oliverlang's reviews
151 reviews

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith

informative medium-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed reading this! I learned a lot about cephalopods and evolution as a whole. I thought it was well paced and interesting and didn't wander off on tangents that I didn't care about. Overall a very good book and I recommend it.

Dune by Frank Herbert
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.

I thought that the film would get me excited enough to keep reading this book but it really didn't. 

Not a bad book, but just not compelling enough to make me keep going.

The Splinter King by Mike Brooks

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Artemis by Andy Weir

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

Learning to Sleep by John Burnside

medium-paced

3.0

The Fire Starters by Jan Carson

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

The magical realism element to this book was such a stark contrast to the seriousness of the environment in the story. I forgot there was a magical element to this book when I started reading and it came as a shock when it came through.

The plot was dark but the book itself was well-written. This wasn't a bad book by any means but I didn't particularly enjoy reading it either. Curiousness of the ending was the main motivation I had to keep reading and it ended much the same as I expected.

3.0 stars for the plot.
.5 of a star extra for the good writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.

I just... don't care enough to keep going.

I have no patience for grown ass adults who don't know how to use their words and communicate with eachother.

The Black Coast by Mike Brooks

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved it! Immaculate world building. The nuances of cultural differences and language was spectacular. Everything from the description of the sky to being within the throws of battle was well written, descriptive and gripping. I'm really looking forward to reading the second and third books.

"It was a murky morning. The sun had probably just about hauled itself over the horizon behind the clouds that rolled in overnight, but at the moment was doing about as much work as the rest of Black Keep "

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Digital Compositing for Film and Video by Steve Wright

informative medium-paced

5.0

A really good and helpful, comprehensive software agnostic textbook of VFX practices!