I've been on a big of a Sri Lankan binge (…3 novels, but that's 3 more than usual) recently, and Sashi's story of becoming a field medic in the middle of the civil war was my favourite of the three.
Brotherless Night is an excellent book that got my attention and broke my heart a few times, without just being sad. It's full of anger and love and hope and all these things th
I found out about this book through an article by The Guardian that copied an extract from it, and I'm planning on eventually posting my full reading notes here eventually.
The idea of « flat culture » really captivated me and I could recognize it easily, being used to international travel for work and seeing the same things everywhere wi
Review - Murder in the Basement, by Anthony Berkeley: really cleverly constructed, and actually pretty entertaining too. Not sure it's a 100% fair play mystery, but still entertaining. Rating: 4/5 ("really liked it").
🆕 blog! “Book Review: Relic - Alan Dean Foster”
★★★⯪☆
This is a decent slice of sci-fi. It's the sort of story that probably could have been written any time in the last 100 years. The sole survivor of the human race is picked up by friendly aliens and spends his life as a specimen of scientific and cultural curiosity. And then... events occur! It's […]
A VIRTUOSO RIFF ON AN AMERICAN classic: the inimitable Percival Everett retells the story of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective, transforming it from a familiar picaresque to a more complex adventure and a meditation on code-switching. A MINUS
Book Review: Bitter Waters by Vivian Shaw A barrow wight turns up with a recently turned 11 yr. vampire. Dr. Helsing and friends search for the attacker, and help the kid adjust.
My #bookreview is brief/won't spoil, to spread good, great, & spectacular #horror#books far & wide.
💙📚 You may presume you'll know the story that unfolds in I THINK I'M ALONE NOW, but you'll be wrong as hell. I read this novella in a single sitting: Ali Seay has written a thoroughly enjoyable, vivid, violent, deliciously dark chunk o' horror set in the 80's that's, like, totally rad. (Grindhouse Press)
@bookstodon Another really good graphic nonfiction book I've read recently, and recommend, is WE HEREBY REFUSE, regarding the Japanese-Americans forced into internment camps in WWII.
The story addresses a common victim-blaming response to the plight of others: "Why didn't they fight back?" It's almost always the wrong question, even though indeed, they did fight back. Victim-blaming is a pernicious permission structure, allowing us not to care about terrible events that happen to other people.
A FORMER CHILD INFLUENCER comes to terms with how the exploitation of her image changed her life. More than just a “problem novel,” this thoughtful book deftly takes on issues of family trauma, love, friendship, racial and national identity. A MINUS
Today's review! Ice + Alligators by Angel Martinez:
"Ink is having a bad day... Pickerel is perfectly happy in the swamp.... a delightful romp through the swamp with laugh-out-loud funny author Angel Martinez, a great lighthearted read perfect for summer vacation."
1/ There are great books about mathematicians and about physicists. There are some good biology books. But chemistry seems to get very little coverage, despite being so fascinating and central. Sharon Bertsch McGrayne's /Prometheans in the Lab/ sets that straight. #BookReview ↵
AAPIHeritageMonth is still going strong, and we're celebrating with This Is Not My Home by local authors Eugenia Yoh and Vivienne Chang.
This is a humorous and heartfelt story about moving from the US to Taiwan and finding that home is where the people we love are.
Learn more about what we do at #ChildrensBookProject. Check out the link in bio to Give Books, Get Books, Volunteer, and Donate, and see the review of this book and more on our website Reviews page!
Heather Burns has an absolutely deft way of turning the sometimes-dull world of digital privacy into entertaining, informative, and actionable prose. Too many of these sorts of books end up being a list of woes and end with "someone should do something, I guess?". Understanding Privacy is different. A…
Book cover for Understanding Privacy.Heather Burns has an absolutely deft way of turning the sometimes-dull world of digital privacy into entertaining, informative, and actionable prose.
Too many of these sorts of books end up being a list of woes and end with "someone should do something, I guess?". Understanding Privacy is different. All the way through the mantra is "You are someone! You do something! And here's how..."
Digital privacy is, I think it is fair to say, not a universally loved topic. Too often it is seen as shrill pedants lobbing fines at unsuspecting companies. The reality is somewhat more prosaic. This is a journey we all have to go on - wherever we work in the digital world.
It would be easy for this book to descend into just being a mega-long checklist. But, while there are a fair few lists, they are backed up with practical steps which can be taken by both people and companies. Some of them are wickedly witty:
Please use https://, because seeing http:// this late in the game is not the sort of ’90s flashback I enjoy.
I especially enjoyed the reframing of certain privacy mavens as "privacy ableists" - those who "criticise a person with a disability for owning an Alexa device, taking no regard for the benefit it has brought into the disabled person’s life."
I also got emotional whiplash after hearing some people described as "privacy shamers" - those who "harass anyone who is doing their best to change tech companies from the inside as being collaborators on par with the Vichy regime."
The book is full of interesting links out to further resources. Although, I should point out that links like https://smashed.by/cnilrights go via the short.io service. Which probably makes me a privacy pedant 😆.
This is an empowering read. It isn't designed to make you feel hopeless at the state of the world but, instead, it asks you to reflect on what you're doing and what you should be doing.
The final question should be the one which weighs on you heaviest: How am I going to feel about myself if I continue to work for this company and develop this product?
STUMBLING TOWARD ENLIGHTENMENT in Seoul: university friends now in their thirties find heartbreak and lesser forms of anomie in this eloquent, multivocal experimental novel rich with details of life in today’s South Korea. B PLUS