Category: Books

Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, Book 2) is another solid fantasy book… just very long. All three stories overlap by the middle (a huge plus), and the world changes dramatically by the end. But couldn’t face book 3– not up for 1200 more pages yet.

Matt Yglesais One Billion Americans was a good, relatively fast read. The premise is assumed (that American’s aren’t willing to slide in importance), but it does align with our rhetoric. Given the goal, it’s a lot of well marshaled facts and interesting anecdotes. It pivots in part 3 somewhat unsuccessfully to the specifics of local governance and land use. It’s presented as a continuation of the previous theme, but I’d have rather had the extra attention paid to finishing the federal element–that’s plenty hard.

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold (4/5). This was a much better book to get into Cordelia’s story and the universe. Interesting worlds at both ends (Beta and Barrayar), with the complicated drawbacks of societies.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (5/5). A wonderful exploration of Teixcalaan through Malit’s eyes. A straightforward ambassadorial post gets loaded up with intrigue and shifting alliances, plus delightful tech.

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear (4/5). As claimed, it’s big idea fiction — about a future built around incredible self-governance and struggles about autonomy. Haimey is delightfully complex, with layers and layers of revelation. And universe altering stakes.

A Murder of Mages by Marshall Ryan Maresca (3/5). Well written and a great enlightenment-ish low fantasy w/ great POV characters. Minox Welling’s precision, logic and annoyances are deftly drawn, while Satrine faces impossible choices and performs exceptionally.

Dune by Frank Herbert. (3/5) I vaguely remembered it as okay, but I’d also read it in late high school or college and thought I’d appreciate it more now. Interesting worldbuilding and pretty good characters.

The Nickle Boys by Colin Whitehead (5/5). A truly moving book, with a few great subtle touches. Incredible characterization; a few nights I couldn’t read it because I spent the previous night raging at injustice instead of sleeping.

Let’s Play (webcomic by Mongie). A sweet, interestingly drafted romance comic. Very slice of life among the soap opera set. Very enjoyable; I binged the backlog in week.

Open Borders: The science and ethics of immigration by Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith. (4/5) A nicely drawn, interesting look at the arguments for and against more — or even radically more– immigration. Some of it seems like “spherical chickens”, but the arguments are clear and worked through well.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons (4/5). A reread; it’s been quite a while since I read it last. This first book details a series of very interesting characters; it’s told mostly in flashback frames, with a bit of forward action before and after each character’s story.

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (4/5). The plot moves forward, building on the momentum imparted by the Consul’s tale that ended the previous book. The viewpoint expands further out, beyond our cast questing for the Time Tombs.

Ghettoside – A true story of murder in America by Jill Levoy. (5/5) A well written and compelling look at some detectives and some cases, including pursuit of one case from its dry beginnings. Interesting and complicated; the state monopoly on violence is critical.

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer. Interesting, both broad strokes and specifics. Great as a first book to orient on the period; focused on daily life at various classes. Great specifics. Inn cost 75% food, sleep 25% (4/5)

The Man in High Castle by Phillip K Dick. (3/5) An interesting “allies lose WWII” set a generation later, when the new patterns are well established. Compelling characters resigned to the world as it stands; the insanity of triumphal Germany chills.

The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty. I checked this out before we watched the segment of Taste the Nation about the gullah geechee that featured him. Well written & charmingly rambling — but it goes long on the genes/ancestry angle, which I have an aversion to. Genealogy was Dad’s thing, but too much of it was “names on a chart”, not stories or a reason to care. Without context, I don’t care about even my own ancestors… so the bulk of this book stirred up the same annoyance.

Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (5/5). A fascinating story set within slavery; full of horrors and so many respites that prove false or temporary. Ahistorical in parts, but intentionally– Cora (our main viewpoint character) is dynamic and inspiring.

(Not including the October Daye books that are together in their own series post.)

The Making of a Justice by Justice John Paul Stevens. (4/5) As I feared, I’m now old enough to enjoy biographies. 😉 More importantly, this is very well paced, blazing through a Great Depression youth, a sketch of WWII and early career, then insight into big cases.

The Return by Hisham Matar. (4/5) Well written and compelling; it has some interesting parallels to JPS’s book that childhood wealth is a barely noticed backdrop. Learning through conversation with family in Libya was a great way to learn alongside Hisham.

The time traveler’s guide to medieval England : a handbook for visitors to the fourteenth century by Ian Mortimer. A really interesting book, in both broad strokes and specifics. I’d happily suggest it as a first book to orient on the period; it’s focused on daily life at the various levels of society. Some really good specifics — like when staying in an inn, about 75% of the cost was for the food, with the bed only the remaining quarter. (4/5)