Tag: book reviews
Review - The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
This is grand-scale and much-acclaimed fantasy and this review is me trying to unpick the reasons it didn't work for me in the end.
Review - The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
Guy with a lot of feelings about the British education system reviews an emotional book about the British education system (this book is really good).
Review - Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid
An amateur reviewer talks about a book of book reviews of academic non-fiction written by a self-professed non-academic. Good luck untangling this one.
Review of Ahamed’s 1873—The first international financial crisis rhymes with 2026
Rated: 4.5/5 Stars | Ahamed is unquestionably an excellent writer. In 1873, he managed to pack four decades of history about the Western financial system into 300 pages in an insightful and convincing manner.
Planet Money Book—a long-time listener, first-time reader’s review
Rated: 4/5 Stars | Planet Money Book is an excellent introduction to economics and finance and reminded me why it is good to have Planet Money in our life.
Waarom We Politiek Niet Alleen Aan Politici Kunnen Overlaten
Het wantrouwen in de politiek neemt toe, terwijl politiek een onderwerp blijft waarover veel mensen niet willen praten. Toen ik Waarom We Politiek Niet Alleen Aan Politici Kunnen Overlaten bij de boekenwinkel heb gezien, dacht ik: "oh, dat klinkt interessant".
Queria? Já Não Quer?
Nos últimos meses, tenho tido um maior interesse na língua, quer seja ela a Língua Holandesa, a Língua Inglesa, ou a Língua Portuguesa. Já há tempos que sigo Marco Neves no Instagram, e os seus vídeos trazem sempre múltiplos fun facts sobre origens, mitos e outras pequenas coisas. Quando vi que tinha escrito este livro, pensei: tenho que o ler.
Surrounded by Idiots
After seeing the book Surrounded by Idiots virtually everywhere, I decided to check some reviews and what it was actually about: communication, and "how to understand those who cannot be understood" - the quote on quote "idiots". The topic sounded interesting, so I decided to pick up this book and read it.
Taal Is Zeg Maar Echt Mijn Ding
Taal Is Zeg Maar Echt Mijn Ding is mijn eerste boek van Paulien Cornelisse. Het is eigenlijk het eerste "volwassene" Nederlands boek dat ik lees, laten we het zo zeggen. Het gaat over taal en dingen die mensen zeggen, niet per se expres, maar dingen die gewoon voorkomen.
The Ministry of Time
The Ministry of Time is the debut novel from Kaliane Bradley. It is set in a world where the British ministry has started a new initiative to gather "expats" from different points in history in order to understand if time travel is feasible.
Piranesi
This was the first book I read by Susanna Clarke. I heard about it at a friend's birthday party, after someone gifted this book to the birthday person. After seeing how gorgeous the cover was, and hearing a little bit about the story, I decided to buy it!
Death and Life: Rereading Jane Jacobs and the Legacy of Good Intentions
I recently finished rereading Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities. It wasn’t my first encounter with the book. I first read it in graduate school over 15 years ago. At the time, it was eye-opening. I wasn’t particularly familiar with the planning profession then, beyond a vague desire to make places better—a motivation that probably leads many people into the field. Having grown up in Saginaw, Michigan, I witnessed firsthand the fallout of deindustrialization. The once-thri
Ikigai
Yesterday, I finished reading Ikigai, a book by Héctor Garcia and Francesc Miralles, which dives into the Japanese concept of the same name, Ikigai (生き甲斐). The reasons for buying this book months ago were not exactly because I wanted to read it, but just because it looked and felt nice. But now that I have read it, I think it was a good purchase.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller
This is an unusual post: today I did not finish a book, but I decided to consciously stop reading it. And yet, I give it a 3 stars out of 5, which, for me, doesn't mean it's bad. It means it is good, but it is still lacking something for me.
The Creative Programmer
Last night I thought: tomorrow morning I will finish reading The Creative Programmer, and so I did. I woke up this morning, had a light breakfast, made a coffee, and sat down in the balcony reading the last pages of Wouter's book.
The Culture Map
A few days ago I started reading this book by Erin Meyer, The Culture Map. And, today, I finished it. Considering I don't read many non-fiction books, I was quite surprised to see how much this book captivated my attention.
The Island of Missing Trees
I started reading this book in June and, even though I was enjoying it, life happened and I started reading very infrequently. I feel like this is a cycle that happens every year: in the beginning of the year I read a lot, during winter, and spring. Then summer comes and I stop reading.
Tales from the Cafe
This is the sequel of Before the coffee gets cold and I enjoyed it just as much. I keep the same rating I gave to the first book. It was just as good, a perfect continuation of the first book. Deeply magical and sentimental.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Stories
When I bought this book, I didn't notice it had "other stories" in the title. Not only does the book contain 7 other stories from Robert Louis Stevenson, but it also includes biographical and bibliographical information about the author.
Under the Whispering Door
This book was quite interesting. Similarly to the books I've been reading recently, there's a magical element that makes this book be completely different from what I expected. In a nutshell, there's a man called Wallace that is definitely not a good person. One day, he dies. However, the story tells us what happens after he dies. Of course, I don't want to write spoilers.
This Is How You Lose the Time War
This book is about two characters, Red and Blue, that stand on enemy sides of a time war. In this war, these two enemies end up falling in love until some one's boss discovers this "affair". I gave this book a 3 out of 5, not because the story is bad, but because it didn't resonate with me. In addition, the first tens of pages can be quite slow and hard to understand. I recommend the book for those who enjoy both science fiction and romance though.
The Midnight Library
"The Midnight Library" portrays a character, Nora, that after dying at exactly midnight, got transported to a library where time doesn't change. In this library, Nora has the opportunity to try all the different lives she would have had if she had made different decisions. To keep the level of spoilers to a minimum, I will not go over a lot more.
Nightfall and Other Stories
Read the first story of this book, "Nightfall", which portrays a dystopian and apocalyptic future. It narrates a story where the sun is going to disappear forever and everyone will be in eternal darkness. And what can that cause in people?
Red, White & Royal Blue
Just finished reading the romance "Red, White and Royal Blue" from Casey McQuiston. In this book, Casey creates an hypothetical situation where the First Son of the US and the Prince of the UK would fall in love with each other, as well as the political and diplomatic outcomes from that.
Before the coffee gets cold
Just finished reading "Before the coffee gets cold" by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. It is, yet again, a book that falls into the magical realism domain. In this book, the story takes place in a little café in Tokyo. In this café, there is a special seat where people can seat and travel in time.
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Today, I finished reading "The House in the Cerulean Sea" by TJ Klune and I was just want to say that it was beautifully constructed.
O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis
Today, I finished reading "O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis" (The Year of The Death of Ricardo Reis in English) by José Saramago, while on a train from Den Haag to Eindhoven, after visiting the Portuguese embassy.