1kokeyama
as of 5/11...
Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution, Bernie Sanders. Reads like one of his speeches with a bit more detail 4/5
Be The Unicorn: 12 Data-driven Strategies, William Vanderblomen. I'd guess his trade show coordinator told him he should write a book to sell to audiences. 2.5/5
Loaded: The Life and Afterlife of the Velvet Underground, Dylan Jones. Nice read about the VU and the many people that surrounded them. 4/5
The Core of an Onion, Mark Kurlansky. Everyone's favorite veg gets a book. 4/5
The Man from the Future: The Visionary Ideas of John von Neumann, Ananyo Bhattaacharya. Great biography 5/5
Off Grid Solar Power Simplified, Will Smart. typical thrown together info from web pages or something. poorly edited, incomplete. 1.5/5
Inside Enigma: The Secrets of the Enigma Machine, Tom Perera. Interesting and data-filled about the many versions of the Enigma machine 4/5
The Systems Thinker, Albert Rutherford. Meh. 2.5/5
The Easter Egg, Sarah Eaglesfield. very nice but very short story. 5/5
The Longevity Diet, Valter Longo. That's Valter with a V to you. 3.5/5
Tom Corbett Space Cadet (all seven books), Carey Rockwell. Fun, light golden age juvenile science fiction. 3.75/5
Armageddon in Retrospect, Kurt Vonnegut. great selection of his essays 5/5
Dharma Delight, Rodney Alan Greenblat. lighthearted pop buddhism. 3.5/5
Til We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis. a classic 5/5
My Man Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse. First of the Jeeves collections. Fun, hard to read without hearing Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's voices in your head. 4/5
The Five Invitations, Frank Oataseki. sometimes veers toward pop-psy but useful tips in helping others or yourself approach end-of-life issues 4/5
Flatland, Edwin Abbott. A novel and early book that gives a new perspective on perception. 4.5/5
The Scourge Between the Stars, Ness Brown. A fun and captivating science fiction story from a new author. 4/5
The Tao of Programming, Geoffrey James. Very much an in-joke this little humorous piece is still entertaining although the references have become dated. 4.5/5
Just One Thing, John Mauldin. I don't know. I guess. Popular, but jumps around. 3.5/5
Blue Architecture, Brook Muller. Well done book exploring water and architectural design. 5/5
Subtract, Leidy Klotz. An accessible summary of the research he's done along with his colleagues and students along with relatable examples. 4/5
---
edit 5/15
Instant Zen, Thomas Cleary. A set of short zen stories 4/5
Ugetsu Monogatari, Ueda Akinara. Japanese folk tales and ghost stories from the 18th century. 5/5
--
edit 5/23
The Story of Burnt Njal, G.W. Dasant (translator). bloody Icelandic feuds ad nauseam 4/5
--
edit 5/29
Jingo, Terry Pratchett. part of the disc world series 4/5
Celtic Mythology, Philip Freeman. Not quite as bloody as the Icelandic sagas, but close. And way more raping. 4/5
--
edit 6/2
The Downloaded, Robert J. Sawyer. Too short, good story, but could've been fleshed out more particularly at end. 3.75/5
Bankei Zen: Translations, Yoshito Hakeda & Peter Haskel. Great selections of Bankei teachings. 5/5
--
edit 6/6
Skull Kingdoms, Matthew Burnside. My first EarlyReviewers book. Free-form poetry done as interactive activities. Fun and intriguing adventure. 5/5
Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, Amy Zegart. Great history of the intelligence services, their roles, and compendium of major successes and failures along the way. 5/5
--
edit 6/9
Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology, William S. Burroughs. Burroughs' gentle criticism of Scientology and its maniacal leader L. Ron Hubbard. 4/5
The Reentrant, Terry Hart. My 2nd EarlyReviewers book. A really well-done adventure with twists and turns that keeps you interested. 5/5
--
edit 6/20
Gathering Moss, Robin Wall Kimmerer. A great book on mosses, where they fit in botany, and info to inspire naturalists 5/5
Superior: The Return of Race Science, Angela Saini. A review of the rise of the concept of race, it's use and misuse by eugenicists and politicians, and the undercurrent of racists and researchers still trying to promote it even today. 5/5
Laozi's Dao de Jing: A plain translation, Ken Liu. A short and alternative translation that makes the Tao more accessible and understandable. Nicely presented 4/5
--
edit 6/25
Schrodinger's Cottage, David Luddington. A fun whimsical story of the multiverse 4/5
Generation Ship, Michael Mammay. Colony spaceship in their final approach and arrival at destination with the politics and differing perspectives of various characters 4.5/5
