aka @kingrat@sfba.social. I'm following a lot of bookwyrm accounts, since that seems to be the only way to get reviews from larger servers to this small server. Also, I will like & boost a lot of reviews that come across my feed. I will follow most bookwyrm accounts back if they review & comment. Social reading should be social.
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An intergalactic luxury cruise to a distant port is a world unto itself in this …
Maintenance tech on an interstellar ship investigates the murder of a passenger because those in charge don't want to. Flat & uninspired.
Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that …
After Davi becomes Dark Lord, she leaves her horde in the hands of Mari and heads to the Kingdom to see if she can broker a peace between the wilders and humans. Humans in power don't really want peace though. And neither do most of the wilders Davi has left behind. And behind all of it is the question as to why she kept being reborn whenever she died, with the same mission to save humans every time.
A fun plot and the characters are still fun. Wexler intersperses the story with lots of bawdy, footnoted asides. But not as good as the first book, sadly. I think that's because the first book didn't need to answer the questions. The final book kind of needs to, and those answers are too convoluted, and only hold together if I didn't think too hard about them. Still fun, so it gets a …
After Davi becomes Dark Lord, she leaves her horde in the hands of Mari and heads to the Kingdom to see if she can broker a peace between the wilders and humans. Humans in power don't really want peace though. And neither do most of the wilders Davi has left behind. And behind all of it is the question as to why she kept being reborn whenever she died, with the same mission to save humans every time.
A fun plot and the characters are still fun. Wexler intersperses the story with lots of bawdy, footnoted asides. But not as good as the first book, sadly. I think that's because the first book didn't need to answer the questions. The final book kind of needs to, and those answers are too convoluted, and only hold together if I didn't think too hard about them. Still fun, so it gets a bunch of stars.
Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that …
After Davi becomes Dark Lord, she leaves her horde in the hands of Mari and heads to the Kingdom to see if she can broker a peace between the wilders and humans. Humans in power don't really want peace though. And neither do most of the wilders Davi has left behind. And behind all of it is the question as to why she kept being reborn whenever she died, with the same mission to save humans every time.
A fun plot and the characters are still fun. Wexler intersperses the story with lots of bawdy, footnoted asides. But not as good as the first book, sadly. I think that's because the first book didn't need to answer the questions. The final book kind of needs to, and those answers are too convoluted, and only hold together if I didn't think too hard about them. Still fun, so it gets a …
After Davi becomes Dark Lord, she leaves her horde in the hands of Mari and heads to the Kingdom to see if she can broker a peace between the wilders and humans. Humans in power don't really want peace though. And neither do most of the wilders Davi has left behind. And behind all of it is the question as to why she kept being reborn whenever she died, with the same mission to save humans every time.
A fun plot and the characters are still fun. Wexler intersperses the story with lots of bawdy, footnoted asides. But not as good as the first book, sadly. I think that's because the first book didn't need to answer the questions. The final book kind of needs to, and those answers are too convoluted, and only hold together if I didn't think too hard about them. Still fun, so it gets a bunch of stars.
To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history …
Halfway through, and so far it's argument by anecdote. Also, so far it's just a litany of what's wrong, with little in the way of policy recommendations beyond "do more of the things you want" and "pick some goals, not all goals" and "judge by outcomes, not process". Well, tell us which goals you think we should have! Much like I think people who think we should cut budgets should recommend cutting specific programs.
Cannery Row is a novel by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1945. It is …
Steinbeck's prose is so amazingly well-crafted. It's interesting without being flowery.
Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that …
Wexler is quickly becoming one of my go-to authors.
To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history …
Has a pretty good criticism of degrowth (winning elections on degrowth policies such as vegetarianism isn't likely to happen), but then transitions into a description of an energy techno-utopia that is also significantly hard to win on politically. Massive subsidies for green energy are also a pretty hard sell. Maybe they'll get to that part shortly though.
To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history …
This is a book that should validate a lot of my priors, so I'm going to be extra critical. So far, my two criticisms don't necessarily impact the overall thrust of the book, but the lack of rigor bothers me.
In a few paragraphs on zoning, there's only one sentence on the racist origins and long running practice of zoning.
The authors extol the benefits of cities (something I agree with) by noting how many companies are forcing people back to the office. What the text doesn't note, however, is how little evidence there is for the effectiveness of those return-to-office mandates. I personally think there's huge benefits to working together in an office, and there's evidence for lots of in-office benefits. But I haven't seen anything that specifically validates that the benefits of return-to-office outweigh the costs.
Cannery Row is a novel by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1945. It is …
Took the train to LA through Salinas earlier this month. Looking out the window I thought I should get around to reading Cannery Row. I may have read this back in the days when I didn't keep quite as good track of my reading.
Reluctant hitman Henry Thompson has fallen on hard times. His grip on life is disintegrating, …
Hank Thompson owed money to a Russian mobster, but couldn't pay. The mobster has Hank's face changed with cosmetic surgery and uses him as someone to break legs or kill. But Hank needs more and more drugs to get through it and is still not able to do the job properly.
