Book reviews for November 2017

The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher, #22) by Lee Child

The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher, #22) by Lee Child

4/5

 

The Startup Way: How Entrepreneurial Management Transforms Culture and Drives Growth by Eric Ries

The Startup Way: How Entrepreneurial Management Transforms Culture and Drives Growth by Eric Ries

4/5

Normally I like to wait a few years before reading business books as the companies held up as shining examples of the one true way will have invariably foundered. No need to wait long in this case as Immelt is already out at GE and while it might be unfair to pin that on the lean startup movement it certainly gives you reason to pause while reading this book. Do I really want to fly on a plane with a Minimum Viable Jet Engine? Having said all that I actually liked the book. It's a recap of lean startup and broadens that thesis to cover strategy and innovation accounting for larger enterprises and (of course) humanity as a whole. Grandiose, but not totally crazy as the core of the movement is to use the scientific method in more places. You don't know, so test and learn.

 

Authority (Southern Reach, #2) by Jeff VanderMeer

Authority (Southern Reach, #2) by Jeff VanderMeer

3/5

 

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Book reviews for October 2017

Origin (Robert Langdon, #5) by Dan Brown

Origin (Robert Langdon, #5) by Dan Brown

3/5

 

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Millennium, #5) by David Lagercrantz

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Millennium, #5) by David Lagercrantz

3/5

 

Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1) by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1) by Jeff VanderMeer

4/5

 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

5/5

 

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Book reviews for September 2017

Book reviews for August 2017

Empire Games (Empire Games #1) by Charles Stross

Empire Games (Empire Games #1) by Charles Stross

4/5

 

The Delirium Brief (Laundry Files, #8) by Charles Stross

The Delirium Brief (Laundry Files, #8) by Charles Stross

4/5

 

The Thirst (Harry Hole #11) by Jo Nesbø

The Thirst (Harry Hole #11) by Jo Nesbø

4/5

 

The Revolution Trade (The Merchant Princes, #5-6) by Charles Stross

The Revolution Trade (The Merchant Princes, #5-6) by Charles Stross

4/5

 

The Traders' War (The Merchant Princes, #3-4) by Charles Stross

The Traders' War (The Merchant Princes, #3-4) by Charles Stross

4/5

 

Influx by Daniel Suarez

Influx by Daniel Suarez

4/5

 

The Bloodline Feud (The Merchant Princes, #1-2) by Charles Stross

The Bloodline Feud (The Merchant Princes, #1-2) by Charles Stross

4/5

 

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Book reviews for May 2017

Change Agent by Daniel Suarez

Change Agent by Daniel Suarez

5/5

Stonking near future bio thriller.

 

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Book reviews for April 2017

Palace of Treason (Red Sparrow Trilogy #2) by Jason  Matthews

Palace of Treason (Red Sparrow Trilogy #2) by Jason Matthews

3/5

 

Red Sparrow (Red Sparrow Trilogy #1) by Jason  Matthews

Red Sparrow (Red Sparrow Trilogy #1) by Jason Matthews

3/5

Reasonable spy thriller, strangely has a recipe at the end of each chapter which cuts through any tension. You end up wondering what snack in each chapter is going to be featured at the end. Ruins the pacing. Doesn't work as a cookbook either as the recipes omit quantities and cooking time and instead just touch on ingredients and rough technique.

 

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Excessive Book Reviews

Updated on Sunday, May 3, 2020

You know how you're debugging and comment out that return statement that stops book reviews from being posted more than once a month so you can get to the bottom of a problem without constantly deleting posts? And then you get distracted and push a new version of the blog software with that return statement still commented out? Thankfully that task is only scheduled to run every four hours. Sorry.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Excessive Book Reviews #reviews #ithcwy Excessive Book Reviews )

Book reviews for March 2017

Book reviews for February 2017

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

5/5

Stories of Your Life was made into Arrival, and it's a great story but just one of many in this book. Only one fell flat for me. Ted Chiang has a thought and then takes it so devastatingly literally that it will take you a while to stop thinking about it.

 

The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3) by John Joseph Adams

The End Has Come (The Apocalypse Triptych, #3) by John Joseph Adams

4/5

A cunning ploy - like most sets of short stories this is a mixed bag. The sting in the tail is that most continue in some form through all three books in the series so you have to read all three (if you have trouble not finishing a story, there isn't an executive order or anything). It's probably more of an investment than the material warrants (I'd have preferred a single and more tightly edited volume). It does however include a new strand of the Wool saga as well as a few other standouts so if you have the time, dive in.

 

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Book reviews for December 2016

Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017
The End is Now by John Joseph Adams

The End is Now by John Joseph Adams

4/5

Review coming with book 3...

 

The End is Nigh by John Joseph Adams

The End is Nigh by John Joseph Adams

4/5

Review coming with book 3...

 

Night School (Jack Reacher, #21) by Lee Child

Night School (Jack Reacher, #21) by Lee Child

4/5

I much prefer flashback Reacher to modern day midwest town trauma Reacher. This is one of the best.

 

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