worth

The End of All Things

Book Notes

I've read all of the main books of the Old Mans war by Scalzi. I really like Scalzi's works, with a few minor exceptions, and those mostly because they seem derivative and not Scalzi in all his glory. So, when the Human Division came out, even in its serialized format, I devoured it. The serialized format was torturous in the slow release, but awesome in the suspense that it built. The End of All Things was released in the serialized format, but, for some reason, all my new author alerts missed them. It wasn't until Luke mentioned starting it that I remembered I even had the book, auto-purchased on in Kindle format.

Shock. Reading a book this year that wasn't chosen by my mother? Amazing.

So, I picked it up and, unlike my reading for most of this month, zipped though it. I even read the alternate version, which I have to say, kinda bit. I'm glad that Scalzi listened to himself and chose the version he published.

It's a great conclusion to the Old Man's War series, in the same way the Lost Colony was a great conclusion, which is to say, if Scalzi wants to keep writing books in this universe, he can.

In this book we see many of the same characters from previous books in the series. I don't know how Luke read this book without having read the previous four (no, Zoe's Tale does not count), but he said it worked for him.

This series is recommended, this book in series is recommended. I recognize I will read pretty much anything Scalzi writes, and I am not ashamed to say this.

2014 Year in Review

Book Notes

I read these books in 2014. I didn't reach my goal of one book a week, for 52 books for the year. I did okay, though. Instead of doing full book reviews, I'm just dumping them all in this list. Hopefully, I'll be better in 2015.

  • The Shining Girls (Lauren Beukes)

    Fast read, a bit jarring in the plot twists that come with trying to span two stories that occur 100 years apart.

  • Darkness Visible (William Styron)

    Styron's account of depression, and the closest account I've read that describes the descent into the hell that blackness is.

  • Acceptance (Jeff VanderMeer)
    Authority (Jeff VanderMeer)
    Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer)

    I did not like these books. I read them as fast as I could. I was confused after the first one, slightly less confused after the second and ready to throw the third book into the fire. I was never able to see the world VanderMeer was trying to create. It was one gigantic white blur of crappy story-telling.

    Plot is some event happened that made this dome of the East Coast impenetrable, where time is accelerated and man's influence (toxins and poisons and the like) are removed. It's a bizarro worm hole to another world, but you never really know that and it's all a giant fog, like the writing. I do not recommend these books.

  • The Witch with No Name (Kim Harrison)

    Final book of the Hollows series. An eye-roll but expected ending to the series. I enjoyed all of the books, though I think Andy stopped reading a few books back.

  • Hidden (Alex Verus 5) (Benedict Jacka)

    Enjoying the series. Read it. Enjoyed this one.

The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How

Have Read

My bookcrossing.com review reads, "Unlike Malcolm Caldwell books that use anecdotes to support the author's theories, Coyle uses scientific data to explain how talent grows and show how even untalented people can become talented. Worth the read. Worth the sharing."

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