I didn't think I would like this one very much. Hank as a reluctant but effective hit man? That's sorta what the ending to book 2 promised. If that didn't come about, I didn't think I wanted a rehash of the previous two stories where Hank goes on the run for extended chapters, barely able to get through each encounter with a bad guy and there are so many bad guys. There's a little of that, but it doesn't drag on. Huston must've figured that would be tiresome.
If you've read the previous Henry Thompson books, you know how …
Hank Thompson owed money to a Russian mobster, but couldn't pay. The mobster has Hank's face changed with cosmetic surgery and uses him as someone to break legs or kill. But Hank needs more and more drugs to get through it and is still not able to do the job properly.
I didn't think I would like this one very much. Hank as a reluctant but effective hit man? That's sorta what the ending to book 2 promised. If that didn't come about, I didn't think I wanted a rehash of the previous two stories where Hank goes on the run for extended chapters, barely able to get through each encounter with a bad guy and there are so many bad guys. There's a little of that, but it doesn't drag on. Huston must've figured that would be tiresome.
If you've read the previous Henry Thompson books, you know how this will end. But it got there in a satisfying manner, and none of it wore out its welcome for me.
To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history …
Going to see what the hype and criticism is all about.
The telex is brief and to the point: One active-duty personnel found shot to death …
Joe Reacher interrupts the drive of a promising officer in War Plans. When she stops her car, Joe Reacher executes her.
Jack Reacher is briefly assigned a post where he has to oversee the investigation of who killed the officer. Something is fishy when the local cops nab a recluse with no military background and claim it's a robbery gone wrong.
Will he ever figure out it was his brother? Yes. Yes he will because he's Reacher. He's a pure distillation of competence porn.
An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime …
Interesting memoir from paleobotanist Hope Jahren. She intersperses short chapters on plant life with vignettes from her life and career. Interesting because she clearly imparts a love for science as well as relates the shittiness of being a scientist. Other than when she identified the minerals that make up opal as the same mineral used by a tree to create nearly impervious seeds, Jahren does not dwell on the actual scientific process she's pursuing. It's mostly the tedium of creating things needed for experiments, the unfortunate discarding of specimens she tried to smuggle out of Ireland from an impromptu collection, and similar tales from being a scientist. I got a great sense of what her life as a scientist is like, but very few details of the actual science. I'm not sure how I feel about that, as I wasn't quite prepared for it. Extremely well written.
With Trouble in Queenstown, Delia Pitts introduces private investigator Vandy Myrick in a powerful mystery …
Evander Myrick is the daughter of revered Queenstown police officer Evander Myrick, now a resident in a memory care facility. She's a former police officer herself, now starting a private investigations business. She's hired to find out if the wife of the mayor's nephew is cheating on him. She's wants the job because the mayor's connections will get her business for years to come. Just as she's about to report that nothing much is happening, the wife is murdered and the nephew has killed the murderer.
The villains are mustache-twirlers. They are also intent on monologuing their crimes to Evander. She is intent on not fucking recording them when they monologue. Or even investigating. Of course, neither are the police. So the big baddy is going to get away with it!
But then, the Lex Luthor of Queenstown inexplicably decides to make a run for it even though they are …
Evander Myrick is the daughter of revered Queenstown police officer Evander Myrick, now a resident in a memory care facility. She's a former police officer herself, now starting a private investigations business. She's hired to find out if the wife of the mayor's nephew is cheating on him. She's wants the job because the mayor's connections will get her business for years to come. Just as she's about to report that nothing much is happening, the wife is murdered and the nephew has killed the murderer.
The villains are mustache-twirlers. They are also intent on monologuing their crimes to Evander. She is intent on not fucking recording them when they monologue. Or even investigating. Of course, neither are the police. So the big baddy is going to get away with it!
But then, the Lex Luthor of Queenstown inexplicably decides to make a run for it even though they are winning. Thus sealing their guilt. OK, they're leaving town and getting away. But then... they turn around and come back, also for no reason except the author needs to have a big confrontation with the big bad guy.
But then, right after that her father (yes, he's there for the confrontation) remembers her name for the only time in the book. This is the emotional piece that Evander needed to feel complete, despite that never really being part of the emotional chasm that is our main character. Lots of other stuff is melodramatically and emotionally wrong with her at strange times, and usually when a side character that Evander has no reason to unload on, is present.
The plot is only coherent as a series of movie scenes where nothing lines up between them. I have no idea why this got a featured blurb in the Washington Post. This is not for readers. It's for someone who wants B-movie scenes in a book.
The Semaphore Society imagines a world where people who cannot communicate easily with "normal" (for want of a better word) people due to such maladies as lock-in syndrome find an online community where they communicate with each other through drawing. Good premise. Uninteresting plot.
Slippery Slope imagines a universe where body parts can be replaced & upgraded and sees how this plays out on a school playground where a bully can beat up another kid and steal their tongue (for instance). It ends with some overwrought hand-wringing from a bullied kid who turns the tables.
Good Numbers explores the concept that employed people might be expected to be good at their jobs and have "good numbers". Yes, capitalism expects people to be productive for the benefit of others. This doesn't have anything particularly interesting to say about it.