The Three Body Problem

I love Sci-Fi. Especially Sci-Fi that’s based in some kind of actual science. For All Mankind, The Martian, Contact. So good, very fun for me to read. The Three Body Problem definitely falls into this category. And I liked it! It started out super strong. And all of the acclaim it had gotten had lead me to believe that it would keep going that way, but it started to taper off from the middle to the end, sadly.

The beginning sets up a lot of mystery and questions that I didn’t find satisfyingly answered by the end. And sure you can say that it’s just the first part of a series, which is fair. But they did provide answers, and, while they were conceptually interesting (spoilers! Using extra-dimensionality is interesting), it was really hard to follow along with without glazing over. It also was a very convenient answer.

As for the plot and characters, they fall into the same category. Set up well, but lost steam by the end. Other than a couple of the main characters, every character is a walking exposition dump. Which is fine for sci-fi, but it feels like our main character just has a lot happening to him, instead of doing anything.

There’s a part in the book where a group of characters are brought to a meeting to talk about a video game as a way to see if they’re the right kind of person to join a secret society. The video game is tough, dense, and a lot of people stop playing it. I feel like one of the people at the meeting who questioned the game, and then immediately got told to leave. This book, while I understand it, I don’t really get the high praise it’s gotten. If you like sci-fi, give it a chance, you might like it! There are some interesting concepts, but for me they were overshadowed by some concepts that ended up falling flat (unfolding, if you’ve read the book). Just know that I like sci-fi too, and bounced off it.

Trick Mirror

This is the quintessential “modern person” essay collection, I think. It deals with a bunch of different things, but everything written about is a topic a 20-to-30-something would know about. Topics range from the Internet, reality TV, marriage, drugs, and scams.

Tolentino is thoughtful, clear, and very good at expressing herself personally and on a larger scale. A lot of nonfiction essays and books depend on context, and she does a great job of relating her specific life to a bigger point. So even if I didn’t grow up in Houston, for example, I still feel like I did thanks to the writing.

The standouts to me are “Ecstasy”, which I think is the best of the bunch, “Reality TV Me”, which is comparatively lower stakes than the rest, but I really enjoyed it, and “We Come from Old Virginia”, which is certainly on the higher stakes end.

There are some points that feel like re-treads. The internet comes up a lot, the cost of things on the internet comes up a couple of times. The election of 2016 plays a prominent role, as do feminine literary characters. Not to say those topics coming makes the essays bad or good, but in a collection, it makes me think that I’ve read some of this stuff before. Thankfully, they’re not that intrusive than I ended up having a bad time. Overall, I think a big majority of these essays have their finger on the pulse.

Worth your time, for sure.

The Chaos Machine

I’m part of the age group that was the last to know a life without an internet, but also be proficient enough to be able to navigate said internet with more than just a passing, “Oh, I asked google” knowledge. Increasingly I’ve found myself wanting to be on social media less and less, a very bold take I know. I have taken some steps - deleted twitter and facebook off my phone - but not much else. I was pretty stuck in what more I should do. I’ve been a listener of the Pod Save America network for a while, and was particularly interested by their Offline series - a podcast looking at social media and trying to stop that addiction. I listened for a bit, but then fell off. It was fairly new at the time and only had 5 or so episodes. A couple of months later, I came back to it when I saw that they had added a co-host, Max Fisher, and were doing a challenge about getting more offline.

As I listened to the backlog, Max’s book kept coming up in bits and pieces. I added it to my “to read” list, and then forgot about that for a while. After a 3rd email from audible reminding me I had credits to spend, I figured I’d use some on Max’s book. Social media was an interesting topic, even if I knew about it for the most part. I used twitter and reddit and saw The Social Network. So I really was surprised when I kept learning new things even though I was pretty chronically online for a while. It really took me from, “Oh social media is a bit annoying and I should probably stop,” to, “I need to get off everything ASAP.” The biggest amount of praise I can give this book is that I think everyone should read it. I would guess that twitter + facebook + instagram equates to over 10 billion users, most of which have no idea how they’re being influenced. I would guess a majority think they’re not being influenced at all. Fisher’s book is easy to follow along with, and provides, I think, crucial information for anyone on the internet.

First read of 2024 is a must-read for me. Spoiler for #2, it’s also about the internet.

What Is This Section of the Website, Anyway?

I haven’t written a book, so why have a section labeled books. Pretentious wish fulfilment? NANOWRIMO accountability tracker? None of those, at least for now. I do, however, tend to read more than the average person and I’ve found that writing down my thoughts leads to a better and more thorough recollection of what I actually thought about the book when I try to remember a year later and want something more than “book good” than just trying to remember off the dome. I’m also trying to actually write more things down to improve communication skills - for this page, that means putting my feelings about a book onto virtual paper in a way that’s not just “I liked it!”

