mchester24's reviews
129 reviews

I was so intrigued when I first heard the broad premise of the book — that translation created physical value I. This world — that I couldn’t wait to dive in. What I hadn’t considered is all the clear themes and commentaries that such treatment of languages, particularly languages deemed exotic and different, would bring: the original sin of colonialism, the xenophobic implications, the imbalance of power, and the default language that war records are written in: the victors. 

So many of these ideas popped up in today’s world landscape as I bounced between reading news and this book that I couldn’t stop thinking about those connections. Even the basic idea of translation was something that left me thinking long after I had set the book down for the day— how all translation is inherently imperfect at best and a lie or a robbery at worst and what is gained or lost when moving from one language to another. Really makes you think about the need for those innate human qualities in interpreting language and its stories rather than relying on an automated/AI/google translate tool that will inherently treat language as a mathematical formula with suv equivalencies rather than something to be breathed, thought, and felt. 

Loved reading this book and only dropped it down to four stars because the pacing in the last 20% felt to slow in a jarring way after feeling so action packed out of the gate. But the end parts still left a lot to think about when it comes to acting on principles, political revolt, and self sacrifice. 

Heard about this book on the radio in an interview with the author and was immediately very interested in the idea— seemed like a very Mary Roach-like dive into what you don’t see in the world of global agriculture through cold chain. So when I saw it at the store bringing it home was a quick yes

What I got was not only that, but a really interesting big picture look at how technology changes the way we live in ways we don’t realize, the tendency to fall into the trap of assuming one technology is the only right solution, and an existential look at what global agriculture and food will look like in the coming years dominated by population growth, modernizing countries, and unabated climate change. 

Since chapter one I had already started to look at the produce in my fridge, grocery store, farmer’s markets, and restaurants very differently. If you like the nerdy deep dive into the seemingly (though anything but) mundane while highlighting how fascinating the plastic bag carrying your broccoli can really be, you’ll fly through this one like I did. 

I’m always a bit apprehensive when diving into a classic that’s been iterated and spun off and is entrenched in culture beyond just the source material, worried it won’t live up to expectations or my pre notions will sully it. This ended up being the furthest from truth for Dracula— I was blown away by just how much I enjoyed it. 

The tenseness of learning who/what Dracula was and the haunting early descriptions as the reader slowly learns the details had me gripped right from the beginning. Of course many of the teased details rang directly to what I knew from modern portrayals of vampires in pop culture, I only wish I could have experienced what original readers felt when this was their only such exposure!

I also loved how clearly the fingerprints on Dracula are now clearly sewn through the history of the horror genre in media— in so many ways I felt just like I do during a particularly gripping horror movie. Right before reading this I had also read Frankenstein (clearly my Halloween prep at work), and I thoroughly enjoyed that for many of the same reasons, but now I more fully understand why that is deemed more the origination of science fiction while Dracula truly is horror. 

As with Frankenstein as well, I’m grateful to have chosen the Penguins classics version so I could start off with some context and academic coverage, because in the end there are always some challenges with the language and writing generally. That said, the style of this being all written source material from the narrative like diaries and telegrams and news clippings was fascinating! I would sometimes find that creating a challenging narrative but the sense of realism reminded me of found footage movies in a way that constantly made me smile. 

Overall, really loved this! Looks like I’ll be diving more into Victorian era gothic I think!

A classic that had long been on my list that I really enjoyed finally getting to. Like many I was only familiar with the modern Hollywood version of the Frankenstein tale— knowing just enough to know to snark “Frankenstein was the doctor, that’s Frankenstein’s monster”

But I didn’t realize just how much my understanding of the take deviated from Shelley’s terrific source story. I found myself disappointed and confused when the beginning started with a third party seemingly unrelated to Frankenstein or his monster, and again when the story of the initial build and animation of the monster seemed so quick and non-monumental. But by the time midway through the story when we got to hear directly from the monster himself I was hooked!

It’s been a while since I’ve really read a classic work of fiction from long ago so I definitely had to adjust to feel like I was in high school English class again, but reading the Penguin Classics version with great intro to help with that process. Really set up to drink in the themes of revenge, obsession, regret, and more. 

I loved learning the background of how after many disappointing nights this narrative was borne of Shelley finally coming up with her own ‘ghost story,’ one that led her to become more renowned than her cohorts and really setting the stage for the modern horror genre. The writing was clear, concise, but painted a vivid scenery— at the end I really felt myself in the icy wilderness with all the characters!

