Eva
A decent book that was easy to listen to. It's the story of a family, that is revealed in flashbacks after the oldest daughter ends up dead at the bottom of a lake. It's a cautionary tale for those parents who have too high ambitions for their children and those who think they know their children. It's the story of a family of introverts and outcasts who have a hard time fitting into their environment, but who also suffer from a lack of understanding and communication inside their home. All of them seem to be quietly suffering.
I can't give it more than 3 stars, because even though I quite enjoyed it, I never really started caring for the characters. It's like I looked at their lives through a filter. Even if the characters experienced raw outbursts of emotions, it felt subdued by the language.
The history of genetics in a dense, detailed yet fluidly told book interspersed with the author's personal family history of mental illness. The first part of the book is more engaging - probably because all the science is easier to understand - as we visit Darwin and his evolutionary theories and Mendel and his heredity experiments with pea plants. The middle part is rather science heavy, as there are less anecdotes but more techniques to explain. And here I am thankful for doing this in audiobook form. The last part focuses on the ethics and opens many questions about the future of genetics. As our scientific knowledge and skills will continue to improve, it's less a question of if a new form of eugenics will happen or not, but rather, when and how it will happen.
Algorithms are recipes and strategies, and whenever we have to make decisions in real life - influenced by a set of restrictions on time/money/space - we apply our own internal algorithms. Sometimes our techniques have grown from years of experience, sometimes we can explain their reasoning, sometimes we refer to it as a gut feeling. Mostly, impressively, there are not too far from how an optimised computer algorithm would solve the same problem. Algorithms to Live By goes through daily-life examples and explains the probabilities and math behind such decision-making problems. How to find a close-enough parking spot without wasting time circling the block. When to explore new restaurant options instead of returning to favorites. How the messiest desk of piles of paper actually resembles the most efficient last-in-last-out caching strategy. Some have magical numbers attached to them (stop exploring after 37% of your options and exploit the next best option), others are well-known principles (like ‘perfect' being the enemy of ‘good'). The book is a good companion to [b:How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking 18693884 How Not to Be Wrong The Power of Mathematical Thinking Jordan Ellenberg https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387726285s/18693884.jpg 26542434], as both try to coach us into understanding the mathematical parts of our lives a bit more.
Loved it! The Norwegian epic - written by Undset in 1920 and for which she received the Nobel price in 1928 - about the life of Kristin Lavransdatter, a kind and devout yet headstrong woman living in 14th century Norway. The 1100+ pages tell the saga of Kristin's life from early childhood to forbidden loves to marriage and motherhood to old age and up until her death. The thread running through is how our heroine and those surrounding her grapple with sin in a society that is deeply Christian and strict in its established morals and rule-sets.
The intertwining of Kristin's path with Erlend makes for the perfect epic romance, of two people who can't live with nor without each other. They are constantly battling and condemning each other, despite being eternally devoted to each other, yet in old age, when Kristin looks back at her life filled with joy and sorrow and also self-inflicted suffering, she wouldn't change a thing about it.
The book pulled me in immediately, as its storytelling has a magical gentleness to it, with its descriptions of nature and the simplicity of life, and its protagonists pleasure and joy in family and motherhood and small moments. It is a heavy volume, and it takes a while to get through it, but now that I finished, I almost wish I could begin again.
I disliked this the same way I disliked The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. There is something about this Latin American literature style - humorous, quickly-told tales of unlikable, over-confident characters, mostly told in 1st person - that just doesn't excite me. I was about to stop after the first third, but then enjoyed the middle part (the clowns, a tease of Gustavo realising he's maybe a bad person) just enough to stick with it. Thankfully the book is short.
Some of the experimental structure of the book gets lost when consumed in audiobook form.