(See this video for an example of why writing down thoughts helps recollection, though I’m sure there’s a bunch, or this one on expanding vocabulary).

So on the surface it’s just going to be book ‘ratings’ but I use that term pretty loosely, because rating on a scale really doesn’t help me at all. What’s the difference between a 9 and a 10, anyway? Am I not going to read a book that’s a 9/10? So the overarching theme will usually be worth my time or not worth my time. I guess you could say they’re reviews, but they probably best fit into the category of “things for future Thomas to remember”.

But if you somehow stumble on this site, I do want it to be helpful to you in some way. Reviews mostly come down to taste for me, so here’s a diagnostic of things I like - movies, games, books, etc. - that will hopefully let you calibrate your expectations. If you like most of these things, chances are you’ll like a book when I write that I do.

Movies

Indiana Jones, Knives Out, Uncut Gems, The Fugitive, Casino Royale,

Games

The Uncharted Series, God of War 2018 + Ragnarok, Hades, Sea of Thieves, Return of the Obra Dinn, Mario Sunshine, Immortality, Ghost of Tsushima, The Horizon Series

Books

Say Nothing, The Hunt for Red October, The Princess Bride, Project Hail Mary, Into Thin Air, Catch and Kill, Jurassic Park, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Contact, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Catch-22, In Cold Blood

Other

Jon Bois, Internet Shaquille, Nerd City, People Make Games, Captain Disillusion, BriTANicK

I’ll try to add more to this list as I think of things, but hopefully this helps give an idea of what my taste is! And if you decide to read further, hopefully this post gives you the right context for things I like or not.

Jaws

Short story:

Is Jaws worth reading? Yes. Is the movie worth watching? Also yes.

Long story:

The book is a very entertaining read. It’s tough to match up to the master director, but the movie did have to pull from SOMETHING good, and the book is very much worth it. If you’re interested in the differences between books and movies, this one would make a great double feature. Most of it is the same, but there are some pretty big differences too. This is an easy recommendation (even though I don’t have the badge on the picture).

(Originally written Sept. 11, 2020)

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Graphic Novel Round-Up

I’ve been getting into graphic novels a bit, mostly thanks to Tom King and his limited run work. Don’t know enough to talk about each of them in depth, but if I’m writing about what I’ve read, these count, so let’s get through them! All of them are worth checking out I think

Strange Adventures - King writing about a hero I know nothing about, this is actually a Mr. Terrific book in disguise. The art of course is stellar, and an important part of the story.

TMNT: The Last Ronin - I’m not a TMNT guy, but the premise of this story - only one turtle alive, we don’t know who it is, and written by the original team - is very compelling. And the story was good! A bit plain in the beginning, but I think it all comes together by the end.

The Human Target Vol. 1 & 2 - My favorite of the 4 reviewed here. I think King’s writing matches perfectly with the tone of these 2 volumes (unlike Strange Adventures, if that makes sense). Noir matches with how he writes perfectly, is what I mean. The concept to me is also the cleanest - perfect for a graphic novel, doesn’t overstay its welcome, and uses the Elseworlds format exactly how it should be used.

Mister Miracle - This one is the toughest for me, and I think it is for a lot of people. Like obviously it’s GOOD. In fact it’s probably the most highbrow and deep work out of these 4. Certainly the most complicated in my mind. Human Target is still my favorite, but if you’re curious about any of these 4, Mister Miracle is the most interesting to me. It’s wild, a certainly deserves all of the awards it’s won (I think it’s won some, too lazy to check).

Also, I have some old reviews and stuff backlogged in my drafts, I’m just going to publish them right after this so they’re out there.

The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series

The World Series is the championship with the most history in the United States, by a big margin. Almost 50 years of distance to the next closest major championship (bar golf), with the history woven into American history itself. The Grandest Stage chronicles various aspects of the Series - from people who got a chance to play in it, to managers, to specific moments.

Not much to say on the actual content - it is all about the World Series. There are interviews, historical deep dives, recaps, and the like. If you aren’t interested in baseball, this probably isn’t the book for you. The quality is amazing I think, but if you aren’t interested in the subject matter, it’s just going to be like pulling teeth. So, fair warning.

As for the writing, I think each chapter is distinct enough to warrant the time and space it’s given. When it comes to the game, there are major differences between a manager and 3rd basemen. The flow in the chapters themselves is also impressive, going from moment to moment seamlessly, usually by matching moments from different Series’ together as a transition point.

As for specific content - a warning that there is a LOT of Yankees talk since they dominate the early years of Baseball, but I think a lot of other teams get their shine as well. It’s just, the Old School Yankees are such a part of history that they’re hard to ignore, so they end up in there a lot.

Overall, this is a great book of baseball history, focusing on the biggest games. If you’re interested in baseball, definitely give it a read.

