Two Stars
A bit niche, perhaps
Books
The Simpsons’ comic book guy vibe, but for an entire book. Got old quickly.
This book is somewhat famous in software circles as a shining example of documenting best practices. It’s definitely interesting to skim through, but unless you’re an urban planner or something it’s not a particularly great read as it’s just a huge list of best practices for physical spaces.
A forgettable failed attempt to re-capture the spirit of Ready Player One
Loved The Martian, but this felt like it was trying too hard.
Some good ideas, but could have been condensed into a long article.
I haven’t played the games or watched the show, but the books are enjoyable enough if you like the genre.
Final book jumps quite a bit ahead in time, can be skipped
Honestly, don’t remember much about this book but I know it hasn’t aged well.
Some good ideas, but way too long
The two books are interesting takes on foreign intelligence. The third book is skippable.
The first book is definitely worth reading, the rest are quite different.
I know a lot of people that love this 10-book series, but I wasn’t a fan of the first, though the second was better
There were a few interesting parts here, but ultimately this book less about AI and more about philosophy/the meaning of life. Not my cup of tea, I preferred Superintelligence.
The evolution and biology of a vastly different form of life living on a neutron star. Some interesting ideas, but should have been half the length. Written in the 80s and showing it’s age.
Quick series with some interesting ideas (human hive minds, vampires in space).
Easy reading, but gets repetitive after a while
Classic Stephenson: Interesting ideas, but drags at times.
The movie translated this very well, no particular reason to read it if you’ve seen it
I read the Portuguese (Portugal) translations of these
Light and easy popcorn fantasy
This won the Hugo in 2023. It’s … fine. Easy read but not particularly memorable.
Like a lot of highly-influential books, ends up feeling dated and overhyped because it’s innovative ideas have been copied and improved upon by others.
Some interesting ideas, but a bit of a slog
Didn’t speak to me, but perhaps I was too young
Stephenson’s books always take a while to get going, and this is just Book 1 so still too early to really judge
Nowhere near as good as the first.
Enjoyed some of the background and anecdotes, but not quite enough there unless you’re a huge fan
I preferred his previous book, Ratio
There is very little new here if you’ve read Guns, Germs, and Steel and The Third Chimpanzee, both of which I recommend over this
There are over 15 books in this series, not ready to dedicate that much time here
Very different vibe than the film
Some interesting ideas, but not my favorite of his
Zen advice on the creative process, can dip in and out of the book depending on where you are in a project. I wish he’d used specific examples from his work, but the book is probably already a bit longer than it could be anyway.
Not great, but not as bad as I thought it would be.
Like many of these types of books, a bit padded to get to book length. Kondo comes off as quite a bit kooky, but the general intention and advice is good and can inspire some good habits.
A bit too cutesy for my taste, but came highly recommended so might still read the others in the series.
Heard a lot of hype about Emily Wilson’s modern translation, so decided to give it a shot. I found the preface and initial notes to be fairly interesting, and the translation is definitely more readable than what I remember in high school. However, finishing this ended up being a bit of a slog for me.
I should probably re-read this one.
Another plot-driven sci-fi popcorn read with a familiar story line
Makes an important and though-provoking point, but with about twice as many pages as necessary which dilutes the message
I should probably re-read this one.