false 3 29 19 true 5629586 read 4 true 4135952 currently-reading 6 true 4135951 to-read 23 false 4155426 kindle 2 false 4155481 library 2 false 4155446 home 1 false 5070023 could-not-finish http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77835904 Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right (Hardcover) by Jennifer Burns
bookshelves: currently-reading, kindle
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49292699 The Collected Stories of H. P. Lovecraft: Volume Four (Twenty-One Classic Horror Books in One Volume!) by H.P. Lovecraft
bookshelves: currently-reading, kindle
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76260642 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Kindle Edition) by Malcolm Gladwell
bookshelves: kindle
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75371345 to: Before I Forget (Paperback) by Leonard Pitts
bookshelves: kindle
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62686513 to: Manifold: Time (Kindle Edition) by Stephen Baxter
bookshelves: kindle
Sometimes, while reading a book, I wish I could ask the author: "You're going somewhere with all this, aren't you?"

Usually, this happens somewhere in the middle of the book. With Manifold: Time, it happened in the first few chapters.

We have a fella who's messing about with surplus NASA hardware, trying to build his own spaceship. We have another fella - who's more than a little creepy - predicting the imminent extinction of the human race.

There's a semi-sentient squid, too.

You're going somewhere with all this, aren't you, Mr. Baxter? Or is this going to be another Red Mars?

Later:

The good Mr. Baxter certainly went for the big finish in Manifold: Time, beating the previous record holder (Jack Chalker, who destroyed & recreated the entire universe at the end of The Return of Nathan Brazil).

There were a few fairly obvious sequel hooks: characters & scenes that didn't bring anything useful to the current story, but whose significance will be revealed in volume two.

Did I like Manifold: Time (which was free) enough to pay for the sequel, Manifold: Space? The jury's still out on that one. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66634894 The Year's Best Science Fiction: 26th Annual Collection (Paperback) by Gardner R. Dozois
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49292693 to: The Collected Stories of H. P. Lovecraft: Volume Three (Eight Classic Horror Books in One Volume!) by H.P. Lovecraft
bookshelves: kindle
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68760937 Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters (Hardcover) by Scott Rosenberg
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63654125 to: Free: The Future of a Radical Price (Hardcover) by Chris Anderson
bookshelves: kindle
An ok book. Not earth-shaking. The main thesis - that in many markets you can make more money selling X if you first give away Y for free - lies somewhere in the (large) middle ground between 'insightful' and 'painfully obvious'.

The Kindle edition of this book needs another editing pass. The block quotes (mostly from Wikipedia) aren't indented as they should be (no doubt contributing to the accusations of plagiarism made against Mr. Anderson). The sidebars are indented too far. The graphics are too small to read. Worst of all, somebody must have done a global replace on the text, turning every instance of 'Free' into 'free' - even the ones at the beginning of a sentence.

I know, the book was free, I shouldn't complain. But reading Free has made me less likely to read any of Mr. Anderson's other books, which probably wasn't what he intended. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63434303 Heart of Darkness (Kindle Edition) by Joseph Conrad
bookshelves: kindle, to-read
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