Week Thirty: 50 Things That Made The Modern Economy

Big bowl of ... meh.

Loads of interesting 'facts' but not often that well substantiated unless you want to check the references in the back of the book.

I understand it was from a podcast, or radio series or something I can't be bothered chasing down.

As a book it was too lightweight and twee, and each 'thing' felt like it was an hour of 'Connections' boiled to a 5 minute summary (minus most of the facts).

Occasionally very interesting things though, just not all of them have much more than dubious nods to the global modern economy...

I bought this one year ago (July 22nd 2017) to read on the plane home from Sydney, and quickly realised it was too light (even for a flight).

Week Twenty Nine: Artemis

There are quite a few things wrong with this book.

1. The first third is world setting with very little idea of what plot is coming
2. The second third is pure policitcal/criminal thriller all of a sudden and unexpectedly murderey
3. The last third is all science in furtherance of solving  the first two thirds

And lastly the main character is an answer to the question, 'what if the guy in the Martian, was a girl?'

Didn't like it and it occasionally has some dodgy ideas about life, society, underage sex (weirdly), and human behaviour.

Not deeply uncomfortable, but a lot of this bugged me.

Week Twenty Eight: Dietland

Really not sure about this book (just yet). I mean it is VERY GOOD. It is also not quite sitting right with me, but probably for the wrong reasons (as a writer not a reader). It is VERY engaging and I could not put it down, whether I agree with it's purpose/point or not.

Very feminist and empowered, it's hard to take in some places but should still be taken for the reasons that this is good and important.

I felt like the explaining who Jennifer Is/Was diluted it's power and derailed it's meaning. Yet now I feel like I'm betraying the author by mansplaining the bits I didn't like. Which is a fair reaction considering that this book is just the latest in series of feminist works that have impacted me directly this last year or so.

Read it, make up your own mind.

Still not sure about my own mind on it, maybe it needs to sit with me like The Handmaids Tale did (I had a similar writers reaction after reading the book last year and then ended up settling on 'loved it').

Week Twenty Seven: Borrowed Time

Very curious how this would be considering how much I LOVED The Power and how many decades I have been a Who fan.

Did not disappoint. Fans of Alderman may not get the plot/characters and the general feel of a Who story, and fans of Who may not appreciate the biting satirical elements and the general disdain of human behaviour when given free rein.

Twice now she's written works about how the Lucifer Effect (see Philip Zimbardo/Stanford Experiment) takes hold in people, and I don't know if it's because she believes it or is fascinated by it.

Either way its a cracking read for me, a fan of both.

Week Twenty Six: This Is Going To Hurt

Week Twenty Six and at halfway through the year, another 26 weeks to go. This is another highly recommended read, but beware as the title suggests it will hurt. If it doesn't then there is something seriously wrong with you. Mostly hilarious and insightful, it takes a deft scalpel to life as a Junior Doctor (plenty of other critics have many better puns, but this one feels appropriate).

However when it turns on you just before the end, it's like going to a hilarious stand up show and the last joke is the comic killing himself (no that's not the end of the book, but it hits just as hard) after telling you none of it is funny.

It made me cry, suddenly and shockingly it hit me square in the face.

Read.

Week Twenty Five: A Day In The Life Of Marlon Bundo

Hah! Excellent trolling but also a cute and funny tale (not tail - puns are nor welcome here).

A short but pleasing read, while I edit the manuscript I'm working on this week for publication next week.

W

Week Twenty Four: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

Definitely for novices to Astrophysics as it takes great pains to lightly describe concepts that are already quite well known. So I found most of it was retreading ground already covered in other works, and therefore a bit slow to engage.

But I can hear NDGT's voice delivering some of the more witty pieces and can forgive the repetition because occasionally I learned something I had not picked up elsewhere.

So if you know little and want to know more, go ahead, but if you're fan of Hawking, Greene or Gribbin's much more detailed works then this may be the equivalent of a remake of a rerun of a television show you've seen many times already.