Sunday, January 8, 2023

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan


The story is exciting and dramatic. But the historical settings, travel, and technology of the era are poorly researched and inaccurate.  I also found the excessive racism and some of the one-dimensional cardboard characters unappealing and boring.  2/5 Stars. 

Friday, January 6, 2023

Paradise by Craig Alanson


The silly, funny dialogue, good space opera plotting (complete with awe, wonder, & mystery) continue. 4/5 Stars.  I shall read all the others in this series.

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte


Tiago's book is a nice manifesto about why you should take notes and organize them for yourself in the future, especially if you have no external process and structure.  I especially appreciate Tiago's technology-independent library of tools and approaches to each element of his system. 3/5 Stars. The book is a good edition to your "self help" library if you read in the genre.

The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre


The best of Macintyre's books yet.  Extremely interesting, informative, and entertaining. 5/5 Stars.

SpecOps by Craig Alanson


Fun, interesting, entertaining. 4/5 Stars.

Eine unbeliebte Frau von Nele Neuhaus


Die Hauptfiguren sind sympathisch, das Ermittler-Duo +Team sind erfreulich normal und der Kriminalfall bleibt auch lange Zeit spannend.  Leider war die Geschichte ein bisschen zu kompliziert. Das Buch ist jedoch sehr gut geschrieben und unterhaltsam. 4/5 Sterne.

Friday, December 16, 2022

Expeditionary Force book 2: SpecOps by Craig Alanson


The silliness and comedic bro banter continues in book 2.  The arbitrary magic system is a little annoying but otherwise it's very enjoyable and recommended! 4/5 Stars.

Saturday, December 10, 2022

If you think you know what a proton is

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Think again and read this interesting summary of recent research.  In particular, try to explain how what we currently perceive as a "proton" can sometimes be detected as a quark soup consisting of two charm quarks that weigh 1.3 times as much as the entire proton.  Forget conservation of mass.  Einstein might label it "spukhafte Gewichtsveränderung."

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Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Earthbound (Marsbound 3) by Joe Haldeman


Depressing and confusing ending to a great series.  Good closure for the characters. 4/5 Stars.

Monday, December 5, 2022

Ihr Letzter Wunch von Blake Pierce


Meine örtliche Bibliothek hat nur sehr wenige Bücher auf Deutsch. Unter den deutschen Büchern, die ich gelesen habe, ist dies eines davon. Nicht schrecklich, aber nicht gut. 2/5 Sterne.