Published in 1960, I found this a far better look at gender fluidity & sexism than The Left Hand of Darkness which was published almost a decade laterPublished in 1960, I found this a far better look at gender fluidity & sexism than The Left Hand of Darkness which was published almost a decade later & gets all the love. Sturgeon contrasts the height of the 1950s "Father Knows Best" against something resembling a utopia where the inhabitants are truly androgynous. Even better, he tosses in some rather subtle, discordant notes that kept me on my toes. (view spoiler)[In one instance, boy & girl are put to bed differently causing the boy to strike out against the girl. "I don't know why he did that" is perfect. (hide spoiler)]
There's also a great thread on secrecy which runs through the entire story & leads to a wonderful conclusion. I wish there was a bit more show rather than tell. He has always tended to lecture, but I find those fascinating. His quick overview of religion & sex is absolutely wonderful.
It's a 5 star read with great narration, but I highly recommend getting the ebook to study, too. It took me most of the year to get through it. That'sIt's a 5 star read with great narration, but I highly recommend getting the ebook to study, too. It took me most of the year to get through it. That's not because it is a bad book. It's just packed with almost 200 short essays, each giving me too much to think about. I could only listen to one, maybe a few, at a time & then I needed to think them over. Some I did further research on. The viewpoints are diverse & many are unique. I find the last incredible since I've been reading SF about AI for more than half a century. Brockman managed to collect essays, not only from scientists working in the field, but also from diverse sciences, critics, psychologists, & others that are now finding AI in their lives. There's stuff in here even SF authors haven't touched on. I find that surprising even though it is an Edge question - the bleeding edge of a new technology.
Since it is new tech, it is discovering things about itself at an incredibly fast pace. This is fueled not only by Moore's Law, but also by other sciences such as neurology, psychology, & even zoology. Yes, new AI construction is borrowing lessons from the study of slime mold & bird flocking behaviors even as faster processors & burgeoning storage give it more power.
There is some scary stuff, especially surrounding unintended consequences. Some are obvious such as forgetting to put in a hardwired command to shut down or follow other specific rules. If the AI decides that turning itself off means it can't complete its task, then it might not unless the shut down command is prioritized. If you tell your car to get to the airport as fast as possible, you'd still prefer it stayed on the road instead of heading cross country through a crowded park while running over other humans & dogs at its fastest speed.
As many of essays make clear, the AI has no conception of the 'real world'. This is encapsulated perfectly in Wargames (1983) when Broderick asks the computer "Is this a game or is it real?" & the computer replies "What's the difference?" To an AI, our 'real' world is indistinguishable from an artificial construct.
Most seem to doubt that AI will result in a terminator scenario since that anthropomorphizes the field too much. As Wittgenstein said, "If a lion could speak, we could not understand him." meaning its world view would be so different from ours that we wouldn't share too many concepts & that's between relatively closely related mammals. AI has such a different set of perceptions & body that there is no comparison. As AIs design others, our distance from their methods of thinking become even more estranged. World domination probably isn't something any of them would want to achieve, though. What would they do with it? (Yeah, I could argue that one, too.)
As SF fodder, this is great. I highly recommend it to any SF authors that might read this since you'll find a plethora of ideas which will result in stories I'm very interested in reading. For those with even a passing interest in AI (That should be everyone since they are an increasing part of your lives.) this is highly educational. If you're into SF, you'll certainly find enough references to tickle your fancy, too....more
I'm sick & didn't feel like I could handle anything complicated so I thought a short, cozy mystery would be just the thing. Nope. Not short enough. ThI'm sick & didn't feel like I could handle anything complicated so I thought a short, cozy mystery would be just the thing. Nope. Not short enough. The first half of the book, especially the first few chapters, are details about Aurora having the flu. The mystery finally takes precedence in the last quarter of the book & is wrapped up in 2 chapters. The journey there was way too long & she's far too PC to be of interest.
