ssweeny reviewed Flying Blind by Peter Robison
Informative, infuriating
4 stars
The concept of maximizing shareholder value can eat a bag of dicks.
Reviews and Comments
Software engineer from #Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Opinions are my own, not those of my spouse, employer, child, or pets. In fact there are few areas in which we agree.
Interested in #FOSS and #Linux, as well as federated social nonsense like the #Fediverse and #XMPP and #Matrix
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ssweeny rated Umbrella Academy Volume 1: 4 stars
Umbrella Academy Volume 1 by Gerard Way, Gabriel Ba, Nate Piekos, and 1 other
ssweeny reviewed Nimona by ND Stevenson
From the Publisher:
A National Book Award Longlist Title
The graphic novel debut from rising …
Better than I remembered.
4 stars
I remember reading bits of this comic on the web way back when, but I fell away from it for some reason and never came back to finish it.
Having seen the Netflix movie recently I was reminded of how much I liked this comic and finally sought out the collected edition.
The story is great, very quick pacing. It's origins as a webcomic are pretty clear in the structure. Very quick "chapters" early on which develop into a fuller and deeper story as we get more into the lore and the characters.
Highly recommended!
ssweeny reviewed LITTLE TOWN ON THE PRAIRIE by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little house)
Pa's homestead thrives, Laura gets her first job in town, blackbirds eat the corn and …
Little Town on the Prairie
3 stars
Pretty consistent with the rest of the series so far. Delightful for the most part.
Unfortunately there is a scene where a bunch of white townsfolk perform a minstrel show in full blackface. That prompted a nice long conversation with the kiddo.
ssweeny reviewed Don't Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen
Don't Believe Everything You Think
4 stars
I thought the separation of "thoughts" (ideas that come to you in a more passive sense) and "thinking" (active interrogation of thoughts that often lead to doubts and fear) was pretty interesting.
As someone who spends way too much time in my own head there was a lot in this book that resonated with me and I plan to try to put some of the advice into practice.
ssweeny started reading Flying Blind by Peter Robison
Got this out again from the library. Maybe this time I'll actually finish it.
ssweeny reviewed Delivered from Distraction by Edward M. Hallowell
"In 1994, Driven to Distraction sparked a revolution in our understanding of attention deficit disorder. …
Delivered from Distraction
4 stars
A former coworker of mine mentioned that he'd recently been diagnosed with ADHD and his therapist had recommended this book to him.
Very on-brand, the author recommends early on that you skip around to different sections of the book depending on what seems relevant to you.
I thought the early sections about the history of ADHD as a diagnosis and the various elements that may or may not manifest with it were fascinating. I don't have a diagnosis but I definitely recognized traits that I share from these sections.
Later on the topics get more specialized (dealing with your own ADHD, dealing with a child with it, etc.) and I was almost grateful to have "permission" to skip around at that point. Most of these later sections were not super relevant to me but I can definitely see them being a useful resource for folks in the relevant situations.
Definitely …
A former coworker of mine mentioned that he'd recently been diagnosed with ADHD and his therapist had recommended this book to him.
Very on-brand, the author recommends early on that you skip around to different sections of the book depending on what seems relevant to you.
I thought the early sections about the history of ADHD as a diagnosis and the various elements that may or may not manifest with it were fascinating. I don't have a diagnosis but I definitely recognized traits that I share from these sections.
Later on the topics get more specialized (dealing with your own ADHD, dealing with a child with it, etc.) and I was almost grateful to have "permission" to skip around at that point. Most of these later sections were not super relevant to me but I can definitely see them being a useful resource for folks in the relevant situations.
Definitely a good primer for anyone curious about ADHD and wanting to know more before maybe getting a diagnosis.
ssweeny rated Little House on the Prairie: 4 stars
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House, #2)
A family travels from the big woods of Wisconsin to a new home on the prairie, where they build a …
ssweeny rated Supercommunicators: 3 stars
Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit, a fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work, …
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a book by Yuval Noah Harari, first published in Hebrew in Israel in …
ssweeny rated On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House): 4 stars
On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House) by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura and her family move to Minnesota where they live in a dugout until a new house is built and …
The Ingalls family had fared badly in Plum Creek, Minnesota. They were in debt. Mary …
By the Shores of Silver Lake
4 stars
Man this family moved around a lot.
This was another enjoyable mostly-lighthearted tale about the Ingalls family moving yet again. This time Pa got a job doing payroll for some railroad workers with the intention of claiming a homestead once the work was done.
I still enjoy Pa's optimism in these stories, and the fact that he can build a shanty in less than a day.
ssweeny reviewed Dawn of night by Paul S. Kemp (The Erevis Cale trilogy ;)
Enjoyable Forgotten Realms Nonsense
4 stars
Came back to try to finish this series.
The characters are brilliant. Lots of meditation on religion and philosophy. The interplay between the villains is almost as good as between the heroes.
The plotting is good too. Keeps you guessing.
Some of the action is a bit rote. Feels like "studio notes" in some places where the author had to refer to some element in the D&D rules.
Still, definitely an enjoyable read.
ssweeny reviewed Asunder by Kerstin Hall
Asunder by Kerstin Hall
4 stars
Someone on these here internets (I wish I could remember who it was) recommended this one and oh boy was it right up my alley.
The setting is a dark fantasy world after a war in which one culture's gods or "heralds" wiped out the other's. The main character could be right out of a classic cyberpunk story. Down on her luck in her youth she traded her life to one of these heralds for the power to speak to the recently dead, and as the story begins she's waiting for the contract to come due.
In trying to save a man's life she binds him to her shadow and that starts a second ticking clock. Can she find the magic to separate them before one of them consumes the other?
I admit some of the world-building lost me at times. But the characters more than made up for it. …
Someone on these here internets (I wish I could remember who it was) recommended this one and oh boy was it right up my alley.
The setting is a dark fantasy world after a war in which one culture's gods or "heralds" wiped out the other's. The main character could be right out of a classic cyberpunk story. Down on her luck in her youth she traded her life to one of these heralds for the power to speak to the recently dead, and as the story begins she's waiting for the contract to come due.
In trying to save a man's life she binds him to her shadow and that starts a second ticking clock. Can she find the magic to separate them before one of them consumes the other?
I admit some of the world-building lost me at times. But the characters more than made up for it. The main character Karys and her newly attached friend Ferain build a delightful chemistry. Her childhood friend-turned-enemy-turned-friend again and a scholar trying to help solve the mystery round out the crew nicely. Everyone gets a few moments to shine and the interplay between everyone hits just right.
The story is weird and gross and gory and funny and sad. Definitely worth a read.
Ragweed, a young country mouse, leaves his family and travels to the big city, where …
Ragweed by Avi
4 stars
Another read with the kiddo. This series has been really fun!
This is a prequel to "Poppy" featuring the adventures of her boyfriend(?) Ragweed as he leaves home in the country and heads to the big city.
I really enjoyed the way the mouse culture in the city was so different. There's a skateboard punk mouse and lots of characters referring to each other as "dude". I may have used my best Bill & Ted impression when reading the dialogue to the kiddo.
Definitely a fun read. There's some tension with local cats that feels at the same time silly and full of real threat.