This book was definitely a mindfuck. Docking a star because the sex scenes were super cringey (the dude has possessive vibes, sort of reminiscent of Edward from Twilight or the main guy in Fifty Shades which I guess is what people want).
Especially when Lowen tries to get pregnant, like you barely know the guy and his comatose wife is in the house! Please stop!
However it all redeems itself by the end.
I didn't see that twist coming! What I don't get is that Jeremy knew about the manuscript from the beginning, but had to go and re-read it when Lowen gave it to him. Feels a bit random.In a way the book gave me Rebecca vibes. New wife lives in house, feels haunted by old wife.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
Jo, a woman doing birds nest research in rural America meets girl who claims to be an alien sent down to witness 5 “miracles” before she returns home to her planet. She ends up co-parenting this child with neighbour Gabe, as they debate whether they should hand over the child to police.
Jo and Gabe both have a lot of backstory (illnesses, a tragic past) but it's presented to the reader through the two characters basically word vomiting this out to each other. I felt like the author was trying to give flavor to these two characters but it didn't quite land right.
Jo and Gabe's romance feels very rushed, and Jo comes across as very pushy towards Gabe and it's like she just magically cures him of his mental illnesses.Also it's actually quite creepy how Jo and Ursa are so obsessively attached at the end. Jo kinda goes nuts, surely that sort of erratic behaviour wouldn't make a good candidate for foster parent? That problem isn't really addressed and it all ends happily every after. I will admit I actually thought the girl was an alien until it was revealed at the end that she was not. Looking back, how can a 9 yr old pull off the deception that well??
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
A good Austen novel, but the real question is, is it better than Pride and Prejudice? I'm probably very biased having watched at least two movie adaptations of the P&P, but I'd probably say no. I do like that the main character is 27 (basically decrepit by Regency era standards). The build-up of romance is vaguely there throughout the book but some of it is implied as happening in the past, while with P&P you get to read through it all, so I think that's why I like it better.
Krakauer's probably best known for his book “Into the Wild”. I'd also recently read his book about Mormonism. However I had no idea he had first-hand experience climbing Mt Everest, in which multiple people on his expedition team died.
This was a very tragic (and fairly short) book surrounding the extreme dangers of attempting to climb Everest. Climbers spend time acclimatizing at camps, but even by this point they've lost a lot of weight and have other debilitating illnesses - and yet even through these struggles, fhey still go on to attempt the summit.
In the end the biggest danger is not knowing your own limits. It's not so hard to make it up the top of the mountain, but if you've used up all your energy, or you've spent most of the daylight hours trying to get up there, making it safely back down can become impossible.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
This book didn't feel very romantic!
Elinor, the older sister, was in love with Edward, who turned out to be engaged to someone else the entire time.
Marianne, the younger, falls in love with Willoughby, who decides to get engaged and married to someone else who has a lot more money instead.
Also there's Colonel Brandon - he's madly in love with Marianne, but she's not interested because she's still in love with Willoughby and he's nearly double her age.
Elinor and the Colonel are quite friendly to each other though.
Then at the last minute, it's revealed that Edward can marry Elinor, and they do.
The Colonel and Marianne also get married, although their developing romance all happens in the last 20 pages of the book as all the loose ends are wrapped up.
To me it was disappointing because there didn't really seem to be any build-up of romance, like there was in Pride and Prejudice. If anything, the fact that Elinor and the Colonel got on so well made me think that those two should have gotten together.
I don't know if I want to go as far as giving this book 3 stars, though! Some of the characters are quite funny to read (like the gossipy Mrs Jennings, and the sisters' stingy brother John who gives in to whatever his wife suggests).
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
Having also read Michelle Obama's recent memoir, I'm going to have to say I enjoyed her's more. She spoke from the heart and was a bit more personal. Barack's was a bit more of a play-by-play of his interactions with leaders across the world, and the work that goes into his policies (war in the middle east, affordable care act). Of course that was still interesting to hear about, though!
