Reviews and Comments

None Locked account

KathyReid@bookwyrm.social

Joined 3 years, 3 months ago

technology. cybernetics. systems. science fiction. languages. machine learning. speech recognition.

This link opens in a pop-up window

The Martian Contingency (english language, 2025) 4 stars

None

5 stars

Another thoughtful, incisive, empathetic, culturally rich, character-driven instalment of the Lady Astronaut series, in which Elma York draws on her hard-won confidence and self-assuredness not just to steer the second Mars expedition, but to forge a path for the future of humanity on Mars - Martianity?

I'm constantly in awe of the level of technical detail, the painstaking industrial research and plausibility of Mary Robinette Kowal's alternate history, and The Martian Contingency does not disappoint. She has created a form of research method with this series that I'm terming "speculative ethnography", where her imagination, coupled with a meticulous grasp of astro-geology, astro-audionics and astro-mathematics, yields rich, nuanced, deeply immersive world-building.

A case in point is the way planetary temporality is contrasted between Earth and Mars - the differing lengths of day and new names for months provide a distancing mechanism from an Earthen identity and the adolescence of a Martian …

None

5 stars

This deeply-researched, authoritative, broad-reaching, insightful and compelling book unpacks the concept of confidence across multiple frames - the pillars of confidence, gender-based differences and contrasts in national confidence between countries.

Casting confidence as a resource that pays compounding dividends, Robertson shows how it is a foundational component of success in career, relationships and other aspects of life. Robertson sees action as the key fuel for confidence - moving from a deliberative to an implemental mindset - breaking down intent into concrete, specific, do-able actions.

A strong recommend for people exploring the theoretical, research-grounded basis of confidence - and those to want to apply those findings to their everyday life.



The Odyssey (Bantam Literature) (Paperback, 1971, Bantam Books) 3 stars

Review of 'The Odyssey (Bantam Literature)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

As a psychological thriller, I think this will work much better as a movie rather than as a book. I found the metaphors and description throughout cliched. The plot was unrealistic in text form, with too many improbable turns. The weaving of the past and present together in the film-making twist was admittedly interesting, but also left many plot holes after its conclusion. Why did the motorbike rider run Ben off the road? How was Ben able to become a successful architect after his childhood experiences, and how did this affect his later life?

The narration by Richard Armitage was superb; and this will make an engaging piece of television.

The Odyssey (Bantam Literature) (Paperback, 1971, Bantam Books) 3 stars

None

3 stars

As a psychological thriller, I think this will work much better as a movie rather than as a book. I found the metaphors and description throughout cliched. The plot was unrealistic in text form, with too many improbable turns. The weaving of the past and present together in the film-making twist was admittedly interesting, but also left many plot holes after its conclusion. Why did the motorbike rider run Ben off the road? How was Ben able to become a successful architect after his childhood experiences, and how did this affect his later life?

The narration by Richard Armitage was superb; and this will make an engaging piece of television.

The Dictionary of Lost Words (Paperback, 2022) 3 stars

In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is …

None

3 stars

As a work of historical fiction, [b:The Dictionary of Lost Words|49354511|The Dictionary of Lost Words|Pip Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1576570225l/49354511.SY75.jpg|74793187] provides a gentle introduction to socio-linguistics - that is, why do some words mean different things when said by different people in different contexts?

The historical setting of turn-of-the-century England provides a fertile landscape for exploring not only how social class is marked by dialect and by accent, but how language also serves to construct social divides by reinforcing assumptions, taboos and things "that should not be named". At the same time, I was struck by how the absence of language breeds ignorance; you cannot express a sentiment, a desire, an anger, if you do not possess the words that accurately capture its tenor, its flavour, its characteristics, its nuance. A world of fewer words is the poorer because we cannot capture its complexity and are forced instead to describe it in …

Crux (2022, Profile Books Limited) 5 stars

None

5 stars

Picking up where left off, [a:Richard P. Rumelt|1709397|Richard P. Rumelt|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1521331864p2/1709397.jpg] again pens an accessible, illustrative and easily-practiced guide to developing - and enacting - organisational strategy.

At the heart of both [b:Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters|11721966|Good Strategy Bad Strategy The Difference and Why It Matters|Richard P. Rumelt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360570381l/11721966.SY75.jpg|16670227] and [b:The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists|58895961|The Crux How Leaders Become Strategists|Richard P. Rumelt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653036347l/58895961.SY75.jpg|92565703] is the assertion that strategy is about firstly problem-solving: deeply understanding the environment, the organisation and the challenges it faces, the resources and advantages it has. This introspection yields the titular "crux" - the key problem that the organisation has to solve.

Secondly, strategy is about harnessing the organisation's resources to a singular pursuit of a path that solves that key problem; for Rumelt, diversification of efforts is dilution of strategy.

