Jonas
This book does not really know what it wants to do.
The outset is clear: an organised mind in an age of information overload. What does it do: overload you with information in a ‘somewhat' organised manner. Well, that's awkward..
Most of the chapters felt like: “Watch out for this mindtrap, don't be stupid and do this thing,.. here's the reasons why.”
There are some nuggets in this, though I'd recommend seeking them elsewhere in books dedicated to the topic. If you do read it: skip chapters you don't like, some overstay their welcome.
Had some real creepy bits, the slow subtle scares which I love. Some inconsistencies to timings (shift from night to day) which happened randomly or I read over. The weather felt also like a gimmick for effect, one day everything is frozen over and stormy, the next night you can trod around without shoes? These pulled me out of the immersion.
I'm not a fan of where the story ended, I expected more resolution or more despair. This ended somewhere in between.
Took a while to really get going, but I really liked where it ended. I enjoyed the first and last 30%, the 40 in between felt slow.
The story had some real Game of Thrones moments and while some were predictable, they still were enjoyable.
The big number of characters combined with similar names (and sometimes characteristics) made some characters hard to track.
I have some high expectations for where this could go with 3 more books so I will continue this series immediately.
Some fun parts with the rules, but the main character is too perfect.. I had to struggle through the latter part. Tries to play the ‘honest' card a lot yet keeps sneaking out at night. Weird balance.
It reads easy, only not a fan of the quick context switching during some chapters (mixed omniscient viewpoint I think it was called). Most of the chapters feel focussed on one POV so it feels strange when it quite suddenly shifts to someone else's thoughts.
I will not continue this series.
Review mostly based on the chapters 11-25. I read the first 10 chapters some months ago, some were vague, but less problematic.
Some chapters are great: clear subtitles between relevant parts, good examples and the same types of numbers (percentages with percentages, first the most common disorder building down to the least common,...). Awesome.
Others are confusing: long texts with irrelevant titles or 4 types of subtitles only differentiated by font changes, mixing content from one part to another (prevalence in the treatment part, even when there's a separate space for prevalence), no to vague (sometimes even unrelated) examples, jumbling all types of numbers: percentage + 1/x + absolute numbers, the treatment chapter almost exclusively based on 1 disorder while the chapter covers 10... Wtf.
Between chapters there's also a lot of differences between information provided per title. For example ‘Diagnostiek' -> some chapters provide explicit names of tools used for each disorder, others provide an example of how it works with do's and dont's, which reads more like an opinion (Ch 25 is a great example). Feels like a different editor for each chapter uses their personal view on what they deem relevant. Very confusing to study this way.
I got the DSM-5-TR to get a clearer overview on the chapters I found lacking. Most of it is a straight copy from the DSM so it's almost weird they would mess up that structure. I would almost prefer to study directly from the DSM, almost.
OU-Psychology PB3102
I received an ARC through NetGalley, thanks again!
4.5 stars: This picks up where The Tainted Cup left us and removes the guard rails. We're transferred to a new location (and biome) struggling with their own issues. The Leviathans aren't the main concern here, but they do play a role. The main theme is more political and restricts the investigation in interesting ways.
A lot of new characters get introduced, yet Din & Ana remain centerstage & their bond grows a lot in this one. The Augurs were interesting and I don't remember if they were present in the first one (I don't think so) but I'm hoping we get even more. One specific dialogue was masterfully done here and will be stuck in my head for some time.
I liked the main plot, I picked up some things toward the mystery yet still could not guess the outcome. It feels good here because all clues are given, nothing is hidden behind a sudden revelation at the end, it's only put together right in front of you.
This murder mystery plot in a fantasy setting works wonders. RJB has a way to describe these scenes visually and, even more than the previous one, some were horrifying. I had some weird mixes of “Oh, that's cool” and “Fuck, how can you even imagine something like that?”. The first book was a more plant based, this one goes full organic, Lovecraftian in a lot of ways. Be warned.
What felt missing: more of one specific location. There's a lot of build up in the first part and I really liked the descriptions there, but I was hoping there would have been more.
Somehow the name “Malo” kept feeling like a male name (probably my lazy brain just switches to O to an E) so multiple times I lost my bearings as I went searching for the ‘she' in a scene.
The ending makes me excited for the third book and I'm hoping for even more than three books, this would fit the Sherlock format. I'd even like some shorter stories where they just come in and solve everything, no real progress in the main storyline just some cases. Can't wait for the next one.
Journey before destination.. This journey didn't feel worth it. I did not experience any of the moments I experienced in previous books, except for Adolin's arc. I had to push myself through most of the book.
Promises set in previous books seem to be forgotten, or written off for the next 15-20 years, which I cannot accept when you deliver a book with 1329 pages, especially with what's written instead.
The book hovered on 3 stars for me, but some scenes splintered that third star.
I don't like where Sanderson is taking the Cosmere, I noticed it with the ending of the second mistborn era, some of the short stories, and now with his centerpiece series. I hope when a new piece arrives in a few years, my own well will have refilled. If I had Stormlight 6 in front of me right now, I would not read it, I'd rather pick up Warbreaker or the first Mistborn era, or just another author.
Gamma read; Thanks again for the invite!
After all this time another story with Royce and Hadrian, this time set around the fortress of Drumindor, but even more around Tur Del Fur, the exotic location beside this dwarven contraption.
In comparison to the previous stories, both Revelations and Chronicles, this is way more laid back. Some chapters are more cosy fantasy. Of course, things escalate with this duo, shifting a lot of tension and also a lot of character growth. Some references to older jobs and characters were a bit hazy, but if these were important here, they got their own short reminder.
For me, there could have gotten even more dwarven involvement, I especially loved their later chapters. Would sign up immediately for a cozy fantasy in the Scram Scallie.
