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23 reviews for:
I Love My Computer Because My Friends Live in It: Stories from an Online Life
Jess Kimball Leslie
3.2 AVERAGE
23 reviews for:
I Love My Computer Because My Friends Live in It: Stories from an Online Life
Jess Kimball Leslie
3.2 AVERAGE
I liked the beginning of this book and the author can be legitimately funny, but the second half just made her seem as condescending and horrible as the people she was describing. It's like she thought her readers were in on the joke, but I definitely was not. Also, this book is only tangentially aware of the effects of technology in her life. Sure she was one of the first user's but she just experiences social media and such like the rest of us did when it was emerging. Basically life happened and she's going to attribute all things meaningful to technology in some way.
I'm part of the generation she's speaking too, so I thought it would be a bit more of a nostalgic read. Instead this was more of someone trying to be the cheeky geek girl who coincidentally wrote a memoir. Felicia Day definitely did it better.
3/5 Stars. I liked the author's humor, but I don't think the book as a whole worked for me.
I'm part of the generation she's speaking too, so I thought it would be a bit more of a nostalgic read. Instead this was more of someone trying to be the cheeky geek girl who coincidentally wrote a memoir. Felicia Day definitely did it better.
3/5 Stars. I liked the author's humor, but I don't think the book as a whole worked for me.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Honestly, she totally lost me when she was talking about a Carmen Sandiego computer game and said Carmen Sandiego was a detective. At that point, I couldn't trust anything else she said.
I wanted to like this book. It started out sort of funny and highlighted some of the easily forgotten parts of the days of the early internet. Then it started to skip around and devolve. Some of the "facts" about the popularity and origins of things like Twitter and blogging were more opinions than actual fact. Her side stories into her friendship with wealthy, famous people were interesting but not fleshed out.
I wish she had written a straight up memoir without trying to shoehorn the history of the internet into it. It came across very choppy. It would have been easy to blend the internet stuff into a regular memoir; there was no reason for chapters and sections to be based around what website was popular at the time. It came across as forced and artificial. It also kept her from delving into anything personal too deeply. The author should have either written a memoir or written a social history of the internet not try to cover both in one book. As a result, she failed at both.
Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.
I wish she had written a straight up memoir without trying to shoehorn the history of the internet into it. It came across very choppy. It would have been easy to blend the internet stuff into a regular memoir; there was no reason for chapters and sections to be based around what website was popular at the time. It came across as forced and artificial. It also kept her from delving into anything personal too deeply. The author should have either written a memoir or written a social history of the internet not try to cover both in one book. As a result, she failed at both.
Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.
I have no idea who Jess Kimball Leslie is. I got this book on the strength of the title and the cover typography. But after reading it I can safely say, I don’t really want to know who is Jess Kimball Leslie. Maybe it’s the classic tale of expectations vs. reality, but I thought I’m going to get a bunch of interesting essays about the intersection of technology and personal life. Instead, I got a bunch of not very interesting personal essays about. . . something, I guess? Her voice is mediocre and indistinguishable from any random blogger on any random blog.
Most of the time the focus is way off, there’s just too much tangential rambling going on. I lost my interest completely in the middle of the Gawker piece, but I’m stupid so I read on. Good news? It did not get any worse than that. I know, because I kept reading. Don’t ask.
(source: netgalley)
Most of the time the focus is way off, there’s just too much tangential rambling going on. I lost my interest completely in the middle of the Gawker piece, but I’m stupid so I read on. Good news? It did not get any worse than that. I know, because I kept reading. Don’t ask.
(source: netgalley)
This book was funny and had some sharp insights and interesting stories from the author's life, some that resonated more than others.
A lovely look at the Internet from someone who spent their formative years in it, like me! I enjoyed a lot of the stories, although it veers away from the Internet by the end.
Thanks to Netgalley for the read.
Thanks to Netgalley for the read.
I received a free copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I requested this book mostly because of the title - and because the description gave me the same vibe the title did: I was expecting a sort of hommage to social media and the internet and the ways you can make new friends and maintain online friendships. However, I was really disappointed with the book, as to me it seemed that a large portion of it was just the author complaining about the various popular social media sites and the people on there. Online friendships were barely addressed at all I felt, and the parts that weren't complaining about social media were not connected to internet stuff at all really.
However, I don't think the book is bad - I'm sure it is a fun memoir in general, but since it did not live up to my expectations and wasn't what I expected based on the synopsis I was disappointed. My rating of it is mostly emotional. This book comes out April 4.
