Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Can Sanderson write a great non-Cosmere book? The answer is a resounding ‘yes!’ I’ve read quite a few superhero decontructions and reconstructions (most famous being Watchmen and Irredeemable), but Sanderson brings something new to the genre, partially by focusing on the folks affected by gods…

Breakfast: The Most Important Book About the Best Meal of the Day by The Editors of Extra Crispy My rating: 2 of 5 stars Received this as a gift. I guess I’m spoiled by Milk Street, Meathead Goldwyn, and America’s Test Kitchen, but reading a collection of blog posts put into a book with a…

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 132 by Neil Clarke My rating: 4 of 5 stars Antarctic Birds: Some kind of science experiment with genetic engineering – I’m a little confused at first about what’s going on. My least favorite kind of story – at the end I still barely understood what was going on. Little /^^^\&- –…

Make: LEGO and Arduino Projects: Projects for extending MINDSTORMS NXT with open-source electronics by John Baichtal My rating: 4 of 5 stars I had been waiting to mark this book as read until I finished all the projects, but the reality is that might take years; not because the projects are hard, but because I…

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 131 by Neil Clarke My rating: 4 of 5 stars With this issue, there were a ton of stories that had killer endings and worlds that I wanted to spend more time in. Strongly recommend!!! See below for a per-story review that may expand on my status updates: Twisted Knots: A story…

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Harry Dresden continues to grow, making less of the same mistakes and earning new friends. I particularly loved his partnership with Michael and how their personalities compared and contrasted. This entry in the series finds Harry trying to figure out why there are more…

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 130 by Neil Clarke My rating: 5 of 5 stars Another awesome series of stories compiled by Mr. Neil Clarke. I loved all but the last fiction story and enjoyed the non-fiction. Here’s what I thought of each story/article: An Age of Ice (a translated story): A story involving a multi-generational family…

Noir by Jacqueline Garlick My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ms. Garlick picks up exactly where the last novel left off, so I would recommend reading this immediately after the first book, since I was a little confused for the first little bit until I remember what was going on. She uses this book to…

NBA Jam by Reyan Ali My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love the various titles in the Boss Fight Books series; all the moreso when they involve games that meant a lot to me. NBA Jam (which I had filed in my head as NBA Jams), is one of those games that my brothers…

Cook It in Your Dutch Oven: 150 Foolproof Recipes Tailor-Made for Your Kitchen’s Most Versatile Pot by America’s Test Kitchen My rating: 4 of 5 stars Some pretty awesome recipes that I can’t wait to try and one I’ve already tried. While not as full of photos as their Illustrated line of cookcooks, it’s still…

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 129 by Neil Clarke My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think the only story I wasn’t into was “Neptune’s Trident”. Otherwise, a top-notch issue. Especially liked the non-fiction essays this time around. My thoughts on each story (a slightly wordier version of my status updates where character limits kept me from…

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 128 by Neil Clarke My rating: 4 of 5 stars After last month’s reveal of James Tiptree, Jr as a pseudonym, pretty funny to have a story of “his” in this issue! Overall another great issue. I think my favorite universes were from “We Who Live in the Heart” and “Running the…

Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History by Florence Williams My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was depressing as hell. I added it to my To Read list 5 or so years ago when I heard about it on Fresh Air. Don’t get me wrong, the author has an entertaining style. There were lots…

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 127 by Neil Clarke My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is, as per usual, a great issue of Clarkesworld Magazine. Once again Clarke’s affinity for bringing Chinese SF to the fore gives us a great, fun story in The Robot who liked to tell tall tales. The non-fiction section also has…