Quantum and Woody by James Asmus (Writer), Tom Fowler (Artist)

Quantum and Woody, Volume 1: The World's Worst Superhero Team by James Asmus (Writer), Tom Fowler (Artist), Jordie Bellaire (Colourist), Dave Lanphear (Letterer), Ryan Sook (Cover Artist)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this for one of my Bookriot Read Harder challenges. I liked the main characters in this comic a lot, and especially their humor. The plot is pretty good. The bad guys are kind of gross and silly and are the only part I would have told the author to change if I’d been the editor.

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A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is almost an allegory which I'm not the biggest fan of generally. To make matters worse, it's a super disturbingly violent allegory. And like with most allegories, if I don't agree with the central concept which the author is trying to cram down my throat, then I can't really enjoy the book. No, I don't think it's better to be able to choose good and evil in the name of free will. I prefer that people not commit evil in the form of rape and murder. I don't care why they don't do it. That's between them and their God. What concerns me is the NOT raping and murdering.

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The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a cute very readable mystery book, and the kids get to learn a lot about Benjamin Franklin though it's sometimes difficult for kids to suss out the fictional parts.

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The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo

The Longevity Diet: Discover the New Science Behind Stem Cell Activation and Regeneration to Slow Aging, Fight Disease, and Optimize Weight by Valter Longo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I trust Dr. Longo's research, he's a recognized expert, but I don't think this plan is very useful to normal people. The concept is basically this: do the Longo "Fasting Mimicking Diet" for 5 days a month, every month. The rest of the time, eat the Mediterranean diet and exercise 5-7 hours a week. Okay.

So my problems with the Fasting Mimicking Diet is that it's super hard. Mind you, I've done "every other day fasting" for three months (then I fell off) and I've done time-restricted eating: not eating for 16 hours, and eating for 8. So my objection about difficulty is not fasting per se. It's that eating 800 calories a day for 5 days sounds harder than a water fast for 5 days because hunger actually decreases on a real fast. This low-calorie diet results in constant hunger for 5 days. So maybe I'd actually try what he recommends but just substitute a water fast? (I am not a doctor so you definitely should not follow any of my ideas or advice.)

Then I also have a number of objection about the OPTIONAL ProLon product they sell- just the food measured out for the 5 days so it's a no-brainer for you:
1) Anytime you're trying to sell me something I lose trust in the science (even though it is tempered in this case by the fact that Longo claims to make no personal profit)
2) ProLon isn't real food but packets of things you mix or whatever. Yuck.
3) It's super expensive $250 a box (one box lasts for the one-month 5-day fast) unless you buy a year supply in advance. No. Just no.

A counterargument to my complaints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpN5V...



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Touching Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh

Touching Peace: Practicing the Art of Mindful Living by Thich Nhat Hanh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Some good stuff in here. Some of the usual mindfulness stuff. A lot of it is anti the second Iraq war, which most people now agree was not a good idea. He’s surprisingly nonjudgmental towards both President Bush and Saddam Hussein. Overall, not a book I’d recommend. There’s a lot of better material out there on any of the topics covered.

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The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Short, with some good things regarding how to be brave enough to be creative. It also had a big dose of magical thinking and zero research.

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The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I did not like this book at all. I read the whole thing anyway, probably because I'm genetically programmed to torture myself by finishing books I don't like. At least I'm not as bad as Emiko. By the way, Emiko was the only character in this book I liked even a little. It felt like way too much of it was not about her, and when it was about her, TERRIBLE things were happening to her and she wanted to die.

Rough. Do not recommend.

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Why We Work by Barry Schwartz

Why We Work by Barry Schwartz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great book for employers, human resources, managers, and business owners. The rest of us are already well aware of all this.

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When Strangers Meet by Kio Stark

When Strangers Meet: How People You Don't Know Can Transform You by Kio Stark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An interesting little book about chatting up strangers- though it doesn't really document anything life-shattering. There's a lot of little facts and studies sprinkled throughout. I enjoyed reading it, and I enjoyed its brevity.

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The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis

The Coming Storm by Michael Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this audiobook for free as part of my $15/month Audible membership. (Free as in, it didn't use up a credit.) It's about 2.5 hours long.

There are a lot of really interesting things in this book regarding government data collection and weather data. I don't read enough books about data, especially considering how important it is to our society today. Especially now that I live in an area prone to tornados, I was especially interested in the tornado section.

I don't understand the people who seemed not to like this book because they claim there is an attack on Trump contained within. Either the information regarding the Trump administration and data dissemination and restriction is correct or incorrect. None of the reviewers claim it's incorrect (except one person, more on him later). Let's say you support Trump and you think the information is correct but negatively described, well, go ahead and explain why it's okay to take away data (paid for with public funds) from public use that would help the public. There was one reviewer that claimed he formerly worked for AccuWeather, and that Lewis was incorrect about AccuWeather. He wrote an entire blog post basically confirming exactly what Lewis said.

I took a star away because I really don't like the entire concept of audiobooks that are only available on Audible. I think you should be able to verify sources in print. An audiobook-only format, especially for a book this short, strikes me as a glorified podcast. Also, I really didn't like the ending.

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How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick by Letty Cottin Pogrebin

How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who's Sick by Letty Cottin Pogrebin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

These are important issues to consider and I'm really glad someone wrote this book. I would have appreciated better organization and more science about what actually makes people feel better.

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Rising Strong by Brené Brown

Rising Strong by Brené Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some good stuff in this one regarding shame. Science doesn't necessarily agree with Brown that you should never retaliate against bad actors though (and it hardly seems fair that someone else's bad behavior always reflects negatively back on your own shame somehow). Civilization is largely built on social consequences for bad individual actions.

