Per usual, I didn’t read too much over October and November because I’m busy writing and posting on the forums and traveling during that time. Still, some books did get read (or okay, listened to). Here are those books.
Grit: Passion, Perseverance, and the Science of Success by Angela Duckworth: You know how some people have that stick-to-it-ness that keeps them working on something long term? That’s what this book is about. It looks at what makes people stick to things (called grit in this book) and how you can teach grit, both to yourself and to children. I see a lot of myself in these stories, although I know I have a long way to go in sustaining my grit. (See: my novel editing and my college GPA.) This is a great book to read if you’re struggling to stick to something or if you (4 out of 5 big tasks)
Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators, and Icons Accelerate Success by Shane Snow: I shouldn’t have expected too much out of this book. Here, I’ll sum it up for you: make something and get it in front of someone big. Snow talks a lot about finding a mentor but hardly discusses how to find one, nor does he address how some people have an advantage to start with (see: privilege). There’s so much that could have been addressed in this book but isn’t, and this book suffers because of it. (3 out of 5 Oreo tweets)
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin: I listened to this book. Despite being tired of screaming politics, this book was a refreshing break from contemporary US politics. This book discusses the Supreme Court and how it has changed over the last few presidencies–specifically during 1994 to 2005 when the court remained the same. Despite keeping the same nine people, the court–along with politics in general–started becoming much more partisan than it already was, something we’re seeing the consequences of now. But the book does a good job of introducing the reader to each justice and showing off the court from the inside, with inside stories that don’t resort to gossip. I’d love to read a book about the latest decade of the Court. (4 out of 5 rulings)
A Slip of the Keyboard: Collected Non-Fiction by Terry Pratchett: I listened to this essay collection. I have a confession to make. Besides Good Omens, this is the first thing by Pratchett that I’ve ever read. Like many essay collections, this book contains some essays that are spot on, while others fell flat for me. I found the essays about the writing life and his adventures in Alzheimer’s disease to be the most interesting overall. I do wish there were a little less overlap; some really specific topics came up in multiple essays, which really confused me when trying to figure out if I had already listened to that one. Even if you’re not a superfan of Pratchett, you can find something to like in here. (4 out of 5 black hats)
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer: I listened to this book. As you might have guessed by the title, this book is about rape, specifically a series of rape cases a few years ago in Missoula, home of the University of Montana’s Grizzlies. The story gets pretty graphic; I’ve never experienced anything like the women in this book and I still had a hard time listening at times. Still, the book does a great job of telling the story, as well as connecting the various parts: the community within the town, the various incidents, the trials, and the aftermath. This book will make you feel and think and get angry all at the same time. (5 out of 5 trials)
The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber: I listened to this book. Even though the book started slowly, it grabbed my attention soon enough with the stories and histories of food as well as the influence of a food’s environment on that food’s taste and quality. As fascinating as all this was, the book doesn’t pay much attention to the economics of paying attention to how your food is grown, which interests me even more than the topic of this book to start with. Still, I’d recommend this book for the foodie/environmentalist in your life. (4 out of 5 foie gras dishes)
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown: I listened to this book, and it just didn’t do anything for me. I went into this book expecting research, not loads of personal stories like what the book actually contained. This is something I should have expected since I listened to her other book as well, but oh well. I didn’t find anything new in this book since a lot of the material seemed to be common sense. But maybe you will. (3 out of 5 vulnerabilities)
Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse: Yes, that’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the basketball player. This was November’s book club selection, and I have mixed feelings about this book on Sherlock’s older brother. While the prose itself isn’t bad and there are some funny moments, the story itself is a bit out there and convoluted. Granted, I read the first half of the book two weeks before the second half, so some of it was hard to follow because I had already forgotten what had happened. Still, the book itself didn’t grab me at all. (3 out of 5 mysterious deaths)
Death’s End by Cixin Liu: Here we go, the final book in the trilogy. I don’t have much to say except Oh. My. Baty. This book, much like the rest of the series, brings up so many questions and parallels to today’s world, sometimes to the point where I wonder if Liu time traveled to now when he was writing this book and then noped out because this is 2016 we’re talking about here. This book also makes me appreciate The Dark Forest more when it was previously my least favorite book in the series. I need more people to read this series so we can talk about it. (5 out of 5 dimensions)