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This book could have been honed down by a huge margin. I do not understand why one would even include a footnote if it takes up half the page. While a lot of the information in this book is enlightening, there are way too many digressions, which again, are informative, but take away from what Harris is trying to achieve overall, in building a concise historiography of Palo Alto. This is especially apparent in the middle of the book, where at times it seems like Harris is grasping at straws to connect his tangents to his main thesis. The beginning and the end of the book are the main highlights, and I think make it worth a read, even though they too could use some shedding.

Don't be afraid to skip some sections.

The closest a manga, for me, has come to emulating what high school was actually like. That's not to say the series doesn't romanticize it or have any faults, it does, but Azuma writes his misfit characters with such interiority, it is hard not to imagine these high school girls having a real life counterpart, and being super relatable to real people. Also, of course, its a hilarious series with tight, well-crafted gags, even if some get lost in translation. This series really helped pioneer a subgenre of slice of life comedy manga, and deserves all the praise and cult classic status it receives. A personal favorite. Highly recommend.

Yotsuba&! is wholesome, hilarious, touching, and fantastic in every way, and the series - its storytelling, art style, and humor - get better and better with each and every succeeding volume. Cannot recommend this series enough. If you need to wind down and soak in some positive energy, need a laugh, anything, read Yotsuba&!

Superb read. A book that happened to find me at the right time, at the beginning of me becoming more critical of our current technological landscape under late capitalism. What the book suggests for action, if I recall, was seldom, or not possible for me, but what use it did offer, and the greater thesis it provided, was essential for a baby Luddite like me.

A very engaging and gripping read (or listen, for the audiobook, which I would recommend). Not much to say other than this is a really great, well-researched, and at times, suspenseful book, and well worth anyone's time.

Also pairs well with the Hulu series, The Dropout about Theranos and Holms, which takes a lot, if not all, from this book.

The more I read the series (if I remember right, I stopped around volume 10) the more it fell into tired manga tropes, and while the main character I find endearing at times, and empathized with a lot, she got more unlikable as the story went on (though, from what I've read of other reviews, she starts to become more likable in later volumes)

I appreciate what it's trying to accomplish, and can also appreciate the idiosyncratic art style, but I don't know if I'll return to this series any time soon.

Despite all that, I do think this is worth a read, at least the first volume. It is a cult classic for a reason, and I still proudly own the first volume, sitting with the likes of Yotstuba&! and Girls Last Tour on my bookshelf.

His thesis on what minimalism actually is and how to practice it is a bit muddy, but on the whole, he gives an interesting and concise history of the minimalist movement, in Eastern and Western thought, through music and architecture, etc., which I suppose was more of the point of the book. It was this book that encouraged me to think more about the movement, about minimalism as a whole, and to take a visit to the Judd Foundation and the NY Earth Room, as a NY resident.

An excellent sampling of Murakami's specific style of surreal mood and meditative, deliberate imagery. The only thing it lacks, of course, is where he excels in long-form pacing, but that's to be expected of a short story anthology. Recommended.

Mandatory for any lover of Keiichi Arawi's unique art style and comedy-writing. This also goes for its sister book, Helvetica Standard Bold

Mandatory for any lover of Keiichi Arawi's unique art style and comedy-writing. This also goes for its sister book, Helvetica Standard Italic

A really well-researched and well written book. The definitive book on the iPhone's true history.

The Nakata storyline was the only thing keeping me going. I know it says this in the description, but Kafka's story was way too Oedipal for me, despite having a lot of intrigue.

Not a manga that is typically in my wheelhouse, but the world building and the characters are very well thought out and relatable. I only hesitate to give it a full five stars since it doesn't have that special something to really hook me personally, but in a different life, I can easily see this being a favorite comic (and overall series) of mine.

Edit: Also have to say, the way it blends the overarching narrative with its themes on the importance of food, is superb (exemplified perfectly in the climax of Volume 12) chefs kiss

It's hard to describe my relationship with this series. I read it all in a late night binge after reading through the author's previous work, Girls Last Tour, the evening before. It is one of those works that you can feel will stick with you for a very long time. A definitive series of a particular moment in ones life. That is to say, it is a stupendously good series. Like any series, it has its flaws, but they are minuscule compared to the whole. Surrealist, thought-provoking, deeply moving, breathtaking background art, idiosyncratic character design. Just a phenomenal piece of art that has a lot on its mind, but is never too overbearing in its ideas (at least not for me); It is a slice of life after all, even though, the slices it gives you, get increasingly bizarre.