's some strategy, too, and few notes about American and Japanese mahjong. Not a great mahjong book, but not bad either, especially for British players."
McGraw-Hill/Contemporary (2001), Paperback, 128 pages

Reviiri by Marko Kari

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:33:31 -0500

msaari's review: "Runollinen kauhutarina neljän nuoren epäonnisesta mökkireissusta. Kari itse on luonnehtinut teosta proosarunoksi, josta on jätetty turha lässytys pois (http://www.tampere.fi/kirjasto/pirkanmaankirjailijat/kari.htm). Näin on - kirja on ehkä vähän turhankin tiukkaan karsittu perusasioihinsa. Tunnelma on kuitenkin vahva."
Helsingissä [Hki] : Otava, 1990.

Tatun ja Patun outo unikirja by Aino Havukainen

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:56:23 -0500

msaari's review: "Tatu ja Patu seikkailevat tällä kertaa unien maailmassa. Kylässä on kummityttö Satu, joka pitäisi saada siivosti unten maille. Tatu ja Patu ovatkin valmistautuneet huolella, muun muassa kirjoittamalla järkälemäisen O.U.T.O.-kirjan eli Ohuehkon Unijuttujen Tieteellisen Oppaan. Kirja on totuttuun tapaan täynnä herkullisia pikku yksityiskohtia... <a href="http://www.kirjavinkit.net/arvostelut/tatun-ja-patun-outo-unikirja/">Lue koko arvostelu Kirjavinkeistä</a>"
Helsingissä : Otava, 2008.

Tea From An Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan

Tue, 20 May 2008 03:42:28 -0400

msaari's review: "There's a muder - a kid in virtual reality has been murdered in real reality, too. Detective Dora Konstantin has to figure out why and how. She plunges to the world of Artificial Reality to find out. Meanwhile someone called Yuki is trying to find out where his friend has disappeared. The story is somewhat interesting, and the description of the artificial reality is intriguing. I would've appreciated a more concrete approach - now the story was a tad vague and eventually the resolution was somewhat disappointing. Interesting, but in the end the book is just good."
Tor Science Fiction (1999), Edition: First Edition, Mass Market Paperback, 256 pages

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 01:22:07 -0400

msaari's review: "An excellent book, just as good as Cryptonomicon or the Baroque Cycle (or actually even slightly better than Baroque Cycle, which kind of lagged at some points). The world is just fabulous, and I would've loved getting immersed in even more of the minute details of the daily life of avouts. Just fascinating. It took me quite a while to read this book - I could've read 3-4 other, shorter books in that time - yet it was all really worth the effort. Neal Stephenson is definitely one of my all-time favourite authors. Review in Finnish: http://www.kirjavinkit.net/arvostelut/anathem/"
William Morrow (2008), Hardcover, 960 pages

Go - Mikä se on? by Lauri Paatero

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:13:33 -0400

msaari's review: "Oivallinen aloittelijaopas go-harrastuksen pariin."
Books on Demand GmbH, Helsinki.

Metsänpimeä by Siri Kolu

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:26:30 -0400

msaari's review: "Kirjan päähenkilön Lauran tarina liikkuu kahdella tasolla: laajan kirjallisuuden kurssia vahvassa kaveripiirissä suorittavana lukiolaisena Keravalla ja muutama vuosi myöhemmin kirjallisuuden opiskelijana Helsingissä... <a href="http://www.kirjavinkit.net/arvostelut/metsanpimea/">Lue loput Kirjavinkeistä</a>"
Helsingissä : Otava, 2008.

Onni-pojan kierrätyskirja by Sanna Pelliccioni

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:59:09 -0400

msaari's review: "Mainio kirja, samaa taattua laatua kuin muutkin Onni-poika-kirjat. Tällä kertaa aiheena kierrätys, jätteiden lajittelu, kirpputorit ja lelujen vaihtaminen. Hyviä aiheita ja laadukas toteutus."
Jyväskylä : Minerva, 2008

Tie by Cormac McCarthy

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:07:29 -0400

msaari's review: "Very strong story of a father and son traveling through desolate post-apocalyptic landscape. It's unclear - taken as granted - what has happened, but there's very little life. The couple travel to south to reach, well, something. The story was less violent than I expected, but nevertheless very scary, convincing and depressive. McCarthy's language is bare, minimalistic and almost poetic."
Helsinki : WSOY, 2008.

