Matt Inman

When I saw this book won the Pulitzer prize, I'll admit my expectations weren't high, having read several “ok” Pulitzer books already. But Doerr's book surprised me, weaving in a beautiful story while exploring the world through multiple different characters. All the while, telling a tale of a book lost to the annuals of time which events open each chapter.
The book turns out to be a mystery with a solution that needs to be experienced. The book's multiple time jumps help move the story along and add to its wonder. If I had read this book earlier in the year, it would have been five stars, but 2021 has taken its toll on many of us, and it left me hopefully but with a few ounces of sadness.
All in all a great book, and one I would recommend.

Overall a really good book, the writer does an excellent job with characters and descriptions. The story left me wanting a little bit more at the end.

Not as fun or exciting as the first book. It was ok; not sure if I will continue the series if they continue to be this mediocre.

This is one of those books that you are either going to like or you're going to read a page each night to put you to sleep. Pinker delves into some heavy thinking, and if you aren't up for following his logic, it will be dry and boring. But if you attempt to follow along, you may learn something about logic and reasoning.

I'm always leary of books that win major awards, and you can't get much bigger than the noble prize in literature. True to form, the book disappointed me, the story, the characters, the setting. It has all been done before. The only bright spot, if you can call it bright, was the ending.

A very short book, it was just ok. It didn't wow me, but wasn't terrible either.

The writing and characters were very well done. But the story wasn't for me. I heard the author speak on NPR and thought I would enjoy the book. It was ok, not my normal reading material.

A good book on AI and our place within it. The author discusses his experience with technology and cautions our use of AI in the future without oversite.

An excellent book on the history of AI, starting in the early days and progressing up through 2019. The author does a fantastic job explaining the key players throughout the time and weaves a compelling story of why AI can be the best and worst technology we have developed. The book doesn't get into the weeds of the technology but gives just enough information that anyone can follow along with the narrative.

Pines, at its heart, is a retelling of the zombie apocalypse tale. Crouch does it in a more indirect way and with a tale within tale storytelling. I'm not a huge fan of that genre, so when the reveal came of what the book was, it was a letdown to me. I haven't decided if I will continue the series or not. Crouch's other books are some of my favorites so that I may move on to another of his works.

The book was good, a bit outdated in technology, but the characters and their reactions to the aftermath of a nuclear war were interesting.

A very interesting book. When I read it the first time in 2004 I had no frame of reference for the Disney parks. Now that I'm very familiar with them and their workings it was much easier to visualize the settings of the story. Which included The Haunted Mansion and The Hall of Presidents. With the utilidors thrown in for good measure. He mentions the Polynesian and the Contemporary as well. While I didn't enjoy the book as much as I did the first time. Mostly because the audiobook was homemade. It did lend a certain authenticity to the story. He wasn't the best reader, with many mistakes and corrections, a few paper shuffling, and some poor voice acting. But it passed the time and as I said lent itself to some visualization that I'd missed the first time around.

I felt a little disappointed at the ending. I can only assume that he is setting up for the 3rd book which will tie up all the loss ends. The writing in these books is good, his descriptions and scene setup are marvelous and his use of metaphor adds to the story. Great character development and dialogue as well. I just felt the ending was a bit rushed.

This book like, many of his others, was just ok. I like his story ideas quite a bit. However, he tends to fall short in the execution of dialogue and character development. His dialogue is very repetitive and unimaginative at times. With characters speaking in ways no real person would. But the stories are entertaining and keep you interested. I'm not sure if I will read another book by him again, though.

I forgot I was reading this book, that is how memorable it was. Since I hadn't picked it up in weeks I'm bailing on it. So many things were wrong with it I couldn't get past the pettiness of the antagonist.

Cal Newport always writes a book that makes me think. He makes me take notice of how I live my life and question if that is what I truly want to be doing. With this book, he looks at how much we use social media in our day. Then he goes on to explain why that is bad and how it has fundamentally changed our younger generations. He offers some advice on what you can do to limit SM and to replace it with high-quality leisure activity. Overall a book that lets you consider maybe these companies aren't working with our best interest at heart. And maybe it's time we take control of the content they present to us, to limit its impact in our lives.

Sorry, Mr. Burton, I couldn't finish your book. The writing was good, but there was too much of it. He overuses description, adding back story that should have been flushed out in dialogue. It took me out of the story. After a while, I couldn't buy into what was going on and had to stop reading. It would have made a great learning experience for his next book, but alas, that never happened.

One of the best books I've read in a while. She does an amazing job of explaining why some people are more driven than others. She also gives tips to parents on how to build grit and resilience in kids. She has data to back up her claims and her stories are interesting and motivating for people.

The book didn't draw me in, in fact, it did the opposite and turned me away. The story just didn't gel with me, I tried to get into it, but after 25% of the book I gave up.

I really enjoy how Becky pulls real-world diversity and racism into her books, disguises them in plain sight with her alien characters. Then address them with dignity and respect for people(aliens). Her subtle undertones, make the characters real and engaging. Since deep down we know what she is referencing and we can relate.

This is a short book and can be read in one sitting. Chambers again writes great characters who need to work together for the common good. She adds in a bit of drama that provides us hope that we humans can solve some of our problems and make a go of space.

I'm becoming a big fan of Becky Chambers. Not so much because her stories are completing, which they are, but because her characters are very well written. For me, space is just a backdrop for spinning a tale about people trying to survive in alien worlds. They are about the different races coming together to live and learn from each other. Reading between the lines it's parallel to our society.

Chambers is one of my favorite “real” person SciFi writers. She makes writing seem so easy and simple. This story focused on a few people aboard a ship orbiting a planet. Nothing dramatic happens, but her description of life on the ship is interesting and pleasant to read. It was an escape from typical alien invades-type science fiction.

Very good expose to the inner workings of the grocery industry. I would highly recommend this book if you really want to know the who, why, and how that we get food into our homes.

The book was well written and the story pulled from many tropes in Sci-fi. But was enjoyable overall. The edge of the universe concept was interesting and gave a sences of dread to the story. I look forward to reading the follow up.