IQ

Book 12 of 2018 is IQ by Joe Ide.

Reading about the trials of African Americans makes me cringe on the best of days but I can't live here and pretend it isn't happening. So this year, I am reading as much as I can bear.

This book was absolutely brilliant. Very Sherlock Holmes mixed with Spike Lee mixed with Quincy Jones. I want to stay in Isaiah's life and watch everything be solved through observation.

Great writing lets you live the story without fighting the words. Even with a dialect I don't read naturally and references that I have to take in context, this was easy and enjoyable to read.

Do read this.

5 inductive reasonings out of 5.

Should I read this? Yes. Read it. It's that good.
What did I learn? The geek shall inherit the Earth. Or at least those of us who were picked last for sporting teams. :)

When the Air Hits Your Brain

Book 11 of 2018 is When the Air Hits Your Brain by Frank Vertosick, Jr. MD.

This was an odd book to read in this #metoo time. It lacked the entitlement and megalomania that I expected from a surgeon. Maybe I've just dated the wrong surgeons.

This author said brain surgery isn't brain surgery and I find that interesting. A lot of people want to make their professions seem impossible to enter, exclusive or next to godliness. He didn't make it out that way.

The anecdotes were interesting and told perfectly. The only thing I'd change is the self pity. You're a neurosurgeon, I don't feel sorry for you.

4 barbaric scull drilling tools out of 5.

Should I read this? Yes, it was fascinating.
What did I learn? Every profession is a life of learning but not everyone dies.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

Book 9 of 2018 is Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan.

My work published this book so I have heard a lot about it. It is at the top of a lot of best seller lists and there is a moving coming out. When I read the description of the book, I didn't want to read but I couldn't ignore how highly recommended it came.

I am really happy I read it. Some of it was hard to believe but I'm going to treat this as fiction based in history and leave it at that. This even changed my view of the Italians in the second world war. My opinion of the Nazis goes unchanged.

4 lucky breaks out of 5.

Should I read this? Yeah, it is well written and a fun adventure. Yes, there are tears.
What did I learn? The Italians were not simply complicit.

Thunderhead

Book 5 of 2018 is the 2nd book in the Arc of the Scythe series, Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman.

This is one of two series that I read last year and could not wait for the next book to be released. It's a new idea to me and executed very well. The twists are unpredictable and the characters are multidimensional.

Now I have to wait until the next book!

5 political moves out of 5.

Should I read this? Yes. It's a great series.
What did I learn? People can take seperate paths to fight the same battle. Life (and death) isn't black and white.

Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help YouFind - and Keep - Love

Book 2 of 2018 is Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help YouFind - and Keep - Love by Amir Levine.

A friend insisted I read this... multiple times. So, of course I did. Only in agreement that we would book club over it. That will happen soon.

Although I am an outspoken critic of evolutionary psychology since I don't believe it a science due to its inability to demonstrate scientific method behind its hypotheses, this was not so bad. It at least did what I like with therapy type approaches and offered solid skills and tools to learn to deal with the perceptions it presents.

There are a few tests in the book. I'm a Secure type with some Anxious tendencies. Very much not an Avoidant type. None of this surprised me too much.

One thing I did like was that this is the first time someone has said that sure, happiness is intrinsic but not when you are so closely connected to another person. In fact, you become biologically connected to people who you love. Their happiness does effect yours.

It never sat well with me that I was to blame for all sadness I have felt in life. Sometimes, I'm said because you are. Or someone leaves and it breaks my heart. Be it a break-up, death or a friend moving to another city.

This book will help me to build on my ability to identify what drives people and to be a better friend. It also gives me permission to say certain behaviours are not ok and to voice what I need. Those are all good things. Massive massive things.

5 secure boundaries out of 5.

Should I read this? If you are open to being a better person and face your challenges then yes. If not, go do something else.
What did I learn? I'm not intolerant. I just know my boundaries.

Golden Son

Book 76 is Golden Son which is book 2 of The Red Rising series by Pierce Brown.

This series continues to challenge what I think is right and what is reality. I'd like to think I'd handle things better but I'm not sure if Darrow does what we all would: A mix of right and what must be done.

Still one of the best series to come true in the last few years. Coloured people, politics and entitlement all mixed in modern relevance.

4 betrayals out of 5.

Should I read this? If you want some philosophically challenging science fiction.
What did I learn? I would never be a revolutionary.

The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple

Book 70 is The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn.

After Helter Skelter, I have been seeking similar styles of books which give insights in to famous situations. This is the first I've found that was as interesting. It is not as well written but it is hard to put down.

This book takes you through Jones' life from his childhood with his disturbed delusional mother on to his marriage and building of the church to the final Kool-Aid (it wasn't that brand actually) mass suicide in French Guiana.