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168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam

168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Meh. Some good ideas, but it's extremely frustrating to read this account of a working mother who has 1) a flexible work schedule, 2) assistants at work, 3) many home helpers including a nanny.

Let's break down the title a second though: 168 hours is how many hours you have if you don't sleep and don't go to work. So let's say you sleep 7-8 hours a night (because you really should), then you actually have 112-119 hours a week. Do you shower most days? Eat 3 meals? Prepare dinner? 100-112. If you have set working hours, say 9-5 or 9-6, you just lost another 40-45, assuming you telework (or teleport there) and have no commute. 55-72. If you have some small commute: 50-67. Okay, now we're talking. What are you going to do with your precious 50-67 hours a week? That's still a lot. Of course, if you're a parent of young children without a lot of caregiver help, I'm still thinking the answer is not too much.

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Mem by Bethany C. Morrow

Mem by Bethany C. Morrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The writing is good, and the story was interesting, but I couldn't get over my discomfort with the original premise. Why would you make an entire person out of a *bad* memory? For bad memory removal, the straightforward "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" seems the way to go. For human copy creation, any number of other motivations make more sense: because the original person seeks a form of immortality, or because a loved one wants to remember the person. Even the opposite reason, making a person for the conservation of a single good memory makes more sense to me. Nonetheless, enjoyable!

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Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny by Barbara Park

Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny by Barbara Park
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My son James, who just started second grade, just finished reading this and said he liked it so I checked it out. The cover is adorable and I was kind of psyched. But all the characters are a bunch of mean conniving first-grade children. They make all the New York children I knew look like little angels.

There's also quite a bit of class warfare in the book, not that I actually object to that, but if you do, you might want to know.

And did they change the egg hunt prize that all the kids had been plotting for- a swimming playdate- at the last minute to flowers for their mother, and none of the kids cared? I was so confused.

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book was funny, irreverent, and interesting. There was a lot of children's humor in the book, but I don't think it's a children's book- there was a lot of strange inappropriate things in it- more Young Adult.

Some things bothered me. Some of the language was offensive. There was a lot of inconsistency about how Junior looked and how unhealthy or healthy he was. Small spoiler: it especially bothered me that so many characters died and that Junior experienced his grief sort of in the middle of those deaths- so it gave the effect that the last death didn't affect him as much.

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Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have become a very skeptical reader, and as such, I was kind of dubious for a large chunk of this book. Mostly I objected to the form of the book because it feels like it's part novel and part essay collection. I wasn't in love with that format. Also, the thing about the essays is that I agree with every word of them- or very nearly every word- but they lack the scholarly historical flavor that both the character Blaine and I prefer in our nonfiction.

But by the end I cared so much about the main characters, I love them so hard, I think Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a genius of fiction writing and if she wants to throw in essays, she can do whatever she wants. A new favorite!

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City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This a great little ghost story. A little scary for a young person, but not very scary if you’re an adult, which I prefer... I don’t like being too scared. I like the characters a lot and I’d definitely read a sequel.

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Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me over 3 months, but I finally finished. I love this book; I hate this book. Proust's writing is sublime but he seems to detest the very concept of plot. I was happiest when reading about Swann's obsession with Odette and I was miserable all the rest of the time. Sadly the portion about Odette was only about a third of the novel and didn't start until about halfway through.

I can finally use this picture in a review.

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The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is more of a memoir about Flanders overcoming addictions by becoming a minimalist. In my opinion, it's not a self-help book- though Flanders did self-help to overcome her challenges. While it is about minimalism and rejecting consumerism, it's also not really an "organization" book in that it doesn't provide a guide. That said, it's an interesting memoir, well-written, and even helpful, especially if part of your issue is that you're mired in sadness or having trouble starting big life changes.

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My Ántonia by Willa Cather

My Ántonia by Willa Cather
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don't know, I guess this just wasn't for me. It wasn't even entirely really about Antonia, but more about a number of people in town that I never really embraced. It seemed more cinematic than a novel with any real interest or insight. I much prefer Song of the Lark.

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Small Animals by Kim Brooks

Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear by Kim Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even though there is a large memoir aspect to this book, I think it's an extremely important nonfiction book about the current state of parenting in America. It's important from a sociological, psychological, and also legal perspective. As an attorney and as an American, I'm horrified that people are being charged with laws that the legislature has specifically failed to pass, and that selective enforcement perpetuates all of the worst biases in society: racism, sexism, and the still-unnamed poverty injustice.

As a person who believes in and appreciates science, I am persuaded by her argument about the difference between perceived dangers and real statistically verifiable dangers.

As a mom, I'm exhausted, anxious, and often confused. I just moved to Nebraska from the East Coast, and most of the children here appear to free-range. I'm not comfortable to let the children wander as much as my neighbors do, and I'm also aware that their children are better prepared to be free-range because they've already been at it for a while now. The kids seem really self-possessed. The other parent's freedom seems amazing and I'm super jealous. I'm just going to wait a little longer before I start testing the limits around here. In the meanwhile, it would be nice if there were a real national dialogue about these parenting issues.

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Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this series. It’s very slow-paced so I had to adopt the mentality of spending a long time with Fritz. Sometimes lots of things happen to him, sometimes he’s just walking endlessly along a road. Yes, the book could have been cut down to size quite a bit, but my bigger issues were with strange little plot points and new magical rules, missed opportunities in the book (like utilizing the help of the other witted people), and even specific very unclear sentences at the end of book when it’s most important to understand what’s happening.

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