A novella well worth reading to better understand the type of writing that Hemingway brought to popularity, the way of life of the fisherman and the Florida Keys, and more. Even as someone who doesn’t partake in fishing, the epic (in delivery, not in length) tale of man vs Marlin was a compelling one, and the respect that Hemingway conveys for the great natural strength and beauty of the fish and ocean alike felt inspiring. 

I really enjoyed the Hemingway library version with some background from Hemingway’s family members and his previous writing that led to this one. Loved the idea that he claimed there was no symbolism that the reader should seek out, which would have made my high school self feel triumphant, only for his son to call bull on that. 

Well worth the short time you’ll spend reading, and the longer time you’ll spend reflecting.

I really enjoyed this deep dive into the way overlooked quirky rodent that’s always been in America’s backyard. The writing style that weaves together the author’s experiences, days spent with experts and stakeholders across the spectrum, history and mythology, current research, and future opportunities really worked well for me. 

I picked up this book because I’ve been on a kick of nature and wildlife books and learning more about how to really support natural ecosystems— and I admit I did have some early concerns (especially since I avoid any animal products) when the first good chunk of the book was all about beaver trappers and fur traders— not just historical but modern players as well. Obviously the history of fur trade is critical to early European colonization history in America so I understood its significance, but the time spent covering trappers today gave me initial unease. What I realized, though, was the author approached them with the same unease herself and still sought to learn their perspective, history, and self-proclaimed reverence for beavers and other wildlife. In the end, my conclusions that these people were at least somewhat earnest in their work being intended to help the environments but perhaps misguided in the end seemed to echo those of the authors, even if she took care not to denigrate them. 

Eventually, though, Philips did turn to the environmental wonders that beavers evolved to do naturally and how they created what our u set standing of early wilderness in America was. Then that laid the groundwork for how we can and should think of beavers not just as metaphorical engineers, but assets that are doing actual engineering for for effectively and affordable than many environmental engineering outfits! The future of our uncertain environment real can be shaped by fostering more beavers around us to build up necessary water infrastructure, reserves, and more than are more needed than ever given current climate trends. 

In the end, my first act upon completion of this book was to try and research the closest place for me to find some beavers to see up close. That’s a resounding positive review alone, if you ask me!

What a tough story, inspiring in how the human spirit can and must rise up even if the most horrible of conditions imaginable. Knowing that this is a true story of resilience helps to drive home the atrocities that were the Holocaust as well as the heroism of everyday people during this time. 

There’s really not much else to say, the story hits you exactly like you expect. A beautifully written but gut wrenching story. 

What can you call this other than a sobering (but important) read. The author does a great job highlighting the history of the climate struggle in the political sphere and you can’t help but come away frustrated. We’ve been having these conversations for 40+ years and from a policy perspective we’re still in this same mode of deadlock? How infuriating to read about all the chances we had as a species to get on the right back so many years ago and how it’s the selfish, immediate-minded nature of society that has prevented it. 

If we want to take positives away: we can learn what hasn’t worked and do better. Rich emphasizes what has been true for years: we have the technology today to solve these existential  crises, but infuriatingly the issues remain pretty purely political. A too common theme of energy and sustainability. 

The afterword serves as a welcome pep talk and shaming kick in the pants, valuable to keep on hand for those who need it and want to remain hopeful that the human-driven breakthrough can still come. 

I loved Ellenberg’s first book and so I was eager to grab this follow up— though I’d agree with others’ assessments I see here that it wasn’t quite as good this time. Too often I felt like I was reading small versions of many different interesting books that I’d rather dive into as a whole treatise from the author in book length (gerrymandering, disease spread being the key ones). So it did feel a bit disjointed at times, and I wish there was more coverage of Nauru rally occurring geometric shapes in nature, biology, etc. But in the end, lots of profound and thought provoking nuggets of ideas that made this worthwhile. And while I’ve always loved math, this did indeed serve to validate that not studying mathematics and the very advanced level was probably the right move!

Really beautiful stories from the fantastical imagination. The prose was never too flowery or pretentious, but each story painted a easy to picture landscape, dropping you into a new world where something impossible was the norm without worrying you with the how or why. With repeated themes covering the nature of death, the importance of independent thought, the pursuit of feminist ideals, and fate, the stories all independently were page turners and made this a quick and enjoyable read. 

Thanks for the recommendation from Madison Books in Chicago!