Book Reviews
Reviews of things I've read.•Back to Reviews Page
Doomsday Book • 1992 • Connie Willis A time traveler from the near future goes back to England of the 14th century and stumbles into the Black Death wiping everyone out all around her. Sounds horrible - and yet, it's a wonderful book. There are compelling characters in the future and in the past, and it's somehow compelling even while being a horrific portrayal of the plague. • Loved It!
Dope Thief • 2009 • Dennis Tafoya • Not quite the impact of the tv series for me, but quite good nonetheless. If you've watched the TV series and liked it, you can probably skip the book unless you really want to see what the differences in the original story were. • Liked It
Empire of AI • 2025 • Karen Hao • An important look at the narratives society is being sold about AI and the people selling those narratives. • Loved It!
Exhalation • 2019 • Ted Chiang • A fun and thought-provoking collection of short sci-fi stories. Some of these are centered around completely novel concepts, others less so, but they're all explorations in their own way of what it means to be human. *****
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell • 2019 • Neal Stephenson When I first started reading this and Neal veered off into the mythology of the upload world, I thought "this is NOT for me". But I kept reading, and truthfully I was wrong. It was for me. I actually really like this book and appreciate what Neal is doing here. Don't sleep on it. • Loved It!
Falling Free (Vorkosigan Saga) • 2015 • Lois McMaster Bujold I'm giving this a 3 star here because I can't give it a 2.5, but please understand this book has an average 4.0 rating. It definitely didn't quite sell me. I didn't really like Leo, and his romance with Silver at the end seemed forced. ****
First Contact • 2025 • Becky Ferreira • A delightful look at the science, superstitions, stories, and suppositions behind the search for alien life throughout history. • Loved It!
First Into Nagasaki • George Weller • 2006 • It's hard to read any history of war and not become sad and depressed about how we are capable of treating our fellow humans. First into Nagasaki is brutal, fascinating and engrossing, with details that paint a vivid picture of what the war was like. • Loved It!
Grid to Glory • 2025 • Alex Jacques • Alex Jacques is one of my favorite F1 commentators. His personality shines, and he's clearly a hard worker who knows what he's doing. The stories he's chosen for this book are compelling, but the writing style pulls me out of them. He uses sentence fragments instead of commas, and sometimes the background explanations are slightly muddled. Good, not great. • Decent
Hackers: Heroes of the Compum • Steven Levy • 1984 • Anyone who lived and breathed computers sometime during the periods covered in Hackers will enjoy it greatly. For me, the book is more than the sum of its pages because it covers a time I remember well. • Loved It!
Dope Thief • 2009 • Dennis Tafoya • Not quite the impact of the tv series for me, but quite good nonetheless. If you've watched the TV series and liked it, you can probably skip the book unless you really want to see what the differences in the original story were. • Liked It
Empire of AI • 2025 • Karen Hao • An important look at the narratives society is being sold about AI and the people selling those narratives. • Loved It!
Exhalation • 2019 • Ted Chiang • A fun and thought-provoking collection of short sci-fi stories. Some of these are centered around completely novel concepts, others less so, but they're all explorations in their own way of what it means to be human. *****
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell • 2019 • Neal Stephenson When I first started reading this and Neal veered off into the mythology of the upload world, I thought "this is NOT for me". But I kept reading, and truthfully I was wrong. It was for me. I actually really like this book and appreciate what Neal is doing here. Don't sleep on it. • Loved It!
Falling Free (Vorkosigan Saga) • 2015 • Lois McMaster Bujold I'm giving this a 3 star here because I can't give it a 2.5, but please understand this book has an average 4.0 rating. It definitely didn't quite sell me. I didn't really like Leo, and his romance with Silver at the end seemed forced. ****
First Contact • 2025 • Becky Ferreira • A delightful look at the science, superstitions, stories, and suppositions behind the search for alien life throughout history. • Loved It!
First Into Nagasaki • George Weller • 2006 • It's hard to read any history of war and not become sad and depressed about how we are capable of treating our fellow humans. First into Nagasaki is brutal, fascinating and engrossing, with details that paint a vivid picture of what the war was like. • Loved It!
Grid to Glory • 2025 • Alex Jacques • Alex Jacques is one of my favorite F1 commentators. His personality shines, and he's clearly a hard worker who knows what he's doing. The stories he's chosen for this book are compelling, but the writing style pulls me out of them. He uses sentence fragments instead of commas, and sometimes the background explanations are slightly muddled. Good, not great. • Decent
Hackers: Heroes of the Compum • Steven Levy • 1984 • Anyone who lived and breathed computers sometime during the periods covered in Hackers will enjoy it greatly. For me, the book is more than the sum of its pages because it covers a time I remember well. • Loved It!
