How I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
Loved this one. It's literally bits and pieces, just like the title - small memories andHow I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
Loved this one. It's literally bits and pieces, just like the title - small memories and anecdotes which all come together to make a larger and deeper story, and also a story about living with grief. It's truly a love letter to Whoopi's family. My audio copy was read by Whoopi herself, and I feel like that's honestly the best way to experience this story. It definitely added an extra layer of spice to the book. (And I finally DID learn where her name came from!)
I thank the publisher and libro.fm for giving me a free copy of the audiobook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
How I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
I didn't enjoy this one very much, but I'm still giving it 3 stars because it's a decentHow I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
I didn't enjoy this one very much, but I'm still giving it 3 stars because it's a decent book. It's just probably not for me. The narrator (which I think is the author too) was just being too jokey and familiar, ir was very cringe. Like she's expecting you to laugh and using that "sitcom character talks to camera" voice, except it's not funny and you just feel embarrassed. You know what I mean? And most of the facts just so happened to be stuff I knew. But if you're a teen or maybe not as crazy at fact retention as I am, you'll probably like this. I listened to it while falling asleep at night (I struggle to fall asleep) and for that, it was just fine.
I thank the publisher and libro.fm for giving me a free copy of the audiobook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
How I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
I really loved this book. Romero himself is narrating it, which made it so much more perHow I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
I really loved this book. Romero himself is narrating it, which made it so much more personal to me (plus, he just has such a nice friendly voice, I tripped time and again over my mental math trying to figure out how he can sound so young, lol).
I have never played Doom myself, but Quake III was the first FPS I ever had a chance to try (although from what I understand, he wasn't a part of that specific one anymore), and of course I played the demo levels of Wolfenstein, who hasn't? (Okay, so I guess Quake III wasn't the first!)
Anyway, I'm not much of a gamer, but I've always been very interested in gaming history, I watch way more YouTube essays about it than I should, considering I'm not a gamer myself. This hit the spot, it was so interesting to read about how Doom, the game that they'll put on anything these days, was made (I think I saw a video where A RING runs Doom??! Like a ring that you put on your finger!)
John Romero's childhood is also no joke, and was very interesting to read about. I had my own opinions about how little his family and interpersonal relationships show up in his radar in his adult life, but also, you can just tell, Romero is just so deeply concentrated on his craft that his craft IS his life (or maybe he didn't want to talk too much about his personal life in this book.) Truly a one of a kind person, and it was very interesting to hear this story told from his own perspective.
I have also never really known any history of the makers of Doom, and how apparently rocky it became right before their breakup, but I can say that Romero is very nice about it in this book. There's no blaming or bashing or anything like that. Of course, it's years in the past for him, so it's easier to put things in perspective, but you know. It's nice to read a constructive account on something like that.
All in all, there IS a lot of talk about how this or that level was built, how long the engine took to make, and all sorts of technical topics like that. It might be a bit much for some people, but I don't know, it worked for me, and like I said - it just shows how much it is part of Romero's life, so I enjoyed reading it all the same.
I thank the publisher and libro.fm for giving me a free copy of the audiobook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
A lot of things I didn't know. Presented simply and with humor. Narrated brilliantly and very upbeat. Loved it!A lot of things I didn't know. Presented simply and with humor. Narrated brilliantly and very upbeat. Loved it!...more
How I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
I loved this story. At first it took me a while to settle into it, like 15-20% of the auHow I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
I loved this story. At first it took me a while to settle into it, like 15-20% of the audiobook, but after that it just flew by, and I was surprised that I'm already at the ending. I can't wait for the next installments, as I've become pretty invested in the characters' lives and I just want them to be okay. Also, the sass of those vanguard machines is certainly not something I'll forget anytime soon. The book just had a specific vibe to it that I don't know if any other book I've read has ever had. While it's about heavy survival stuff, grief and just plain old scifi villains, it's also about music, art and rock stars, and therefore, wildly informal where other scifi books would be pretty formulaic. I loved that. I can best describe this story as very colorful, and I really enjoyed that. The audio is good as well, the range of voices the narrator did was really good, and it was nice to listen to in general.
I thank the publisher and libro.fm for giving me a free copy of the audiobook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
How I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
I couldn't have imagined you could write such a long book about how the week works and wHow I read this: Free audiobook copy received through Libro.fm
I couldn't have imagined you could write such a long book about how the week works and why it works that way. But for the life of me, I can't understand how it got through editing that while the author respectfully uses enslaved people (as opposed to 'slaves'), and yet still refers to Native Americans as 'Indians'. Aside from that, the content is okay - but there were A LOT of boring places. So much of this book is dedicated to giving you exact statistics on how many weddings and how many hangings there were on given days of the week, and I'm not sure I want or even need to know it in such detail. Some of the trivia was certainly interesting (apparently, back in the day everyone washed their clothes on the same exact day as everyone else, which was Monday..?) But for most of these little facts, I found myself kind of bored. It's good I had the audiobook version, because it's a good book to have on in the background while you're showering or doing the dishes (or even going to sleep..), but if this was a printed book or ebook, I'm not sure I would have persevered.
I thank the publisher and libro.fm for giving me a free copy of the audiobook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
4.5 stars, rounded up. I loved Collins's personality, even if some things he said don't age very well. Always a good idea to read an astronaut's memoi4.5 stars, rounded up. I loved Collins's personality, even if some things he said don't age very well. Always a good idea to read an astronaut's memoir though. I can't seem to give those any less than 5 stars....more