A solid fantasy book. Story follows the queen and her handmaiden (secretly a trained killer) in the west where dragons are hated, and a girl aspiring to become a dragon rider in the east, where dragons are revered.
I'm a big fan of dragons but unfortunately the dragons in this book are more in the background when compared to the people (who are all well-written). It's also interesting (and nice) to see that society is fairly egalitarian, where queens are fit to rule on their own, and firstborn children are the heirs to their family regardless of gender.
The first half was quite boring, I was considering giving up on the book but it did get better in the second half.
I enjoyed the plot in the second half, as the Kira's powers and alien heritage are revealed and there's a little bit of politics sprinkled between the different alien races / alliances, etc. However I'm getting a bit tired of reading about yet another sassy/witty/reckless main character with a dark past.
I'll give props that the although there is the potential of a romance (with an overbearing dude that wont take no for an answer but that's ok because he's super attractive) Kira is staying away from it because she knows it's a bad idea. I took a look at the second book's reviews and it looks like the romance ends up progressing though, so bleh.
3.5 stars - enjoyable to read, but not enjoyable enough to read the second book, or to recommend it to anyone else.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
Not sure I'm starting off 2021 on the right foot by reading some alien abduction / romance with a fair bit of smut but yolo
There was a bit too much cringey “omg I love u” when the two barely know each other and the main character can be a bit of a quirky tryhard at times and wow they're stupid for bringing a dog along to the tournament (as much as I love dogs you can leave it at home alone, geez!) But it was still an entertaining read and it made me laugh at least a few times.
Not sure how I feel about this one. The protagonist ends the book by committing a genocide which yeah she eventually feels guilty for but what even???? I guess it's written decently. You get some romance vibes from two dudes and one is dead so I guess she has one option left. That guy bullied her and tried to kill her on more than one occasion so I dunno how reasonable it seems that they're suddenly buddies
After reading 4 Sarah J Maas books in a row, this felt a lot less stupid to read in comparison. Of course there's the whole “this guy is bullying me but secretly deep down it's because he had a crush on me” trope but I'mma roll with it. Jude makes dumb mistakes (like Lockey or whatever his name was) which you can see coming, but hey, she's still young and she realises the error of her ways in the end. Hoping to see some growth in her spy skills into the next books.
Vaguely reminds me of New Moon where Bella switches from Edward to Jacob. I actually found it kind of hilarious how the first book hypes up the romance so much and then BAM she gets with another dude lmao. The author goes straight to painting the original romantic lead as a villain and it felt very one dimensional, like it completely removed him from the equation. Feel like it could've been more spicy if both the dudes were still options.
It's kinda cool to go back and read the scenes with Rhys from the first book and you're like ohhh.
Also the main character literally has like 3 male friends and her sisters are getting with 2 of them??? Feels a bit too forced, not everyone has to be in a romance.
I still enjoyed it tho? Not sure I want to give it 4 stars, maybe 3.5.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
The book wasn't horrific (I finished reading it!), but I've definitely read better sci-fi. 3.5 stars.
I was a huge fan of the Eragon books as a kid so I was interested to see what Paolini had come up with next.
In Eragon, the dude bonds with a dragon (which makes him OP and very unique), runs into some elves and dwarves, and then has to save the world from evil.
Switch genders, replace dragon with magic spacesuit, and have aliens instead of fantasy characters and it's the same sort of thing.
