Aneel reviewed Crum: the novel by Lee Maynard
Review of 'Crum' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Bookclub book. Depressing.
Reviews and Comments
He/Him. In the USA... for now. Mastodon
I only track books that I read for pleasure, mostly SF/Fantasy. I've fallen out of the habit of actually writing reviews beyond giving a star rating. It would be nice to get back into that habit.
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Aneel reviewed In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente (The Orphan's Tales, #2)
A Book of Wonders for Grown-Up ReadersEvery once in a great while a book comes …
Review of "The orphan's tales." on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Excellent. Darker than In the Night Garden, but still enchanting. I think that the next time I read these books, I'm going to have to diagram the relationships as I go. Knowing that it all does fit together in a large pattern will make things simpler.
Excellent. Darker than In the Night Garden, but still enchanting. I think that the next time I read these books, I'm going to have to diagram the relationships as I go. Knowing that it all does fit together in a large pattern will make things simpler.
Aneel reviewed Seed to Harvest by Octavia E. Butler
Review of 'Seed to Harvest' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is a collection of four novels, three of which focus on the emergence of psychic powers in humanity and the consequences thereof, and two of which deal with a struggle between humans and alien organisms. There's a thematic thread running through them all about the morality of survival and the value of life. I found them stronger on character than on plot.
This is a collection of four novels, three of which focus on the emergence of psychic powers in humanity and the consequences thereof, and two of which deal with a struggle between humans and alien organisms. There's a thematic thread running through them all about the morality of survival and the value of life. I found them stronger on character than on plot.
Aneel reviewed The virgin suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Virgin Suicides is a 1993 debut novel by the American author Jeffrey Eugenides. The …
Review of 'The virgin suicides' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Quick read. Not sure what to make of it.
Aneel reviewed The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
The Anubis Gates is a 1983 time travel fantasy novel by American writer Tim Powers. …
Review of 'The Anubis Gates' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Powers clearly did too much research while working on this, and felt it necessary to include it all. It was a decent adventure, but would have been better if it had been a bit more focused.
Aneel reviewed The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester
The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary is a 2003 book …
Review of 'The Meaning of Everything' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
It was really interesting to learn about the process by which the OED was constructed. I'd never really given it a lot of thought, but my hazy suppositions would not have been even close to the actual method.
It was really interesting to learn about the process by which the OED was constructed. I'd never really given it a lot of thought, but my hazy suppositions would not have been even close to the actual method.
Aneel reviewed At Large and at Small by Anne Fadiman
Review of 'At Large and at Small' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I particularly liked the essay on ice cream. I had no idea it was so old. I was lukewarm on the collection as a whole, though.
Aneel reviewed The orphan's tales. by Catherynne M. Valente (A Bantam Spectra book)
A Book of Wonders for Grown-Up ReadersEvery once in a great while a book comes …
Review of "The orphan's tales." on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
A beautiful, surprising, and strangely familiar set of tightly-linked stories. In addition to new ones, the stories include many standard motifs and creatures from fairy tales and mythology, but they're combined in inventive ways. It feels like this is a retelling of stories that I've internalized, but they're (as far as I know) actually new.
A beautiful, surprising, and strangely familiar set of tightly-linked stories. In addition to new ones, the stories include many standard motifs and creatures from fairy tales and mythology, but they're combined in inventive ways. It feels like this is a retelling of stories that I've internalized, but they're (as far as I know) actually new.
Aneel reviewed Marco Polo didn't go there by Rolf Potts
Marco Polo Didn't Go There is a collection of rollicking travel tales from a young …
Review of "Marco Polo didn't go there" on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
A collection of travel writing, along with some notes about how the stories were written. Potts spends quite a bit of time musing about the difference between "travelers" and "tourists", and if there is one. Potts is a clever writer, and this stories have lots of great turns of phrase.
A collection of travel writing, along with some notes about how the stories were written. Potts spends quite a bit of time musing about the difference between "travelers" and "tourists", and if there is one. Potts is a clever writer, and this stories have lots of great turns of phrase.
Aneel reviewed Outside Lies Magic by John R. Stilgoe
Review of 'Outside Lies Magic' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Mostly an exhortation to get outside and look around. Lots of interesting little tidbits about the "built environment", like that cities tend to not have street trees because they get tangled in overhead wires.
Mostly an exhortation to get outside and look around. Lots of interesting little tidbits about the "built environment", like that cities tend to not have street trees because they get tangled in overhead wires.
Aneel reviewed Islamic patterns by Keith Critchlow
Review of 'Islamic patterns' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Some interesting diagrams, but a lot of weird cosmological material that I'm not really keen on.
Some interesting diagrams, but a lot of weird cosmological material that I'm not really keen on.
Aneel reviewed Islamic Design by Daud Sutton
Review of 'Islamic Design' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Awesome. Really good explanations of how the patterns are derived. Lots of beautiful diagrams.
Aneel reviewed Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
This is a duplicate. Please update your lists. See openlibrary.org/works/OL679359W.
Review of 'Fragile Things' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I thought most of these were only okay.
Aneel reviewed Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
Red Harvest (1929) is a novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story is narrated by the …
Review of 'Red Harvest' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Good description.
Aneel reviewed The Fencing Master by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
The Fencing Master is a 1988 novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte set in Spain at the …
Review of 'The Fencing Master' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Randomly grabbed off of my roommate's bookshelf. Man, I hope this was better in the original Spanish.
Randomly grabbed off of my roommate's bookshelf. Man, I hope this was better in the original Spanish.