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books_baking_brews's reviews
231 reviews
Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple
2.0
I haven't read Semple's other books, so I'm not sure if this kind of stream of consciousness writing in this book is her normal style. While that took me a moment to get used to, I never quite got used to Eleanor the protagonist of the novel. Eleanor is going to do today different; she is going to be engaged in the world and productive in her interactions. She's real quirky, but not in a likeable way. I kept thinking who on earth would want to engage with her? In fact, most of the characters weren't great. There's her precocious son Timby named after an autocorrect who at first is mildly entertaining but even he can't save this and then there's her saintly, long-suffering husband Joe. He's a doctor for the Seahawks and is the focus of a day-long plot twist that doesn't begin to pay off. But let me tell you how I really feel. It was a relatively fast read though I had to force myself to get through the last 60 pages not because it was that bad but because I just didn't care. I have heard amazing things about Where'd You Go Bernadette? so I still want to pick that one up, as my main problem here was Eleanor and not Semple's writing.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
4.0
Great debut from Flynn (really like 3.75 ish). I had an interest in both the show and the book, but I'm the type of person where I generally have to read the book first or I'll just never get around to it, plus I've found reading the book first enhances the film or show for me. But I digress. Sharp Objects is the story of a cubby reporter who is sent back to her Missouri hometown to cover the story of two teenage girls, one murdered and one missing. But she's also sent back by her paternalistic editor to deal with some of her family issues that have manifested into some harmful habit. All sorts of warnings her folks: self-harm, suicide, alcoholism, etc., and one I can't name because it's also a spoiler. The only reason this isn't ranked higher for me is because for the first I don't know 175 pages (of a 254 page book) nothing really happens. This was a slow build, but I just wish Flynn had mixed up the pacing a bit. I had one of those, "Well that escalated quickly" moments. Not horrible, but just something I was keenly aware of while reading. I actually think this makes for a better show. After I finished reading, I went and watched the first two, fine three, episodes and it was great. If you're like me and somehow haven't read or seen Sharp Object until now they are both certainly worth it!
Autumn by Ali Smith
5.0
Woo boy. This reminds me of one of those books you dissect in class unfolding all the moments and meanings. Set against the backdrop of political unrest post-Brexit, this book circles around Danial and Elisabeth, who are the friend loves of each others lives. "The lifelong friends, he said. We sometimes wait a lifetime to meet them." We first meet the pair when Elisabeth is eight and Daniel, 77. The novels jumps from past to present, where Daniel now 101 is in a home on the edge of life and death and Elisabeth, now 32, comes and reads to him. There are so many things to unpack in these 260 pages, I actually want to reread this. No one writes like Smith and her prose is just so relevant.
Listen to this: "I'm tired of the news. I'm tired of the way it makes things spectacular that aren't, and deals so simplistically with what truly appalling. I'm tired of the vitriol. I'm tired of the anger. I'm tired of the selfishness. I'm tired of how we're doing nothing to stop it. I'm tired of how we're encouraging it. I'm tried of the violence there is and I'm tired of the violence that's coming, that hasn't happened yet. I'm tired of the liars. I'm tired of the sanctified liars. I'm tired of how those liars have let this happen. I'm tired of having to wonder whether they did it out of stupidity or did it on purpose. I'm tired of lying governments. I'm tired of people not caring whether they're being lied to any more. I'm tired of being made to fell this fearful." I can't wait to read the next in her seasonal quartet; Winter is coming. (Shoulders, I had to.)
Listen to this: "I'm tired of the news. I'm tired of the way it makes things spectacular that aren't, and deals so simplistically with what truly appalling. I'm tired of the vitriol. I'm tired of the anger. I'm tired of the selfishness. I'm tired of how we're doing nothing to stop it. I'm tired of how we're encouraging it. I'm tried of the violence there is and I'm tired of the violence that's coming, that hasn't happened yet. I'm tired of the liars. I'm tired of the sanctified liars. I'm tired of how those liars have let this happen. I'm tired of having to wonder whether they did it out of stupidity or did it on purpose. I'm tired of lying governments. I'm tired of people not caring whether they're being lied to any more. I'm tired of being made to fell this fearful." I can't wait to read the next in her seasonal quartet; Winter is coming. (Shoulders, I had to.)