Things I didn't like:
* I love sci-fi because it feels realistic - like humans are going to get there in 100 or 500 years. Unfortunately I didn't really get those vibes from this book. It felt a bit too fantastical. In a way the suit the main character obtains just feels like magic powers that help propel the plot by getting her out of sticky situations
* The above-mentioned suit makes the main character seem like an invincible Mary Sue who can get out of any situation. She suddenly gets strong like halfway through the book and turns into a killing machine
* Her main personality trait is that she's a xenobiologist. Paolini loves to bring up every two seconds how she's so interested in studying the foreign environment around her but can't stop because she's saving the world
* Main character's original boyfriend's only purpose is to die immediately and then she spends the rest of the book thinking about him. Felt very shallow. You could also see the second romance coming from a mile away, and it felt pretty cringe, like he was the only option on board and she just went with it
* There was a character very similar to Angela from Eragon (the eccentric / mysterious cat lady) who I think was originally based off of Paolini's sister. I guess it's supposed to be a nice nod to previous fans but it did feel out of place and overall unnecessary to the plot.
* So much travelling back and forth between locations. Honestly the characters spend sooo much time on the ship, it really doesn't help to bring out that sci-fi feel i.e. exploring different societies and cultures in depth (we do get to see a bit of it among the aliens but I would've loved to see more, even among the humans)
I will admit the one thing I didn't see coming was how she suddenly turned into Mother Earth at the end of the book, which conveniently does away with the second cringey romance which was nice. Again though it's kind of just making the character super OP (like she just builds a space station out of magic basically) and doesn't really feel sci-fi.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
Short story anthology. I really loved Ted's other book of short stories so I decided to give this one a read. These contain his earlier works (from the 90s) as well as the short story that inspired the acclaimed sci-fi movie Arrival.
I think he's definitely improved in his storytelling over time, so some of his earlier work is boring in comparison (one was very mathy and about how 1+1=2, another where a guy became a super genius and then it was just explaining how he was outwitting the government, felt kind of dry).
The movie Arrival I enjoyed more than the actual short story as well, it had more of an emotional impact but definitely big kudos for inspiring such an awesome movie.
The last couple were the best. Like one where all of humankind technically already “exists” in an unborn state, because if you zoomed in on sperm close enough, you could see the sperm for its children, and so on (sounds stupid but I think it's partially based on what people used to think). Also one where angels literally walk the earth and people chase them around like storm seekers chase after tornados, often with dangerous consequences.
I'll give this one a 4 overall since it does have some good stories.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
A fun read, I devoured it in one sitting. Not sure I'm super keen on the ending though.
It's really good if you don't think about it too hard. But Addie and Henry didn't really have anything in common other than the fact that there was literally no one else they could be in relationships with. But Addie is happy to give that away (and Henry seems fine with it also) and seems fine with being with the devil for the next however many years. I dunno, it feels like it shouldn't have been a happy ending.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
As the author rightly points out, most productivity books are written by men. It's good to see this book tackle things from a slightly different perspective - a woman who's trying to balance both her career ambitions as well as raising a family and running a household.
Vanderkam reasons that in order to have enough time to do the things we need, we should outsource the things we aren't good at, like household chores. Since people spend so much money on cars, etc., what's a little bit more money spend on outsourcing your laundry, etc.? Not sure I completely agree with this concept, or that outsourcing is as cheap as the author claims it is (maybe that's because I don't live in America).
Standout point for me was the author's mention of “flow” states and how a study was done that shows that people who spend more time in flow (focused on challenging yet doable work) are happier. Heard of being in a state of “flow” before but didn't know that it actually makes you happier (but that makes sense). Going to go research that more.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
The main character has a year of rest and relaxation - by bingeing on pills that let her sleep for days at a time, only waking up to eat and watch TV.
Looking at the reviews, it seems like this book is one you either love or hate, depending on whether you have sympathy for the main character or not. She's kind of a terrible person but at the same time I enjoyed her as a character. I'm not about to binge on pills but I can sort of relate - sometimes I just want to play videos games alone all day and not have to think about doing anything else (definitely not for an entire year though!).
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
As someone who has only read one of King's books (the one on JFK's assassination) and is currently not aspiring to be a fiction author, I don't think I was the target reader for this book.
Some of the writing tips from King:
* Read a lot (King reads 70 - 80 books a year) especially in the genre that you want to write in
* Write a lot. King was submitting short stories from a young age.
