john holst

This one was not as fun a read as the first book. Maybe I enjoyed the sense of Discovery and learning about Odd. This one seemed to be a weird middle chapter or a brief holding pattern while Odd dealt with the issues of the first book.

I have high hopes for the rest of the series!

This book is incredibly interesting. As a forewarning the beginning and ends of this book do address the current administration but the majority of this book is looking at other democracies and how they failed or continue to thrive. It was interesting to see that even democracies that literally copied our constitution, government, courts and politics have fallen into authoritarianism and demagoguery. We are not unique in that our democracy is unique but in that our “soft guardrails” remained mostly intact for so long, until recently.

One of the things they found that eventually led to most failed democracies was their guardrails stopped working. Guardrails being:
Mutual toleration: The idea that all political rivals treat each other with civility and worthy of the positions. Not criminals or anti-patriots.
Institutional forbearance: The idea that those in power do not use the full power of their position to inhibit rivals from coming to power or pass legislation. They do not tilt the playing field unfairly in their favor. Basically, playing political hard-ball.

The book talks about reasons that these soft guardrails are failing, most notably the polarization of the parties, the enfranchising of diverse minority groups, declining middle-class and income inequality.

I would say this is an averagely enjoyable read for me. I found it hard to get through mostly because of the inundation of species names. I enjoyed the topic and when I could get on a roll I could cover a chapter in a sitting but this book took a long time to get through. If you are not at least slightly interested in the topic I would say it is a bit too much for a casual read through.

Fun topic though and I now can't help but look at things differently.

I cannot recall a series or individual book that had more imagination and wonder in it. I could not put these books down. I cannot recommend them enough.

This definitely felt like a dark middle chapter of a trilogy. There were long stretches where I knew there was a plan but I couldn't decipher what it was. It kept me hooked until the end where I was surprised. I like this book but not on the same level as the first book.

I enjoyed this book. I've heard the Freakobomics episode where they talk to, I believe, Harold. I've listened to that episode multiple times and have since implimented many of the index card suggestions. reading this book was just getting detail in a picture I already had but it was interesting none the less.

Holy crap.

That was an extremely good read. I cannot even begin to describe how much of a ride that was. There was a bit there at the beginning that started slow but I think it ramps up quickly and doesn't let that tension go for a second.

The hard science here, to a layperson, seems so believable that it really sells the premise. I don't want to go into too many details but, please read this book if you enjoy science fiction.

It's really weird reading this book more than a decade later and having so much of it still be relevant. I have never read anything by a politician but I saw it at the library and thought to give it a shot. It is reminiscent of most of the things I've heard Obama talk about. I think what got me thinking about him again was seeing him on the Netflix show with David Letterman. Seeing him and reading him in today's political climate made such a stark contrast.

I would highly recommend giving it a read.

I don't know what it is about the world Pierce Brown has created here but it is very compelling. I don't have much of a background in the original greek/roman-esque culture The Society apes off of but it is written in such a character driven and impactful way that I look past my own ignorance at the “et”, “au”, “el”, “dominus's”.

It's such a fun, fleshed out universe. I'm sure the subtly is there for the people who understand that original culture its taking inspiration from. I can't recommend these books enough if you have a love of sci-fi or space drama.

Its hard to rate this book. I enjoyed the story. The characters were kind of bland, stock noir archetypes. I enjoyed the setting. The future jargon was a bit too far, I was still trying to decipher it by the end of the book. Because of the pace and the high bar set by the future jargon I wasn't reading this as fast as I normally do despite enjoying the book after I stopped reading it.

It is a conundrum. I gave this book 3 stars but really its like 3.7 stars. I will probably read another book set in this universe. I can only imagine it gets easier to parse and becomes more of a ride and less of a puzzle.

I listen to the podcast every week but haven't read one of their books yet. This was the first one and maybe I should have read the first two first.

This book was a very enjoyable read. It was a little bit on the nose and sensational. I almost completely got the point that was trying to be made just by the book jacket description though. There are good lessons about where we could end up in here but they are hammered home to the Nth degree.
I don't think 3/5 is a bad rating and would recommend this book but I felt it was just an extreme cautionary tale about how we could end up causing a Second Civil War if we continue down the path.

Andy Weir does it again. The Martian was great and Artemis looks to follow it. There are themes that are similar between his two books (ie; in space and a character using accurate science to get out of jams) but largely they are pretty different. The moon colony idea feels really thought out and cohesive. The thought and detail put into Weir's universes has become one of the defining characteristics of his writing. Basically, if you enjoyed The Martian you will enjoy Artemis.

I am not normally a reader of non-fiction let alone historical near-biographical non-fiction. Having said that, this was an extremely interesting book written about the Wright brothers. It was recommended to me by a coworker who knew nothing about my reading habits but he talked it up so much that I had to give it a try and I was not disappointed.
Reading about the early 1900s really puts into perspective the differences in attitudes and the differences in how we react to new inventions; new technologies. Its easy to become jaded and apathetic about the insane things that come out these days. Reading about the excitement and wonder of watching a plane fly really puts those things into perspective.

It seems John Green can't not write an extremely engrossing book. The look inside the mind of a young girl with a mental disorder made me feel fascinated, saddened and encouraged. It was no Fault In Our Stars for me personally but this book was powerful in its own way and I can see how for people with an interest in this specific topic could say this is the best John Green has done.

I will always come back to Old Man's War. John Scalzi has proven that he can build an interesting universe and keep me hooked consistently from book to book.

This book in particular satisfied an arc over the couple books. I can't wait to see what other stories he can write in this universe.

This was a good continuation of the Old Man's War series. it's not easy to talk about this book with out spoiling it but suffice it to say the universe Scalzi builds in this series is incredibly detailed and unique. as I catch up to the current novel I find my self forcing my self to slow down so the wait between books isn't so long.

I enjoyed this continuation/prequel/sequel to [b:The Girl with All the Gifts 17235026 The Girl with All the Gifts (The Hungry Plague, #1) M.R. Carey https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403033579s/17235026.jpg 23753235]. It filled in gaps and back story from the original novel and provided closure on the story in general.

This was an exceptionally good read. it was dense but never obtuse. The concepts we're easy to grasp and the vocabulary was never indecipherable. The author brought up some good ideas that keep you thinking well after you put it down

I don't consider 3 stars a bad review. The universe created was wholly interesting and I think I will continue to read books set here but this book was a bit slow and like getting closer to the speed of light it got longer and longer toward the end of the book. Some scenes it would rush through and then the last 3rd of the book took place with hours of exposition being painstakingly described from 4 different perspectives.

This book was very fascinating. It was interesting to read about such a cool collaboration between these two researchers. So many things Danny and Amos researched feel like such a no brainer now, even though there's still a lot of ways for their findings to disrupt industries these days.

So far Michael Lewis' books have really shined a light on very interesting subjects.

I enjoyed this book, the world it created was bleak and unforgiving and it didn't shy away from that. I thought it was going to be another zombie book but it definetly carved its own space in the genre.

This was another great start to a John Scalizi universe. I love Old Man's War and the world built around those characters and I can sense that The Interdependency is going to be another hit. If you loved any of John Scalizi's books this one is going to be right up your alley.

I think it was good. I liked the end. Its very difficult to talk about it without spoiling it.

Chris Hadfield is an exceptionally personable and relatable for an astronaut. This book was a goodread and the advice and insight into the mind of such a successful and beloved space advocate was really worthwhile. I highly recommend this book and his youtube channel.