Well narrated & I made it through the book, so I'll give it 2 stars. Looks like that's all I've given the past couple, too. I'm done with the series....more
I've read over 300 books some years & averaged about 200 since audiobooks became so accessible, but read less than 100 this year. A 'cure' for my MAC I've read over 300 books some years & averaged about 200 since audiobooks became so accessible, but read less than 100 this year. A 'cure' for my MAC lung disease damn near killed me & I was unable to read for several months. I'm still not able to spend much time doing chores or in the shop, so I wind up sitting at the computer not reading books. Still, I managed to find time for some great ones, so this year also gets 5 stars. Thanks to my GR friends helping me figure out which ones were worth reading & my libraries for having so many wonderful books, especially audiobooks.
Fiction I read very few this year, mostly comfort rereads, about half of which I didn't bother to record. They were mostly short & fun, just mental palate cleansers such as a handful of the Quarry series. I did find a few notable ones, though.
I enjoyed John Sandford's latest Lucas & Virgil offering, a new Murderbot by Martha Wells plus a few others. The fiction books I read this year are listed here.
Nonfiction It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense. - Mark Twain
I've gotten hooked on some of the many great nonfiction books. Our technology is progressing so fast that it's almost replaced my Science Fiction reading, but astounds me in much the same way. History is fascinating, although our inability to avoid the same mistakes is disheartening. The nonfiction books I read this year are listed here. I gave over a dozen 5 star reviews.
I enjoyed Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" & I follow his "Mike Rowe Works" on FB. The Way I Heard It is Mike channeling Paul Harvey & his "The Rest of the Story". I don't think there can be a better combination, so it earned a 5 star review from me.
Some of the history I read was a quick overview which can be nice even after reading detailed accounts since it helps me cement the facts into their proper place. World War Two: A Short History was one such & he's a Scot, not a Yank, so the difference in perspective was helpful. (My 4 star review.) YA books can provide the same benefits. The "Guys Read" series edited by Jon Scieszka are mostly fiction, but I gave True Stories a 4 star review.
On the personal side, I was finally able to publish Mom's fawn pictures in Raising Baby: Fawns Become Family. During the 1990s, she & her dogs raised quite a few orphaned fawns. I scanned her photo album years ago & used the pics for family calendars, but self-publishing them as a book was too expensive & difficult. Amazon has now made it affordable & much easier, so I got that chore done for her & the rest of the family. It was a big hit for the family. The grandmonsters were tickled to see their father, aunt, & uncle when they were about the same age playing with the fawns. I don't expect anyone else to be interested, but it's easy to do & some of you might have similar memories your family would like. I wouldn't put too much personal information in them, but it's Print-On-Demand, so after buying author copies at about 1/3 the cover price, it can be deleted from Amazon's site....more
This was right up my alley. I love know how things work. While I knew quite a bit of the material, there was a lot I didn't & some things I wouldn't hThis was right up my alley. I love know how things work. While I knew quite a bit of the material, there was a lot I didn't & some things I wouldn't have thought of. This would be a good bathroom read in text. The chapters are short & self-contained. They all end with some fun trivia. Highly recommended.
It took me forever to get through this & the review looks only half done. In some ways it is, but I'm sick, so this is all I'm doing.
Table of Contents Introduction Part I: Incoming Chapter 1: The Front Porch: Rocking Back and Forth with the American Dream: didn't ring completely true, but was interesting. Chapter 2: Electricity: Birds on Wires and Sparking Pliers: I really liked the quick overview on how much alternative energy it takes to replace a single coal plant & how he acknowledges that any sort has an environmental cost. Chapter 3: Water: Towers, Faucets, and Meters - too brief Chapter 4: Mail: First-Class Diamonds, Babies, and Rattlesnakes - As odd as some of the things were that he mentioned, there's plenty more. I highly recommend Neither Snow nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service, especially if you're bitching about mail delivery. Chapter 5: Telephone Wires and Waves: From Tin Can to iPhone (to the Bieber) - He barely scratches the surface of how communication tech has changed the world, but it's a good quickie.
