The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry. Would have been a good graphic novel — evil albino twins, gene-engineered monsters (scorpion-dogs!), Nazis, a plot to end the world. Just a so-so…
Author: john
Collapse of an Empire by Yegor Gaidar. Good look at the unraveling of the USSR, it’s inherent fragility, and the human costs of the unraveling. Recommended by my Russian friends.…
The Blizzard by Vladimir Sorokin. A book about a terrible storm written by a Russian author? I expected some serious gloom, but this story was trippy and strange. Memorable but…
Kent State by Derf Backderf. The Kent State shootings stand tall in my memory, but I don’t think I ever knew all the details of the events. This is an…
An American Sickness by Elisabeth Rosenthal. An anecdote-driven walk through the dysfunctional health care industry. Some enraging anecdotes, and some useful how-to’s at the end. Would have liked even more…
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. This didn’t really float my boat, I suspect the difficulty of translating from Chinese is significant, it is not just the straight translation but…
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. Pretty damning. If you still somehow believe that America is the perfect embodiment of the “shining city upon a hill”, this book will but that notion…
Expanding beyond books! Euphoria is an explosive series. High school like I never experienced, kids struggling with big issues, and I was rooting for them all and blown away by…
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips. I have read 0 books set in Kamchatka, an interesting look into the lives of isolated and distressed women on the peninsula. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour…
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry. Another great novel by Barry, two men’s lives explored over the course of an evening, great characters and dialog. Story by Robert McKee.…
The Price of Time by TIm Tigner. What a crappy suspense story. Poor characters, poor plot, just bad. I don’t know why I stuck with it, I am embarrassed. Transitions…
Upheaval by Jared Diamond. Not as breakthrough as his earlier work, but an engaging look at crises and how nations react to them. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on Finland…
The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson. Fun story about automatons who have been hiding within human society for eons, and their struggle to understand their own morality and purpose.…
wow, no thank you. by Samantha Irby. The title is exactly the reaction I had, couldn’t finish. Just didn’t relate to anything in here, I may not be the target…
Cleaning up the bookshelf during the pandemic — a little eclectic. What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still Be a Christian by Martin Thielen. I was raised Presbyterian but…
Cleaning up the bookshelves while we are shut in… Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance. If you like Burrough’s Mars books, then you will like this. I read the Burroughs…
Range by David Epstein. Strong argument that creativity, invention, excellence are driven by breadth of knowledge, not depth. Important to read, learn, use tools outside your focus area. Lost in…
Narconomics by Tom Wainwright. They may be criminals, but they have all the same economics and behaviours of commercial enterprises. Good insight into why attempting to eradicate narcotics at the…
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. A woman murders her husband and is found insane, and a therapist digs in to get the truth. Very twisty and fun. Underground Airlines…