Jase
Very good book on habit forming, though it gets a bit repetitive at the end as it summarizes the rest of the book several times.
An interesting read. It had a twist I wasn't expecting, but an ending that I was. Really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of the series.
Nothing that special. I mean, it was decent, but being a collection of a typical monthly comic, it means that every issue has block of introduction dialog reminding the reader who people are, which is fine if you are reading it monthly, but in a collected work is just feels like the author thinks you are an idiot. Can't be helped though, a drawback of the formulas they work with.
Loved, loved, loved it! The only problem I've got is that since it's a collection of an ongoing series, it ends with a giant cliffhanger. It would be nice if the collection held a complete story. Sure, the cliffhanger makes me want to buy the next one, but it also makes me feel like I HAVE to buy the next one. I hate being pushed. Putting that aside though, I like the world and characters that have been crafted here. Solid storytelling.
Like most short story collections, there are some good and some bad. Mostly it is that every author has their own take of what a zombie is and some of those I didn't enjoy. But, all in all, a net positive read.
A decent collection of shorts, though I'm not overly fond of stories from the zombie point of view.
a good idea that is muddled in places, and also suffers from numerous spelling and a few grammar errors.
I'm not usually one to read a bunch of self help sort of books, though I occasionally will run through one on a recommendation, such as the odd finance book about getting debt under control. But, despite other problems that I have in life the single biggest, hands down, is procrastination.
People who don't procrastinate will look at a procrastinator and see only that that person is either not working hard enough or putting off work. They don't procrastinate and as such don't understand the motivations and reasons behind why someone would. So they demand “get to work” and “just do it” and “work harder” which more often than not will just cause more procrastination.
This book is the first I've ever come across that actually understands procrastination. Reading through its pages I found myself nodding my head a lot because it described my internal struggle with work almost perfectly. And more importantly, the methods and exercises it provides for battling procrastination seem perfectly valid and easily doable. I've already started changing my habits by simply recognizing when I'm headed toward procrastination and being able to head it off before it happens.
And most importantly, this book isn't just about working harder. It's about working better and integrating play into your schedule because it recognizes the single most important element to procrastination - the reason we get bummed out and piddle around is the prospect that work is going to take away time from play. So by putting play on your schedule first and building work around play, you flip the whole thing on its head.
The only hesitation I had in giving this 5 stars is that the last couple of chapters delve into the sort of hippy zen breathing chanting mantra type stuff that I tend to loath in self help books. But up until that point it was an excellent book, and really you can ignore that part and still get a lot out of it.
A very interesting take on what having superheroes might actually be like. Told in sort of an “After Action Report” style in the wake of government created super beings unleashed upon the world.
One evening lightning struck my brain. “I could write a story about a kid kidnapped by the closet monster or the boogeyman, and his teddy bear has to go save him.” And then I discovered someone had already written it. The only difference between what I dreamed up and what Mike Raicht has created is in my version the toys stayed looking like toys, ala Toy Story, as opposed to looking real once they cross into the boogeyman's realm.
I can't wait to get my hands on the next volume.
Set in the same world as Kenyon's many other books, I felt too often like I was missing something by not having read any of them. Words which by context appear to carry weight didn't because they were meaningless to me. Outside that issue, it was a fairly entertaining read.
The first three of the four collected stories are pretty great. A nice cohesive narrative. The fourth story goes off the rails a bit and doesn't make much sense until you get toward the end, and even then it feels out of place. If you buy this collection, I recommend just reading the first three (12 chapters) and then stopping.
Another exciting entry in David Wellington's vampire series. I really love the way they are depicted as monsters and not romantic figures.
I'm torn... there was a lot I like about the book, the unique style of vampires and the central story, but the main character, despite being 53 years old is depicted as looking like a 10 or 11 year old girl, and there is sex, with her, by older men. Yes, they are thralls somewhat trapped by her power, but it was extremely uncomfortable reading sensually written love making scenes involving a “child”. It was an interesting read, but one I'm unlikely to ever pick up again.
I liked the book, but I really feel that it could have been told better and with greater effect if it had been half the length. Too much of the story felt like it was just dragging out time between the parts worth reading.
It was a decent enough book, but I was disappointed with the lack of detail in how magic works in this world.
What a gloriously delightful book! Ms. Day's ruminations on her childhood and on launching her career are very interesting. I laughed. I cried. I also used it to temporarily level a table. Versatile!
Reading these old tales is interesting. I'm sure something is lost in the translation, because some of the sentence structure is just off, and many of the tales are just strange, but overall I found it to be a delightful read.
It's hard to rate short story collections as a whole when it contains so many different writers and styles. I loved a few of the tales, hated a few of them, and was indifferent on a few more. My favorite story of the bunch was “Judgment Passed” by Jerry Oltion, and as a computer programmer myself I had a soft spot for “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth” by Cory Doctorow.
It is totally worth reading just to see 22 different views on the Apocalypse in rather short order.
I was hoping for a little more superhero, but a story about siblings dealing with tragedy with a little powered flavor was still worth the read.
Although I felt that Ghost Stories would have made a fine ending to the tale of Dresden, minus the last little bit of course, Cold Days is still an excellent read. If Jim Butcher can keep up the quality, I'll keep reading.