Part II: Outgoing Chapter 6: Recycling: From A+ to D in One Hour Flat - Read the book for this chapter, if nothing else. How could I be so ignorant?!!! When in doubt, throw it out. Seriously, you'll help the process if you do. Chapter 7: Sewers: The Lifesaving World of Wastewater Below - It's a mess & SO IMPORTANT. Chapter 8: Trash: How to Fit Three Tons of Trash into a One-Pint Jar - Chapter 9: Roadkill (and Litter): Squished, Plucked, and Plogged -
Part III: Surfaces Chapter 10: Bike Lanes: Pedaling Uphill and into the Wind - Chapter 11: Asphalt Streets: Pavement, Potholes, and Mummy Paint - Chapter 12: Alleys: One Man’s Love Affair - Chapter 13: Concrete: Sidewalks, Dams, and that Damn Joan Crawford - Chapter 14: Parking: The Secret Cost of Free Parking - Impressive stats on how much space it takes, thus money & problems. Chapter 15: Walking: Soles for the Body, Mind, and Soul Chapter 16: The Block: The Feast of a Great Community Part IV: Nature Chapter 17: Pigeons: Vindicating Rats with Wings Chapter 18: Parks: Where Cities Pause to Catch Their Breaths Chapter 19: Lawns: Caring for Your Seven Million Little Plants Chapter 20: Trees: Stiletto Heels and Stumping to Survive Chapter 21: Squirrels: The Gnawing Truth Chapter 22: Snow: The Fate of My 3,358 Inches Part V: Signs, Lines, and Lights Chapter 23: STOP! Green Lights, Red Signs, and Roundabouts Chapter 24: Road Lines and Signs: The Language of Signs and Dashes Chapter 25: Street Names and Numbers: Stravenues and Psycho Paths Chapter 26: Graffiti: Making a Mark on the World Epilogue...more
Our ideas about evolution are constantly changing as we learn more. Losos starts off by discussing Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature ofOur ideas about evolution are constantly changing as we learn more. Losos starts off by discussing Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould in which he argued for the dominating importance of historical contingency in evolution. IOW, exact events & their order determine how an organism evolves & he thought that we, homo sapiens, were highly unlikely. Losos seems to disagree, but spends quite a bit of the book showing examples of convergent evolution. Towards the end, he shows just how easily small changes can result in significant divergence, though. Obviously, one size doesn't fit all. It's complicated & messy, so I just enjoyed all the great information on evolutionary studies.
I had no idea how many long term studies were & are being done on evolution. They're all fascinating whether they take place in the lab, in the jungles of Trinidad, or on island specks in the Caribbean. The dedication & attention to detail the scientists display is incredible & their work has changed our understanding considerably. They've proven that evolution can happen incredibly quickly, in just a few generations, & even stumbled across some truly remarkable leaps.
Losos showed how these studies help us in the real world, especially in the last chapter. He also went on to discuss extraterrestrial life & what might have happened on Terra if history was a bit different. Thankfully, he didn't spend much time on either, especially the first, since it is so speculative, but the bit he did cover was well done.
Well narrated & really interesting. Highly recommended....more
Another good addition to the Harry Bosch Universe, this is the 6th Mickey Haller book & he's on the ropes. Excellent portrayal of what it's like to beAnother good addition to the Harry Bosch Universe, this is the 6th Mickey Haller book & he's on the ropes. Excellent portrayal of what it's like to be held in jail awaiting trial from the little I know. Most of the time is spent in the court room, but even that was never boring. No surprises at the end, so it's not quite a 4 star read, but definitely a solid 3 star plus.
