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drj's reviews
85 reviews
Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
4.5
An excellent introduction to the role of grandmothers and other alloparents in successful child rearing in humans. Also with reference to other primates and other animals as comparative models. Could do with a little more genetics support; sections on kin-selection and child–mother competition are too sketchy.
Most excellent.
Most excellent.
Assembly by Natasha Brown
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
No vibes.
The sort of book that Oxbridge educated novelists would enjoy writing about.
The sort of book that Oxbridge educated novelists would enjoy writing about.
Seeing with Fresh Eyes: Meaning, Space, Data, Truth by Edward R. Tufte
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
This is a problematic work that makes for a problematic review.
It is messy with some good parts mixed in with less good. If you like Tufte, you'll find enough good parts. If you don't, or you haven't read any Tufte before, you should probably skip it.
The book is designed on the spread. By which i mean each opening (2 pages, side by side) is designed as a whole unit. A topic is introduced, discussed, expanded upon, and brought to some sort of conclusion within the 2 pages. There are a few sections where a block of text continues from one page and carries on overleaf, but not very many.
The effect is like reading a series of short essays, sometimes thematically linked, sometimes narratively linked, but quite often not so much. Occasionally i think the topic is just getting interesting, and turn to page to discover of course something completely different.
Some parts of the book cohere more than others.
The design is part of a philosophy of book publishing that Tufte outlines early on in this same book: namely that authors should have control over layout. I have read his first book, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, so i see the positives on this point. But when is comes to making books, as opposed to the business of writing words, not all authors are capable of good design. And i have to say it, even good designers can have bad days making books (this one, or at least parts of it).
Parts of the book are good. Well designed, coherent, thrusting an effective argument and narrative forwards. But other parts are incoherent, or contradictory. It's not enough to dismiss the book entirely, but neither does the whole form a compelling work.
Reading it can be quite frustrating. Mostly because i think there is some good advice, and certainly some advice worth considering context. But it's not a good look to argue for more author control over publishing, and then have typos and paragraph layout mistakes. He writes about central axis typography (a pragraph with the lines centered, like some poetry), lists, and direct annotation; but then often fails to use them later in the book where i think they would help.
A flawed gem, or possibly a diamond in the rough.
END
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Medical trauma
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
Evocation by S.T. Gibson
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism and Injury/Injury detail
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
Glyph: A Visual Exploration of Punctuation Marks and Other Typographic Symbols by Shiro Nishimoto, Adriana Caneva
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.25
A charming little blue book. It's nice to see that it is bound in signatures and printed with a fluorescent pink spot colour (very similar to Sofie Beier's Type Tricks). The contents page is hilarious, being mostly a list of punctuation marks. Each glyph has a 2-page spread (or occasionally 4-page) and has a little blurb accompanying it. And i must say while i find that interesting and fun, it does occasionally make me wonder if all the facts are true facts; for example "The original shape of an asterisk was seven armed".