Wants to read All We Know: Three Lives
book
Rated Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe 8/10
Terrific tour of the latest ideas in physics about the evolution and structure of the universe and how it relates to the history of our solar system and life on earth. The centerpiece is Randall's theory about how dark matter in the galaxy could cause gravitational disturbances that could result in comets like the one that killed the dinosaurs. Highly recommend if you have interest in how theoretical physics works and how a physicist thinks. <br/><br/>The most interesting part for me is in the middle of the book, where she talks about the extinction of the dinosaurs. I'm just old enough that when I was a big dinosaur nerd as a little kid, "what happened to the dinosaurs" was described as a distant and maybe never-to-be-solved mystery, but by the time I was old enough to check back, the comet-strike explanation was as clear and concrete as a scientific theory can be. In one chapter, Randall explains how scientists figured this out over the 80s and 90s and it's honestly riveting (at least to me). It's a great case study in how science works. <br/><br/>Randall is very good at explaining very abstract, complex subjects, although there's a limit to how well you can do this - there were things I had to skim over, as there were with her last book [b:Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World|12470311|Knocking on Heaven's Door How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World|Lisa Randall|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328760741s/12470311.jpg|16225008]. Dark matter is very hard to get your head around because its defining feature is that it interacts barely at all with normal matter and normal light, so we can't really see it even though there's actually more of it than there is of normal matter. The theories about what dark matter is are head-hurty abstract and the descriptions of how scientists try to detect it are a little numbing and technical, so those are the parts I skimmed. <br/><br/>Still, I love Randall's attitude, her enthusiasm and the ease with which she walks the reader through the incredibly weird/cool work she does as a physicist. <br/><br/>
Rated Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution 8/10
This was great! Goes day-by-day through the writing of the Constitution and explains the context and the ratification.<br/><br/>The thing about the Constitution is that it's not some divine miracle; it's kludged together based on a series of compromises and fully satisfying none of them, and it worked well enough to roll on for a couple of centuries with only one major breakdown. <br/><br/>The chapter on the way the Constitution not just tolerated but encouraged slavery is really eye-opening. <br/><br/>Highly recommended.
Rated Drinking at the Movies 6/10
Rated All the Lives I Want: Essays About My Best Friends Who Happen to Be Famous Strangers 8/10
clever, heartfelt essays about "troublesome" famous women like Courtney Love, Winona Ryder, Lil' Kim and Princess Diana, shot through with personal details about the author's life. you'll need a tolerance for a confessional, heart-on-sleeve style but it's a quick read and rewarding.
Rated Children of Paradise: The Struggle for the Soul of Iran 10/10
A long, powerful, tremendously well-reported history of the ideological origins of the Iranian revolution and its reformers and dissidents. Chronological but not a straight history - it's seen through the people and especially the ideas that shape the times. If you are into a grim, careful book that takes you inside a country often seen as opaque or monolithically evil, this is precisely for you. In particular, I couldn't help but be struck by the way everyday life and the paranoia of living under a violent autocracy can intersect - and with the parallels between Iran's political scene and our own (I kept highlighting and tweeting photos of excerpts). Not for everybody, but riveting if a long intellectual history appeals to you.
Rated Sorcerer to the Crown 8/10
A real delight. Zen Cho manages to a bunch of things really well - build a convincing, coherent world with clever magical rules and norms, a plot with a lot of surprises and a lot of threads that lock together, some really sharp analysis of how race/gender/class operate - and also makes it a fun, quick read. Imagine the Ministry of Magic as told by Edith Wharton - adventure and wordplay and a dark creepy underside.
Rated Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone 4/10
Really disappointing, because there is no reason such a fascinating woman should have such a rote, boring biography. You get a lot from reading between the lines but it's a huge slog. Somebody should adapt a 200-page version of this book that eliminates the boring stuff.
Rated The Empathy Exams 8/10
Leslie Jamison is an exceptionally talented writer. She's better when she has something really concrete to talk about than something abstract, but her voice is really powerful and she's a sharp observer. This set of essays is mostly on sad topics - pain, oppression, heartbreak, diseases people might not have, crimes people may not have committed, and in particular the way Jamison herself reacts emotionally to all of these things she encounters.
Rated Vampires in the Lemon Grove 8/10
Like Catherine, I'd give this 3.5 if I could - some stories are great and some are ok.<br/><br/>Russell is probably the author I feel the most envy aout, because she writes like I'd like to write (fast-moving but atmospheric, perceptive internal viewpoints from distinct characters, sneaky magic realism) and because she's just a little younger than me.
Rated The Spy Who Came In from the Cold 8/10
Edited 86d ago
Wants to read 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die
Wants to read Books of Blood: Volumes One to Three