There is nothing like forcing yourself through the ultra-realist-modernist hell that is James Joyce’s Ulysses. For the last several months my “To Read” list has been mired in quicksand while this behemoth of a tome, with its micro-font, thin pages, and countless footnotes/ endnotes / addendum notes – plugs a hole in my brain. I […]
Child of God by Cormac McCarthy My rating: 4 of 5 stars Have you ever felt that you are not a good person, a little dirty, a bit of a slob, or just had an impure thought? Just read this short novel from a modern master and you will soon feel positively angelic about your […]
Chinaman: The legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka My rating: 3 of 5 stars Not for the cricket novice, despite what the narrator claims near the books beginning. If you are like me, and have followed international cricket from the periphery for many years, this book can serve as a useful jump start to […]
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe My rating: 3 of 5 stars History repeats itself, or to put it more starkly, history is always repeating itself. Nothing is new. This book is a great reminder of that. The coronavirus is nothing new. Humanity has faced this before, many many times! Defoe’s work […]
The Second World War by Antony Beevor My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book took my literary Stockholm Syndrome to a whole new level. After nearly three years by my bedside, I am finally done with this agonizingly long tome. Agonizing in a good way I suppose. But if your looking for a quick […]
Spark Joy: An Illustrated Guide to the Life-Changing KonMari Method by Marie Kondō My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have a secret dark fantasy: Marie Kondo spends the day traveling throughout Tokyo, helping others to seperate objects that spark joy from those that don’t. She does this gracefully, with a balanced air of Shinto/Buddhist […]
The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen My rating: 4 of 5 stars Not unexpectededly, I loved this book. It thoroughly dismantles the common American rhetoric about European “welfare states” and flips the script on perceptions of dependency in modern capitalist societies. Who is dependent on whom? Are […]
Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan by Azby Brown My rating: 4 of 5 stars An absolutely lovely read that is infused with history while looking disapprovingly at our current consumption driven culture. The author uses the unique device of placing Edo era travelers in distinct locales, partaking in a kind of […]
Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection by Jacob Silverman My rating: 3 of 5 stars Having recently decided as a New Year’s resolution to actually increase my social media presence in the coming year, this book was a particularly frightening depiction of our current enslavement to these powers and the […]
LPI Linux Essentials Certification All-in-One Exam Guide by Robb Tracy My rating: 1 of 5 stars Where to begin with this train wreck. I understand that providing accurate and up to date guides for tests like the LPIC can be a difficult task, but this particular book is riddled with too many errors to simply […]