The Jonestown Mass Suicide

It was not so hard to see why people followed him. He just wanted to be followed and sold a left leaning charitable view of his church which seemed to help people. He then isolated and controlled his flock.

We look back and wonder why governments would let this happen but I'm sure no one expects Jonestown. I wouldn't have.

4 miraculous fake healings out of 5.

Should I read this? It's interesting. So, yeah.
What did I learn? I always thought the mass suicide took place in the US. Now I know it was South America.

All These Worlds

Book 67 is All These Worlds, which is book 3 of the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor.

Rarely have I liked a trilogy this much. There were tough moments but all in all, this was an original and wonderful idea.

The only other time I have seen this idea of alternate selves was in ultimate dimensions. Taylor solves this with one dimension and the idea of slight differences in instantiations of the same person.

You know Bob 0 is no longer around.

A brilliant series worth reading, despite the slow middle bit.

4 Bobs out of 5.

Should I read this? For all modern sci-fi fans.
What did I learn? White middle-class male entitlement may persist hundreds of years into the future but at least I'll be dead.

For We Are Many

Book 66 is For We Are Many which is book 2 of the Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor.

This has absolutely been an original and thoroughly entertaining series for me and one I shall continue to read.

The thing that became painful in this book specifically, was Bob's ego. It's fragile like an entitled white male geek boy from San Francisco. I had to actively try to avoid thinking of how whiney and weak he was while he constantly found he was impressed with himself. I guess replicant evolution doesn't evolve passed white male entitlement... or maybe it is the author.

Nonetheless, after finishing this I have skipped right on to the third and final book of the series.

There is something about the idea of the Bobs that I love. It is the many instantiations of their evolution or their exaggerated biases. I don't know. I simply enjoy them all.

4 growth opportunities out of 5.

Should I read this? Yes to Star Trek explorer kinds of sci-fi lovers.
What did I learn? I am glad there is only one of me in the world. Facing my many versions would be very confronting.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

 

Book 64 is We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor.

I read this because it had been recommended a thousand times. The reason I hadn't picked it up was because it sounded like it was about some Silicon Valley frat boy type who cryogenically froze himself and came back to save the world.

Truth is, it kinda is but he is likeable.

The philosophical questions got me through this whole book. His righteous confidence and entitlement made me cringe but I rubbernecked it like a true human.

An interesting and unique concept.

4 Bobs out of 5.

Should I read this? Yes. No bobs about it.
What did I learn? Is AI nature or nurture.

Around the World in Eighty Days

Book 62 is Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne.

This is the 11th book Verne wrote in the Extraordinary Voyages series and one that I am shocked to not have read yet, considering I know the story so well.

What surprised me about the story is that there is no hot air balloon travel at all. Not a single mention of it.

Phileas Fogg is one of the least penetrable yet most interesting central characters I've ever read. He is the central pivot point in the story with the world made up of interesting characters, situations and exceptions rotating around him. I would never have seen that in a movie version.

The twists and solutions are intelligent although sometimes contrived but it all fits together perfectly.

You must remember that time this was written to not cringe at the cultural insensitivity and sexism.

I must read the rest of the series now. And no, order does not seem to matter.

4 idiot travel buddies out of 5.

Should I read this? Yes. Read it to your kids or to yourself. You'll enjoy it.
What did I learn? I want to travel around the world in 80 days now but only five star.

The Butterfly Effect

Book 40 of 2017 is The Butterfly Effect by Jon Ronson.

Still working on my audio book journey. I usually get distracted while doing other things and have to keep going back to listen multiple times. This book kept me interested through the whole three hours.

Something that I thought would be seedy and one-sided took a path of discovery and naturally resulted in no conclusion other than that tech changed the world.

This is very much worth the listen. Seven seasons in the style of Serial, executed with respect.

5 stamp collections out of 5.

Should I read this? Absolutely.
What did I learn? You may change the world and never realise how much is beyond just making money.

The North Water

Book 9 of 2017 is The North Water by Ian McGuire.

This book is full or gore and great examples of the worst kind of men imaginable. I did not enjoy it at all. There wasn't anything that redeemed it in any way.

It is hard to say if my quest to read more female authors and the eight I read prior to this book meant that the very male story, characters and theming seemed over the top. The killing of animals, people and an awful chapter about pouring puss out of a man's abdomen was just too much. It wasn't even done in a way that made it fit properly. It was like the author would pause once in a while and describe something disgusting in great detail. That behaviour also distracted from the story.

Two polar bears out of five.

Should I read this? No. There are many better books in this genre.
What did I learn? Reading a majority of male writers desensitises me things I don't like in some male writing. There is certainly a different voice.