The Goodreads Reading Challenge needs a leaderboard. For example, Fitbit displays your rank amongst your friends based on how many steps each has taken that week. This encourages competitiveness amongst friends to take more steps. (Or cheat with Unfitbits style hacks.) Knowing that I am a thousand steps behind a friend is motivation to find ways to…
The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was a book I noticed was on a banned book list and ended up being one of two I started during ALA’s Banned Books Week. The author, Elif Åžafak, was sued by a Turkey prosecutor for “insulting Turkishness” by writing about…
OK, the year is about three quarters done, so here is where I am with each resolution. Read 52 books. Three-quarters of 52 is 39. I am close to done at 49. My Goodreads user challenge. With 5 in progress now, and 3 more than half read, this should be complete soon. Read at least 50% by female authors. Of the…
April 1865: The Month That Saved America by Jay Winik My rating: 4 of 5 stars The statement in the first chapter Americans were born to secede and rebel caught my interest. Winik then went on to back up the claim describing how this country was founded by people crossing an ocean to flee oppression.…
Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a review of an advance reader’s copy (ARC) provided by Viking Books through the Goodreads Giveaway program. News stories about the 800th anniversary a couple months ago attracted me to this book. I mean I was already vaguely…
The Martian by Andy Weir My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was lovingly written by an obvious space nerd. Weir explains large amounts of science and engineering in a very accessible format. As only a true space nerd would do, there are lots of jokes and puns. Not everyone will like them, but they…
Back in 2010, I did a post on I Write Like which reported the author most similar to a writing sample. I gave it several samples for which it gave me several different authors. The trend I noticed was the topic of the sample seemed to predict the result. IBM Watson Personality Insights : uses linguistic analytics…
The Red Record Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States by Ida B. Wells-Barnett My rating: 5 of 5 stars The shooter in the recent Charleston massacre reportedly said: “You rape our women, and you’re taking over our country.” In the aftermath, the mayor claimed to not know much about the…
Born with Teeth: A Memoir by Kate Mulgrew My rating: 4 of 5 stars OK. I am a total Star Trek nerd. Next Generation definitely is my favorite, but I really enjoyed her as Captain Janeway on ST: Voyager. So I was intrigued to read about Kate’s life off screen. My usual problem causing me…