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Shychipmunk

Shychipmunk@bookwyrm.social

Joined 10 months, 3 weeks ago

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reviewed The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, #3)

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Return of the King (Paperback, 1993, HarperCollins)

The third part of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure The Lord of The Rings.

The armies …

Review of 'The Return of the King' on 'Storygraph'

All the various appendixes at the end make me think I should reread the series now that I'm more acquainted with the lore and whatnot. And that Tolkien was more interested in world-building than in storytelling

The part at the end where <spoiler>the hobbits drive the capitalists out of the Shire</spoiler> hit a lot differently than I imagine it would have in the past.

reviewed The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan (The Kane Chronicles, #2)

Rick Riordan: The Throne of Fire (2011, Disney-Hyperion)

Ever since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed in the modern world, Carter Kane …

Review of 'The Throne of Fire' on 'Storygraph'

A fast paced adventure featuring lots of emotions and a complex web of characters. Which isn't surprising for this author

Douglas R. Hofstadter: Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (1999, Basic Books)

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book applies Godel's seminal contribution to modern mathematics to …

Review of 'Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid' on 'Storygraph'

This book somehow manages to be a fairly light interesting read about a complex set of topics exemplified by the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Hofstadter managed to connect all kinds of seemingly unrelated topics, and weave them together throughout the entire book

Rick Riordan: The Demigod Files (A Percy Jackson and the Olympians Guide) (Hardcover, 2009, Hyperion Book CH)

The Demigod Files is a companion book to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. …

Review of 'The Demigod Files (A Percy Jackson and the Olympians Guide)' on 'Storygraph'

This is an early reader book with a handful of stories about Percy Jackson and his compatriots. Not that complex, the characters might have been over-powered, but it was cute if that's the kind of thing you're looking for

reviewed The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (The Kane Chronicles)

Rick Riordan: The Red Pyramid (2010, Disney-Hyperion)

This book is about two young kids, Carter and Sadie Kane and their adventures to …

Review of 'The Red Pyramid' on 'Storygraph'

This was an action-packed story. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time trying to anticipate all the twists and turns. And once again, the way Rick Riordan integrates ancient gods/lore into the modern world is masterful.

reviewed A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (The Earthsea Cycle, #1)

Ursula K. Le Guin: A Wizard of Earthsea (2004)

A Wizard of Earthsea is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le …

Review of 'A Wizard of Earthsea' on 'Storygraph'

A captivating tale of a young wizard. I was especially taken by the form that magic takes in this world, and it seems like there's lessons and insights there that can apply to our world also. I can't wait to find out what happens to Ged next.

Roy Speckhardt, Luis Granados: A Jefferson Bible for the Twenty-First Century (Paperback, 2012, Humanist Press)

Review of 'A Jefferson Bible for the Twenty-First Century' on 'Storygraph'

Much of this book consists of quotes from various scriptural texts that are either easy or hard to reckon with. I would have liked to see more context and explanation of why the various passages wound up on the best and worst lists. Which I guess is a very different book than what these people were going for...

Sherman K. Stein: Math talk (Paperback, 1991, Wide World Pub./Tetra)

Presents mathematical ideas through poetic dialogues intended to be read by two people.

Review of 'Math talk' on 'Storygraph'

I have no idea why this book exists, never mind how it ended up in my house. And yet, it makes me happy that someone decided writing poetry about math seemed like fun. And the illustrations are fun too.

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Fellowship of the Ring (Paperback, 2001, Quality Paperback Book Club)

The Fellowship of the Ring - the first book of J.R.R. Tolkien's three-volume epic, The …

Review of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' on 'Storygraph'

My impression of the movie is that it's kind of like a nature documentary of New Zealand. My impression of the book is that that's not necessarily inauthentic, but I enjoyed the lore, and having a map was also helpful for following what was going on. In short, there's a reason the song lyric currently in my head is "I like the books way better than the movie, because some parts got left out."

Stephen Hawking: A Brief History of Time (1998, Bantam; 10th anniversary edition)

A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes is a book …

Review of 'A Brief History of Time' on 'Storygraph'

This book somehow manages to be simultaneous dry and accessible, and yet there's still a point at which I find quantum mechanics to be inscrutable. I also found myself wishing that there's an updated version - the book is now 35 years old, and I'm sure there's been new developments in the search for a Grand Unified Theory that I haven't heard about. But overall, I'd say this was an interesting read.

Michael Crichton, Michael Crichton: Disclosure (Paperback, 1994, Arrow Books)

Thomas Sanders' world collapses in just 24 hours - he is passed over for promotion, …

Review of 'Disclosure' on 'Storygraph'

I gave up after the first section because I couldn't stand the manipulation and emotional bullshit. But then after reading the synopsis on Wikipedia to see how it turned out, I thought the later part sounded interesting, so I jumped ahead to the third section and read the rest of the book (and later went back and read the second half of the second section).

The half of the book that's about unraveling the tapestry of deception is much more up my alley, but there's plenty of books that do that without spending as much time having the protagonist suffer at the hands of an unlikeable asshole, so I can't really recommend this one.

It doesn't help matters any that I'm still not sure whether I've read this before, or just a different corporate espionage book of Chrichton's that I didn't like either.

J. R. R. Tolkien: The Hobbit (Paperback, 2012, Mariner Books)

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther …

Review of 'The Hobbit' on 'Storygraph'

While I already knew the gist of what happens from the movie, this was still enjoyable. It's a captivating story, and I rather enjoyed the various asides and commentary that comes through more in words than in movie. Also, I'm wondering how much of the movie was the <10 page battle at the end...