Zow Ormazabal

I listen to the Deep Life podcast every week, so I had been waiting for this book for long (I even requested it for my local library here in Taipei). I feel grateful for all the advice Cal and his co-host constantly share, as it has helped me to be more successful in my PhD and job, without compromising my life (and sleep!) quality. Yet, this book is just a dumbed-down regurgitation of what the podcast has been covering for years. I am not stating that it is all bad, but that it's nothing new, which was also the problem with his previous book “A world without email”.
I think Cal's advice is immensely valuable, but I'd recommend his podcast or “Deep Work” instead of this book.

I have mixed feelings about this collection. Except for an abrupt and anticlimactic ending, the first story about the bodybuilder is excellent. However, among the rest, only an Exotic Marriage and Fitting Room caught my eye. The rest are absolutely forgetable. Nevertheless, I liked the author's ingenious premises, so I will check her other stories.

As an ex (and sometimes current) swimmer, I loved the part of the book about competitions, training, and small insider details like having a friend help you to put on a competition suit. On the other hand, the protagonist's name bothered me all through the book. Seriously, what kind of Chinese speaking mother would name their child 人魚? Sounds like one of those clueless tattoos that people get in non-Chinese speaking countries. Secondly, Ren's personality was quite unbearable. She was incredibly selfish, ungrateful. and rude. If the book wasn't about swimming, and didn't have such an amazing supporting character like Cathy (sweetest girl ever), I would have left it unfinished.
Overall, great read, except for the brat of the main character.

Me agarró desde los primeros capítulos. El ritmo acelerado hacía que me leyera ansiosamente, comiéndome las uñas por miedo de que le pasara algo malo a la protagonista. Los personajes son cautivantes y es inevitable empatizar con ellos. Me encantaron los detalles históricos e idiomáticos de las escenas en ruso. Aunque debo admitir que uno de mis aspectos favoritos fue el Chile alternativo-perro-faldero-de-China y las descripciones de su dictador y su burocracia asociada.

The start of the book and the depictions of a swimmer's routine and train of thought is absolutely sublime. It's such a pity that the book loses its rhythm and power during the second half.

Reading this book felt like a receiving a warm hug from a million kilometres away. It truly lightened my days by allowing me to escape to the lands of Haven, holding the hands of its amazing characters, and joining them on their quests. I'll be eagerly waiting for the English version, so I can share it with my wife and friends!

I learnt about this book because of Rich Roll's and Lex Friedman's interviews with the author. The podcast's gave me great expectations about the book. But, sadly, page after page I was presented baseless claims about topics the author doesn't dominate at all.
The main message is “procrastination is bad”, as if that was some kind of divine revelation. But the whole book feels as “Dunning-Kruger, the extended version”

While the author had interesting points about the pressure to transition reinforcing ideas of what a real/proper man or woman should be and provided cases in which transition was provided as a treatment for other pathologies, he loses total credibility when he starts claiming (out of nowhere) things like “Men can't form friendships when women are present” and that men and women can't be friends.

I have a ritual of reading Ctrlcreep's fragments everyday on his Twitter. They provide me a glimpse to the future, to mystical scenarios populated by magical cybercreatures. Every one of his sentences is carefully crafted and perfected. As a result, his microfiction and short stories have “no-fat”, every word is necessary and meaningful, there is no extra repetition or words that don't add to the plot or the “form” of the text.
I just finished Fragnemt and I'm already eager to read anything else Ctrlcreep puts out, I bet even his grocery list is beautifully writen.

In only a few pages the author manages to tell us about everyday situations in which we or other people can change or adapt in order to live a happier and peaceful life. The stories feel natural, as if a friend was speaking directly to our hearts and giving us his advice in a cafe or a similar situation.
Even if self help books are not your cup of tea, this book serves also as a compilation of slice of life short stories if you enjoy that genre as well.

The essays about Daoism, Epicureanism, and Existentialism are great, both in writing style and content. But the book suffers by being a collection of writings by various authors, as the quality of them is highly unequal.

I've read Fragments a great number of times, in several languages, but I never get tired of it. Every time I revisit it for one quote, I end up reading the whole book again.

Manne introduces interesting concepts like “himpathy” and provides useful examples of how women are punished more than men when they act in morally reprehensible ways. Nevertheless, the book spends an excessive number of pages discussing the 2016 US Election and explaining why Hillary didn't win. As a non-american this was extremely annoying, as at times it felt like an “Ode to Hillary”. I almost gave it 2 stars because of all the discussion of how “Hillary lost because of misogyny”, while at least to me Hillary displayed misogynistic attitudes as well.