What makes you feel bad must be eradicated

Someone pointed me at this fascinating Boston Globe opinion piece that is worth sharing.  It has some interesting insights but is an inadequate summary of the 25-year study on which the author's concepts are based. The Atlantic article she cites is another great companion piece.  As the author says, "Living in a society means encountering people who test us, or annoy us, or infuriate us—or to whom we ourselves are tiresome, annoying, and infuriating."  Trying to remove all friction is fruitless and counter-productive.

Quantum Earth, Book 2: Earthside by Denis E. Taylor

The story continues.  Still fun. 4/5 Stars.

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

It's been a (long) while since Gladwell's David and Goliath (2013).  I do not read Gladwell's New Yorker column or listen to his podcast, so I have not kept up with his ideas and opinions.  I stumbled across this 2019 book in my library and was happy to read it on Libby.  As usual, the book is very entertaining; readers love it and critics dislike it. The logic and science are relatively weak but the rhetorical methods and story-telling are fantastic.  As always, I enjoyed the stories. 4/5 Stars.

Ceephay Queen by Joel Shepherd

I love the Spiral Wars series by Shepherd.  The two year gap between Qalea Drop and Ceephay Queen was difficult to endure but enhanced the pleasure of diving back into the Spiral Wars universe with my beloved characters.  I intentionally read this book slowly and even recorded some aphorisms:

One worries less about turbulence when one is a pilot. There is a metaphor in there somewhere.

You start to use it, thinking it is a saddle but it ends up being a leash.

A person meets her destiny on the road she takes to avoid it.

Nothing is more dangerous than an officer with a good idea.

The photon hits the electron; the wave hits the shore; we are all just pawns in some larger game; the magic of sentience lies in the attempt to make the process slightly less random.

Why make a small threat when you can make a bigger one?

The day humanity accepts that "dangerous" automatically means "bad" is the day we start to go extinct.

You may not be interested in violence but violence is always interested in you.

I was disappointed in Styx's new character arc and her dialogue; I don't particularly like most of the new characters.  The new species, Rhee incompetence, and lazy writing about the politics are also a little disappointing. The book is still fantastic and I can't wait for the next installment. 5/5 Stars.

Utopia by Lincoln Child

I picked this up at the library the last time I was there.  The book is a little dated; the similarities to Disney are blindingly obvious.  The characters are poorly developed.  The story line is fun, though. 3/5 Stars.

Behemoth B-Max && Behemoth Seppuku: Rifters Behemoth by Peter Watts

I love the author's biology babble because it is well-grounded in hard science. But the Internet stuff (Maelstrom) is poorly researched.  The characters continue into new character arcs as they grow in their hero's journeys.  I was a little confused at the end.  Very thrilling and enjoyable read, 4/5 Stars.

Wayward Galaxy 5 by Jason Anspach & J N Chaney

Disappointing.  The dialog, especially by the Brody character, is flat and no longer funny.  The story and love interest was ok and I liked the ending 3/5 Stars.

The Man Who Solved the Market by Gary Zuckerman

I became curious about Jim Simons when I heard Brian Keating talk about him recently so I read this book.  The last few chapters are very good and extremely worthwhile.  I learned a lot about what Finance Quants have been doing since 2018 as well as the bizarre politics and polarization during the Trump presidency. I appreciate the author's balanced and objective approach to telling each person's story.  However, everyone in the book without exception is a terrible human being, even Jim Simons.  And it seems all of the leaders involved in the ecosystem of trading stocks, bonds, and derivatives are terrible. 3/5 Stars.

Swann's War by Michael Oren

I am a big fan of Dr. Oren's history books so when I saw this one in the library I grabbed it.  The story is interesting and good; the mystery is ok, not that great.  I love the historical context and setting. 3/5 Stars.

Roadkill by Dennis E Taylor (Audio book)

The Bobiverse author has a few new books out since he wrote The Singularity Trap and I was not keeping up.  This short audiobook was fun and the voice acting was great.  The snarky, sarcastic "Marvin" trope character was well done. Aside: I have been reading a lot of books with this trope recently.  The magic system had lots of rough edges and the ending appeared condensed and rushed.  But it was still fun.  Good voice acting makes a big difference. 4/5 Stars.