**spoiler alert** Three and a half stars. It earned the half star because I was so happy the book didn't finish with yet another tedious, violent batt...more**spoiler alert** Three and a half stars. It earned the half star because I was so happy the book didn't finish with yet another tedious, violent battle. (less)
As somebody who falls into one of the most taxed income brackets, I have to say my blood is still boiling after reading this book. It was well-written...moreAs somebody who falls into one of the most taxed income brackets, I have to say my blood is still boiling after reading this book. It was well-written in that it was a quick, interesting read that didn't get too bogged down in the nitty-gritty. But I wish the author had given us more in the way of possible solutions. (less)
This was like catnip for my inner skeptic (really? no studies have shown a correlation between increased craziness/violence and full moons? hmmm). At...moreThis was like catnip for my inner skeptic (really? no studies have shown a correlation between increased craziness/violence and full moons? hmmm). At 29 chapters there were bunches of interesting "myths" covered. However some of the chapters were much better written than others. Some had a downright pop science feel while others were the dullest of scholarly works. Almost every chapter included a full bibliography... just in case your inner skeptic wasn't satisfied.
My copy said it was reprinted and newly edited version which makes me wonder why it contained so many typos. Seriously, you'd think a prestigious press such as Oxford University Press could dig up a decent editor. (less)
Look ma! I found all the techno-babble they (thankfully) left out of the movie! My life just wasn't complete until I knew just what "red matter" is. H...moreLook ma! I found all the techno-babble they (thankfully) left out of the movie! My life just wasn't complete until I knew just what "red matter" is. Ha! Anyway, wish I'd read it before the movie came out because it fills in some of the gaps.
If I could give it 4.5 stars I would but I rounded up because I loved the book despite the fact that it was about baseball. What reeled me in was the...moreIf I could give it 4.5 stars I would but I rounded up because I loved the book despite the fact that it was about baseball. What reeled me in was the engaging mixture of personal stories combined with newfangled analysis of basesball statistics. I had a lot of baseball inflicted on me as a child, so it was intriguing to take a look at the game from a whole new perspective.
Not to mention, the author got in some wonderful zingers. My favorites included calling certain teams right-out stupid (bwaahahahahaha!). And the classic from page 149: "The great thing about baseball players, from teh point of view of personal hygiene, is how seldom they break a sweat." Lines like that will keep me reading anything! (less)
Amusing enough read considering it was written by an adult who's clearly been out of high school long enough to remember only stereotypical things abo...moreAmusing enough read considering it was written by an adult who's clearly been out of high school long enough to remember only stereotypical things about those years.
I took a star off because of all the fantastical things that happened in the book snow in Monrovia, CA was just beyond belief. Seriously, look at a map, man!(less)
Despite the subject matter (I hate fight until one person remains standing plotlines), I managed to finish. I can only hope the next two books make it...moreDespite the subject matter (I hate fight until one person remains standing plotlines), I managed to finish. I can only hope the next two books make it worth my slogging through the corpses...(less)
What a fun read! The book packed with tons of interesting tidbits all written in a very engaging style. Definitely a perfect vacation read.
I can't dec...moreWhat a fun read! The book packed with tons of interesting tidbits all written in a very engaging style. Definitely a perfect vacation read.
I can't decide if my high school chemistry teacher would be happy I'm still interested or sad that I've forgotten so much!(less)
Started off a bit slow and I thought there was too much of Mary in the beginning (ugh, I hate personal essays) but she pulled it off in the end. Defin...moreStarted off a bit slow and I thought there was too much of Mary in the beginning (ugh, I hate personal essays) but she pulled it off in the end. Definitely the first of her books that I wished were longer because it felt like were just starting into the good stuff at the end.
All in all, I had to give the book four stars. How could I give it any fewer when it made me laugh out loud so many times? (less)
Overall a very engaging read. The author did not let me down as far as writing style; he's both quippy and clever. He also managed to keep my attentio...moreOverall a very engaging read. The author did not let me down as far as writing style; he's both quippy and clever. He also managed to keep my attention even through some pretty minutia-filled explanations of grammar by selecting meaningful examples. And, best of all, I learned some intriguing things about the how languages develop and change.