--
edit 7/1
The Einstein Intersection, Samuel R. Delany. Post-apocalyptic Orpheus. 3.75/5
What Men Live By, Leo Tolstoy. Short stories. 5/5
--
edit 7/4
From Young to Wise: How to Avoid the Philosopher's Fallacy, Daniel Seward. EarlyReviewers book. Very short, glosses over the explanation of philosophical schools in favour of reaching the author's points. 2.5/5
Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness, Chögyam Trongpa. Clear explanations of lojong practice with glossary. 4/5
--
edit 7/14
The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist, Richard Feynman. A short set of lectures from Feynman as he talks about religion, social issues and general thoughts about life. 5/5
Dutch Crash Course, Language/30. Dutch language useful phrases for tourists and visitors. 3/5
The Unedited, Pernille Rorth. Interesting speculcative fiction on gene editing 4/5
King Solomon's Mines, H. Rider Haggard. The first of the Allan Quatermain adventures, featuring all the colonial arrogance, casual racism, and big-game hunting one would expect of a novel from that time. 3.5/5
--
edit 7/27
Racconti Dal Mondo/Stories From Around the World (2), Miller/D'Ors/Krautwald. Short collection of travel stories to Cagliari in English and Italian 3.5/5
The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abram. A sociologist muses about language, history and perception. Strays too frequently I think into new-agey vibes. 3/5
--
edit 8/11
A Bite-sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution..., Stephane Henaut. History of France told through food. Interesting & full of fascinating tidbits 4/5
Structured Madness, C.S. Fuqua (early reviewers book) excellent collection of poems that illustrate different poetic forms with all original compositions. 5/5
Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne. Classic adventure story. 5/5
The Strange Case, Derek Kolstad. A re-telling of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, very nicely reimagined. 4/5
Blues Brothers: The Arc of Gratitude, Dan Akyroyd. Audiobook with Dan and many other people involved with the Blues Brothers from inception on SNL through the 2nd movie. 5/5
--
Temporal, Julian Simpson. A fun short adventure. 3/5
The Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin. Classic Adventure/Naturalist/Science memoir that laid down many of the themes he fleshed out in The Origin of Species 5/5
--
edit 10/20
The 39 Steps, John Buchan, classic thriller 3/5
How to Retire Overseas, Katherine Peddicourt. Lots of tips with a clear preference and push for Panama. 2/5
A Brief History of Japan, Jonathon Clemets. Nicely done history that gives I think a really good overview 4/5
Broken Arrow, Oliver Strong. Finished up Strong's necron series. It gets better over time but leaves a lot of unanswered questions in this light military sci-fi series 2/5
The Japanese Mind, Roger Davies. Interesting textbook with essays by graduate students on aspects of Japanese culture and mindset 3/5
Constituent Service, John Scalzi. A fun light sci-fi read. 3/5
--
edit 12/25
Vikings: Raiders from the North, Dale Brown. 2/5 a light overview of viking history
Pimsleur Japanese Level 1, Pimsleur. 4/5 reviewing some japanese language skills
Digital Nomads for Dummies, Kristin M. Wilson. 3/5 A wealth of otherwise readily available information and links but with some personal experiences added in
Remote Work: Find a Remote Job You Love..., Antonio Araujo 2/5 meh. Nothing you wouldn't find in reddit advice boards.
Walking to Aldebaran, Adrian Tchaikovsky 3/5 lite sci fi read
How to Travel the World for Free, Michael Wigge. 2.5/5 How he convinced people to help him travel the world for free, relying on his credentials as an established writer.
The Rise of Modern Japan, Mark Ravina. 5/5 An informative and enjoyable history of modern japan.
Ender's Game Alive, Orson Scott Card 5/5. Full cast audio book that is well done and was a fun listen
The Expert System's Brother, Adrian Tchaikovsky 5/5 another nice lite speculative fiction read
A Memory Called Empire, Arkaday Martine 5/5 well done more hard sci-fi
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie 4/5 - the audio book recording with Peter Dinklage is very good
The California Voodoo Game, Larry Niven 2.5/5 Read one Dream Park and you read another. Interesting for its predictions of how future live action fantasy gaming might evolve, but also interesting in that the organization that started around the time of the first of the series specifically to encourage live role playing gaming, has all but ceased to exist post-Covid.
