Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Is 53% done with

This book is amazing. I listened to it after listening to Dickens's Christmas Carol (which was excellent) and the first two books in the Bartimaeus Trilogy (which are enjoyable). This was like the perfect mix. The imagination of Stroud with the writing skill of Dickens. It also reminds one of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Brilliant. I will certainly pick up an illustrated copy and read it in the years to come.

Read full review

4 months ago

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Is 47% done with

This book is amazing. I listened to it after listening to Dickens's Christmas Carol (which was excellent) and the first two books in the Bartimaeus Trilogy (which are enjoyable). This was like the perfect mix. The imagination of Stroud with the writing skill of Dickens. It also reminds one of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Brilliant. I will certainly pick up an illustrated copy and read it in the years to come.

Read full review

4 months ago

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Is 44% done with

This book is amazing. I listened to it after listening to Dickens's Christmas Carol (which was excellent) and the first two books in the Bartimaeus Trilogy (which are enjoyable). This was like the perfect mix. The imagination of Stroud with the writing skill of Dickens. It also reminds one of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Brilliant. I will certainly pick up an illustrated copy and read it in the years to come.

Read full review

4 months ago

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Is 39% done with

This book is amazing. I listened to it after listening to Dickens's Christmas Carol (which was excellent) and the first two books in the Bartimaeus Trilogy (which are enjoyable). This was like the perfect mix. The imagination of Stroud with the writing skill of Dickens. It also reminds one of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Brilliant. I will certainly pick up an illustrated copy and read it in the years to come.

Read full review

4 months ago

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Is 26% done with

This book is amazing. I listened to it after listening to Dickens's Christmas Carol (which was excellent) and the first two books in the Bartimaeus Trilogy (which are enjoyable). This was like the perfect mix. The imagination of Stroud with the writing skill of Dickens. It also reminds one of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Brilliant. I will certainly pick up an illustrated copy and read it in the years to come.

Read full review

4 months ago

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Is 20% done with

This book is amazing. I listened to it after listening to Dickens's Christmas Carol (which was excellent) and the first two books in the Bartimaeus Trilogy (which are enjoyable). This was like the perfect mix. The imagination of Stroud with the writing skill of Dickens. It also reminds one of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Brilliant. I will certainly pick up an illustrated copy and read it in the years to come.

Read full review

4 months ago

Orbital

Wrote a review for

Like the novelization of a David Attenborough film on the planet. Gorgeous meditation on the fragility of the planet, and of people. Lovely. Audio was great, but I can see myself picking up the text and reading again much closer in the future.

Read full review

4 months ago

A People's History of Computing in the United States

Wrote a review for

Joy Lisi Rankin focuses on computing in the schools of the Northeastern USA in the 1960s and 1970s, arguing that PLATO has an important place in US computing history, especially as an alternative narrative to the standard ARPANET → Silicon Valley → Apple and Microsoft history. The PLATO story shows technological advancement and community building before even the ARPANET. Since it was shared infra run by schools and state agencies, PLATO network participants were "citizens" and not "consumers". The book is tightly focused on a specific geographic area, but there are some good gems including the “users’ bill of rights” which was developed my the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium to guarantee governance and service standards to reassure stakeholders. But it isn't all positive: Rankin also highlights the high degree of sexism in the community. This book isn't quite on the level of The Dream Machine, but if you are interested in early computing history, and branches that could have lead to a different present, it is a pretty quick and worthwhile read.

(Don't forget to check my Reading Journal for chapter notes)

Read full review

4 months ago

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Is 15% done with

This book is amazing. I listened to it after listening to Dickens's Christmas Carol (which was excellent) and the first two books in the Bartimaeus Trilogy (which are enjoyable). This was like the perfect mix. The imagination of Stroud with the writing skill of Dickens. It also reminds one of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Brilliant. I will certainly pick up an illustrated copy and read it in the years to come.

Read full review

4 months ago