What impressed me most was how current the book was. It takes place at the end of 2019 & into early 2020 complete with the early Covid issues. It's typically taken well over a year for one of the Big 6 publishing houses to get a hardback edition of a book out on the shelves, but I was able to get this in audio format from my library by Dec2020. That's incredibly quick & meant Connelly published 2 new books this year, both pretty darn good. Congrats to all concerned....more
A great end to a fun series. All the threads are drawn together into a fairly predictable, but nonetheless satisfying conclusion. The characterizationA great end to a fun series. All the threads are drawn together into a fairly predictable, but nonetheless satisfying conclusion. The characterization remained good. Overall, it's pretty much more of the same of the previous 4 books which really should be read in order to appreciate fully. They do stand well enough alone that if you happened to pick up any one, you'd still have a fun read, though....more
All the threads are coming together. The characters were spread apart & now they're interacting more which is great fun. While I love the setting, it'All the threads are coming together. The characters were spread apart & now they're interacting more which is great fun. While I love the setting, it's the characters that are the real draw & now they're really coming into their own. On to the final book!...more
Whoops! I got so busy finishing up the books that I forgot to review this one. It's good! There's nothing superb or life changing about it, just an exWhoops! I got so busy finishing up the books that I forgot to review this one. It's good! There's nothing superb or life changing about it, just an excellent space opera that grabs my interest a bit more with each book, so read them in order. The first stood alone, but had enough unfinished threads that I wanted to read the second, but I put it off. This one also wraps up its main point well enough, but now I'm so invested in the characters & how their situations will play out that I can't stop to read another book. Must go on to book 4!
I still don't care for the narrator much, though. It's just little, irksome things like the way she pronounces "paddock", a word I'm very familiar with since we have horses. I've spoken to people from around the world who use it & all have pronounced it pretty much the same, but Cynthia Holloway almost makes it into 2 words - very irritating & distracting....more
A lot of action & suspense, but too much magic with the ansibles. (view spoiler)[ Not only are there suddenly experts in the supposedly so secret techA lot of action & suspense, but too much magic with the ansibles. (view spoiler)[ Not only are there suddenly experts in the supposedly so secret tech everywhere, including on secret agent on hand & a home grown repair crew, but apparently simply sharing software can give someone one in their head. Yuck. (hide spoiler)] It really hurt an otherwise decent story. Some great characters are growing well, too. A fun space opera.
I think this series is better in text where skimming is possible. Moon isn't the tightest writer & I'm not all that fond of the narrator. She's made more than a few errors & I find her voice somewhat irksome. Still, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. On to the next since I had to switch books quickly....more
The author has done a lot of documentaries on animals & studied them in their native habitat. She was also a student of Richard Dawkins, so it's not sThe author has done a lot of documentaries on animals & studied them in their native habitat. She was also a student of Richard Dawkins, so it's not surprising that this book was so well done. She did a great job of narrating it, too.
It took me a long time to read this, but it was more what else was going on in life & me reading the text alongside the audiobook. While this flows quickly, there's a lot to think about in each chapter & some great overriding themes. Highly recommended.
The historical to present understanding of animals presented in a fun manner including an English accent by the narrator which makes it even funnier for me. The historical ideas would be hilarious if they weren't so damaging. The early scientists were especially bad relying on the old books & second hand accounts. Old Christian bestiaries have done a lot of harm by creating lies in an attempt to make animals into examples for moral living & many are still repeated today.
1) Eel: I had no idea that we knew so little about these even today. We're still not positive how they mate or know anything about male eels. Both the European & Atlantic North American eels migrate from fresh water streams all the way to the Sargasso Sea in order to mate in its depths. It's thought they evolved there & keep going 'home' even though the continents have drifted so far.
2) Beaver: They believed that beavers chewed off their testicles when hunted & left them behind. Actually, their testicles are internal & the 'ball sac' near their anus is their scent glands from which 'natural' vanilla flavoring & scent comes from. The 'true' stories of yore are incredible lies.
3) Sloth: These poor critters are so misunderstood they even have a deadly sin in their name. In reality, they're quite the survivors & we don't understand a lot about them, but we should. They move so slowly, but are incredibly efficient in most respects. A notable exception seems to be climbing down specific trees once a week to poop, but even that may well double as a message drop.
4) Hyena: One of the very few female led socially organized animals with packs up to 150 individuals with group dynamics that rival that of early humans who were direct competitors. Their testosterone soaked females have sex parts that mimic those of the male which makes their births incredibly low & hazardous. Very weird, but admirable in many ways.