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
3.0
Mmkay. So I've read Ruth Ware all out of order. This is her debut, which I've of course read last somehow. This book is about Leonora (Lee/Nora) who goes to her old high school friend's hen party even though she hasn't spoken to the woman, Claire, in over a decade. I could not figure out why anyone would do this?! Wouldn't you pass or at least reach out to the bride to be first?! But okay, maaayyybe you've got nothing better to do and want to go. So, Nora does go to this two- day party in a dark dark wood (huh? huh? See what I did?) with an overly invested bridesmaid, a recent mother, a snarky friend she sometimes sees, a man she's never met and the woman she hasn't spoken to in over 10 years. Nora is not invited to the wedding but it becomes clear Claire has invited her to the hen do to get something off her chest. After waking up in the hospital with amnesia π, she has to try and piece together what's happened because someone has been murdered.
There are a couple of repeated tropes in Ware's novels and thrillers in general: You've got your unreliable narrators, your buried secrets, the lack of communications, the miscommunications, etc. This book has a couple of those. I don't know why but I'm a bit exhausted with the use of these at the moment, so that and the fact that the action was a bit slow during the middle and end are why I'm giving it three stars. I've liked two of Ware's novels, disliked one (The Lying Game) and this one was pretty good to okay. Given those odds, I'm definitely not done with Ware yet.
There are a couple of repeated tropes in Ware's novels and thrillers in general: You've got your unreliable narrators, your buried secrets, the lack of communications, the miscommunications, etc. This book has a couple of those. I don't know why but I'm a bit exhausted with the use of these at the moment, so that and the fact that the action was a bit slow during the middle and end are why I'm giving it three stars. I've liked two of Ware's novels, disliked one (The Lying Game) and this one was pretty good to okay. Given those odds, I'm definitely not done with Ware yet.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
5.0
I work near Silicon Valley but I definitely don't know anything about it, so maybe this is why this book had me so shocked so many times. Bad Blood tells the tale of Elizabeth Holmes, a would-be chemical engineering student who dropped out of Stanford to start a biotech company that at its height was valued at $9 billion dollars. Holmes pitched her company Theranos as the future of healthcare based off of her amazing technology that could run several different tests all based off a drop of blood. She established a who's who of Board of Directors including two former senators, two former secretaries of state, former CEOs and even a former Marine Corps General. Her investors and advisors included Larry Ellison, the Cox family, the Walton (Walmart) family, Walgreens, Betsy DeVos, and Tim Draper. With a circle like that it's no wonder Holmes, billed as the next Steve Jobs, was at one point the world's richest self-made billionaire. There was just one tiny problem, her technology did not work. Things never added up at Theranos but over the years as more and more employees resigned or were fired, intimidated, followed and threatened, the shiny outer surface of the company began to crack. Through a tip, John Carreyrou caught wind that something was not right and, with the help of some brave employees including a board member's grandson who had worked at the company, blew the lid off of Theranos revealing its many many deceptions. It's one thing for an app-based social media company or telephone company to misrepresent its technology it's another thing for a patient healthcare company to do it. Holmes never backed down or slowed down even when faced with the knowledge that not only did her technology not work but that a failed test result could dramatically impact someone's life. To tell a patient that they have cancer when they don't is one side of the coin but to tell a patient they don't have cancer when they do is a completely different side. The only thing I would have liked to know more about was the impact of Holme's technology on patients. The book does mention a couple of patients and I realize how difficult it was in the face of Theranos's attack team (and I'm rightfully using the word attack) to have patients and doctors come forward. I also realize this story is not quite done yet as charges are still being brought, investors are still suing, and patients are still coming forward.
This is the type of book where after I read it I had to go do my own research. I had to go listen to Holmes's voice (she apparently spoke in a somewhat faked baritone), I had to go see about the fallout of the articles Carreyou wrote (she has since been indicted on multiple charges), I had to stop and think how this woman got this many people to invest that much money in her company without a shred of due diligence. I mean there were just several moments where I went, "Holy Shit." This book read like fiction, in that I just could not wrap my mind around some of her deceptions and tactics. I hear this one is being made into a movie, and I can DEFINITELY see why. If I had not known it was real, I would not believe it. Carreyou's writing is straight forward and unembellished, I mean the facts speak for themselves. Five stars from me.
This is the type of book where after I read it I had to go do my own research. I had to go listen to Holmes's voice (she apparently spoke in a somewhat faked baritone), I had to go see about the fallout of the articles Carreyou wrote (she has since been indicted on multiple charges), I had to stop and think how this woman got this many people to invest that much money in her company without a shred of due diligence. I mean there were just several moments where I went, "Holy Shit." This book read like fiction, in that I just could not wrap my mind around some of her deceptions and tactics. I hear this one is being made into a movie, and I can DEFINITELY see why. If I had not known it was real, I would not believe it. Carreyou's writing is straight forward and unembellished, I mean the facts speak for themselves. Five stars from me.