tildebooks

dozens reviewed Rebel Talent by Francesca Gino

No cover — Francesca Gino: Rebel Talent (2018, HarperCollins Publishers)

A behavioral scientist explores why "rebels" with unconventional outlooks who break the rules find the …

Review of 'Rebel Talent' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I just never quite got the point of this book. I was never sure whether the intended audience was executives/CEOs or hiring managers or employees. I'm still not sure that "rebel" is the right word for what the author is describing. I kept replacing with "successful people" as I read. And while I enjoy case studies, stories, and examples, there were several times when a story or anecdote never tied into the topic and just felt like a random aside and a waste of time.

edit: revisiting this at the end of 2018. I don't think it deserved one star. Bumping it two 2.

dozens rated Race Matters: 3 stars

Cornel West: Race Matters (AudiobookFormat, 1994, The Audio Partners)

Race Matters by Cornel West

First published in 1993 on the one-year anniversary of the L.A. riots, Race Matters was a national best-seller, and it …

dozens reviewed Totally random by Tanya Bub

"Totally Random is a comic for the serious reader who wants to really understand the …

Review of 'Totally random' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

this is real life? this shit is crazy!

dozens reviewed French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Lucy Knisley: French Milk (Paperback, 2000, Epigraph Publishing)

Graphic memoir/travelogue of the author visiting Paris with her mother.

Review of 'French Milk' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

and then I ate foie gras!
and then I ate more foie gras!
and then I ate even more foie gras!

dozens reviewed Good Omens by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett: Good Omens (Paperback, 2019, William Morrow)

Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don't let you go around again until you …

Review of 'Good Omens' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Very funny. Great beginning. Drawn out middle. Kinda tuned out the ending.

dozens reviewed Bodies by Si Spencer

"VERTIGO brings you a graphic novel with four detectives, four time periods, and four dead …

Review of 'Bodies' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

a thinly veiled christ parable that manages to be familiar and a little obtuse all at the same time.

I think it just had too much going on to try to pack into one miniseries. This could be a great platform for a spinoff series following John Bull as he does his weird time-traveling, self-martyring, saving the world thing.

dozens rated Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D: 2 stars

David Kushner: Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D (2017, Nation Books)

Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D by David Kushner

dozens reviewed Tetris by Box Brown

Box Brown: Tetris (GraphicNovel, 2016, First Second)

It is, perhaps, the perfect video game. Simple yet addictive, Tetris delivers an irresistible, unending …

Review of 'Tetris' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

quick read. it's about tetris!

dozens reviewed EarthBound by Ken Baumann

Ken Baumann, Marcus Lindblom: EarthBound (2014, SCB Distributors)

An RPG for the Super NES that flopped when it first arrived to the U.S., …

Review of 'EarthBound' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

an annotated walk through of the game sprinkled throughout with personal anecdotes and far flung connections.

dozens reviewed The fifth season by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth, book 1)

N. K. Jemisin: The fifth season (Paperback, 2016, Orbit)

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS . . . FOR THE LAST TIME.

IT …

Review of 'The fifth season' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I thought it was good, until roughly the middle, when I realized what was going on, and then I thought it was great.

- unique and interesting world building

- great characters and great representation.

- can't get over the ending. completely hooked now. gonna have to tear through the remaining books in the series.

basically putting all Jemisin books on hold at the library right now.

dozens rated Radical candor : be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity: 3 stars

Kim Malone Scott: Radical candor : be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity (2017, St. Martin's Press)

Radical candor : be a kick-ass boss without losing your humanity by Kim Malone Scott

Radical Candor is a simple idea: to be a good boss, you have to Care Personally at the same time …

dozens reviewed Snow Crash (SFBC 50th Anniversary Collection) by Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash (SFBC 50th Anniversary Collection) (Hardcover, 2007, SFBC)

Within the Metaverse, Hiro is offered a datafile named Snow Crash by a man named …

Review of 'Snow Crash (SFBC 50th Anniversary Collection)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Chapters 1 -4: "This book is about delivering pizza."

"Hiro and the Librarian" scenes were super data-dump-a-roo. Walls of exposition and explanation really broke the rhythm and pacing of the story.

I just played a couple games of Shadowrun, the TTRPG, and Snow Crash is shadowrun AF. Minus any magic or fantasy aspects. But literal deckers and riggers running around wreaking havoc.. This was--to borrow a term from the wine nerds--"varietally correct" cyberpunk.

The ending: dog ex machina. I kind of liked it though. I thought that Fido was introduced as a silly aside and that he wouldn't show up again later. I was kind of pleased that he did.

A little disappointed in Hiro overall. He did a little hacking and a little swordplay, but for the most part his greatest skill was research and detective work.

Super disappointed in Juanita. For being the one who learned to …

Chapters 1 -4: "This book is about delivering pizza."

"Hiro and the Librarian" scenes were super data-dump-a-roo. Walls of exposition and explanation really broke the rhythm and pacing of the story.

I just played a couple games of Shadowrun, the TTRPG, and Snow Crash is shadowrun AF. Minus any magic or fantasy aspects. But literal deckers and riggers running around wreaking havoc.. This was--to borrow a term from the wine nerds--"varietally correct" cyberpunk.

The ending: dog ex machina. I kind of liked it though. I thought that Fido was introduced as a silly aside and that he wouldn't show up again later. I was kind of pleased that he did.

A little disappointed in Hiro overall. He did a little hacking and a little swordplay, but for the most part his greatest skill was research and detective work.

Super disappointed in Juanita. For being the one who learned to "hack the brainstem", and the one true "Neo" in this book, she was a flat, throw-away character.

Y.T. was probably the most interesting character in the book. There's probably a lot to unpack regarding her being one of the toughest characters in the book but then ultimately resorting/succumbing to her weaponized sexuality in order to drive the plot forward.

dozens reviewed Competing Against Luck by Clayton M. Christensen

Review of 'Competing Against Luck' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

(Read for company book club.)

I think it would have been a really good multi-part Medium.com article.

That said, I'm a fan. It's an interesting lens through which to frame your decisions.

dozens reviewed Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky

Eliezer Yudkowsky: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (Paperback, 2015, Fanfiction.net)

In this alternative version of J.K. Rowling's famous tale, Petunia Evans marries the biochemist Michael …

Review of 'Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is probably the only instance of the Child Genius trope that I've ever been able to tolerate.

Super interested in how this story delved deeply into the problematic political, racial, feminist aspects of the HP world.

My biggest takeaway is probably that Harry is possibly the most rational and intelligent creature in this universe, but that this doesn't prevent him from making colossal blunders and mistakes: rationality does not equal wisdom.

The ending was RIDICULOUS. As in I groaned and threw the book across the room for how preposterous it was.

This is probably the only instance of the Child Genius trope that I've ever been able to tolerate.

Super interested in how this story delved deeply into the problematic political, racial, feminist aspects of the HP world.

My biggest takeaway is probably that Harry is possibly the most rational and intelligent creature in this universe, but that this doesn't prevent him from making colossal blunders and mistakes: rationality does not equal wisdom.

The ending was RIDICULOUS. As in I groaned and threw the book across the room for how preposterous it was.

dozens reviewed Here I Am by J. S. Foer

J. S. Foer: Here I Am (Paperback, 2016, Penguin Random House UK)

Review of 'Here I Am' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Beautiful and sad.

A little too awkwardly sexually graphic at points. For example, I could have done without the lengthy, lengthy, lengthy description of all the creative ways the adolescent boy discovered to masturbate himself.