A bit too "this happened then that happened" for my taste. Obviously deeply researched, the book was educational but I think lacking a compelling narrative. It concluded with a surprising to me focus on Yemen, but perhaps that is the author's British origin coming forward.
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Avid but slow-ish reader. I'm usually reading one fiction and one non-fiction book at a time. I love fantasy and hard sci-fi, mystery series. Non-fiction reading ranges from business and self-improvement to travel books and golf.
I hike, backpack, and walk. A lot. Much of the walking is on golf courses.
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Chris Brooks rated The Stone Sky: 5 stars
The Stone Sky by Jemisin N. K. (The Broken Earth, #3)
THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS... FOR THE LAST TIME.
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the …
Chris Brooks rated The man who walked through time: 3 stars
Chris Brooks rated Enlightenment Now: 5 stars
Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker urges us to step …
Chris Brooks rated The case against education: 3 stars
Bryan Douglas Caplan: The case against education (2018)
The case against education by Bryan Douglas Caplan
Despite being immensely popular--and immensely lucrative -- education is grossly overrated. In this explosive book, Bryan Caplan argues that the …
Chris Brooks reviewed Lords of the Desert by James Barr
Review of 'Lords of the Desert' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Chris Brooks rated Flour Water Salt Yeast: 5 stars
Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish
"From Portland's most acclaimed and beloved baker comes this must-have baking guide, featuring scores of recipes for world-class breads and …
Chris Brooks rated The Obelisk Gate: 5 stars
The Obelisk Gate by Jemisin N. K. (The Broken Earth, #2)
THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS ... FOR THE LAST TIME. The season of endings grows darker, as civilization …
Chris Brooks rated Finish: 4 stars
Chris Brooks rated Twilight of the gods: 4 stars
Steven Hyden: Twilight of the gods (2018)
Twilight of the gods by Steven Hyden
By mixing personal memoir, criticism, and journalism, Hyden explores the ways that classic rock changed the culture -- how it …
Chris Brooks rated WTF?: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us: 3 stars
WTF?: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us by Tim O'Reilly
Surveys the potential of emerging technologies, drawing on the insights of experts to explore how artificial intelligence, algorithms, and new …
Review of 'Wicked Cool Shell Scripts, 2nd Edition: 101 Scripts for Linux, OS X, and UNIX Systems' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Did not read every line in the book, but rather dug deep into a few areas of interest to me. This will be a great reference for me plus there are some very useful ready-to-use scripts included.
Chris Brooks rated Refactoring: 5 stars
Refactoring by Martin Fowler, Kent Beck, John Brant, and 2 others
As the application of object technology--particularly the Java programming language--has become commonplace, a new problem has emerged to confront the …
Chris Brooks rated Uprooted: 5 stars
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
"Our Dragon doesn't eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them …
Chris Brooks rated Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse: 4 stars
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse by Herman Hesse
Siddhartha: An Indian novel (German: Siddhartha: Eine Indische Dichtung; German: [ziˈdaʁta] (listen)) is a 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse that …