Trey

Not sure why this one didn't grab me, but I found it just OK.

Some of his assertions about the scientific evidence backing meditation and attachment theory are questionable in my mind. From what I've read and heard elsewhere, the case is not nearly as clearcut as he makes it seem in this book.

I also feel like the “ancient wisdom” schtick is just a schtick to sell books. He pulls quotations from ancient/old texts and then talks about how they are supported by current scientific theory. The problem is that those quotations are taken out of context and although he tries to provide the broader context, he often leaves out notable elements such as superstition and other irrational claims.

I also think there are several points where one could take up serious philosophical quibbles with his argument.

In spite of these problems he makes a lot of thought-provoking arguments that are worthy of consideration if not application in one's own life. I really appreciate his support of meditation, positive psychology, and cognitive therapy. So, overall, I guess it's really a pretty interesting book... but for some reason I just did not love it.

Card might hold some bad ideas personally, but he really can tell a fun story from time to time.

This book is really fun and exciting. I very much enjoyed the magic system he came up with for this. And I really love the Danny character because he doesn't constantly make stupid decisions. He acknowledges when he messes up and tries to fix it and doesn't spend time being loyal to people who aren't loyal to him.

Very excited about book #2 in this series, which is already available through the library!

I really like the concept of this book, but not so much the execution.

The characters are pretty bland and flat to me. Part of that could be the arc of the story, which is in itself pretty flat except at the beginning and the end.

I doubt I will pick up any of the other books in this series very soon.

Lots of REALLY provocative information here and presented in a thought-provoking way.

But it also contains a fair amount of question-begging and presumptions of fact. That's understandable, I suppose, since outlining an entire treatise on the ethical perspective, research background, and culture from which the author is speaking is usually FAR afield of any text.

I'm not sure if this is a quick read or not. I spent most of my day in airports and so I was able to finish the whole audiobook in a single day of pretty dedicated reading. Nevertheless, I think there's a lot of meat in this book.

The only thing I would say is that you should follow the author's advice and question everything... even the claims she makes both directly and indirectly.

If Erin Morgenstern takes up writing for evil, this is something that would result.

I want to give this book five stars because it's so meticulous, recursively written. Infuriatingly. Meticulously. Recursively... Bah! It's an impressive construction, but I found it pretty boring. And because I was bored, I didn't pay close enough attention to it. And then I was frustrated by constant reminders that I couldn't remember each of the times a particular character, metaphor, motif, symbol had appeared before.

A murder mystery classic. I was very pleased that I was able to not recall anything I'd ever heard about this book and so I was absolutely delighted at the revelation at the end.

I am not sure the audiobook reader really did justice to Poirot's voice, though. He came off as rather bland and uninteresting.

Thank goodness this is over.

This series is far, FAAAARRRR too long. There are a million zillion characters and they change names and/or have similar names to one another. They use magic in perplexingly dull ways. Every time the characters turn around they're offering some sweeping statement about men and women. And we get reminded repeatedly about trivial details. Many if not most of the tension and conflicts are the result of characters simply not having frank, honest conversations with one another.

I will say that the last three books, written by Brandon Sanderson, are much more action-packed and seem to actually have a directed plot. But they're still too long.

I know people love these books and I understand it up to a point. But it's far too long. I'm glad I'm done reading it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Yes, it's very obviously Sanderson's first book, though. Parts of it are trite and pat. He signals a few things too frequently and others too lightly, which makes some of the pacing feel a little jerky.

But overall, it's so youthful, fun, and bright. I love the way he conceives of his worlds and this book is no exception.

These books are fun reads, but the constant retconning and character inconsistencies are frustrating.

Example: early in this book Perry says she and Nick should tell the twins the truth about things, but at no point do they even attempt to sit down and explain things. And, in fact, she starts acting like she's hiding things. There's even reason to believe she lies to Sophie.

UGH. I did not enjoy this book very much at all.

It's one of those sprawling epics that traces the development of civilization from basic hunter-gatherer tribes up to rudimentary trader society. It's very boring.

My original complaint was that the author doesn't describe anything, but that's not true. He does describe a lot of things, but not many things that I am interested in or care about. So, it reads as very flat and dull. The characters are interesting, but the dialogue is stilted and lame. Their inner lives are rather simplistic.

It's clearly setting up for some bigger, galaxy-spanning story, but because this book was so boring, I am not interested in finding out what happens in the next two books.