Recommended both for early-career managers, and for seasoned leaders …

Crux (2022, Profile Books Limited) 5 stars

Review of 'Crux' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Picking up where left off, [a:Richard P. Rumelt|1709397|Richard P. Rumelt|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1521331864p2/1709397.jpg] again pens an accessible, illustrative and easily-practiced guide to developing - and enacting - organisational strategy.

At the heart of both [b:Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters|11721966|Good Strategy Bad Strategy The Difference and Why It Matters|Richard P. Rumelt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360570381l/11721966.SY75.jpg|16670227] and [b:The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists|58895961|The Crux How Leaders Become Strategists|Richard P. Rumelt|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1653036347l/58895961.SY75.jpg|92565703] is the assertion that strategy is about firstly problem-solving: deeply understanding the environment, the organisation and the challenges it faces, the resources and advantages it has. This introspection yields the titular "crux" - the key problem that the organisation has to solve.

Secondly, strategy is about harnessing the organisation's resources to a singular pursuit of a path that solves that key problem; for Rumelt, diversification of efforts is dilution of strategy.

Recommended both for early-career managers, and for seasoned leaders …

None

4 stars

The summary

Written for a business audience, this book has two distinct sections. The first provides a gentle, integrated primer on voice technologies, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR), speech to text (STT), text to speech (TTS) or voice cloning, and natural language processing (NLP), and links these to the human needs fulfilled by voice technology. The second is essentially an extended pitch deck. Unabashedly techno-optimist in outlook, it seeks to grow the market for voice technologies by encouraging the reader to examine their own organisation’s operations for voice technology use cases, and provides a detailed guide to the user research and interface design steps needed to implement a voice technology program.

This is unsurprising, given [a:Tobias Dengel|27212062|Tobias Dengel|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is the CEO of WillowTree, an AI and digital product consulting company recently acquired by TELUS international for $USD 1.2 billion – which focuses on gathering training data for AI applications. …

Review of 'Sound of the Future' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The summary

Written for a business audience, this book has two distinct sections. The first provides a gentle, integrated primer on voice technologies, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR), speech to text (STT), text to speech (TTS) or voice cloning, and natural language processing (NLP), and links these to the human needs fulfilled by voice technology. The second is essentially an extended pitch deck. Unabashedly techno-optimist in outlook, it seeks to grow the market for voice technologies by encouraging the reader to examine their own organisation’s operations for voice technology use cases, and provides a detailed guide to the user research and interface design steps needed to implement a voice technology program.

This is unsurprising, given [a:Tobias Dengel|27212062|Tobias Dengel|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is the CEO of WillowTree, an AI and digital product consulting company recently acquired by TELUS international for $USD 1.2 billion – which focuses on gathering training data for AI applications. …

The Relentless Moon (EBook, 2020, Tom Doherty Associates) 5 stars

The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor …

Review of 'The Relentless Moon' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Mary Robinette Kowal masterfully weaves a rich tapestry of endearing and nuanced characters, skilful and meticulously researched science, and an alternative history that is poignantly plausible.

Written in first person perspective, her choice of a female protagonist, one whose interpersonal skills are as sharp as her aeronautical ones, gives us a multi- layered insight into the politics of space.

Relentless Moon may be set in the past, but it serves as a parable for the future - what does it take to lead humanity to save itself?

The Relentless Moon (EBook, 2020, Tom Doherty Associates) 5 stars

The Earth is coming to the boiling point as the climate disaster of the Meteor …

None

5 stars

Mary Robinette Kowal masterfully weaves a rich tapestry of endearing and nuanced characters, skilful and meticulously researched science, and an alternative history that is poignantly plausible.

Written in first person perspective, her choice of a female protagonist, one whose interpersonal skills are as sharp as her aeronautical ones, gives us a multi- layered insight into the politics of space.

Relentless Moon may be set in the past, but it serves as a parable for the future - what does it take to lead humanity to save itself?

Review of 'Sound of the Future' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The summary

Written for a business audience, this book has two distinct sections. The first provides a gentle, integrated primer on voice technologies, such as automatic speech recognition (ASR), speech to text (STT), text to speech (TTS) or voice cloning, and natural language processing (NLP), and links these to the human needs fulfilled by voice technology. The second is essentially an extended pitch deck. Unabashedly techno-optimist in outlook, it seeks to grow the market for voice technologies by encouraging the reader to examine their own organisation’s operations for voice technology use cases, and provides a detailed guide to the user research and interface design steps needed to implement a voice technology program.

This is unsurprising, given [a:Tobias Dengel|27212062|Tobias Dengel|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is the CEO of WillowTree, an AI and digital product consulting company recently acquired by TELUS international for $USD 1.2 billion – which focuses on gathering training data for AI applications. …