Book #34 of 2017: Infomocracy by Malka Older (Centenal Cycle #1) A fun spy thriller, set in the near future where corporations compete in “microdemocracies” to be the new government rulers of thousands of small territories around the world. It’s more amusing than strictly plausible, and it took a good 10% of the novel before …
Author Archives: Joe Kessler
Book Review: My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King as told to The Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds
Book #33 of 2017: My Life, My Love, My Legacy by Coretta Scott King as told to The Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds An eye-opening, heartbreaking, and inspiring memoir from Martin Luther King’s widow Coretta Scott King, herself a leading figure in the civil rights movement. Indeed, this book helps shine a light on Coretta’s own …
Book Review: Messenger by Lois Lowry
Book #32 of 2017: Messenger by Lois Lowry (The Giver #3) The Giver series definitely offers diminishing returns as it goes along. This third book at least proves that the books are a single series by tying together the otherwise unconnected first and second novels, although once again there’s a new sort of magic that …
Book Review: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
Book #37 of 2017: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (The Masquerade #1) A fascinating character and culture study, most reminiscent of Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch books. Baru Cormorant is a young woman whose homeland gets annexed by an expanding empire, after which she privately vows to rise through her conquerors’ ranks to take …
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Book Review: Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection by Brandon Sanderson
Book #30 of 2017: Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection by Brandon Sanderson A great collection of short stories and novellas in the cosmere, the larger setting that links many of Brandon Sanderson’s individual book series like Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive. Sanderson plans for these series to eventually intersect directly, and there have been growing …
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Book Review: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
Book #29 of 2017: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey This self-help book is a tad jargon-heavy, and there are a lot of parts that should be taken with a grain of salt (if not discounted entirely). But overall it was a good read for …
Book Review: The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket
Book #28 of 2017: The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events #11) I’m glad this series is now mostly done playing coy over VFD, which by this point has been firmly established as a secretive group the Baudelaire parents used to belong to. They use a lot of codes, they come …
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Book Review: How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain by Gregory Berns
Book #27 of 2017: How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain by Gregory Berns The science is interesting, but the writing is stilted and the author frequently comes off as arrogant. Plus, as he admits, the fMRI research on dogs really just confirms what pet-owners have known about …
Book Review: Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In by Bernie Sanders
Book #26 of 2017: Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In by Bernie Sanders The first third of this book is essentially a play-by-play of Bernie’s recent presidential campaign, which is less interesting for someone who followed it closely to begin with, but effectively establishes the popular support behind the senator’s ideas. The remainder of …
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Book Review: The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman
Book #25 of 2017: The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman (The Magicians #3) An improvement over the first two novels, and a satisfying end to this loose adult fantasy trilogy. Both protagonist Quentin Coldwater and writer Lev Grossman feel like they’ve grown up a lot for this novel, and both approach their tasks here as …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 