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Thin and repetitious but valuable. I’d prefer it not have had such a focus on BUSINESS. I’d also have preferred it not to have such a trite and extensive use of quotes, which gave it a sophomoric quality.  I also passionately dislike the cover, and it hurts me to have to use it here.

A fascinating history of recent mass protests, however I wished the analysis about implications had been more substantial. 

Some memorable and interesting recipes, but REALLY A LOT OF CHICKEN RECIPES. 

Another review helped me understand this book; while it might seem repetitive when read in 2024, for its time it was revolutionary. It’s a pity we are still fighting a war on bad design and, worse, blaming humans and not bad design. 

Qin writes with raw power in this affecting story of self-discovery. I only wish it didn’t feel quite as disjointed in the underlying narrative. I hope to be able to read more from Qin!

Very dense economically, which is necessary, of course, to understand the current housing crisis and to begin to be able to think about ways out of the mess we are in. I felt myself getting a bit lost in the soup from time to time, and would have appreciated a high-level summary of the five equilibria.

I was excited to read Murray’s proposed solution as well as being offput to reflect on the power of what he calls “the housing cheer squad” – i.e. the vested interests that are protecting the status quo. As always, I cannot help but think the problem is too big and too politically messy for a solution as brave and necessary as Murray advocates. 

A curious and delightful book; although the delight is not uniformly distributed. The initial chapter or so did not grab me, but I came to enjoy Yi Tenen’s nuanced take on AI.  

A real mixed bag: I thought the sections on design thinking were, as you might expect, the stronger part of the book. The book falls down, though, in having a real USA-centric attitude to work and I think some views of the authors are just outdated. For instance, they seemed unconcerned or even enthusiastic about the growing dominance of the gig economy. There was also little to no evidence base for many of their recommendations (and indeed, underlying view). And to round off my criticism, the case studies they used to illustrate their points (especially from their own lives) felt a little trite.

Quite a dense and chewy book, and one that is stronger when it sticks to the areas closest to Greene’s expertise (hard physics). It becomes quite vague and waffling in areas farthest from his (professional) expertise. The book often relies on assertions as to the likely answer to some of our thorniest questions (such as consciousness) which I think comes across as intellectually incurious and rather dogmatic. It is disappointing that he does not make an effort to engage with arguments that challenge his physicalist preferences.

This was funnier, and less ‘okay, boomer’ than another similar book I read about an Australian comedian-type. I think I made a mistake by not finding the audiobook version of this, as I’m sure Flanagan’s delivery would have added so much. That said, it is still a bit familiar, and very few of the jokes made me laugh out loud. 

Look, this WAS interesting. But it was very little about distraction and far more about monks: how they lived, worked, acted, and so on. But luckily, Kreiner writes with such wit and authority that even though I wasn’t getting what I expected, I had a fine enough time. 

A fun adventure – Paz’s world-building and concepts are remarkable and a lot fun. My main quibble is with the pacing – the plot moves at a glacial pace with far too many digressions and flashbacks that feel a lot like telling not showing. I think this might make a fun movie.

A beautifully illustrated story that I think is let down by its overall narrative structure and reliance on sudden narrative jump cuts; it was hard to tell the passage of time and the authors growth throughout the story. I liked, very much, reading the author’s afterword, but I wish more of that had of come across in the text itself.

Lawson has a lot of great stories, and while I found the analysis and history of Meditations (or Jottings as I am tempted to call it after Mary Beard) to be a little so-so, this is a fun, breezy sort of book. I especially liked the use of blue ink throughout the book.

I find dipping my toes into the world of minimalism always a curious experience: it is a topic overwhelmingly dominated by white middle-to-upper class tech-adjacent bros, who hawk their ideas and solutions as if they were a panacea. I think this book is perhaps a little better than that bleak prognosis, but not by much alas. I found his argument interesting, and I think I will try the digital declutter he suggests. 

I had a ghastly time reading this—it was simply too much for me, the delicate violet that I am. Yet I think this is, in some ways, a necessary book: the hate and violence towards our trans-brothers and -sisters is appalling and needs to be called out and explored within fiction and outside of fiction. The body horror elements of this book turned my stomach, and I don’t know whether to congratulate the author for creating something so genuinely shocking or run away from thinking about this book. Provocative, gross, and brave. 

Note: I have pixelated the cover for the front page. If you’d like to see the original, it is here.

Press (what an Author’s name!) presents chilling case study after chilling case study, humanizing those society has forced to do our collective dirty work. However, the book falls down in that it does not offer a way forward or solutions to the issues expressed. Still, Press’ plea that we see these people are not only people but our agents and we be willing to bear witness to their stories is a powerful conclusion. 

A book that confused me; it invoked a feeling I haven’t had since a teen of reading serious novels and just feeling slightly off put; almost as if I was missing something fundamental. Torres has created a smart novel with some metatextual tricks and delights. While I did not love it, and skimmed the back half, it is an interesting and valuable piece of modern queer literature. 

What an intriguing debut novel! I found this quite slow to read, but Langbein’s writing is often quite witty: there are some great lines through this sometimes meandering, curious novel. 

Young writes so well, yet the premise of this book feels quite uncertain: is it about the joy of reading? Is it about novels and stories themselves? Is it a vehicle for the author to explore the thoughts of various other philosophers? I spent a nice time with this book but could not recommend it.