I requested this book mostly because of the title - and because the description gave me the same vibe the title did: I was expecting a sort of hommage to social media and the internet and the ways you can make new friends and maintain online friendships. However, I was really disappointed with the book, as to me it seemed that a large portion of it was just the author complaining about the various popular social media sites and the people on there. Online friendships were barely addressed at all I felt, and the parts that weren't complaining about social media were not connected to internet stuff at all really.
However, I don't think the book is bad - I'm sure it is a fun memoir in general, but since it did not live up to my expectations and wasn't what I expected based on the synopsis I was disappointed. My rating of it is mostly emotional. This book comes out April 4.
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.*
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5
For those of us who are part of the generation that remembers the internet suddenly being a thing in their pre-teen/teen years and embracing it wholeheartedly, I’m sure we can all relate to what Jess Kimball Leslie’s thoughts and feelings about growing up in a sudden digital age. When I saw this title, I had to read it, because I am definitely a computer geek and very proud of it. This is a collection of essays that details Leslie’s personal experiences around how her social life has been shaped by the internet while also giving some brief historical details about how the internet was back in its early days.
Let’s start with the good stuff. Leslie gives a humorous and witty outlook on various internet related things: AOL, very specific chatrooms, Myspace vs. Facebook, Blackberries, etc. I especially related to her stories about how she found friendship online in a way that just wasn’t available “IRL.” For example, she was a huge Bette Midler fan, and she found “her people” in a Bette Midler themed chatroom and made friendships with them. As a kid, I loved Nancy Drew and joined forums where I could talk about those books to my heart’s content for HOURS and HOURS and there was always someone listening. Now, as a book blogger, I can relate. I don’t have many friends who go out of their way to read as much as possible and review books, but here we are, all gathered together on the interweb, pointing out to each other where the good books are. I love it! So, this in particular was very relatable.
What I didn’t like was the organization/setup of the essays. They were each their own little pieces, with very little reference to what came before or after it, so the personal stories were a little hard to follow for me, because I couldn’t follow the progression of the timeline. It didn’t feel cohesive, and I think having the essays relate to each other just a little bit could have brought it together to improve the overall flow and feel of it. Aside from that, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. I think that for people who are in the same boat as Leslie and remember a time pre- and post- internet, and were there when all the social media was developing (Myspace! Facebook! Twitter!), this will be a nice nostalgia trip. I’m not sure if younger people will enjoy it as much, but it could be interesting to read how the this stuff was developed and used before it was what it is today.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.
Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5
For those of us who are part of the generation that remembers the internet suddenly being a thing in their pre-teen/teen years and embracing it wholeheartedly, I’m sure we can all relate to what Jess Kimball Leslie’s thoughts and feelings about growing up in a sudden digital age. When I saw this title, I had to read it, because I am definitely a computer geek and very proud of it. This is a collection of essays that details Leslie’s personal experiences around how her social life has been shaped by the internet while also giving some brief historical details about how the internet was back in its early days.
Let’s start with the good stuff. Leslie gives a humorous and witty outlook on various internet related things: AOL, very specific chatrooms, Myspace vs. Facebook, Blackberries, etc. I especially related to her stories about how she found friendship online in a way that just wasn’t available “IRL.” For example, she was a huge Bette Midler fan, and she found “her people” in a Bette Midler themed chatroom and made friendships with them. As a kid, I loved Nancy Drew and joined forums where I could talk about those books to my heart’s content for HOURS and HOURS and there was always someone listening. Now, as a book blogger, I can relate. I don’t have many friends who go out of their way to read as much as possible and review books, but here we are, all gathered together on the interweb, pointing out to each other where the good books are. I love it! So, this in particular was very relatable.
What I didn’t like was the organization/setup of the essays. They were each their own little pieces, with very little reference to what came before or after it, so the personal stories were a little hard to follow for me, because I couldn’t follow the progression of the timeline. It didn’t feel cohesive, and I think having the essays relate to each other just a little bit could have brought it together to improve the overall flow and feel of it. Aside from that, I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. I think that for people who are in the same boat as Leslie and remember a time pre- and post- internet, and were there when all the social media was developing (Myspace! Facebook! Twitter!), this will be a nice nostalgia trip. I’m not sure if younger people will enjoy it as much, but it could be interesting to read how the this stuff was developed and used before it was what it is today.
Also posted on Purple People Readers.