The first section of this book made me think, oh hey another book about the acceleration of technology and what it does to society and economy. But then Friedman starts weaving this together with globalisation trends and mother nature's transformations, and we learn how climate change is a major cause in the upheaval of African and middle-eastern cultures, leading to migration and terrorism, which in turn shakes the political stability of the whole world. It's all connected, fewer people can cause events of bigger consequences, and everything is constantly in fast-forward mode, which our human minds and societies have a hard time adapting to. This is where most voices start to panic, but Friedman is an optimist, and he closes the book with the example of his home town St. Louis Park, whose history of the integration of Jews mid last century has helped create a prosperous diverse community build on civic engagement and trust. Today's world and culture seem to be build on fast solutions, “guilty before proven innocent” and how the powerless need to compromise while the powerful don't need to compromise. Friedman list a couple of examples and initiatives of how we should learn from nature's resilience, how the biggest change to bettering our world doesn't come from top-down, but from the bottom-up. We have to support the families, the schools, the community groups, because they are the ones who will ultimately bring forth a stronger people, educated, with support structures and civic pride. Michael Sandel is a childhood friend of Friedman's who also grew up in this neighborhood, and Sandel's philosophy is very present in those last chapters.
One thing to criticise would be, that the title of the book “Thank you for being late” is definitely a misnomer, because even though the book leads with a tale on “take a breather and reflect” it does not touch this subject at all.
Maggie Nelson tells a personal story that is provocative and gentle, revealing and poetic. In a beautiful prose she talks of her relationship, pregnancy, of gender fluidity, transforming bodies, families, birth and death. Her story is mixed with more academic thoughts and quotes about gender studies, identity, language. She jumps back and forth in time and topic, but the flow of her voice masterfully weaves everything together. I was missing context for some of the more academic stuff, but the frankness and poetic quality of all her personal stories pulled me in. Another pro: Nelson narrates the audiobook herself and her voice is beautiful and comforting and a joy to listen to.
The memoir about neurosurgeon in his mid-twenties who got diagnosed with lung cancer and spend his last year(s) writing this book. He tells the story of his life, his career path, his family .. how he deals with the diagnosis, the treatment and his subsequent decline. Who better to ruminate over life and death and meaning than a surgeon who deals daily with life and death situations. There is lots of talk about living life to the fullest, which is touching especially when his newly born daughter comes into play, but ultimately nothing new.
The story of two British girls during WWII, who are best friends, and end up getting separated while on a spy mission in France. I did not connect to the main characters, as it felt they were never fully fleshed out. Also, the narration style was irritating, the first part being a written-down diary that also served as a war confession, but mostly reads as a stream of thought. I was waiting for there to be a bigger reveal that would explain that character's style of writing, but I don't think we got one, besides her trying stretch time by gushing away? Btw 2 and 3 stars.
Decent biography of an egomaniac visionary (aren't they all?). Hearing all about Musk's projects is fascinating, especially since his drive comes from a quest for a better future (on earth or elsewhere). Hearing about how he runs his big companies as if they are fresh startups (when it comes to work hours, benefits, attitude) is first entertaining and then a bit scary and disappointing. On one hand he seems amazing at discovering talent, on the other hand he burns through that talent at an exhausting rate.
Some of the economical examples didn't quite hit home. As the text seems to praise Musk for pushing his engineers to develop products at half the price of off-the-shelf products, but then fails to consider the extra development time in the actual value equation. I imagine if you're building 1 of each for every rocket, your total count won't be high enough to make up for development time.
A devastating and heartbreaking story, brilliantly told, that I had to put down on occasions because it was so relentless and then couldn't stop reading at other times. The book simultaneously takes away your hope for humanity, while also providing you beautiful moments of friendship that make your heart swell. Absolutely don't read this when you are feeling low. It made me cry a lot of tears.
Another book I would never have finished had I not consumed it in audio. The life story of an orphan turned circus girl turned courtesan turned opera singer interlaced with seeming mysteries and a doomed love story. It could have been a grand opus - 19th century Paris, filled with emperors, palace intrigue, pretty dresses and multiple operas - but the protagonist never becomes real to me, she rather passively makes her way from one scene to another. The story of her beautiful voice being discovered gets told at least 3 times, in different settings, and feels like a repetition. And then at the end she succumbs martyr-like to the curse that's been looming over her.
It might be better than 2 stars, but I am mainly mad at myself for sticking with it until the end.
This is a gentle little book based on heavy material. Our protagonist is gentle, compassionate Lucy and the book focuses on her yearning for a loving relationship with her mother. While the two women spend time together, we learn that their relationship is very fraught, as we gets hints of Lucy's miserable childhood of poverty and occasional occurrences of abuse. Lucy's stories of growing up trash and the shame it brings and how it forever haunts you, are heartbreaking.
