Outside of a Dog

gabe. reviewed The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, #1)

N. K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season (Paperback, 2015, Orbit)

A SEASON OF ENDINGS HAS BEGUN.

IT STARTS WITH THE GREAT RED RIFT across …

Review of 'The Fifth Season' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Took me a bit to get into it, and the changing of character names over time confused me a bit, but once I got past those two issues, it was a really fun read. Looking forward to the next two books to see what happens on Earth in a possible distant future where earth magic is common and nothing is stable.

gabe. reviewed The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Jessamine Chan: The School for Good Mothers (Paperback, 2022, Simon & Schuster)

In this taut and explosive debut novel, one lapse in judgement lands a young mother …

Review of 'The School for Good Mothers' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Good reading with some unexpected twists. Heartbreaking and touching at the same time. The story of a woman who's daughter is taken from her by Child Protective Services and her struggle to get her back.

gabe. reviewed Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas (2004, Random House Trade Paperbacks)

Cloud Atlas is the third novel by British author David Mitchell. It was published in …

Review of 'Cloud Atlas' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I liked following the different stories and bouncing back and forth between them. I'm not totally sure what the thread that wove them all together was, but the individual stories kept me reading and the book as a whole was fun to read. Having seen the movie before reading the books, I had already formulated pictures of what all the characters looked like, which was probably helpful since there were many to keep track of.

gabe. reviewed Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia by David Graeber

David Graeber: Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia (2023, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Review of 'Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

An interesting look into the Pirate influence in Madagascar (and the Madagascar influence on Pirates). Asks the question, could the social norms, democratic systems, and consensus building that developed amongst pirates, as well as the cultural influences of the Malagasy (especially the women) have had a role in crafting Enlightenment thinking in the 17th century. Adds a nice bit of spice to the story of the Age of Enlightenment,and I hope the answer is yes.

gabe. reviewed The Dream Machine by M. Mitchell Waldrop

M. Mitchell Waldrop: The Dream Machine (2018, Stripe Press)

Review of 'The Dream Machine' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I love reading about the early days of computing, and this book pulled several of the stories I was familiar with (ARPA, Xerox PARC, Bell Labs) and wove them into a single thread. The book loosely follows the career of JCR Licklider (Lick) and the role he played in promoting, funding, inventing, and evangelizing modern computing.