K.A. Ashcomb's Blog, page 49

Book Review: The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy by David Graeber

An excellent and horrible book at the same time. There is one underlying argument, and that is bureaucracy has shaped our societies, cultures, and systems and a lot. It has staunched creativity and innovations, and we seem to tell stories that try to break free of it or conform with it. But there is no apparent coherence in the book expect that assumption which David Graeber argues through the prologue, three essays, and conclusions. All of those are a miscellaneous collection of ideas and...

Top 3 Books in March

Hello everyone!

Sorry about writing this only now. My top 3 picks wholly slipped from my mind with all what is going on. March was a weird month for me, there was a lot of good books to choose from, but when it came to actual choosing, I only had one clear winner.

Awakenings by Oliver Sacks. A wonderfully eyeopening book that let me immerse into the patients lives before and after the sleeping sickness and l-dopa drug. Oliver Sacks writes so beautifully about his patients, treating them...

Book Review: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

A good book makes you lose time. Artificial Condition did just that. Also, a writer who dares for one dialog with two of their main characters take most of the books space gets my standing ovation. The scene between Murderbot and the Research Transport vessel (ART) when they first meet is one of the best storytelling and dialog I have read for a long time. It is the intensity and the concept Martha Wells plays with, which made this one of my favorites. Also, if you get two artificial...

Short Story: Efficient Systems

There used to be chaos, but then we terminated unnecessary connections. Gradually we got an efficient structure, and now we are running like a machine. Better than a machine as we are flexible and learning. This was his usual speech, which he gave to all the newcomers.

They usually nodded eagerly. Some buffed their chest proud they got to work in the central system. A system that kept everything operational. But this new fellow. She just stood there giving no indication she had registered his...

Book Review: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

You know that book you pick up, and you read it through one sitting. This is one of those books (the whole series is, just finished with the fourth first novellas. I will review them all one by one.) Actually, I listened to this book. And the narration is superb and fitting for this series. The whole the Murderbot Diaries series is light, entertaining, short, riveting, starting from All Systems Red. Oh, you can ponder deep thoughts about free will, AIs, freedom, servitude, emotions, and all...

Book Review: The World According to Garp by John Irving

I wanted to love this book as much as I did A Prayer for Owen Meany. And at first, I did. Jenny, a nurse and some might call her a feminist, not her though, was a compelling character with a strong voice and convictions. Her life was bizarre and clear, and I had fun following her. But then T. S. Garp, her son, and a writer, took over the book. Regrettably, I found his voice lacking and mundane. I didnt care about him trying to find his place in the world or him coming to peace about his...

Short Stories: Not One or the Other

To see life through oblong eyes, to walk on four instead of two, to rely on smells. How different this mortal coil would be? I wonder this every time I turn. Do I kid myself to know a thing or two about this infliction as I trot on with my soft paws? Or do I truly feel what a creature of my appearance would feel? The old question about substance and matter never leaves me alone.

But that is not the only question I ask. Along with the shape and matter comes the pondering of belonging. Am I...

Book Review: The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Crivens! Now that I got that under the way, we can start the review. Okay, one more. I promise. Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willnae be fooled again! Does anything else have to be said about the book? I believe those two sentences sum everything up. Sure Big wee hag or Tiffany Achings heroism should maybe be mentioned that you get a better picture of what the book is about. And I might clarify for those unfamiliar with the two lines quoted at the beginning, those are the...

Book Review: Awakenings by Oliver Sacks

This book goes beyond science to personal accounts of the patients and Oliver Sacks, though, never leaving the realm of science and what is known about mental and neurological issues. This shows that science doesnt have to be cold, but also that compassion and caring arent illogical and outside the realm of medicine. Oliver Sacks voice makes the Awakenings beautiful, humane, and touching. He made me see the agony the patients felt and the glory and confusion of the reawakenings.

Oliver Sacks...

Short Story: The Last Sound You Make

It is the noise I hear at night. The howl behind my window. I get up to look around. I am greeted with ugly yellow lights and the still streets. I go back to bed.

Of course, you do not see me. I scratch your window again, letting out my moan. This time you pull the covers over your head.

I cannot sleep. My nerves are thinning. That I am sure of. As long as I acknowledge that, I am fine. Or so I think in this state when the tick of the clock is slipping to the side of dawn.

You toss and turn....