Glorious (Heaven's Bowl 3) by Gregory Benford & Larry Niven (2020)

By the time I finished this third and final book, I overcame my revulsion to Benford's inscrutable and bizarre space aliens and enjoyed this finale, especially the ending. The number of mind-blowing revelations per second reached a crescendo; Niven's optimistic humanism was evident. 4/5 Stars.  I hope David Brin makes good on his threat to write more about the implications of engineering at immense scales (ringworlds, bowl worlds, twin-planets webs, Dyson spheres, etc.).

Books Mitch enjoyed in 2023

 

I value, cherish, and enjoy learning, scholarship, and reading. About half of what I read is for entertainment.  Like everyone else, I suffer from 150 cognitive biases, including "curse of knowledge bias," and "false consensus bias."  As a result, I unconsciously assume others have read as much as I have, that they remember everything they have read, and that they also enjoy reading.

In 2023 I read 170 books in five genres.  Here are some recommendations in no particular order: 

Fiction

Everyone loves Murderbot.  This new installment is extremely well-crafted. I predict it will win awards (Hugo, Locus).

Here is a 1994 Stephenson book that I had not read; it holds up very well 20 years later.  If you enjoy Neal Stephenson's books, go back and look for his earlier works.

This series is hilarious, silly, mindless madcap entertainment.

Here is a crypto-bro asteroid mining fantasy with some interesting science and plot points.

Juli Zeh is currently my favorite writer.  I read 5 of her books this year;  I highly recommend most of her books if you read German.

Non-Fiction

Many people have spoken to me about the topics covered in this book and why we should all read and discuss how it applies to our work. The book really is as fantastic as everyone said.   Now I understand all those commit messages and code comments such as "DDIA page 132." I cannot recommend this book enough. The book exceeded my high expectations.

In 2023 I read seven Patrick Lencioni books.  At least two of them have helped my career and the engagement of my teams.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: This collection of journal entries is short, approachable, and interesting.

This book is interesting for people who are transitioning through the journeyman years of their careers towards mastery, or for people entering middle age.  The data and theories are well-presented despite the weak writing.

After a gap of 10 years, I read some Malcolm Gladwell books this year.  Most of them were not good but I liked this one.  As usual, Gladwell's stories are very entertaining; readers love the stories and scientists dislike the presentation of the science.

Aftermath: Expeditionary Force 16 by Craig Alanson (2023)

Fantastic resurrection to this fun series.  Hilarious, mindless entertainment. 5/5 Stars

Tell No One by Harlan Coben (2001)

Another Harlan Coben thriller with identical plot elements to all the others: the reluctant hero with true grit who overcomes overwhelming odds and circumstances, a deep, dark murder mystery, evil overlords in a criminal  conspiracy, and horrifying, sudden violence. The protagonist, of course, lives happily ever after, 4/5 Stars.

Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies that'll improve or ruin everything by Kelly & Zach Weinersmith (2017)

Fun romp through emerging revolutionary technologies by the Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal cartoonist and lawyer wife pair. Lots of funny anecdotes.  Like most popular science, the predictions in the book were overtaken by events since it was published, so it's not nearly as good as it was in 2016.  3/5 Stars.

Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef (2010)

This poorly-written but interesting autobiography has risen in popularity again since the invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, the ensuing depraved torture, rape, and mass murder of civilians, and Israel's reaction to the modern-day mass slaughter. The context is interesting and I did learn a few things but the book is not that good. 2/5 Stars. 

starter villain by John Scalzi (2023)

The author suffered terribly from the lockdowns in 2020 and his writing suffered.  This book is not among his best work but it is still very good. The dialog and characters are fun but the plot is a little discombobulated, 4/5 Stars.

Discovery by B. V. Larson (2023)

I probably would have enjoyed this book in 1963 but my tastes have changed.  2/5 Stars, not good.

System Collapse by Martha Wells (2023)

Drop what you are doing and read this book.  It is the best murderbot book yet. 5/5 Stars. If the judges have teenaged children Martha Wells will win all of the awards again for this one.

ShipStar by Larry Niven & Gregory Benford (2014)

I am glad I picked up the series again.  The second book is slightly better with the introduction of new space alien species and mysterious tech stuff.  The character arcs are poorly motivated but I liked the story. 4/5 Stars.

Callsign Valkyrie by Jason Anspach, Nick Cole, Walt Robillard (2023)

Self-contained, backstory of factions during the reign of the evil "House of Reason" era of Galaxy's Edge. Not bad. 4/5 Stars.

Redshirts: A novel with three Codas by John Scalzi (2012)

Funny, clever, fourth-wall breaking book that becomes "meta" as bizarre metaphysical paradoxes intermingle.  Fun stories, good characters, very entertaining, 5/5 Stars.