Two Stars

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.

Honestly, don’t remember much about this book but I know it hasn’t aged well.

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.

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

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 its 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

I learned a bunch of the lessons here the hard way, so I didn’t get as much out of it. Padded even though it’s under 200 pages. However, I do wish I could force everyone else to read this.

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.

Came highly recommended (and is very well-regarded) but didn’t fully click for me. Interesting ideas and I can imagine it’d hit different in the context of the 1970s.

Beautifully-written, but the romance wasn’t for me

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 thought-provoking point, but with about twice as many pages as necessary which dilutes the message

I should probably re-read this one.

I don’t understand how this got so many accolades, especially since the second half of the film goes hard into physical comedy

It’s another John Wick movie; you already know if you’ll like it.

Solid zombie movie that delivers exactly what you expect

This was fine, but forgettable

Another acceptable family watch. I can only assume naming the main character “Purdue” was purposeful, given how much it borrows from Indiana Jones.

Well-crafted and acted, but the pacing is off and it’s way too long.

Just barely watchable for family movie night; the first, of course, is much better.

Sad Dad divorce drama

Talented cast, some beautifully shot scenes, but ultimately fairly boring.

Fargo meets Hot Fuzz, but unfortunately not as good as either. Some decent humor though, so above average for the genre.

Only for Neptunes/Pharrell super-fans

Futurama did it first, shorter, and better, but a decent family watch.

Some fun surreal bits here and there

Some interesting ideas, but ultimately I’m just not super into horror/thrillers so perhaps this was lost on me.

Enjoyable dumb movie

A bit much at times, but it’s a fun watch. Getting a very attractive actress to play your spouse is clearly a great perk of acting in films you wrote.

Mix of Mr. Robot and Jason Bourne, but not as good as either.

Oscar Isaac is great as always and I tend to like gambling films, but this didn’t quite do it for me

Another really well-made & acted movie that ends up being a bit stressful to watch

A bit campy at times, but this was better than expected.

Well-made, but the slowest-paced (though perhaps most realistic) heist movie I’ve ever seen.

Well-made, great acting, but covers the less interesting half of the The Odyssey and just drags

I only watched this because Matt Damon said it had to be optimized for people multitasking. Definitely some slightly awkward dialog at times, but otherwise a solid action film.

I typically love Edgar Wright films, but not this one.

Clears the very low bar of being the best of the superhero movies I saw this year. I don’t know why I keep trying.

Not my favorite genre, but if you’re into horror movies this is worthwhile.

Some funny things here and there, but way worse than it should be given the amount of talent