The Coming Wave, Mustafa Suleyman 4/5. A well reasoned critique and praise of the new AI age and what benefits and likely unavoidable disasters await us
--
so far that brings me to 84/75
Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution, Bernie Sanders. Reads like one of his speeches with a bit more detail 4/5
Be The Unicorn: 12 Data-driven Strategies, William Vanderblomen. I'd guess his trade show coordinator told him he should write a book to sell to audiences. 2.5/5
Loaded: The Life and Afterlife of the Velvet Underground, Dylan Jones. Nice read about the VU and the many people that surrounded them. 4/5
The Core of an Onion, Mark Kurlansky. Everyone's favorite veg gets a book. 4/5
The Man from the Future: The Visionary Ideas of John von Neumann, Ananyo Bhattaacharya. Great biography 5/5
Off Grid Solar Power Simplified, Will Smart. typical thrown together info from web pages or something. poorly edited, incomplete. 1.5/5
Inside Enigma: The Secrets of the Enigma Machine, Tom Perera. Interesting and data-filled about the many versions of the Enigma machine 4/5
The Systems Thinker, Albert Rutherford. Meh. 2.5/5
The Easter Egg, Sarah Eaglesfield. very nice but very short story. 5/5
The Longevity Diet, Valter Longo. That's Valter with a V to you. 3.5/5
Tom Corbett Space Cadet (all seven books), Carey Rockwell. Fun, light golden age juvenile science fiction. 3.75/5
Armageddon in Retrospect, Kurt Vonnegut. great selection of his essays 5/5
Dharma Delight, Rodney Alan Greenblat. lighthearted pop buddhism. 3.5/5
Til We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis. a classic 5/5
My Man Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse. First of the Jeeves collections. Fun, hard to read without hearing Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's voices in your head. 4/5
The Five Invitations, Frank Oataseki. sometimes veers toward pop-psy but useful tips in helping others or yourself approach end-of-life issues 4/5
Flatland, Edwin Abbott. A novel and early book that gives a new perspective on perception. 4.5/5
The Scourge Between the Stars, Ness Brown. A fun and captivating science fiction story from a new author. 4/5
The Tao of Programming, Geoffrey James. Very much an in-joke this little humorous piece is still entertaining although the references have become dated. 4.5/5
Just One Thing, John Mauldin. I don't know. I guess. Popular, but jumps around. 3.5/5
Blue Architecture, Brook Muller. Well done book exploring water and architectural design. 5/5
Subtract, Leidy Klotz. An accessible summary of the research he's done along with his colleagues and students along with relatable examples. 4/5
---
edit 5/15
Instant Zen, Thomas Cleary. A set of short zen stories 4/5
Ugetsu Monogatari, Ueda Akinara. Japanese folk tales and ghost stories from the 18th century. 5/5
--
edit 5/23
The Story of Burnt Njal, G.W. Dasant (translator). bloody Icelandic feuds ad nauseam 4/5
--
edit 5/29
Jingo, Terry Pratchett. part of the disc world series 4/5
Celtic Mythology, Philip Freeman. Not quite as bloody as the Icelandic sagas, but close. And way more raping. 4/5
--
edit 6/2
The Downloaded, Robert J. Sawyer. Too short, good story, but could've been fleshed out more particularly at end. 3.75/5
Bankei Zen: Translations, Yoshito Hakeda & Peter Haskel. Great selections of Bankei teachings. 5/5
--
edit 6/6
Skull Kingdoms, Matthew Burnside. My first EarlyReviewers book. Free-form poetry done as interactive activities. Fun and intriguing adventure. 5/5
Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, Amy Zegart. Great history of the intelligence services, their roles, and compendium of major successes and failures along the way. 5/5
--
edit 6/9
Ali's Smile/Naked Scientology, William S. Burroughs. Burroughs' gentle criticism of Scientology and its maniacal leader L. Ron Hubbard. 4/5
The Reentrant, Terry Hart. My 2nd EarlyReviewers book. A really well-done adventure with twists and turns that keeps you interested. 5/5
--
edit 6/20
Gathering Moss, Robin Wall Kimmerer. A great book on mosses, where they fit in botany, and info to inspire naturalists 5/5
Superior: The Return of Race Science, Angela Saini. A review of the rise of the concept of race, it's use and misuse by eugenicists and politicians, and the undercurrent of racists and researchers still trying to promote it even today. 5/5
Laozi's Dao de Jing: A plain translation, Ken Liu. A short and alternative translation that makes the Tao more accessible and understandable. Nicely presented 4/5
--
edit 6/25
Schrodinger's Cottage, David Luddington. A fun whimsical story of the multiverse 4/5
Generation Ship, Michael Mammay. Colony spaceship in their final approach and arrival at destination with the politics and differing perspectives of various characters 4.5/5
--
edit 7/1
The Einstein Intersection, Samuel R. Delany. Post-apocalyptic Orpheus. 3.75/5
