Monday, November 30, 2015

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell


  • The core of this book focuses on strengths and be weaknesses and weaknesses can be strengths.
  • As in his earlier works, Gladwell oversimplifies a number real world events to fit his theories.
  • Chapter titles and sub-headings sound like click-bait from the Internet.
  • Overall, this is a thought-provoking work that should be read with a critical mind.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff



  • Even after finishing this novel, I feel like I still don't know the main characters.  
  • The book is divided roughly into two sections, each one devoted to each main character's point of view.
  • Overall, the novel was enjoyable, even if it didn't live up to all of the hype.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

The Mare by Mary Gaitskill


  • This is Black Beauty for adults.
  • In this novel Gaitskill looks into where the best intentions intersect with real-world conflict based in privilege and opportunities.
  • With short chapters, this novel is a quicker read than it appears.

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes



  • This novel falls on the literary end of the spectrum for romance novels.
  • This novel focuses on characters focusing what they really want in life, and who they want to be in their lives.
  • The main characters' resilience is the center point of the novel.
  • With four narrating characters, the audiobook becomes disjointed.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Orphan Number Eight by Kim van Alkemade



  • This book explores the impacts of medical testing on children.
  • The main character is permanently scarred by medical testing as a child.  As an adult, she encounters the doctor who led the experiments.
  • Within the first 40 pages, the plot of the novel is fairly clear.
  • While the novel addresses a gruesome topic, it felt safe and even somewhat hokey.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari


  • Having heard horror stories of online dating, I was curious to hear what Aziz had to say.  (I'm thankfully I missed the introduction of online dating.)
  • The book is a balance of sociological research and Aziz's humorous commentary.  All together this makes for an interesting read.
  • As an audiobook narrated by Aziz, my experience reading the book felt like Aziz's stand-up on the topic of dating.
  • As Aziz fans would expect, there were numerous references to delicious food throughout the book.

The Dead Student by John Katzenbach



  • Katzenbach explores the world of addiction and recovery through several characters in this book.
  • Although I rarely read mysteries, this one is appealing given the well-developed characters.
  • The two main characters research the past of a recently deceased relative.
  • The last half of the book gets really dark (e.g. scenes that reference the Saw movie franchise).