The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain by Barbara Strauch

The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind by Barbara Strauch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was interested in the section that claimed that older adults are more easily distractable. I wonder about what causes this with children, adults, and myself. This book has other little nuggets of interesting science but despite its short length, it was full of filler anecdotes and contradictory information. While I found it interesting and entertaining, it's not sufficiently scientifically vigorous that I'd recommend it to others.

I read this because it was one of my dad's books, but because it came out in 2010, the year he died, I'm not sure he actually read it. It's just as well because he didn't have much of an opportunity to revel in his middle-aged wisdom.

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300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso

300 Arguments by Sarah Manguso
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love these little huge sentences. It’s a perfect collection of aphorisms for a 40-year-old “privileged” American which is not to say without our own particular type of despair.

"There will come a time when people decide you’ve had enough of your grief, and they’ll try to take it away from you."




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2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

To me, this reads more like a short story collection than a novel. There are beautiful parts and really interesting parts, and Clarke was prescient about some technology. But overall, I felt it dragged from scene to scene. Some of the other reviews suggest to me I might enjoy it more one day.

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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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