Dracula

I finished Dracula a couple of months ago, so this isn’t the most timely review, but I’m getting to it, at least! And even though it’s been a couple months, I’m still struck by how good this was, especially for a classic. When I think classic, I think stuffy, wordy, and boring. Dracula is not that at all. It’s a multi-POV, epistolary, horror-action story.

The first big note is the language is still a bit old timey, but that’s to be expected at least. In fact, I think it enhanced the story as it really immerses you in the time period. Some of the plot is a bit contrived (people are falling asleep on the job constantly) but really that’s the worst of it, and it serves the story - so it’s acceptable. There are some spots where the story drags - the men talking / planning has a lot of “get on with it” to me - but for the most part something is always happening. To go along with that, some of the characters blend together, but they’re mostly the secondary characters. The Harkers, Van Helsing, Dracula are a couple that (obviously) stand out. And weirdly, it feels like you know some of the characters already through cultural osmosis. Dracula and Van Helsing are two who I had heard of before reading, which adds to the ease of reading.

A late-night stakeout (amazing joke Thomas), some globetrotting, various murders, a climatic battle are all exciting parts of the book, and what make this book one of the most accessible classics out there. I have so many good things to say about the tightness of the story, the characters, and that’s not even mentioning essentially creating / popularizing one of the most well known monsters out there. As for the form of the book itself, the diary entries, news clippings, and letters also make getting into this classic easier because the point of all of those media is to be clear. Some of the diary entries do drag a bit, but they’re diary entries. The “bad” parts of the book are all pretty reasonable, so the damage is minimized.

What I’m trying to say is, people always want to read more classics. They get through a chapter or two and realize they need the accompanying guide book, and stop. I totally get that. This is not one of those books. Get through a few chapters (or read through with Dracula Daily - they’ll email you the chapters on the actual day they happen!), and I promise it’ll live up to modern writing way more than you expect.

Who should read this? Anyone, especially if you’re looking to dive deeper than pop-fiction.

2021+2022+2023 Wrap Up

It’s been a while since I’ve written about books, and I’ve read a good number of them since I wrote about how ok Dark Matter was. Writing a single entry for each of them would be a lot of work, and I don’t even have super-deep thoughts about them since it’s been over a year since I’ve read most of them. So instead I’ll do a quick wrap up of everything I’ve read, and highlight anything I thought was particularly noteworthy. Wiping the slate clean. So! Let’s get started.


The rest of 2021 went like this:
Kingdom Come - An all timer for comic book fans

The Breaks of the Game - A great dive into basketball

Born to Run

Where Men Win Glory - Krakauer knows how to write em!

The End of Everything - interesting and surprisingly accessible

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? - Also surprisingly accessible

Onto 2022

The Last Book on the Left

Hip Hop and Other Things

The Tiger - awesome awesome read. Very much a dad book, but who doesn’t want to read about a tiger and the crew that Russia dispatches to deal with it

Phil - Great book of Mickelson stories

And finally getting caught up to 2023

A Walk in the Woods

Tokyo Vice - Couldn’t get enough!

Trust the Plan

Dracula

Where Men Win Glory, The Tiger, and The End of Everything are my must-reads from 2021+2022. I’ll make a full 2023 list at the end of the year.

The Hunt for Red October

Submarine warfare. Cold War. Defection.

Also why is the office guy on the audiobook cover? They already made a whole movie adaptation!

Ok, that’s basically all you need to know. The Hunt for Red October is a masterpiece I think, though it does have some shortfalls.

First, the bad.

There’s a ton of technical jargon when it comes to submarines. How sonar works, how the low-sound propulsion system operates, etc. It can be a bit boring.

It’s a little too long. Some characters and scenes could’ve been cut in the name of brevity, even if it meant that things wouldn’t have happened 100% accurately. I think the movie does a good job of this, other than the end.

Now, a possible hot take, though I don’t think so.

This book is extremely masculine, and that’s ok. It’s about a submarine captain from the USSR steaming his way to the US border during the Cold War, with both countries entire naval units searching for them. The crews for the Red October and the various vessels Jack Ryan, our main character, visit, are entirely male. It is an exercise in masculinity. Excessive posturing, almost outrageous planning, the fact that they are in submarines. It almost hits you over the head with it. So if you go in knowing that, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

All that to say, I think everyone will like it. People of all genders like action movies, and that’s what this is. Wrap the American flag around your shoulders and imagine how cool it is that these submarines are fighting.

You’ll like this if you:

like to watch big explosions.

like a good ol spy story

Empire of Pain

Patrick Radden Keefe’s last book, Say Nothing, was my favorite book of last year so I was a little pumped when he announced he was releasing a new book only about a year later. It is a radically different subject, moving from The Troubles in Ireland to a rich family in New York.

