K.A. Ashcomb's Blog, page 45
July 28, 2020
Book Review: Me, Myself, and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being by Brian Little
A book about the big five personality traits and plus much more from one of the leading personality psychologists. He writes the Myers-Briggs personality type indicator is feel good, like a horoscope that will explain everything when you get the results. But the point of the book is not to trash the test but to shed light on stable personality traits and what they mean. The first point is there is no dualistic nature, meaning you are one or another. It is more like a scale, where you are not stu...
July 26, 2020
Book Review: The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
A murder mystery with a twist. This book will be hard to review as everything hangs up from the mystery who killed Evelyn Hardcastle and the secrets behind it. The story is told from the first-person narrative where the day repeats itself, and the narrator has amnesia. The voice of the main character is compelling, which is done with clever writing and immediacy in the syntax. He is kind and lovable because he repeatedly shows he cares about the murder and is compelled to solve it despite what p...
July 20, 2020
Book Review: The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross
The Jennifer Morgue is a Lovecraftian spy thriller with humor for geeks. Also, it is the second book of the Laundry Files series. I’m not sure which one the book is: a eulogy for Bond movies and books or trying to fix them with a beta-male character and hint of realism as far as the Lovecraftian universe can go. Whatever the reasons are, it is a fast novel with gadgets, dangerous missions, and a lot of confusion. The story and characters also show how well-read Charles Stross is and how he doesn...
July 19, 2020
Book Review: The Just City by Jo Walton
This book is a Plato’s city ruled by philosopher-kings imagined alive. A test to see if it is possible and where the pitfalls would lay. The book follows three central characters: a god turned into a human male to see what it is like to live as a mortal; a young girl brought into the city as a slave who has time to become more than she would have ever come: study, do sports, be free to think and argue with others, love and live; a Victorian era woman brought into the city to guide and mentor the...
July 13, 2020
My Top 3 Books in June
Hello! Sorry about not posting a review today. There won’t be one tomorrow either. I took a week off last week and haven’t got reading or writing done. I visited my family up north, spending time with them at a seaside cabin. Now I’m charging batteries from the trip and getting back to my regular rhythm. Also, I started an online tutorial for Amazon ads. Today was the first lesson with homework, so it will take up my time for next week. Exciting stuff, but sometimes I wish I was traditionally pu...
July 9, 2020
Short Story: December Child
They call me December Child. I came here fifteen years ago. They say I was born on the darkest day when the sun barely shone. I remember nothing of my home—only the smell of Juniper trees and my mother watching the birds from the open doorway. That is my last memory of her. The last memory of mine to call my own.
Now, I’m a force. They say without me, thousands would die. I believe them. Heat pulses through my veins and the veins of my kind. When we release it to the system, we give electrici...
July 6, 2020
Book Review: Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
Wintersmith is always a pleasure to read. Tiffany has come a long way from who she was when she rescued her little brother and baron’s son from the Queen of Fairies. She is more sure of herself and of her talents, and a clear understanding of what witching is all about. But she still has growing up to do as becoming a witch you have to face your own mistakes. No one will be there to rescue you, as you are usually the one who does the rescuing. Okay, the older witches help her, but she has to do ...
Book Review: One Wild Bird at a Time: Portraits of Individual Lives by Bernd Heinrich
A stream of consciousness on observing birds sprinkled with facts and hypotheses. I’m not sure if I can explain more. I listened to this book, and it feels like it was only a dream—a pleasant one for sure. But I’m not sure if I hold on to a single fact. Except one where Bernd Heinrich hid a tube inside a nest to observe the cocktail the chicks got. Surprisingly many ants, bugs, and larva find themselves to feed the young.
Actually, no, not a stream of consciousness, maybe more like an ode to...
June 29, 2020
Book Review: Empire Games by Charles Stross
This is a spy-thriller, a cross timeline sci-fi tale, and a personal growth story. Rita has graduated from the university and still hasn’t found her direction, or she has, but getting on stage isn’t easy. Her past comes calling, and she has to face it. “Has to” is too kind, she is forced to face it. She is the daughter of a world-walker, and the US government wants her to work for them, help travel between timelines. There is a feud going on between different known timelines, which has caused th...
June 28, 2020
Book Review: Chaos by James Gleick
My initial idea was to skip reviewing this book and give only stars at Goodreads, but here we are. I had to lend my husband’s brain with this book, meaning I read aloud to him to better understand the scientific concepts. Reading aloud helped to slow down and take in the actual words written. While I have some basic idea of physics and the language used there, I’m not even a novice with the subject. I was more comfortable with biological examples of chaos. That said, I would say this is more a h...
