I really wanted to enjoy this book, and I even read the entire 496 pages in hopes of wanting to continue to the next book in the series, but neither of those things happened.
It’s not a bad book, and the story premise is interesting enough. It’s just that the thing was so s l o w. Stuff was always happening and the plot was always moving forward, but it felt like I was struggling to keep going.
So, despite my library having the second book in the (as yet unfinished) trilogy, I won’t be picking it up. I will, however, give his first novel a try some time (my library also has this one). Maybe it’s only this story of his that didn’t work for me.
]]>When you pick up a scifi/fantasy book, you typically have some sort of foundation on which to build. Happens in space? Swords and sorcery? Talking animals? OK, I know what these are. Even books based here on Earth but in different cultures usually come with some sort of grounding. US/Euro stuff is common (and therefore easy). Japan, Middle East, Nigeria, China, all these are areas with which I’m pretty comfortable now.
Then along comes The Saint of Bright Doors. It’s so different than anything I’ve read before that the first half of the book went slowly for me as I crept my way through this unfamiliar territory. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out what region Chandrasekera had based it on. It turns out that this is the first book I’ve read by a Sri Lankan author. Does it incorporate elements of Sri Lankan culture, one with which I’m not familiar? Maybe! I’ll have to read more Sri Lankan authors to know for sure.
That I lacked a foundation or grounding—and therefore the associated expectations—is certainly not the fault of the author. By halfway through the work I was feeling much more comfortable in the world he’d built and the rest of the book went quickly for me.
A large reason it went so quickly is that the story is just so damn intricate and interesting. Like the setting, it was an entirely new concept for me. It also was impeccably constructed and executed. It’s easily one of the most facinating and compelling stories I’ve read in the past year, which is to say: I loved it.
It seems Chandasekera is releasing his second novel in June of this year. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what he brings us next.
]]>This book was mentioned and quoted in the miso/tempeh book I read recently, so I requested it from the library to have a look.
It turns out it’s a useful book, so I acquired a used copy for myself online. It is, however, stronger on the theory side or the practice. It’ll be useful for a reference work, but for the practical how-to stuff I’ll stick with the miso/tempeh one.
]]>I’m moving on from this book, despite not finishing it.
It’s not that it’s a bad book; to the contrary, what I read was really good! Halvorson has a learner-friendly approach to teaching formal logic, and I would definitely recommend this textbook to anyone looking to learn it.
But my brain just wasn’t in the right place to want to do that learning (or, more specifically in my case, relearning after decades). I found myself avoiding my reading sofa because I didn’t want the guilt of not working my way through the book. This meant it was a blocker on the rest of my nonfiction reading queue.
I would like to revisit this book at some point, but right now I’d turn myself away from the topic if I tried to force myself to sit down and get through it. I’ll keep it on the shelf for a time when my brain is more prepared for this subject.
]]>As she did with The Odyssey, Wilson has done a masterful job translating The Iliad.
Her rendition of the text is approachable and understandable, without any of the Oxford-esque snobbery you’ll find in many other translations.
It’s been a long time since I read The Iliad in Greek, but I still can tell that Wilson is faithful both to the content and the spirit of the text. She doesn’t shy away from the horrors of death in war, or from the love between Achilles and Patroclus, or from the grief and fear behind the walls of Troy.
These are humans (and human-like gods), both at their best and their worst, and that comes through in her translation. I remain deeply impressed with her knowledge and skills.
]]>I’ve read the original edition of this book a few times already, but it’s been several years since I did so. Certainly the last time was before Allen released a new edition. I’ve just finished revisiting and revising my personal productivity workflow, so I was inspired to check out the new version.
Having read most of the book before, I skimmed a lot. Still, it was helpful for me to re-read how beneficial it can be to have a system that you can trust. That was something I’d let slip in the past year, causing me to revisit my workflow recently.
If you’ve not read any edition of this book before, I highly recommend it. You don’t need to follow Allen’s GTD method religiously to get a lot of benefit out of it. For instance, I’ll be damned if I’m writing all this stuff on paper, but tracking it in Apple Reminders? Yeah, that’ll do nicely. Take from the book what you need at that time, revisit it later when you’re ready.
]]>I normally don’t log cooking-related books on the blog, but this one’s more substantial than just recipes accompanied by vignettes.
There’s a whole lotta great information in here, and it’s presented clearly and well. Even the science is approachable, for those people in the audience who aren’t as scientifically inclined.
It’s a pragmatic book that I’ll be adding to my collection very soon now.
]]>A space colonisation pop-science book written by a webcomic artist/author and a behavioural ecologist specialising in parasites.
Summarised like that, you’d think this book would be a total train wreck, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. To be honest, I was skeptical when I saw Zach promoting this book on his web comic (which I follow via RSS). Sure, his comics are thought-provoking and erudite, but space colonising? That’s pretty far out of both of your wheelhouses, Weinersmiths.
How wrong I was. This was actually a great read. The authors did an overwhelming amount of research for the book and presented it in such a clear (and often amusing) way. They cover the topics everyone should be thinking about with regards to space colonies, including sociological, political, and legal. The entire thing was fascinating and more than once I stayed up too late just to learn more.
Definitely a book I’ll recommend to anyone who’s interested in anything space-related.
]]>Johanna’s a professional acquaintance. I’m also grateful and fortunate that she’s one of the tech reviewers for my latest book. I’ve read her stuff in the past and regularly recommend Hiring Geeks That Fit to people who are trying to improve their hiring processes.
When Johanna announced the release of this book last year, I quickly bought it to support and continue learning from her. It’s only just come up in the (admittedly haphazard) reading queue. While I’m not actively looking to return to consulting, the craptacular job market has me admitting that I may need to anyway. So if nothing else, the book will help get me in a good state of mind for thinking that through.
It succeeded in that, inspiring me to start up a kanban board to direct my work and thinking on the subject of starting up my consulting again. Because I had done this work before, there wasn’t a lot of new information in here for me, but it was still valuable to me to get a focused refresher. That, plus everything I’ve learned in the years since I last consulted, may help the process be less stressful this time (should I actually follow through on the idea, which is likely…alas).
If you’ve not consulted before, you certainly should read up on how to do so before starting, and Johanna’s book should be on that list. She walks you through a lot of topics you might not otherwise consider if left to your own devices. One thing she frequently stresses is the importance of content marketing to the success of your consulting practice. This is something I’ve seen most consultants neglect, so they struggle to get client leads.
The flow of the book wasn’t a great fit for me, but I suspect that may be a personal thing rather than a fault in the book. Overall, it was a timely and valuable read for me, despite that.
]]>In the past few years I’ve finally been able to transition my diet to one that’s largely home-cooked from whole or minimally-processed ingredients. After reading this book, I’m more resolved than ever to maintain that trend.
The work is impeccably researched. Only a little over 70% of it is the book narrative, with the remainder for citations and index. For each claim made in the text, there was at least one and usually several peer-reviewed papers to support it. The author also went out of his way to cry foul when “scholars” publish without divulging all (or any) of their industry conflicts of interest.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. Despite its complex and highly scientific topic, it was an engaging read. I’d not heard of the author prior to this (I guess he’s famous in the UK), but I really liked his writing style a lot. Unpretentious, relatable, clear.
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