Empire of Pain is the story of the family behind OxyContin - how they came into their riches and what they’ve done to protect their name at all costs. Imagine an unauthorized family biography. They don’t want their name associated with the opioid health crisis, though it’s out there now.

Since it’s nonfiction, and I’ve already reviewed one of Radden Keefe’s other books, the most I can say is it lives up to the hype I had set for it (and that’s saying a lot since Say Nothing was my number 1 read last year). Definitely recommend reading it. You may not like it, but you will learn something that you need to know.

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary is Andy Weir’s third book, following The Martian and Artemis. Like the previous two, it deals in realistic science fiction, with a lot of math, research, and actual science being used in the plot. The story is a bit more far fetched than The Martian, relying more of the fiction half of science fiction, but it’s still (somewhat) easy to read, funny, and worth your time. Although, if I had to give you one of his books to read, I think The Martian still has the lead in the clubhouse.

Project Hail Mary follows a scientist trying to make sense of why he is in a spaceship with two dead astronauts, surrounded by stars he doesn’t know, and no memory of how he got there. The first thing we learn is that Earth’s sun is losing power, and fast - so fast that it would be an apocalyptic event in less than 50 years. It’s up to the scientist, who doesn’t even know his own name at the start of the book, to try and save humanity.

I could take or leave the flashback stuff, they mostly served as filler and backstory for our main character, and often found myself wanting to get back to the present in the spaceship. Weir uses the device of recovering his memory through visual cues, though this stops around halfway through in favor of just going to the flashbacks without any trigger. That’s fine and all, just odd that there were cues in the begging, and just stop.

Without getting into specifics, I think Weir does a good job explaining the science to everyone, even though most people are going to handwave it away with an “I trust you, nerd.” I mean I’m not gonna check his work when it comes to measuring something’s mass in zero-G. I wanted to read a book not do math! As far as I can tell, all of the math and science is (for the most part) sound, although Weir does fall into a writing trap that goes something like this:

I finally finished calculating how big the needle needed to be to puncture the cell’s membrane: 12 microns. All I had to do was use planc’s constant, and a couple of derivative equations, then have the 3D printer do all of the work. Soon, I would be the star-system’s smallest serial killer.

Or something like that. A lot of science, with a quip at the end. It happens just enough to be noticeable.

Otherwise, I think the story is engaging and fun. The problems are interesting and pressing, and the main character is flawed and relatable, even though he’s basically one of the best scientists in the world and extremely lucky and yadda yadda yadda all that main character stuff.

Obviously I don’t want to talk spoilers, but if you read it you’ll understand this next part. I think his descriptions of life and evolution were very compelling, especially what the audiobook does with language. One of the couple of times an audiobook would be worth listening too.

It’s a fun read, especially if you like science fiction. Often sci-fi is just Star Wars or Star Trek types, so it’s nice to see capital-S Science-fiction taking the stage. Definitely worth checking out.

A Course Called America

Tom Coyne’s A Course Called America is the third in his “A Course Called…” series, following A Course Called Scotland and A Course Called Ireland. It follows his journey of playing golf in all 50 states and finding the Great American Golf Course. If there’s anyone I would want to write about this trip, it would be Coyne. He weaves together golf, history, current events, and personal struggles in a seamless way. Golfers will love this book - it has inside jokes (iron covers), and course recommendations - and some non-golfers probably will too. The target audience is definitely those on the links, though.

Tom Coyne is a golfer’s golfer, and a good writer, too. Each chapter is filled with roughly two to three stories about the courses he played in the area, as well as potential history, local oddities, or, best of all, the people he played with. The people in this book shine as much as the golf, which makes sense. Courses and how you play are really only half the reason to play. The people are the other half. There are some recurring characters, but for the most part Coyne used social media to find courses to play and people to play with. And it worked out pretty well. It seems like a majority of the places and people played with left Coyne with a good experience or memory.

He’s also a pretty good golfer, usually shooting around 80 on all of these courses. This allows for a next level of course analysis and routing, as someone with less skill would probably not recognize these things. All holes would be challenging to them, so Coyne having some game helps the layman understand what the course architect was trying to achieve.

Speaking of course architects and designers, if you aren’t interested in golf and its history, this book probably isn’t for you. Sure, there are other parts to the book - a veteran’s golf association, a rival that can’t be beat, a travelogue - but a lot of the book is devoted to the courses, how they play, and who made them. For me, it was interesting to learn about Donald Ross, A.W. Tillinghast, and Coore & Crenshaw, but it can be very dry for a lot of people. There is definitely a target audience here. Though I think it works with the commentary Coyne adds, which is authentic, informative, and emotionally resonate. He comments on golf in modern times in such smart and knowledgable way that I think it’s worth your time to read it anyway, despite the fact that golf can be a slog.