Category: Reviews

  • 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth and Other Useful Guides

    5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth and Other Useful Guides by The Oatmeal My rating: 3 of 5 stars As with most collections of existing material, if you like content at theoatmeal.com, you will probably like this book. It is nice to have some of Inman’s classic comics and lists…

  • Robopocalypse

    Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson My rating: 3 of 5 stars This one has been on my list for a while, discovered somewhere online. It seemed right up my alley. I was reminded to tackle it after my friend Emily read it recently, and I wanted to see if my impression lined up with her…

  • American Craft Beer Fest

    A few weeks ago, my cousin Mark had an extra ticket to the American Craft Beer Fest (ACBF). After a lot of waiting in line in the rain, and some initial confusion as to whether a digital copy of my ticket on my phone would be acceptable, I got inside and started tasting brews. I…

  • A Storm of Swords

    A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars A few weeks ago I made a silver lining out of a flat rear tire on my bike to read this one on my commute to and from work, either walking through Danehy Park or taking the Red Line. Since my…

  • A Clash of Kings

    A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars I suppose it’s problematic when I don’t write book reviews until well over a month after finishing the book in question. In my defense, I finished this book on the plane back from Cancun, and then immediately had two insane weeks…

  • Something’s Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination

    Something’s Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination by Misha Berson My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was a Christmas gift this year from my mom. For those who are wondering why I’d receive a book seemingly outside my usual interests, that’s probably because you’re unaware that I participated a lot…

  • Mockingjay

    Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars I finished this third and final book on the plane down to Cancun a few weeks ago. I didn’t get a chance to review it on account of the travel and then the end of the semester. Up front: I liked it, although not quite…

  • Catching Fire

    Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars Finished this one a week ago. On a few levels, I liked this second book in the trilogy more than the first. In particular, the balance between world-building and action was better: I preferred the history over the combat. I would guess that is…

  • The Hunger Games

    The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book has been out for a while, and has been on my list for some time, based both on the general buzz and direct recommendations, not to mention that dystopian near-future young adult sci-fi is right up my alley. I got the…

  • Remast-nerd

    George Lucas’ crimes against nerdkind are, at this point, well known. One of the better overviews of this nerd tragedy is an episode of John Siracusa’s podcast Hypercritical from a few months ago. No matter how you feel about the so-called Special Editions, or other rereleases, including the in-progress 3Dification, the simple fact is that Star…