arealswellfellow's reviews
170 reviews

The Message by K.A. Applegate

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Death's End by Cixin Liu

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler

adventurous hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Encounter by K.A. Applegate

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar

challenging informative inspiring sad fast-paced

4.5

Really cool book! I love reading and learning about ways to deal with car culture and its unexpected side effects. I think this took a really nuanced take on parking that was really illuminating. 

So close to 5 stars but I feel like it’s almost too dense. Some of the examples start to feel redundant. But I guess that’s part of the point.

The Visitor by K.A. Applegate

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I can’t believe I didn’t read these books as a kid. These go crazy. I was not expecting a mature and sensitive portrayal of depression and love in a children’s book about animorphs.

Apparently these only get more crazy? But this is the second one and already darker than I expected.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was so much fun! A motley crew of aliens flying in a ship together going on whacky emotional adventures. It’s great. The character relations are just so good. I felt genuine joy each time I read it.

Artificial Intelligence in Education: Promises and Implications for Teaching and Learning by Charles Fadel, Wayne Holmes, Maya Bialik

hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.0

This book is a great introduction to AI in education and covers a large range of history and modern topics. Although written in 2019, I think it is still worth a read today even though ChatGPT has changed a lot.

Just a warning though, this is very academic and reads like a research paper.