Sullivan seems to be strategically scattering some more nuggets for The Cycle. I'm curious to where all that will be heading.
Hard book, but filled to the brim with knowledge. Really glad this was included in the course. Most points in the book are made with clear & visual examples from other research. Sometimes confusing when outdated things are referenced, but it does build a full overview by doing this. The video lectures on youtube are a welcome addition to clarify some of the harder points.
I haven't done all chapters for my course, yet I will return for those later.
OU-Psychology PB0612
How it differs from the Expanse: science setting as a base, bigger scale, a further time skip, aliens are confirmed (and active) and more focus on culture.
How it's the same: close presence on the bleeding edge of the story, some characters feel overlapping (won't spoil who, but you'll know).
At moments it felt like there were too many ‘named' characters, for me they got easily mixed up in their shared ‘tasks'.
For someone who's never heard of the themes discussed, this could be a good starting point, it wasn't a match for me. I found this very repetitive of other books. It made my mind wander constantly (if that was the goal, that worked!). Most of the themes passed by without a lot of coherence and even now I have a hard time recalling exactly what I listened to for 7 hours. Not that the themes are bad, just not adding any new information. I was expecting/hoping something akin to [b:The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life 60151185 The Pathless Path Imagining a New Story For Work and Life Paul Millerd https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642482295l/60151185.SY75.jpg 94836043], it's not, but it's triggering me to reread that one.
There's a lot in here, but it could have been presented differently:
Chapter titles were a clear differentiation between themes, but the subtitles didn't have any coherent way of splitting everything in between.
Summaries felt randomly placed in between texts; in other books they are focus points, in this one I found them more confusing than the actual text.
Boldened words without explanations (hello margin?)
No real examples, only citations. This could liven it up a lot.
Which bothered me most was the unsure language found in a lot of chapters. Agreed, science isn't set in stone and things could change in years to come, but trying to remember things about which the author isn't sure either, is not a great strategy.
OU-Psychology PB0322
Clear structure, space in the margins to write in, to-the-point examples and the digital environment is built to enhance learning.
The contents of the book were also a surprise to me. I was expecting theoretic models, instead the themes were hands-on and I could find examples of most in my own life: cognitive dissonance, attitudes (and changes to them), conformism, group processes, altruism and frustration.
It felt like an interactive course, which is a welcome boost to learning.
OU-Psychology PB0012
Een hoop domme beslissingen van jongeren die leiden tot de dood van iemand. Triest verhaal..
Het zijn vooral de slimme beslissingen achteraf, van de mensen rondom, die me zorgen baren. Hoeveel mensen hebben hier een stuk van zichzelf ingeleverd om alles helpen toe te schroeven? Niet in te beelden.
Het boek is speciaal geschreven maar leest vlot, te vlot. De emoties van een gebroken man zijn op ieder blad terug te vinden.
Ik hoop vooral dat zij die hieraan geholpen hebben, hoe klein dan ook, dit boek lezen.
Different from Sanderson's other fantasy works: no swords, no fighting and no explosive magical powers, yet somehow one of the biggest scale of fantastical events in one work. Though guessing from the ending, it will remain limited to this work for a long time.
Two characters from extremely different worlds brought together and having to learn from each other. I expected the romance part would not work for me, but it felt more like a mystery just bringing them together. It could even carry the horror tag, not explicit scary horror but think about it..
The machine revelation toward the end made me instantly think about the Matrix. I never expected it to go this way when it started out with the painting of a nightmare as bamboo. It also felt like Sanderson taking a stand against current developments in AI and art: the machine going out of control, grabbing hold of art and churning out mediocre works flushed from past soul. What better way for him to take a stand than write a story about it.
I liked the idea and especially the beginning felt cool, but this effect wore off as I had to struggle through it just to finish it. At times the humor had me laugh out loud and other times I cringed, which is a weird offset from my my baseline. It has some mysteries going, yet I'm not sure this'll be worth the time.
I'll leave the series on hold for now and wait if I still want to find out more in a few months.
This feels like something I should have started using years ago.. which oddly enough I tried, since I started reading this for a day in 2021, though it didn't click back then. It sure did now. I started reading this digitally but when I came to the ‘read with a pen in your hand' part, I ordered a physical copy and restarted. I cannot recommend that way of reading enough, this will be a change for any book I'll be reading from here on out (and rereading a lot too).
About the Zettelkasten system itself: I am using the second brain structure and while I have some great notes in there and the system felt solid for years, these notes are all pretty dead: Written once, never looked at again ... and sadly enough: not absorbed. When I started I wanted to change that system to this one but it actually differs a lot, a shift in focus. I'll be going through my existing notes again to extract whatever is still in there and pull it into my new structured slipbox using Obsidian. The Zettelkasten system feels freeing and I especially like: one idea per note, literary notes, fleeting notes, to prioritise use over overview and especially the linking feels like it'll create some sparks in the long run.
It'll be quite a road to get everything in this system but one with a lot of potential.. And I won't be starting from a blank screen.
Weird experience: I liked a lot of the chapters separately (casino's, food evolution, stuff, monastery,..) but they didn't click together into a single solid theme for me.
The mix with personal experiences made it feel strange when the author is talking about a shared mindset all humans experience. Especially when you don't agree with all of it, this becomes more of a viewpoint than an actual mindset.
The different chapter length bothered me and this is something I haven't really stumbled upon in another book. I listened to this book, mostly car rides or chores at home, and with most books this makes for consistent progress; I always try to finish the chapter if possible. This one went a bit all over the place:
11 chapters in total with the 4 shortest at 15m, 19m, 21m, 30m; and the 4 longest at: 1h21, 1h14, 1h12 and 1h05.
I'd still read some single chapters again, but not the book as a whole. I will check out comfort crisis but not as an audiobook.
