Category: Reading Log

Another first for me by a revered modern author. This one I found amazing. The six stories nested Russian doll style could all stand on their own but together form a masterpiece. There was so much relevance to the direction humanity has come and is going in the previous and next few hundred years. While it outlines so many troubles we have faced as a species in our cultures it still preserves our empathetic humanity that makes you think maybe it will be all be OK if we ever do wake up.

My first Vonnegut. While I did find it to be a powerful text it wasn’t what I expected. I didn’t see or get the humour that many mention; I instead found it to be bleak. It could be the place I was in when I read it but I think its more than that. That all being said I definitely didn’t hate it and will likely still be revisiting this prized writer. Maybe Cat’s Cradle as the next one from this author.

This was suggested on Amazon following reading the Hitchhiker series and for 99p I decided to give it a shot. While the characters lacked depth it was still a fun easy read filled with sarcasm. As I ended the book to find out it was a series I thought I may revisit it for some easy reading in the future, but have some other books on the list for now that I’m going to move onto.

Having never read this and the many pop culture references to these books, I finally plopped them on my Kindle before a long flight about a month ago. It’s been quite some time since I actually laughed out loud reading a book, but it happened many times throughout this series. I suppose like many I was a bit disappointed with how the series ended; the last two parts and the final one in particular seemed to diverge a bit from the initial 3 parts in that it was a bit more gloomy. Even with the ending I am happy to have read them and would highly recommend it to fans of sarcastic science fiction.

So i read the Hobbit as a child (or started it at least). At the time the books were a bit above my reading level, I got frustrated and left them for quite some time. Back in March and April I decided to give them another go and enjoyed them thoroughly. Such a detailed world Tolkien created with so much depth to the locations and characters. I had watched the Jackson movies as they came out and upon completing each relevant part I went back to the films to watch them again. I’m almost glad I had done things this way as I was somewhat disappointed with how much got left out from the screen adaptation as well as the changes. I’ve never considered myself a huge fantasy fan, but between this and a few other series (Harry Potter and His Dark Materials) I can say it is a genre that I will likely continue to return to.

Just started this book and is the first nonfiction attempt I’ve made in a long time (aside from IT related technical documentation) and I am absolutely loving it. It is incredible to realise how insignificant modern history is compared with the time humans have been on earth.

Update: 12/10/2018 – So I finished this book some months ago and neglected to update the blog. I absolutely loved the macro view of Human history from hunter/gatherer to modern civilisation. Left me with a lot to think about and will probably be reading Homo Deus at some point in the future. http://www.ynharari.com/book/sapiens/