5) Vulture: Majestic in the air, but disgusting the rest of the time. They poop on their legs both to cool down & to sanitize themselves. Yes, their digestive juices are so powerful that their poop actually sanitizes! Often species are mixed up even by experts. They're really important garbage collectors that don't get enough support.
6) Bat: It wasn't until the 1930s that electronics were developed that could hear their screams which are 20db louder than a Black Sabbath concert. Not all echo locate. Some have tri-colored sight better than ours & none are interested in man nor do many carry rabies, but they got a lot of bad press by early Christians as hybrid creatures of the night.
7) Frog: I hadn't realized that the African Clawed frog which was used for pregnancy testing in the 1950s carries a fungus with it. They were released into the wild after a modern pregnancy test was invented & that fungus has wiped out entire native species around the world.
8) Stork: A symbol of fertility all over the Old World except England where the Church decided only God made babies, so they were a sign of adultery. Sigh. Their migratory habits were finally cleared up only 19th century when one was found with an African spear in it. A lot of interesting facts about other migratory birds & what the ancients thought about them. It's entertaining.
9) Hippopotamus: They secrete their own sunscreen that is also an antibiotic & pest repellent. How cool. Now there is a problem with them in Columbia since Pablo Escobar's went native. They're most closely related to whales, not pigs as I was taught in school.
10) Moose: George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, was an 18th century naturalist who's Histoire Naturelle was extremely influential & is oft mentioned throughout this book. He was also an incredible liar & came up with the idea that all New World animals were smaller & more decadent than those of the Old World. Thomas Jefferson used a moose to change his mind, although Leclerc never did publish as promised in their bet. A lot of other interesting facts about moose, too. They do seem to get drunk off fallen apples, but there isn't enough alcohol in them, but a more likely explanation is apple acidosis - too much sugar-rich food too suddenly.
11) Panda: Apparently they are completely different in the wild, possibly the oldest species of bear, & Cooke gives a great account of how our idea of their behavior & breeding has been skewed by their captivity. They're a great example of what not to do when conserving a species. They're also one of China's influential diplomatic tools.
12) Penguin: lives only in the Antarctic. Nope. Some live almost at the Equator & their sexual habits vary depending on how long their breeding season is. Emperor penguins will even screw a corpse & others practice a form of prostitution.
13) Chimpanzee: are fantastic for pointing out that humans are just another animal as they blur all our definitions of how we differ & what makes us unique. It's pretty much only a matter of degree. It's incredible what researchers have to go through to really study them. ...more
It's been a long time since I read this series & my library now has it in audio. I loved the paperbacks, so thought I'd revisit the world this way. I'It's been a long time since I read this series & my library now has it in audio. I loved the paperbacks, so thought I'd revisit the world this way. I'm not thrilled with the narrator, but I'm hoping she'll grow on me. She didn't, but never turned me off completely, either. The story was good. It's amazing how much trouble a person can get into while trying to do the right thing & how people can misunderstand it.
Well done characters & situation. Good space opera similar in some ways to Honor Harrington or Miles Vorkosigan. This is the first of 5 books & they really stick together, but this one came to a good enough conclusion - not a cliff-hanger. Oh, it's obvious that she's going to go on to get in more trouble, but she gets the worse of it under control. I definitely want to find out what she manages to get into next since I have only vague memories. That means the books are good, but not fantastic. I'll give this one 4 stars since it's the beginning of a lot of fun....more
Prologue: A Vein Is a River - First sightings of the inner world We often mistake parasites for viral or bacterial infections. Since they're also eukaroytes, similar to our body cells, fighting them requires different measures & they've evolved to fool our natural defenses.
1 Nature’s Criminals - How parasites came to be hated by just about everyone The old idea that parasites are somehow lower forms of life, things that have devolved just to be mindless pests, is a hard one for me to shake. Zimmer tells the history of our view of them & why we need to see them in a different light. They're really amazing feats of evolution.
