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campbelltaral's reviews
740 reviews
The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The cover blurb premise was amazing; a solid hook for me. However, the delivery of the story was infuriating and a let down.
There is purple prose, and then there is pompous purple prose with "edgy" overreach. For some characters (AI) the superfluous and grandiose use of vernacular so far removed from common human language made sense. I would have been disappointed if it hadn't been that way. But to narrate the rest of the story using the same overboard choice of wording, from the perspective of a character who used the word f*ck like punctuation and glitter, it was obnoxious. Overall, it felt like the writer was trying too hard for cool kid points.
I found myself skipping the blocks of internal character monologue that was written like a self-important tween with a thesaurus to get to the heart of the story through the character dialogue. You can see the great premise peeking through and that was the reason I pushed myself to finish the story.
Whoever edited and provided feedback to the author needs to do better. You can see there's potential but people weren't being honest.
There is purple prose, and then there is pompous purple prose with "edgy" overreach. For some characters (AI) the superfluous and grandiose use of vernacular so far removed from common human language made sense. I would have been disappointed if it hadn't been that way. But to narrate the rest of the story using the same overboard choice of wording, from the perspective of a character who used the word f*ck like punctuation and glitter, it was obnoxious. Overall, it felt like the writer was trying too hard for cool kid points.
I found myself skipping the blocks of internal character monologue that was written like a self-important tween with a thesaurus to get to the heart of the story through the character dialogue. You can see the great premise peeking through and that was the reason I pushed myself to finish the story.
Whoever edited and provided feedback to the author needs to do better. You can see there's potential but people weren't being honest.
Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves by Nicola Twilley
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Detailed account of the history of food preservation and distribution using refrigeration. It was fascinating to learn how much of what we eat today is 100% different from the way humans ate historically. It's also terrifying when you think about the absolute chaos if this refrigerated food system collapses. Produce in the open displays of the grocery store, it all has been bred, configured, for the refrigerated transport system. Think that organic tomato or banana is the epitome of healthy food nurtured by nature? Nope, it's gone through selection processes to ensure it has the genes to sustain just-in-time market delivery in tact, and sit in the open for a few hours to a day or two.
We are woefully undervaluing the people who work in the refrigerated warehouses and delivery parts of the refrigerated system.
While I found the book to be very informative, I was hoping for more about the collapse of this system. What is being done to protect it in a time where global crises are escalating, and of course, climate change impacts. Still, I recommend the book for anyone interested in how we feed billions of people, and the completely artificial system that feat is dependent upon.
We are woefully undervaluing the people who work in the refrigerated warehouses and delivery parts of the refrigerated system.
While I found the book to be very informative, I was hoping for more about the collapse of this system. What is being done to protect it in a time where global crises are escalating, and of course, climate change impacts. Still, I recommend the book for anyone interested in how we feed billions of people, and the completely artificial system that feat is dependent upon.
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century by Dorothy Roberts
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Leave No Trace by Jo Callaghan
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Vitamania: Our Obsessive Quest For Nutritional Perfection by Catherine Price
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
An informative and eye-opening read. I was hoping for more about current day sourcing of vitamins, and for a US audience, the risk of full dependency on foreign countries we keep antagonizing when the vast majority of our "food" requires fortification. Still, the bigger takeaways are relevant and something we need to proactively arm ourselves with to protect against the supplement industry.
*Eat whole foods, mostly plants.
*Fats + vegetables * cooking = access to fat-soluble vitamins (ex: A, D, E, K) so stop being terrified of fat (ehem, pre-70s folks).
*Unless you are confirmed deficient in a particular vitamin, adding more, even in big doses, doesn't do anything (ex: additional vitamin A, hoping to improve night vision is a nope).
*The people buying vitamins and supplements are in the population least in need of vitamin supplementation; it's poor people and those with no access to a variety of minimally processed foods.
*The lack of FDA and USDA oversight and consumer protections from the supplement industry is appalling. Learning the history of and the influence of how we got to where we are today has changed my perspective: supplements are not simply benign options bordering on useless, they are unregulated and frequently dangerous. No amount of charming, enthusiastic PR will change my mind.
*We are so, so ignorant of the complexities involved in nutrition and variances from one person to the next that it's impossible, and unethical, to prove absolutes in these areas of science.
I'm interested to find what's changed in the last 10 years.
*Eat whole foods, mostly plants.
*Fats + vegetables * cooking = access to fat-soluble vitamins (ex: A, D, E, K) so stop being terrified of fat (ehem, pre-70s folks).
*Unless you are confirmed deficient in a particular vitamin, adding more, even in big doses, doesn't do anything (ex: additional vitamin A, hoping to improve night vision is a nope).
*The people buying vitamins and supplements are in the population least in need of vitamin supplementation; it's poor people and those with no access to a variety of minimally processed foods.
*The lack of FDA and USDA oversight and consumer protections from the supplement industry is appalling. Learning the history of and the influence of how we got to where we are today has changed my perspective: supplements are not simply benign options bordering on useless, they are unregulated and frequently dangerous. No amount of charming, enthusiastic PR will change my mind.
*We are so, so ignorant of the complexities involved in nutrition and variances from one person to the next that it's impossible, and unethical, to prove absolutes in these areas of science.
I'm interested to find what's changed in the last 10 years.
Monsters You Should Know by Emma SanCartier
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
The 5 Resets: Rewire Your Brain and Body for Less Stress and More Resilience by Aditi Nerurkar
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0