Chess Story (New York Review Books Classics) by Stefan Zweig

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:59:37 -0400

msaari's review: "Beautiful novella. I'm always interested in stories that feature games, and Chess Story is definitely a good example of that. Two different men - a chess grandmaster and a nobody - meet at a chess board and the results are... explosive. Much of the book is devoted to the extraordinary background of the Dr. B, his experiences in the Nazi-occupied Austria. Magical book."
NYRB Classics (2005), Paperback, 104 pages

Totta ja tarua englannin sanoista by Michael Quinion

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:12:51 -0400

msaari's review: "Entertaining stuff, fun little book of etymology. It's a lovely topic that rarely fails being interesting. The book could use more explanations, but it's certainly better to debunk the false explanations and then say the truth is unknown than to accept the silliness. Quinion does a great job debunking silly folk etymologies. Excellent material for killing time in small pieces, reading few chapters at a time."
[Helsinki] : Gummerus, 2008

The Panic Hand by Jonathan Carroll

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:47:30 -0400

msaari's review: "Excellent collection of short stories from Jonathan Carroll. Very Carroll-y: there's God, dogs in almost every story, life after death... Some stories warm, some funny, some can be classified as horror. As in any short story collection, there are favourites and duller moments, but overall the quality of the stories is good."
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (1996), Edition: New Ed, Paperback, 288 pages

Sydämen muotoinen rasia by Joe Hill

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:20:29 -0400

msaari's review: "Very nice. A bloody and violent horror story about an aging heavy metal musician Judas Coyne, who collects macabre oddities. He finds an auction selling a dead man's soul and ends up buying the soul. Of course, the ghost is very real and Coyne ends up regretting the purchase as the dead man tries to drag Coyne and his girlfriend down to the black depths where he came from. Things get downright nasty. Heart-shaped Box is not a classic, but well worth reading to anybody who likes bloody horror stories."
Helsinki : Tammi, 2008.

Viisi veistä Andrei Kraplilla by Hannele Mikaela Taivassalo

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:22:19 -0400

msaari's review: "Onko Hannele Mikaele Taivassalo Suomen Steve Erickson? En tiedä, mutta tältä mielleyhtymältä oli vaikea välttyä, kun luki tätä Taivassalon esikoista. Andrei Kraplin veitsien tarina on samalla tavalla kummallinen kuin Ericksonin kirjat... <a href="http://www.kirjavinkit.net/arvostelut/viisi-veista-andrei-kraplilla/">Lue loput arviosta Kirjavinkeistä</a>."
[Helsinki] : Söderström, 2008.

Karsintavaihe by Maarit Verronen

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:24:27 -0400

msaari's review: "Maarit Verronen on luonut uusimmassa kirjassaan tylyn dystopian. Turvallisuuden nimissä yksityiset turvayhtiöt tekevät mitä haluavat, eikä kukaan vastusta tai jos vastustaa, huonosti käy. Karsintavaihe on paikoin raskasta luettavaa. Välillä suorastaan ihmetyttää, voisiko näin muka käydä, miksei kukaan välitä. Toisaalta kirjan hahmottelema kehitys on helppo uskoa. Aivan toivotonta tarinaa kirja ei ole. Päähenkilö Lumi tarkastelee tilannetta ulkopuolisena, alhaisen D-tason työntekijänä, mutta arvostetulla vihreällä turvallisuusstatuksella. Lumi seuraa, sopeutuu ja löytää paikoin jopa onnellisuutta kaiken synkkyyden keskellä. Dystopioita on luettu, mutta tämä toimi. Verrosen kehitelmät ovat lopulta sen verran uskottavia, että maailman voi uskoa. Osa kehityksestä on selvää jatkumoa nykytilanteesta ja erittäin helppoa uskoa, osa taas ylilyövempää, mutta yhtä kaikki huolestuttavaa. Karsintavaihe on väliin raskas, mutta antoisa lukukokemus. (<a href="http://www.kirjavinkit.net/arvostelut/karsintavaihe/">Tämä ja lisää arvosteluja Kirjavinkeissä</a>)"
Helsinki : Tammi, 2008.

The Book of Mah jong: An Illustrated Guide by Amy Lo

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:51:48 -0400

msaari's review: "Amy Lo's The Book of Mahjong is an elegant book that describes the major Chinese styles of mahjong outside the new official Chinese competition rules. The book starts with a thorough description of Cantonese mahjong, also known as Hong Kong Old Style or old rules. This is a simple style of mahjong with relatively uncomplicated scoring, which makes it a good game for beginners. Lo's description of the rules should make learning the game easy. There are plenty of pictures to visualize the flow of the game and the way everything works. The scoring is described well. This is a good starting point for a mahjong hobby. After a short bit about strategy and courtesy in mahjong, Lo delves into Shanghai mahjong, also known as New Style. This is a similar game as the Cantonese mahjong, but there are some changes. The main difference is the scoring: the Shanghai rules include a lot more scoring hands, creating a game that's more interesting but much harder to master. To finish off the book, Lo describes a simple 12-tile variant (each player has an invisible 13th tile, which works as a wild tile and can replace any tile) and the Taiwanese 16-tile variant. The book is written well, looks pretty and generally has a clear layout. There are some points where I feel something small is missing (explanation of the fan-laak system, for example) and the book is maintaining the thousand-year myth, but overall this is a welcome addition to my mahjong library."
Tuttle Publishing (2001), Paperback, 128 pages