Permutation City by Greg Egan (2014)

Greg Egan is  among the hard sci-fi authors I have been meaning to read for several decades (since the 1980s).  But I never got around to reading a single one of his books.  I really enjoyed this book, despite the overwhelming barrage of mind-blowing ideas per second.  I love the author's science and math.  I love the Australian slice-of-life personal relationships, values, and dialogue. The story is also amazing. 5/5 Stars.  I shall definitely read more of his books this year. I am also satisfied that I am now reading some good books after a string of bad ones.

Mehr als nur Atome von Sabine Hossenfelder (2023

Ich habe dieses Buch wirklich genossen. Der Autor macht einige absichtlich kontroverse und bissige Behauptungen. Sie kritisiert Physiker und ihre Finanzierungsquellen. Sie geht tief in die Metaphysik und die Philosophie dessen ein, was wir glauben sollten. 5/5 Sterne.

Fool me once by Harlan Coben (2016)

Fun, entertaining, interesting story with a big heart. 4/5 Stars.

The Forever World by Ethan Rhodes (2024)

This book is terrible.  I stopped reading about 1/3 of the way through. Bad physics, bad economics, cardboard characters, terrible cliché tropes, yuck, blech. 0/5 Stars.

Hacking the Hacker by Roger A Grimes (2017)

I know much too little about cybersecurity and this dense, simple, approachable book is a good overview with some useful information.  It's not really technical enough for me and there is too much attention to the older material of interviews the author had conducted previously. I am disappointed. 3/5 Stars.

New Earth by Ben Bova (2013)

In the last millenium, I used to read magazines that published Ben Bova's stories and I would sometimes read one of his books.  I am not a big fan of his characters, style, or world building because there are frequently too many pivotal moments that change everything too suddenly and I can't sustain my disbelief. I don't know why this one appeared in my stack; it is the 21st novel in a series, very few of which I read.  It's not that bad, but still not great. 3/5 Stars.  I shall not read the others.

The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow (2024)

Another rant and adventure in the life of "forensic accountant" Martin Hench. This time Martin takes on a few of the evil people behind the catastrophe of the private equity roll-up of the California prison system (department of corrections).  Cory's books are almost alway interesting and fun. 5/5 Stars.

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas (2017)

This second book in the "Lady Sherlock" series is slightly better than the first one and continues to develop the author's alternative Holmes universe with the emergences of the mysterious "Moriarity" super-villain. 3/5 Stars.

Zwischen Welten von Juli Zeh & Simon Urban (2023)

„Wir glauben stets einer Meinung sein zu müssen, um einander nicht zu verlieren."

Das Buch ist eine fesselnde Geschichte über die Milchbäuerin Theresa und den Journalisten Stefan. Es wird in Form von WhatsApp-Nachrichten und E-Mails geschrieben.

Es ist ein fantastisches Buch: zynisch, polemisch und aktuell. Aber es ist auch voller Plattitüden, Stereotypen und deprimierenden Ereignissen. Keiner der Protagonisten ist sympathisch und dieses Stilmittel der Geschichte ist beabsichtigt. Wie alle Bücher von Juli Zeh regt diese Geschichte dazu an, lange und intensiv über die eigenen Werte und das Verhältnis zur Gesellschaft nachzudenken. 5/5 Sterne.

The Parasitic Mind by Gad Saad (2020)

I had some relatively high expectations for the cogency, science, and rigor when I started reading the book but  am now disappointed.  The author spends too much time in righteous indignation and goes into great detail about how irrational, primitive, and unenlightened academic institutions have become as they teach odd religious indoctrination instead of science, objective reality, or humanist enlightenment. I did learn a few things that are interesting, though. 3/5 Stars.