Note that for both of the above points, the author doesn't consider them to be “chores” but finds them genuinely enjoyable (i.e. don't become a fiction author if you don't love every minute of it).
* Have a set schedule - King spends each morning writing until he is finished
* Write in a room with the door. The room should be free of distractions, and you shouldn't leave the room until you've reached your goal e.g. 1000 words.
* The second draft should be 10% shorter than the first draft.
* Have an “ideal reader” in mind when writing. King uses his wife.
* Steer clear of adverbs and try and use mainly “he said, she said” in dialogue. The context should be what's getting your point across and thus making the additional adverbs/ different verbs redundant.
* Use active voice, not a passive voice, because it sounds better.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
A detailed look into the history of Scientology. Honestly scary how much they can get away with without the US government being able to do anything. E.g. all the stalking they do to try and get people who leave to come back, or how they abuse their followers (technically willingly, but cmon they're basically brainwashed).
I've given it a 5 since it was very detailed and well researched, however it isn't quite as gripping to read as something like a book on Jonestown for example (which is morbid to say) so it's probably more like a 4.5.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.
I found this didn't grip me as much as Bad Blood did (the book about Theranos, another dodgy startup with a charismatic founder). Probably because the stakes were lower and they actually did have a real product (albeit one that's not really profitable).
At the end, Neumann walks away with hundreds of millions of dollars and WeWork still exists as a company so it doesn't quite have that satisfying feeling of justice either!
Nonetheless it was still an entertaining read.
The Checklist Manifesto may look like yet another self-help or productivity book. But I found it to be a well-written book on the power of the humble checklist.
Its author, Atul Gawande, is a surgeon who has helped to create a checklist now used by hospitals worldwide. When hospitals began using the checklist, they reduced deaths and major complications during surgery by more than 30% (wow!)
The checklist itself is simple, only covering the most important steps during a surgery. Think things like confirming a patient's identity, or making sure they've received antibiotics. These key steps might _seem_ trivial, but on average, one of these steps was missed in two thirds of surgery patients.
In the book, Gawande also takes the time to explore how other industries use checklists, for flying planes, building skyscrapers or running investment firms. Altogether, he made a pretty compelling case for the power of checklists.
The 3 steps to implementing a successful checklist
1. Keep the checklists usable. In a high-stakes situation like surgery or flying an airplane, you want to keep your checklists brief and to the point. Only cover the most important tasks. If you miss these tasks, they could cause major or fatal consequences. This also ensures that people will actually _use_ the checklist and follow all the steps.
2. Have the checklists broken down into subsections, to occur before key trigger points. In a surgery, that might be right before you give a patient anaesthesia, or the moment before the first incision. Breaking it down makes it less overwhelming, and a trigger makes it easier to remember when to do a checklist.
3. Test the checklist, and refine it. A checklist is never going to be right on the first go. Through many iterations, you’ll be able to amend the bits that are confusing, or add and remove sections as needed.
How developers can use checklists
The book proves that checklists work in medicine and other industries, but what about for developers? A developer’s checklist could include things like:
* Writing test notes before a task, or talking through your approach with the stakeholder or another developer. This way, you can make sure that all your assumptions are correct.
* Making sure all tests pass before raising a pull request.
* Showing your work to another developer before letting the code hit production, to double-check for bugs.
It might seem silly to have such a checklist, but the idea here is to keep the tasks simple. If you miss them (and let’s face it, sometimes we do) they could have big consequences. Misunderstanding a requirement from a stakeholder could force you to rewrite part of your code. And if you shipped a bug to production you could have some angry customers on your hands.
Conclusion
The Checklist Manifesto was a fun read, with lots of interesting examples of how different industries are using checklists. Among the many productivity books I've read over the years, this one is up there! I can definitely see the value this could add to my own life - I just need to figure out what these checklists could look like.
Originally posted at www.emgoto.com.