User Profile

ajft

ajft@bookwyrm.social

Joined 3 years, 3 months ago

he/him scruffy monkeyhanger sysadmin cyclist Melbourne, Boonwurrung land, Aus

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ajft's books

Stopped reading

John Birmingham, Rupert Degas: Zero Day Code (AudiobookFormat, 2019, Audible Studios on Brilliance, Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio) 4 stars

Gripping, all too believable how it plays out. A typo. where someone "peddles" a bike rather than "pedals" it annoyed me far more than it should. Not convinced that the three books can be read standalone, perhaps the first one, but I don't think number two and three will stand alone

finished reading Homeland by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow: Homeland (Hardcover, 2013, Tor Books) 4 stars

In Cory Doctorow's wildly successful Little Brother, young Marcus Yallow was arbitrarily detained and brutalized …

Quickly readable, aimed at a young audience, enjoyable enough but the author draws out each point endlessly, turning it into a "howto" for every topic mentioned

finished reading Freedom TM by Daniel Suarez (Deamon, Book 2)

Daniel Suarez: Freedom TM (Hardcover, 2010, Dutton) 4 stars

The propulsive, shockingly plausible sequel to "New York Times" bestseller "Daemon, Freedom" features a world …

Been meaning to read the sequel to Daemon for a couple of years, then when I started it I found I got five pages in and had to put it back and re-read Daemon. Enjoyable and all too believable in places, all too unbelievable in others. Disturbingly violent, possibly excessively so

finished reading Flood Tide by Clive Cussler

Clive Cussler: Flood Tide (1998, Pocket Star) 4 stars

Following the runaway success of his first nonfiction book, The Sea Hunters, Clive Cussler returns …

I'd read a few of these about thirty years ago. Ok, its an unbelievable page-turner adventure, but wow, incredibly cardboard, racist, sexist and unbelievable. Were they all as bad as this when I first read them or is this one just worse then usual?

finished reading In search of Ireland by H. V. Morton

H. V. Morton: In search of Ireland (1930, Methuen) 3 stars

I stumbled on another of H.V. Morton's books a few years ago and enjoyed his style, so picked this up in a second-hand shop when I saw it. Although written almost a hundred years ago the language is very readable, not noticeably "old", while the places and people that he described are clearly from another age - and he is often remaking that he's seeing the last of "an old way of life" as modern transport and communications comes more strongly into play, mixing and changing society

finished reading The dragon at noonday by Edith Pargeter (The brothers of Gwynedd -- 2)

Edith Pargeter: The dragon at noonday (1987, Headline) No rating

I guess I deserve this for jumping in at book two of a four book series - I picked up no. 2 and 4 from a box of freebies because I recognised the author's name and I'd enjoyed the Brother Cadfael novels years ago. Thrown in the deep end, English & Welsh history, lots of characters, lots of places in the landscape, I think you'll need a map and a family tree to follow what's going on. Mostly just went with the flow and enjoyed it as it went, letting the bigger picture lose itself in the background