The good, bad, and ugly of books
I'm behind on writing about books so this will be a quick post to catch up on some that have crossed my path recently. A mix of fiction and non-fiction, but no real notes to capture, more about perceptions.
First the good:
| Case Histories: A Novel by Kate Atkinson was a great read. A bunch of intertwined story lines all centered around the main private detective. There are some lose ends in the minor plot lines, but it looks like those might be addressed in a future novel with some of the same characters. |
| Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku is a very approachable book dealing with some pretty out there concepts. The future of life, string theory, and multiple universes are just a few of the many topics the book deals with. |
The bad:
| Signs of Life: How Complexity Pervades Biology by Ricard Sole, Brian Goodwin, and Ricard Solé is at the other end of approachability from Parallel Worlds. The text is dense, dry, and tries to cover too many topics in too little detail. I must admit that after the first three chapters I put the book down and don't plan on finishing it. Some of the material rehashed Critical Mass which I also didn't enjoy. Maybe its just the subject matter. |
The ugly:
| Pulpy and Midge by Jessica Westhead is a waste of paper. The characters are completely one dimensional and the plot a poor regurgitation of themes from Office Space and The Office. I tried to get through it since it was so short but ultimately gave up just shy of half way realizing that there was no miracle of writing the author could perform to make me care at all about the characters or what happened to them. |