aka @kingrat@sfba.social. I'm following a lot of bookwyrm accounts, since that seems to be the only way to get reviews from larger servers to this small server. Also, I will like & boost a lot of reviews that come across my feed. I will follow most bookwyrm accounts back if they review & comment. Social reading should be social.
This link opens in a pop-up window
Success! Phil in SF has read 46 of 28 books.
Phil in SF
boosted
The Japanese bestseller: a tale of love, new beginnings, and the comfort that can be …
A small stakes glimpse of life. It's been ten years since I was in Tokyo but the author made it feel like I was visiting again, perfectly capturing the character of those little side streets and bustling stations.
Hank Thompson is living off the map in Mexico with a bagful of cash that …
i didn't get any reading done during the week, but now I'm back at it. the book doesn't have the same down-and-outer thrust into a crime hook that book 1 did, but i like it so far.
@graue@bookwyrm.social I was 35. I noted at the time that it's important whether or not it was true. But I didn't know how to actually check.
Phil in SF
boosted
Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, …
Loved the world setting and intensity of the determined women leads in an epic murder-magic-catastrophe, though the whodunnit procedural hunt for obscured informants plodded some for me.
Bestselling author, speaker and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, Hatcuts through the din of the …
And with this book, I am caught up on adding all the books from If Books Could Kill to the Bookwyrm list. If you look at the list on SFBA.club, all the books have high quality covers & descriptions. On other instances, those components may not be recently updated.
Richard Hanania has emerged as one of the most talked-about writers in the nation, and …
This is book 29 on the list of books from If Books Could Kill. I find it kind of hilarious that noone on Bookwyrm had read the book and 15 months after publication, it still wasn't in OpenLibrary under its actual title. Hanania's only traction off Twitter is Michael Hobbes podcast that rips the book.
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, …
I have read Atomic Habits, which is the 16th book on the list of books from If Books Could Kill. (Well, the audiobook that is.) Some of the tips seemed okay, but there was some obvious BS as well.
Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo …
I'm putting together a list containing all the books from the If Books Could Kill podcast. Of the first 15, I've only read the first, Freakonomics. I gave it 4 stars, but that shows how gullible I can be.
Phil in SF
boosted
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away - …
Went ahead and finished the book in spite of my misgivings. It did get better, though there was still too much attempt to be witty and very, very contemporary. That part won't age well. The book will give you a good understanding of how ridiculously hard establishing space settlements would be, and why we probably are not capable of doing that anytime soon.
There's a whole section on the legal aspects of space settlements; there is already some international law covering this. It's here I think the authors are wrong, in that they fatally underestimate the willingness of broligarchs to simply ignore established law, international diplomacy, ethics, and basic decency; and their willingness to sacrifice human lives by the hundreds.
Phil in SF
boosted
This was such a great read. It had me sucked in from the start to the end. Emezi did an amazing job with weaving tension through the magical realism. I didn't read any information on this book before reading it, so I was quite surprised at the arrival of Pet.
Jam is a selective-speaking 16 year old that has grown up in a utopia where people are allowed to be with who they want to be with and are able to decide who they are without any push-back. Jam was born as a boy and at a young age got fed up with being called a boy and finally expressed it to her parents and they were able to easily work with doctors to figure out options and how to go about everything. I really appreciated having a book with a trans main character where the focus of the book …
This was such a great read. It had me sucked in from the start to the end. Emezi did an amazing job with weaving tension through the magical realism. I didn't read any information on this book before reading it, so I was quite surprised at the arrival of Pet.
Jam is a selective-speaking 16 year old that has grown up in a utopia where people are allowed to be with who they want to be with and are able to decide who they are without any push-back. Jam was born as a boy and at a young age got fed up with being called a boy and finally expressed it to her parents and they were able to easily work with doctors to figure out options and how to go about everything. I really appreciated having a book with a trans main character where the focus of the book was NOT on their coming out so we were able to see Jam just being herself.
The overarching theme of humans having the innate ability of being horrible no matter how perfect the world is running, and that even angels can harbor dangerous secrets. Also a reminder that people really should trust kids when they come to you with issues and not try to brush it off. Really good read and definitely recommend it.
Hank Thompson is living off the map in Mexico with a bagful of cash that …
Liked the first book so much I'm starting the second immediately.
Content warning what happens to Bud the cat
Word of warning: there's a cat named Bud. The bad guys do some bad things to Bud, and not all of them are "off screen" even. If you can't handle violence to animals, don't read the book. However, Bud does make it through the story in pretty good shape all things considered, and the violence is limited to a few scenes. Most of the book, Bud gets carried around all drugged up in carriers, bags, and the like.
Henry “call me Hank” Thompson used to play California baseball. Now he tends to a …
Henry Thompson had his leg broken attempting to steal a base, ending his baseball career in high school. Then he drives a car too fast and kills a buddy. Moves to New York from California with a girl only for her to get a traveling job and leave him in the dust. When the novel starts, Henry Thompson is a bartender in the middle of a bender, but actually living a decent life of a loser without real prospects. Then he gets beaten up by Russians, who it turns out are looking for Henry's neighbor next apartment over, who has skipped town leaving Henry to watch his cat. Stuck in the cat's carrier is a key and criminals want it.
I was hooked. Henry makes bad decisions, but not "go back into the chainsaw room in a horror film" bad. So Henry pinballs around the story between various criminal factions …
Henry Thompson had his leg broken attempting to steal a base, ending his baseball career in high school. Then he drives a car too fast and kills a buddy. Moves to New York from California with a girl only for her to get a traveling job and leave him in the dust. When the novel starts, Henry Thompson is a bartender in the middle of a bender, but actually living a decent life of a loser without real prospects. Then he gets beaten up by Russians, who it turns out are looking for Henry's neighbor next apartment over, who has skipped town leaving Henry to watch his cat. Stuck in the cat's carrier is a key and criminals want it.
I was hooked. Henry makes bad decisions, but not "go back into the chainsaw room in a horror film" bad. So Henry pinballs around the story between various criminal factions trying to get hold of the key, never making a choice that made me groan.
Despite being the kind of alcoholic jerk I would hate in real life, the story gives enough of a peek into his internal thoughts while trying to be decent that I liked him and wanted to see him make it.
And there's just enough hook in the story that I wanted to see how the conspiracy that envelops Henry came to be, and how it turns out for everyone. What's the key to? Will Henry remember where he put the key? Why are two groups of criminals looking for it? Is there anyone who can help Henry? Huston's well-crafted writing reveals just enough at the right times to keep me wanting to know what will happen next.
I'm going to attempt to put a content warning with a spoiler in a follow-up reply. Check that if certain kinds of violence make you squeamish.
Henry “call me Hank” Thompson used to play California baseball. Now he tends to a bar on Manhattan’s Lower East …
Phil in SF
boosted
It is 2058, and the glaciers are gone. A catastrophic drought has hit the prairies. …
The novel reminded me of "Parable of the Sower/Talents" at times because the way people react to climate change and the ensuing destruction of their livelihoods is the main focus. It's a lot less grim. I thought it was a very realistic take on how society would be like. It's set in Canada so their dystopia is also a bit nicer than the usual US based variant. Recommended for anyone into climate fiction.
