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atoningunifex's reviews
31 reviews
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
5.0
At first I was confused as to why all these characters were relevant to anything, but having listened to the first book I knew that Cixin Liu was carefully building out a complex story.
I then grew to seriously anticipate what each of these characters would do next during each era. I enjoyed the portrayl of the behaviors of humans when faced with crisis and getting to explore all the different long-game strategies of varying degrees of success.
I'm not a smart person, and I found that even though the technical prose was dense, this book is very forgiving if you don't understand how the physics works entirely. All I needed was a general understanding.
I then grew to seriously anticipate what each of these characters would do next during each era. I enjoyed the portrayl of the behaviors of humans when faced with crisis and getting to explore all the different long-game strategies of varying degrees of success.
I'm not a smart person, and I found that even though the technical prose was dense, this book is very forgiving if you don't understand how the physics works entirely. All I needed was a general understanding.
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.
I really tried with this one because my boss lent it to me when I started managing his cafe.
This is a book that feels like if was writing solely for the purpose of pleasing a crowd, not a collection of any true-to-heart thoughts. It didn't feel like there was any heart, passion or point, honestly - despite how much the author may have said so.
He also kept going back and forth between the different time periods of events, which made it hard to follow - especially being from a country where Starbucks and its company history is not extremely popular.
I won't rate any books I don't finish but what I read felt like the cheap plastic knock-off of real emotions.
This is a book that feels like if was writing solely for the purpose of pleasing a crowd, not a collection of any true-to-heart thoughts. It didn't feel like there was any heart, passion or point, honestly - despite how much the author may have said so.
He also kept going back and forth between the different time periods of events, which made it hard to follow - especially being from a country where Starbucks and its company history is not extremely popular.
I won't rate any books I don't finish but what I read felt like the cheap plastic knock-off of real emotions.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
5.0
I enjoyed this book thoroughly.
There were a few themes that I was particularly interested in:
There were a few themes that I was particularly interested in:
- Training through games
- Peak performance (and the harsh reality of it)
- Empathy
- Leadership
- Strategy & tactics
- Finding meaning in life through depression
All of my favorite parts from this book touched one or more of these. They were very well woven into the story so as not to be too literal and keep the plot entertaining.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The world of Hyperion feels like a well-thought out world that was inhabited and developed before the plot of this first story. I liked the mystique of the Shrike, Time Tombs and Labyrinth Worlds which kept me hooked and wondering what would happen.
I honestly didn't like the characters a bunch, but most of their stories held my attention for finding out how it related to their pilgramage. Sol/Rachel's story was my favourite, along with (surprisingly) Martin's (Martin is written intentionally as an annoying character but his story shows you a perspective from his underdog days, making me empathize with him).
Some of the stories dragged on with unneccessary descriptive fluff though, and I found myself skimming through those sections because I was really just interested in the pilgrammage. The sex scenes were a constant issue for me because it just felt like I was reading the author's wet dream journal and it really didn't need that level of detail to still be relevant.
On that note too, I feel like maybe with the exception of Brawne Lamia, every important woman in the book kinda just felt like the same projection of the author's ideal fantasy woman: adventurous, confident, sexy, playful/flirtatious. But even then, Brawne is just more of a tomboy instead of being playful and sitll has all of the other traits. Like... if it was one or two women then fine, but it felt like they were all just mentioned to set up for a good sex scene which distracted from telling a proper dark sci-fi story.
Though there was some politics here and there, I like how it didn't feel overly political which other stories I've consumed in the the space-opera/sci-fi genre tend to do. I'm not opposed to future books being more political, but it was refreshing to read something that wasn't. The focus was really on the characters' decisions and through their adventures I got to play witness to the detailed world.
I honestly didn't like the characters a bunch, but most of their stories held my attention for finding out how it related to their pilgramage. Sol/Rachel's story was my favourite, along with (surprisingly) Martin's (Martin is written intentionally as an annoying character but his story shows you a perspective from his underdog days, making me empathize with him).
Some of the stories dragged on with unneccessary descriptive fluff though, and I found myself skimming through those sections because I was really just interested in the pilgrammage. The sex scenes were a constant issue for me because it just felt like I was reading the author's wet dream journal and it really didn't need that level of detail to still be relevant.
On that note too, I feel like maybe with the exception of Brawne Lamia, every important woman in the book kinda just felt like the same projection of the author's ideal fantasy woman: adventurous, confident, sexy, playful/flirtatious. But even then, Brawne is just more of a tomboy instead of being playful and sitll has all of the other traits. Like... if it was one or two women then fine, but it felt like they were all just mentioned to set up for a good sex scene which distracted from telling a proper dark sci-fi story.
Though there was some politics here and there, I like how it didn't feel overly political which other stories I've consumed in the the space-opera/sci-fi genre tend to do. I'm not opposed to future books being more political, but it was refreshing to read something that wasn't. The focus was really on the characters' decisions and through their adventures I got to play witness to the detailed world.
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
1. Didn't own the book
2. It was more challenging and dense than I was expecting. I will try again someday.
2. It was more challenging and dense than I was expecting. I will try again someday.