strugk's reviews
318 reviews

Machinehood by S.B. Divya

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

 Best book I have read in a while. A rare piece of sci-fi that stays off-the-beaten-track in terms of both primary and secondary topics described, at the same time offering better psychological portrait than most current genres focusing solely on that. 

It’s not that the book is perfect – I didn’t really how philosophy of different parties translates into their actions  - but that may be as much a bug as a feature. Just like in reality, the life is complex, multi-layered and multi-dimensional. 

Action rotates around people enhancing their bodies using chemicals, suffering side-effects, competing for work with machines – ais and robots. There is a whole layer of linked individuals that operate with their own agendas, in the context of wider pollical developments and economic pressures, with moral dilemmas and basic chores sprinkled in. And it is also just enjoyable to read. 

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Babel by R.F. Kuang

adventurous lighthearted reflective 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? No

4.0

The book touches upon multiple interesting questions around globalization, racism, placed in an alternative 19th century. It goes through a series of moral dilemmas throughout the plot and some good twists.
But it is all a bit too smooth and pleasant, while being relatively long. If it was shorter I'd think it targets young adults, at this length I am not sure. 
But it might be a much needed book to put into literature discussion clubs for teenagers, but I read it with some interest and I am 40 yrs old.

The Adventure of Sustainable Performance: Beyond ESG Compliance to Leadership in the New Era by Dean Sanders

inspiring medium-paced

3.0

Few good examples, some inspirational pep-talk, good table of value creation as an appendix, but ultimately nothing new, or especially enlightening.

The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies by Rosie Collington, Mariana Mazzucato
Did not finish book. Stopped at 55%.

After reading an interview with the authors and book's release notes, I was really keen on learning how, why, where and when employing consultants is detrimental to the client. 
Disclosure: I do work in the industry, one company I worked for is mentioned briefly around page 40%.
The book in the first half I have read keeps providing examples of projects going wrong, but shies away from looking into the reasoning behind the decisions  made, or finding similar projects that went much better under different circumstances.  
Feels like it is just a binder of random case studies - but it is hard to say how were they chosen, why are they mentioned and they aren't too thoroughly researched.
 

There Are No Accidents by Jessie Singer

informative inspiring fast-paced

4.75

It is as good as a book on health and safety can be. Challenges a lot of common perspectives and provides argument that, actually, there are no accidents. 
Maybe a bit more statistics and balancing the argument with some regulatory downsides would make the book more wholesome. But it would get boring and lengthy, while now  it is short, on point, and engaging as a thriller.

Goldilocks by L.R. Lam

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.75

Overall political premise and a perspective of feminist objectives as a motivator for space exploration is good. But I felt there were too many gaps and lapses of judgment and characters kept thinking things through in a last possible moment when according to the timelines they had years to think about them. There is a good amount of backstory building that could have created very deep and engaging characters, but I didn't find them particularly consistent and coherent with the backstories.

Naprawić przyszłość. Dlaczego potrzebujemy lepszych opowieści, żeby uratować świat by Marcin Napiórkowski

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Pomysł na książkę dobry, wykonanie na pewnym poziomie też dobre - czyta się dobrze, w skali rozdziałów i akapitów filozoficzne tematy się przeplatają z faktami historycznymi i teoriami naukowymi w sposób bardzo satysfakcjonujący. 
Natomiast na meta-poziomie, książka słusznie zarysowuje problem że narracje są istotne i że warto o nich myśleć. Pokazuje odrobinę teorii, sporo praktyki z historii, ale mało pomysłów i metod na przyszłość. 
Do końca liczyłem, że w podsumowaniu dostanę jakiś zbiór uniwersalnych zasad dobrych/złych narracji. Zostawiła mnie książka z niedosytem. Sporo wiedzy na pewno wchłonąłem czytając, ale jednak nie bardzo wiem jak to teraz komuś opowiedzieć w syntetyczny sposób.

The Dawn of Everything by David Wengrow, David Graeber

informative slow-paced

3.75

These is a bunch of interesting facts and thoughts in the books. But if you read an interview with the author, you might be surprised how few of them there is in such a long book. Might be more interesting for anthropologists as it clearly tries to fight some pre-existing dogmas and prove them wrong.
I feel it does not represent the ideas it fights entirely fairly, although maybe it does - not my area of expertise. Regardless I missed some kind of ambition to create alternative coherent narrative or at least a fair analysis of how did so many different social models failed to continue to exist.  
Many people found it hopeful, as a proof that different world is possible - for me the conclusion of the book is that it is possible but rarely for an extended period of time. 
Personally I remain optimistic, but not thanks to his book.

Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

adventurous lighthearted relaxing 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

4.25

Book is fun to read with an interesting twist on the murder-mystery front. It is set up in space, features aliens, but there are no scientific elements to it, in fact few statements were disobeying current science - in practice it does not try to be hard sci-fi, so I cannot say it fails at that.
It is a lighthearted story set in space that is fun to read but I'd cut the 100 or 200 pages in the middle.