The book contemplates life and family, the inability to share emotions, human's tendency to feel superior to others, a passion for writing and how every author has 1 story, they retell again and again in different colors. I especially loved the scenes that included Lucy's author idol Sarah Payne, who in the literary circle is criticised for a “softness of compassion”, which functions well as a truth/fiction parallel for Lucy and/or Elizabeth Strout (I'd imagine).
A 19th century adventure story of a small group of American military venturing through Alaska along the harsh Wolverine River, in order to document terrain and locals. The story is told in the form of letters and diary entries, from the men, from the Colonel's young wife who stayed back at the barracks, and even an ancestor and historian in modern times. Novels told in the form of diaries and text clippings (an epistolary novel as wiki just taught me) is usually not something I enjoy, but all parts were equally engaging and the audiobook also took off the usual edge I assume.
The story finds a good way of weaving magical realism - shamans, shape-shifting, birthing kids from spruce trees - into the elementary themes of survival and adventure. I mostly enjoyed the women of the story: Sophie, the stay-at-home wife who rebelled from strict society by discovering her love and destiny for field photography, and Nat'aaggi - the mysterious Indian woman who accompanies the scouting party, where one can never tell if she is in their care of if they are in hers.
Botanist and geochemist (digging holes and analysing soil) Hope Jahren shares her life story of how she set out on her path to become a scientist, the many labs she built up over the path of her career, the demons she battled, and all the rush and the frustrations of discovery and hard work. The beautiful red thread through it all is her work partnership with Bill, the odd sidekick with whom she shares a love for nature, an unbreakable dedication to research and a great sense of deadbeat humour. The book is a wonderful mix of bizarre adventures and Jahren lays it all bare - the good, the bad, the painful. Absolutely recommend. I feel like i read a novel.
After humanity's near self-destruction on earth, an alien race swoops in to save the survivors. The Oankali are a species that is driven by life and procreation and the sharing and mixing of genetic material. They absorb other species by merging with them. Lilith is our protagonist in the first of the three novels in the series. By choosing life she reluctantly becomes the guide for other humans in uniting with the Oankali in their form of partnership, to gain the right to return to life on Earth. Part scifi-story, part mind-opener about different forms of sexuality and family, the series is super thought-provoking, as you're going from Lilith's mind to the mind of her human-Oankali construct child in the 2nd part. You see/feel both sides of the story, and mostly lose track of the terror of it, as you're lulled into the storytelling the same way the Ooloi slowly seduce and bind humans with their pheromones. What is the importance of consent, when our bodies are simply driven by chemicals and can be persuaded to enjoy/become everything? And when you zoom out, is humanity's hierarchical nature truly what drives it to self-destruction, have we never been meant to stick around for longer anyways?
Between 3 and 4 stars. The story of Cora, a slave's escape and journey across several states during the pre-civil-war era with the not metaphorical but literal underground railroad. I definitely enjoyed parts of this (especially the beginning and the end) and the occasional beautiful wordings, but the main character never really came to life, was lacking in personality development. Sometimes the narration jumped around, and that was disruptive. Either this book should have been double the length - become an opus featuring more adventures, more characters, more details - or should have had a tighter storyline more focused on the railroad. This and Homegoing have been dominating many of the best-of lists of 2016, and Homegoing - which deals with a similar subject matter - is miles better. This reads like a very negative review, though it shouldn't be. This book just doesn't seem to live up to it's potential and that's disappointing.
Exceedingly charming. The adventures of Count Alexander Rostov who is sentenced to life-long house arrest in the Hotel Metropol in Moscow. We get hints at the revolutions happening outside during early and mid 19th century Russia, while experiencing the count's life of culture and friendship and strange encounters inside the hotel. Beautiful language, and the charms of a character who can live life to his fullest even while restricted to a small space. I had some issues with the ending (forced insert of some action?) and it never felt like I was curious about what would happen next. Language was clearly superior to plot. Light but such delightful entertainment.
A family tree that divides in 18th century Ghana and reunites in the present day US. We follow the descendants of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, alternating through 7 generations, from colonialism and slavery, to warfare to the end of slavery to revolutions to racial segregation, filled with tragedies and pains, yet also stories of families and love and hope. Even though you have to get to know 14 different people, the stories feel connected. I have a hard time choosing between 4 or 5 stars.