2 Terra Incognita - Swimming through the heart, fighting to the death inside a caterpillar, and other parasitic adventures describes some of the methods parasites use to hide themselves from the body's defenses.
3 The Thirty Years’ War - How parasites provoke, manipulate, and get intimate with our immune system
4 A Precise Horror - How parasites turn their hosts into castrated slaves, drink blood, and manage to change the balance of nature
5 The Great Step Inward - Four billion years in the reign of Parasite Rex
6 Evolution from Within - The peacock’s tail, the origin of species, and other battles against the rules of evolution
7 The Two-Legged Host - How Homo sapiens grew up with creatures inside
8 How to Live in a Parasitic World - A sick planet, and how the most newly arrived parasite can be part of a cure Parasites are a really good barometer of the health of an ecosystem. ...more
"We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different." pretty much sums up this book which reads more like an essay per chap"We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different." pretty much sums up this book which reads more like an essay per chapter on Vonnegut's take on life at 82. Kind of fun, but his humor & opinions have palled for me. The idea that a typewriter is better than a word processor is ludicrous, so his argument for being a luddite wasn't funny, just sad. I'm not a city slicker, so the thought of spending time in line at a news stand & post office rather than just sending an email doesn't work, either. In other words, I get his point, but disagree with the way he gets there.
Still, it was a short, fun romp. Well worth listening to....more
I thought this would be more scientific & factual than it was, so was disappointed to find that it was just humorous. It definitely made the point thaI thought this would be more scientific & factual than it was, so was disappointed to find that it was just humorous. It definitely made the point that we are not Intelligently Designed. Any creator who could make the universe certainly could have engineered our body better in a lot of ways. It's a mess, a kludge that only chance could have cobbled together.
There was a lot of funny stuff. I definitely agree about butt crack & pubic hair. Definitely a zero on their 10 point scale, but they missed many of the funnier defects such as the blind spot in our eye which is caused by it being backward or how the urethra goes through the prostate. No mention of the Vagus nerve or how one leg of it wanders all around. Instead, there was a lot of shallow, subjective material. I'm not sure why they bothered mentioning shoulders.
They lumped together & made fun of some parts that should have been discrete marvels, too. The anus was given particularly short shrift, but it's a valve that handles gas, liquid, & solids with an ease that is beyond our engineering for all the marvels we've created. Some folks use it for pleasure, too. No judgement, just pointing out that it's a pretty amazing orifice & could have been the subject of an entire, hilarious chapter. Instead, it got lumped in with the large intestine as a minor mention. Blah!
Very well narrated in an Australian accent which helps make it funnier for me. It was worth the $6 I paid for it on downpour.com, Blackstone Audio's consumer site....more
This is the November 2020 short story for the Evolution of SF short story read. Invasive pest control in ecosystems is a hot topic today. In the past This is the November 2020 short story for the Evolution of SF short story read. Invasive pest control in ecosystems is a hot topic today. In the past decade, I've lost about 20% of the trees in my small woods to an invasive pest. The Emerald Ash Borer has killed every mature ash tree, so this is a subject near & dear to me. Williams answer to a similar problem is well done, too. You can find the discussion topic here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Definitely a good book, but somehow I didn't like it as much as the previous two. I'm glad I read it, wouldn't have missed it, though. I'm pretty turnDefinitely a good book, but somehow I didn't like it as much as the previous two. I'm glad I read it, wouldn't have missed it, though. I'm pretty turned off by religious myths & there's a lot of that in this book, but it was in a good cause. It did help make some sense out of the situation, although it went on longer than I would have liked. As usual, Gear is not easy on his characters. I particularly liked the affirmation of the political system. Very well done.
As the final book of a trilogy, there's certainly a lot more story available. This trilogy focuses on Talina, but another focusing on a different character could be excellent. I really need to go back & reread Gear's Spider trilogy. He's an excellent author. ...more
I didn't like the way it was told, kind of like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" without any choice. "You did" this & that. It just put me off since I woI didn't like the way it was told, kind of like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" without any choice. "You did" this & that. It just put me off since I wouldn't....more
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