#BookReview

See tagged statuses in the local Wyrms.de community

Anthony Doerr: Cloud Cuckoo Land (Hardcover, 2021, Scribner) 4 stars

Elaborate but tenuous.

3 stars

(3 stars = I liked it)

Three time periods are braided together by an ancient Greek tale: 15th century Constantinople, the modern day, and a space-faring future. Elaborate but tenuous. On their own each story has potential, but together they don't quite make a whole. Like Cloud Atlas but less enthralling.

Reading time 7 days, 89 pages/day

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Melita Maschmann: Account Rendered (Paperback, 2016, Plunkett Lake Press) 4 stars

A cog in the Nazi machine

4 stars

Autobiography of a woman who was a committed & diligent National Socialist (#Nazi), of her experience in youth work & propaganda, and her journey coming to terms with the truth of what she participated in. Description of the clinical dispossession of the Poles is disturbing (and new to me), as is the readiness with which everyday mediocre people were led into misguided beliefs, alternative facts & constrained thinking, to do prosaic work with horrifyingly evil outcomes.

Reading time 11 days, 26 pages/day

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Octavia E. Butler: Parable of the Sower (Paperback, 2000, Warner Books) 4 stars

In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful …

Prophetic for its time

3 stars

Adapting & building community during social collapse. Prophetic for its time, remains unsettling. God as Change could be a genuinely useful belief system. Only half a book, with ending sudden & too convenient (there is a sequel).

Reading time 5 days, 62 pages/day

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Lively, enlightening & optimistic

4 stars

Dismantles the many myths & prejudices outsiders hold about monolithic "Africa", along with a startling reminder of its colonial history and an overview of its many forms of dictatorship. Lively, enlightening & optimistic without being overly simplistic.

Reading time 6 days, 59 pages/day

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Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (2016, Scholastic) 3 stars

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (also known as Alice Through the Looking-Glass …

Ruby Hamad: White Tears Brown Scars (2020, Orion Publishing Group, Limited) 5 stars

For readers of White Fragility, White Tears/Brown Scars is an explosive book of history and …

reviewed Eat My Shadow by Linda Cockburn

Linda Cockburn: Eat My Shadow (Paperback, 2022, Together Press) 4 stars

20 years ago the world went quiet. Father is suspended between the living world and …

Climate collapse close to home

4 stars

Post-climate apocalypse in #HuonValley & #Hobart. Mostly believable (ex-PM was a caricature, and questionable lack of planning for expedition) with survivors being both humane & loving, but also merciless when called for. Unnerving to see local area in this light.

Reading time 7 days, 47 pages/day

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reviewed The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (The Poppy War, #1)

R. F. Kuang: The Poppy War (Hardcover, 2018, Harper Voyager) 3 stars

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired …

Turns disturbingly dark without warning

3 stars

A reimagining of China & Japan, with shamans & gods for interest, and war crimes & genocide for a horrifying reality check. Misleadingly begins with standard 'orphan goes to hero school' trope, but turns disturbingly dark without warning.

Reading time 6 days, 88 pages/day

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