Pratik
This was a disappointing read. I was a big fan of his "The Psychology of Money" which had some genuine insights on how you think about money. This book felt like an addendum to that book or rather a book that should've been a blog post. The advice is sound and sensible but there was much repitition with plenty of quotes by famous men sprinkled in.
Disappointing compared to All the Sinners Bleed. Although the premise held much promise and the characters dropped a lot of truth bombs, this was more of a macho action thriller than a deeper understanding of fathers and their evolution of hate toward their sons' sexual orientation. The women characters were mostly side characters in this testosterone-filled muscle bash. It was a predictable, melodramatic (filmi) ending that left much to be desired.
Haunting, sad, and full of yearning. We live in a world that's beset with woes of climate change and we're not prepared for how it will affect living beings who didn't cause it and suffer the consequences for just existing. In between this worldly issues is a dad who tried getting away from it all by bringing his family to a desolate part of the world in hopes that it would shield them from grief. But grief finds everyone.
Contains spoilers
I'm conflicted about this one. Louise Penny's writing remains impressive at creating the right mood and vibe for cozy mysteries, but starting with 'All the Devils Are Here', the plots get grander. I understand that it may be difficult to have enough murders in a tiny village and not come across as being the murder capital of Canada, if not Quebec. But going from someone with a mysterious past who died in a remote cabin to world domination plots in which Gamache is now hobnobbing with world leaders (spoiler?) seems more far-fetched than the plot of 'The Black Wolf'. Set as an immediate sequel to 'The Grey Wolf', the action (see, this is what separates her earlier work from recent plots) continues unabated. These last two books have been set up as action thrillers rather than cozy mysteries in which Three Pines features only as a place where characters return to contemplate, ponder, and host dinners with prisoners from Supermax. Isabel and Jean-Guy are less than supporting roles in these books, as they simply dance to Armand's directions, and only in the end does one of them get pissed at being reduced to caricatures of their former selves. We're told they are impressive police officers only through the words of other characters and not by their actions.
The plot, which seemed far-fetched, may not seem so when it was written, because the world changed so rapidly in 2025 ("There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"). But that's the world we live in, and I'm sure many an action-thriller author may be frustrated at being cheated out of their livelihood. Penny has collaborated with Hillary Clinton to also write an action thriller, but we don't read Penny for the action. I hope she gets back to her roots and perhaps finds another tiny village that she can propel to the murder capital status.
Gory and action-packed. The book is steeped in an alterative fantasy Europe with hints of its own sordid history of Crusades and barbarians. Abercrombie picks a few characters from his First Law trilogy and gives them a new quest. More than the plot, it's the characters journey and the relationships they build amongst themselves through witty and insightful conversations. Some of the chapters are simply two-way conversations between Vigga and Alex, Alex and Sunny, Brother Diaz and Vigga, Balthazar and everyone else. One conversation is simply enroute to the river to fetch water but is memorable. Baptise and Jakob are the warriors but in each battle; someone else steps up to save the day. I'm sure Abercrombie was pitching his book for a very gory but entertaining movie.
A quintessential read for Indians. In her inimitable prose, Arundhati Roy lays bare the Indian government's (BJP and Congress) authoritarian tendencies and exposes the sham that democracy is as practiced in India. Her seminal works include essays on the Narmada Sagar dam, her year spent with the Maoist rebels, the occupation of Kashmir, and her exposé of Gandhi's views on caste and his differences with Ambedkar. You may live outside India and detest her while claiming to love India, but she at least lives in India while fighting the good fight. Jailed and threatened with lawsuits and physical violence, she continues to voice her dissent. Her prose is crisp, clear, and evocative. She is a citizen that most countries should yearn for.
PS. If I had to quibble, I wish the publishers could've chosen an Indian to narrate the audiobook. The text is replete with Indian names and terms, which the narrator mangles. If they wanted to appeal to a global audience, they could've chosen an Indian-origin with an American accent who could also get the Indian pronunciations right. There are plenty of us.
I don't watch reality shows, but this book, based on one, reads like one. Consumerism, late-stage capitalism, and the need to escape your own reality are center stage in this tale that tests the limits of being a better human. However, the ending is anticlimactic; otherwise, it would've been a solid 5.
A provocative but deliberative read by one of the professors I know at UT Austin. If you thought the nature-nurture debate was settled, be ready to re-engage because, like everything that life throws at you, it's not that simple. Even among idential twins that share the same DNA. The author is a lapsed Christian but knows enough about the Bible and her evangelical upbringing to hold forth on biblical interpretation (hence the title) and how it shapes our behavior as well.
Contains spoilers
Good intentions and says all the right things but a little too exposition-y. It ends a bit too perfectly. But the book is clearly written for a specific audience - white women who don't think they are racist. So for them, I say, this is required reading since it doesn't do any subtly and tells you what exactly you are thinking and why that may be wrong.
Erlick's second novel (for me) tackles grief more directly. Centered around three characters who are forced by circumstances to take a road trip to seek answers from the same destination. We learn more about the characters as they get closer and also through the other people they meet along the way. The first two-thirds were strong, so in comparison, I found the last third unsatisfying.
Gilbert covers a lot of ground exploring incidences of women exploitation in music, entertainment, reality TV, and the even porn. The more things get better, the worse things are for women. Even the ones with power aren’t spared. Some of the things mentioned in the book are truly revolting and disgusting.
There are a handful of great insights in this book but Gladwell overexplains them. This is the classic "could've been a blog post" book. Nevertheless, I "read" the audiobook which was produced like a radio feature piece or an American Life-style fancy podcast episode so it made listening a pleasure.
Although he talks about racial issues, he never outrightly mentions the impact of race and class on how that influences how people talk to strangers. Also, the influence of authority figures (cops, doctors, professors, etc.) is ignored. I enjoyed the historical anecdotes (Hitler-Chamberlain & Castro-CIA) and the coupling insight when applied to suicides.
What a disappointing read. Initially, it was meant to be a trilogy but now Yarros wants to make it five books coz reasons 🙄 I liked the first book and excused the passable second one as something she was using to set up the grand finale. But this ended up as another rambling and often frustrating over the same angst and fights between Violet and Xaden.
In fact, other characters also seemed to get tired of their own existence. Ridoc, one of the more likable characters in the book, offers the best review of the lead pair’s relationship:
“And it’s always the same fight.” He lifts his hand to his chest. “I’ll trust you if you stop keeping sckings!” He drops the hand and scowls. “It’s my secretive nature that attracted you, and why can’t you just stay out of harm’s way for five f*cking minutes?”
You couldn’t have reviewed it better. Sheesh!