Heh, don't think I'm not going to use everything I read here to defend my abuses of the English language. Hee, I'm not dumbing down the language, I'm just helping it move along an inevitable evolutionary path.(less)
I was reeled in by the initial, easy to understand concepts. Heh, yeah, I thought to myself, thanks for the review of my favorite Greek thinkers of yo...moreI was reeled in by the initial, easy to understand concepts. Heh, yeah, I thought to myself, thanks for the review of my favorite Greek thinkers of yore. Of course, things got a bit more complicated pretty fast. But that's ok because every new (to me!) theory was clearly presented and simply expained (no math!) and it was a pleasure to follow as the authors laid the foundations for me to understand how our univervse unfolded. Ok, while making my head spin in a delightful way.
Oh, and as someone who's neither particularly spiritual nor god-fearing, I particularly enjoyed the - how shall I say - science-based speculation. Finally a creation story with no god...(less)
As far as I'm concerned the only thing this book has going for it is a fascinating premise. Personally, I need more compelling characters and, well, a...moreAs far as I'm concerned the only thing this book has going for it is a fascinating premise. Personally, I need more compelling characters and, well, a hint of plot to make this kind of slog bearable.(less)
The book was chock full of fun but I just didn't think it was written very well. For example, I appreciated all the 80s references but found...more3.5 stars
The book was chock full of fun but I just didn't think it was written very well. For example, I appreciated all the 80s references but found the massive amount of exposition of those references to be incredibly mindnumbing. I thought the best part of the book was when the main character finally unjacked himself from the system and took care of some business in the real world. Finally, some originality!
I also found the book to be pretty shallow emotionally probably because the characters rarely interacted in "reality." (Yeah, I'm old school in that I think reality is something experienced by engaging on a physical plane.)
But as I said, there were plenty of fun times in the book, so I gave it an extra star for that. Plus, now I have a crazy urge to find and play a copy of the text-based game, Pyramid, that I never actually conquered when I was a wee young thing.(less)
Bwahahahahaha! I loved everything about this book. Admittedly, I'm sure that at times if I actually knew more about Canada, I might have gotten more o...moreBwahahahahaha! I loved everything about this book. Admittedly, I'm sure that at times if I actually knew more about Canada, I might have gotten more of the jokes (e.g. the chapter on politics). But even in those more opaque chapters, there were gems that made me laugh out loud (e.g. the father explaining politics to his son a la "birds and bees").
It almost makes me want to read a real book about Canada. But I'll probably just try one of the author's other books instead.(less)
I had a hard time rating this book. When it was good, it was really good. But when it was bad, it was awful!
I really enjoyed the very readable inform...moreI had a hard time rating this book. When it was good, it was really good. But when it was bad, it was awful!
I really enjoyed the very readable information on the progress in DNA analysis that's been made recently (as it applies to genealogical research). I was very interested in the summary discussion of Native American, European, and African clans. More specifically, the issues surrounding Native Americans and genetic testing and the feeling of connection to African roots were both engagingly covered.
However, Asian Americans got the complete shaft. Maybe instead of rambling on about how the English gentry went about diffusing their genes into the general population some time could have been spent on Asian Americans (they are roughly 5% of the US population!).
Also, the author made a few too many generalizations that really bugged me. For example, pretty early on the author states that among European Americans, there are few genetic surprises i.e. that they know where their family roots lie in Europe. Maybe this is true for most of the EAs the author met, but I suspect millions of Americans might be so sure (what you call a family legend, I call wishful thinking).
Clearly compiling a genetic portrait of the United States is a major undertaking and as long as you're not looking for a 100% of the picture, this can be a perfectly enjoyable book. In other words, once I scaled down my expectations, I was pretty happy!(less)
Page after page of this really brought home why I don't read memoirs. Ugh, Pegg spent what felt like an unending number of pages on his forma...more2.5 stars
Page after page of this really brought home why I don't read memoirs. Ugh, Pegg spent what felt like an unending number of pages on his formative years which would have been fine, I guess, if they had been even a little bit compelling (he seemed to have a very typical childhood - nothing exciting to see there). Also, it just wasn't written very well - it was too scattered and disorganized.
