Claudia Shannon

Did not finish. Not worth my time.

Interesting take on humanity.

This item was not worth my time...

Another historical object of intrigue. Language has changed rapidly these years. Books can't catch up...!

It's a bit dated, so it may still have value as an object of historical intrigue (exercise-wise). This book is no longer in wide circulation — but you won't know why unless you actually procure a copy.

This book is sobering, especially in light of global crises. It's also brimming with confidence regarding data-intensive computing for all fields. Not sure if caution should rather be exercised.

I liked Becky Chambers' “Crysalis” best.

I thought I picked up a book meant for someone else until I realised the lessons in it apply to all. Serendipity.

It appears that all the criticism raised against affirming the headship of men is because the questioner(s) confused men lording over women intimidatingly with God's original design of gentleness, respect and empowerment, and because the outworking of God's design was sinful in much of history, people deemed God's original design evil...

Just because the plan went awry doesn't mean the plan was evil in the first place! We've ruined it by trying to take matters, including that of correctly understanding and applying God's word, into our hands.

This is an evil narrator. Perfect voice for the 21st century version of C. S. Lewis's “Screwtape Letters”.

Indie authors, please don't split entire stories into separate parts. I'd rather have the entire story rolled up in one book, or nothing at all. You lost me.

I was imagining Joseph Millson (who voiced Eric Blair/George Orwell in the four-part The Real George Orwell radio drama on BBC Radio 4) speaking Eric Blair's words. Eric Blair made some great observations, but the call to action is weak...

The dialogue makes this book worth reading.

This is the least scientific book I've read in a long time. It perpetuates the left/right brain myth, makes pseudoscientific claims, makes illogical arguments (splitting “persona” into “per sona” without a evidence-based reason and then claiming that because of such a split, a person's personality “persona” is made of their “per” voice “sona”!) and IT HAS NO CITATIONS even though it drops names of experts and inserts lots of fancy quotes from literature. I found it among the pre-loved books in my university and I'm glad to shred it today.

This is a terrifying and at times realistically disorienting (which is a good thing in fiction, not so much in real life) narrative of having a secret life as a computer hacker. It explores the myriad ways everything can go wrong. The greatest thrill in thrillers is not a single decision that dooms the characters we identify with, but a lifetime of decisions leading one to the apparent end of a rainbow which turns out to be down a rabbit hole — a phenomenon mirrored all too often by the true events of the times, events with which we don't want to scare our children but we do anyway. Tom Chatfield's “This is Gomorrah” illustrates one such lifetime. Especially in the 21st century and beyond, with technological advancements and challenges, we must be careful who we become when nobody seems to be watching, because our secrets define our destiny.

29 minutes before finishing the book:

>> Been reading “Jane Eyre” (yes, the classic) and am horrified by the character of St. John Rivers. (Please don't condemn me for my choice of literature. I love reading and it pains me that people would assume I'm in the wrong for the literary choices I sometimes make.)

I found it to have a slightly slow start, because there were more chapters than I expected at the beginning leading up to the story proper. However the narrative was gripping and every page gave me new surprises. (I nearly put down the book when I picked it up from my e-reader and read that a character whom I know was dead wasn't, but it turned out the e-reader hadn't registered the last page I was on, hence the error.) It's actually a fun read when you imagine the characters speaking in the British accent (“cor blimey” anybody?) which I'm afflicted with due to my obsession this year with BBC programmes. A long read, but an enjoyable one.

This is the first novel I've read in the Western genre, so I had high expectations. The characterisations of the “good” characters were satisfactory, and the plot has a twist which initially appeared surprising, but, in hindsight, I daresay I saw it coming – it wasn't as thickly veiled as I'd expected.

But the issue that disappointed me the most was that I couldn't empathise with the antagonist. Without giving out any spoilers, I couldn't identify strongly enough with the motivation behind his greed, as it was sketched scantily. Also, paradoxically, he seems both extremely cunning and outrageously complacent in that he almost always gets his way, yet only does so with the same horrifying mindset throughout...

Unexpectedly good book from Bookshout.com.

YA fiction writers must not miss this book; this book contains a section that happens to also explain the history behind adolescent rebellion and the modern zeitgeist of inclusive diversity. There aren't many academic references or citations in this book, and the few explicit ones are inline in the narrative, and some of the predictions about the future (this book was written in the 1960's) turn out to be wrong, such as on Turkey's prospects and the unification of Germany, but overall this tome is sorely not to be missed.

The overall plot would have been more intriguing had the prose been less boring!

I listened to this as an audiobook, and it can kick you into taking action in your life. It's not the most rigorous treatise on living your best life, but if you need to get unstuck, listening to this audiobook is a great start. Read lightly.

For myself and mentees.

Bookshout free book. Might be helpful in writing historical sci-fi.

Had the villain died because of our heroes' decisions, the ending would have been more satisfying.