Books
A running log of books I've read, with short thoughts and ratings.
Children of Time
Adrian Tchaikovsky, 2015
Type: Sci-Fi | Rating: ★★★★★
I really enjoyed the world building. The character development on the human side was poor, but maybe that was by design — they are really just there as a vessel to tell the story.
Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes, 1966
Type: Sci-Fi | Rating: ★★★★☆
Really powerful themes. I found it sad to read and even more sad to think about after.
Open: An Autobiography
Andre Agassi, 2009
Type: Autobiography | Rating: ★★★★★
Very good. He really is quite open. This book gets a bit of critisicm because of his "complaining". I didn't read it at all like that he is in no way trying to direct blame away from himself.
The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller, 2011
Type: Mythic Fantasy | Rating: ★★★★☆
Really good, but not as good as Circe. The ending is really good, as with all of Madeline's novels to date.
Sympathy Tower Tokyo
Rie Qudan, 2024
Type: Speculative Fiction | Rating: ★★★☆☆
Enjoyed this book, but too brief to fully develop concrete, well-rounded narratives about the themes discussed. Either that, or I am too simple to scratch beyond the first few levels of concepts portrayed.
Circe
Madeline Miller, 2018
Type: Mythic Fantasy | Rating: ★★★★★
Probably the best book I have ever read? From start to finish this re-telling of a clssic mythology story is so emotive. I was not really aware of the "original" story, so I had no baseline to compare against.
Murder on Lake Garda
Tom Hindle, 2024
Type: Crime / Mystery | Rating: ★★★★☆
Read this when holidaying in Italy. Did the job.
The Way of Kings — Part 1
Brandon Sanderson, 2010
Type: Epic Fantasy | Rating: ★★★★★
Very good.
The Way of Kings — Part 2
Brandon Sanderson, 2010
Type: Epic Fantasy | Rating: ★★★★★
Very good — great character writing.
The Satsuma Complex
Bob Mortimer, 2022
Type: Comedy / Mystery | Rating: ★★★★☆
Bit of fun, different to your usual novel.
Babel
R. F. Kuang, 2022
Type: Dark Academia / Fantasy | Rating: ★★★★☆
Really cool concepts, but I felt the ending didn't do the world building justice.