When he finally got to things I would have been interested in, not only was my attention span shot on the dullness of his childhood, but the writing felt rushed. For example, he mentioned how he got various gigs, but didn't really fill in the gaps. I get the impression he's an intelligent guy but he just didn't seem to be able to convey any of his (what could have been) more interesting life events in an engaging way!
I gave it an extra star for the lovely Star Wars musings, but subtracted half of it because I wanted more. More geekiness, more analysis, more insight!(less)
I have no idea how the author managed to restrain himself from answering most of the questions with "it's complicated." Indians are such a di...more3.5 stars
I have no idea how the author managed to restrain himself from answering most of the questions with "it's complicated." Indians are such a diverse group with a complex array of histories and experiences that I was a bit surprised anybody would even tackle a project like this.
The "Everything " part of the equation covered a huge range of topics and the answers were short and snappy (I'd say short and painless except reading about genocide is anything but painless for me). The answers came from an Ojibwe-centric viewpoint, which is fine, but it's just something to keep in mind. The book offers a very readable introduction but I was happy the author included a nice list of additional readings for those who want to dig deeper.(less)
I randomly picked this one from the university catalog when I was trying to help a student find a timeline of the 2008 financial crisis and was, despi...moreI randomly picked this one from the university catalog when I was trying to help a student find a timeline of the 2008 financial crisis and was, despite all odds, reeled into reading the whole thing. I got sucked in by clear explanations and rational analysis of events that unfolded in 1998 with the collapse of LTCM and in 2008 with the implosion of the housing bubble and beyond.
Of course, when I say rational analysis, that's keeping in mind this was written by someone with deep ties to the finance/banking industry (even if I suspect he may have learned from his time in higher ed to include the most basic examples shooting for helping the lowest common denominator understand the super basics of finance. For which I am incredibly grateful since my BBA is a little dusty at this point). So, if you're looking for an in-depth analysis of predatory lending practices or improper foreclosure proceedings around the crisis, forget it, this is not the book for you. But if you want to understand the mechanics of some banking/financial activities and the consequences of those activities as they relate to various financial crises, then by all means dig in!
I also mean rational in that the author mostly maintains a cool, collected voice throughout. Nobody is demonized (nor were any specific financial instruments). No major rants were delivered (though he clearly has some issues with affirmative action but I'm not familiar enough with the details to do anything other than roll my eyes and move on). However, do not deny yourself the pleasure of reading the footnotes. While the text itself isn't screedy, the footnotes contain some more, shall I say, pointed? biting? sarcastic? comments. Good to know the author isn't an emotionless quant drone after all.(less)
Evil is, apparently, everywhere in popular culture (ok, and probably everywhere in general, but that's not what this is about). Didn't watch Star Wars...moreEvil is, apparently, everywhere in popular culture (ok, and probably everywhere in general, but that's not what this is about). Didn't watch Star Wars or read Harry Potter? No problem, there are essays analyzing evil through the lens of other pop culture works - video games, tv shows (Buffy, Lost, 24), movies, and even Shakespeare.
As can happen with any collection of essays, there was some unevenness in tone and such between the essays. Some were a little bit stuffy (e.g. Bowman's essay on the "great mother archetype" in Disney cartoons) while others came close to being fanboyish (e.g. Yperen's essay on Darth Vader). But overall it was an engaging read that got me thinking about evil - not in a "wow - evil is awesome" kind of way - but rather in a "hmmm, I never really thought about it that way" kind of way.
My favorite chapter analyzed (and gave the slam down on) His Dark Materials but I was most impressed with Larsen's ability to bring together Lost, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Doctor Who to discuss Frankenstein's legacy of the mad scientist. Fun times!(less)
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