What Men Live By, Leo Tolstoy. Short stories. 5/5
--
edit 7/4
From Young to Wise: How to Avoid the Philosopher's Fallacy, Daniel Seward. EarlyReviewers book. Very short, glosses over the explanation of philosophical schools in favour of reaching the author's points. 2.5/5
Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness, Chögyam Trongpa. Clear explanations of lojong practice with glossary. 4/5
--
edit 7/14
The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist, Richard Feynman. A short set of lectures from Feynman as he talks about religion, social issues and general thoughts about life. 5/5
Dutch Crash Course, Language/30. Dutch language useful phrases for tourists and visitors. 3/5
The Unedited, Pernille Rorth. Interesting speculcative fiction on gene editing 4/5
King Solomon's Mines, H. Rider Haggard. The first of the Allan Quatermain adventures, featuring all the colonial arrogance, casual racism, and big-game hunting one would expect of a novel from that time. 3.5/5
--
edit 7/27
Racconti Dal Mondo/Stories From Around the World (2), Miller/D'Ors/Krautwald. Short collection of travel stories to Cagliari in English and Italian 3.5/5
The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abram. A sociologist muses about language, history and perception. Strays too frequently I think into new-agey vibes. 3/5
--
edit 8/11
A Bite-sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution..., Stephane Henaut. History of France told through food. Interesting & full of fascinating tidbits 4/5
Structured Madness, C.S. Fuqua (early reviewers book) excellent collection of poems that illustrate different poetic forms with all original compositions. 5/5
Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne. Classic adventure story. 5/5
The Strange Case, Derek Kolstad. A re-telling of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, very nicely reimagined. 4/5
Blues Brothers: The Arc of Gratitude, Dan Akyroyd. Audiobook with Dan and many other people involved with the Blues Brothers from inception on SNL through the 2nd movie. 5/5
--
Temporal, Julian Simpson. A fun short adventure. 3/5
The Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin. Classic Adventure/Naturalist/Science memoir that laid down many of the themes he fleshed out in The Origin of Species 5/5
--
edit 10/20
The 39 Steps, John Buchan, classic thriller 3/5
How to Retire Overseas, Katherine Peddicourt. Lots of tips with a clear preference and push for Panama. 2/5
A Brief History of Japan, Jonathon Clemets. Nicely done history that gives I think a really good overview 4/5
Broken Arrow, Oliver Strong. Finished up Strong's necron series. It gets better over time but leaves a lot of unanswered questions in this light military sci-fi series 2/5
The Japanese Mind, Roger Davies. Interesting textbook with essays by graduate students on aspects of Japanese culture and mindset 3/5
Constituent Service, John Scalzi. A fun light sci-fi read. 3/5
--
edit 12/25
Vikings: Raiders from the North, Dale Brown. 2/5 a light overview of viking history
Pimsleur Japanese Level 1, Pimsleur. 4/5 reviewing some japanese language skills
Digital Nomads for Dummies, Kristin M. Wilson. 3/5 A wealth of otherwise readily available information and links but with some personal experiences added in
Remote Work: Find a Remote Job You Love..., Antonio Araujo 2/5 meh. Nothing you wouldn't find in reddit advice boards.
Walking to Aldebaran, Adrian Tchaikovsky 3/5 lite sci fi read
How to Travel the World for Free, Michael Wigge. 2.5/5 How he convinced people to help him travel the world for free, relying on his credentials as an established writer.
The Rise of Modern Japan, Mark Ravina. 5/5 An informative and enjoyable history of modern japan.
Ender's Game Alive, Orson Scott Card 5/5. Full cast audio book that is well done and was a fun listen
The Expert System's Brother, Adrian Tchaikovsky 5/5 another nice lite speculative fiction read
A Memory Called Empire, Arkaday Martine 5/5 well done more hard sci-fi
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie 4/5 - the audio book recording with Peter Dinklage is very good
The California Voodoo Game, Larry Niven 2.5/5 Read one Dream Park and you read another. Interesting for its predictions of how future live action fantasy gaming might evolve, but also interesting in that the organization that started around the time of the first of the series specifically to encourage live role playing gaming, has all but ceased to exist post-Covid.
The Coming Wave, Mustafa Suleyman 4/5. A well reasoned critique and praise of the new AI age and what benefits and likely unavoidable disasters await us
--
so far that brings me to 84/75
4kokeyama
>2 elorin: thanks, I try to avoid getting stuck in one genre
5kokeyama
>3 drneutron: if I didn't force myself to select random books out of my library|hoopla|overdrive I'd probably end up with 95% speculative fiction
