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Podcasts I’m Listening to in 2022
This time around I’ve written a Python script to take the OPML file from Podcast Republic and generate the list along with URLs and official descriptions for all the podcasts. If I have additional thoughts I’ll add them after the official description. The World Around Us 99% Invisible – Official Description: Design is everywhere in…
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Review: Ancillary Mercy
Ancillary Mercy by Ann LeckieMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was the perfect ending to the Imperial Radch trilogy. It continues in the same vein as the previous two books: deeply introspective within the context of Anander Miaanai’s war with herself. The final chapter (which, of course, would have been an epilogue in…
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Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars I listened to the audiobook narrated by Greg from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as I drove the 900-something miles from Maryland to Florida and it was better than I thought it would be. Ms Collins has avoided most of the annoying tropes…
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2020 in Books
This year continued last year’s trend of Sequels, Sanderson, and Science Fiction Magazines. Every series I mentioned last year was a series I continued reading this year – The Expanse, The Asylum Tales, Red Rising, The Dresden Files, The Mogoliad, Wild Cards, and the Illumination Paradox. (The only exception was Red Rising – I’m done…
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Review: Little Women
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott My rating: 3 of 5 stars Reading this book was very interesting. I don’t know what edition I happened to pick here, but the edition I read was a Barnes and Noble giveaway from years ago when I first got my Nook. As such, it had a nice, long…
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Review: The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling My rating: 3 of 5 stars Like, I imagine, most Americans (or at least most Americans 40 and under – ie Millenials and Younger) my only exposure was to Disney’s The Jungle Book. I had no idea the original was a collection of short stories. I’d heard it was…
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Review: Bound
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was a much more beautiful Cinderella story than the Disney one and a much less gruesome one than the original German one, even if there was still some foot destruction. First of all, this is my second fairy re-telling by Ms. Donna Jo…
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Review: The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde
The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde by Shannon Hale My rating: 4 of 5 stars If you read the first two books with your kids and then were about to give up, do not do so! When I read the second book, about Princess Magnolia’s birthday, to my four-year-old twins I was…
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Review: The Secret History of Star Wars
The Secret History of Star Wars by Michael Kaminski My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book upended the way I’d thought about the Star Wars movies and stories for the past 20 years. First of all, given George Lucas’ original intention of having an endless James Bond-like serialized series of movies removes any arguments…
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Scarlett’s recital
This year Scarlett did hip hop as her dance class and the instructor selected a Pink Ladies meets Hip Hop sort of outfit for the kids. Like last year I did a portrait session with Scarlett in her costume. Unlike last year, it actually came out nice this year. (Last year I rushed it and…
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Review: Truckers: The First Book of the Nomes
Truckers: The First Book of the Nomes by Terry Pratchett My rating: 3 of 5 stars While this book started off kind of slowly, it does eventually pick up and get pretty darn interesting. The story begins with the last of the nomes making a desperate play to try and leave their lives behind because…
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Review: To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History
To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History by Lawrence Levy My rating: 4 of 5 stars I think this book would probably pair quite well with Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, although I haven’t read that one. If it’s…
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Review: Race for the Iron Throne: Political and Historical Analysis of “A Game of Thrones”
Race for the Iron Throne: Political and Historical Analysis of “A Game of Thrones” by Steven Attewell My rating: 4 of 5 stars I heard about this book when Steve Attewell appeared on Boars, Gore, and Swords – my favorite Game of Thrones podcast. On that episode he mentioned how both GoT and the books…
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Perfect Blue
I used to hate Hunger Games because I considered it to be yet another example of America getting credit, fame, etc from another culture’s work; Battle Royale in this case. Eventually, I got the Hunger Games Trilogy from a Humble Bundle and read it, realizing that while the plots were the same in the abstract…
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Review: Elantris, Part 2 of 3
Elantris, Part 2 of 3 by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars As the middle section of a novel, it was mostly concerned with expanding backstory and a few false starts at the climax. (Intentional false starts….more of a meta note) The three main thesis Sanderson seemed to have for this part of…