Tagged: book review

Mind Reader

Mind Reader: Unlocking the Power of Your Mind to Get What You Want by Lior Suchard, 2/5

This book is pointless B.S. that somehow manages to be very entertaining.

F My Life World Tour

F My Life World Tour: Life’s Crappiest Moments from Around the Globe by Maxime Valette, Guillaume Passaglia and Didier Geudj, 3/5

Basically just like the website, but with more adult content (I thought).  I think that the community-contributed nature of the content suits the website more than the book format.

Because Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw a Cover With Your Left Hand

Because Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw a Cover With Your Left Hand: A Pearls Before Swine Collection by Stephan, Pastis, 2/5

The Introduction was funnier than all the cartoons combined.  Too much of the humour consisted of self-referential jokes about the jokes themselves.  Also, there were too many “tributes” to other cartoonists and their creations.  This is the kind of humor that is great in small doses from a very original, talented creator.  Otherwise, it just seems a little derivative and desperate.

The Confession

The Confession by John Grisham, 2/5

This novel is a political page-turner that examines the death penalty, criminal procedure and race relations, but it is written in a lurid, non-fiction style that comes across preachy and manipulative.  I would much rather read a thought-provoking, intellectually honest, true account instead of one where the author uses fictional scenarios to push real-world political agendas.

The Gulag Archipelago

The Gulag Archipelago: 1918 – 1956 by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, authorized abridgement with a new introduction by Edward E. Ericson, Jr., 4/5

Only post-apocalyptic fantasy novels could come close to the otherworldly horror that Solzhenitsyn writes about.  This is the kind of work that inspires both thankfulness and watchfulness in the reader – there is something chilling but deeply relatable about the outrageous, disbelieving silence that surrounded the ongoing atrocity of the Russian prison camps.  Despite the language barrier, grim subject matter and frequent use of sarcasm, the whole work is suffused with gentleness, humanity, depth and insight, the product of a spirit made beautiful through the tempering of much suffering.  I feel the need to read the complete, 3-volume work, since the abridgment felt awkward and cut out an extremely impactful section that I remembered from a previous encounter with a different version of the book, leading me to wonder what else has been sacrificed to the short attention span of the Westerner.

The Apollo Adventure

The Apollo Adventure: The Making of the Apollo Space Program and the Movie Apollo 13 by Jeffrey Kluger, 3/5

I expected this book to focus on the Apollo 13 incident and the making of the movie, so I was disappointed that Kluger spent most of it discussing less interesting (though undeniably historical) Apollo missions.  There was an absolute minimum of entertaining anecdotes sprinkled throughout, and hardly any insightful  info about the making of the movie.  I felt that, in an honest attempt to avoid retreading ground already covered in his book Apollo 13, Kluger stoops to using filler material and milking the franchise.

Mogworld

Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw, 5/5

A hilarious and well-crafted story, but somewhat tiresome in its unrelenting hatred and mockery of organized religion (though I must admit, I did chuckle at Croshaw taking the piss out of SDAism with his “Seventh Day Advent Hedge Devolutionists”).  Overall, the tone reminded me a lot of Terry Pratchett’s writing, but was more adult, less satirical and with fewer funny bits.  Nonetheless, I am looking forward to reading Croshaw’s next novel, Jam.

The Art of Raising a Puppy

The Art of Raising a Puppy by The Monks of New Skete, 3/5

Perhaps I’m just a bit jaded from reading two other puppy books, but I felt this one could have been a little more practical and a little less touchy-feely

For the Love of Physics

For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time – A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics by Walter Lewin, 5/5

This is a simple and delightful presentation of a variety of basic physics concepts.  I think every field of study needs a Walter Lewin – someone brilliant, positive and passionate, who is equally skilled both in his own field and as a teacher.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, 4/5

A witty and charming read.