April: Reads
Well, it turns out April was a good month for reading, despite the fact that most of the reading I do at home hasn't yet counted as it's all in this massive The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe book or online.
Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science from the Babylonians to the Maya by Dick Teresi (452 pages): 4 Stars, Great
A really interesting read. It challenges a lot of commonly held beliefs about scientific discoveries, showing how a lot of them were made long before those credited with them today and then reinvented/discovered later. Like how the Babylonians had Pythagorian triplets or how what we call Arabic numerals are actually Indian and so much more!
Why I Write edited by Will Blythe (226 pages): 2 Stars, Okay
This books was one given to me by someone once and not something I'd chose for myself. I don't tend to get books on how to write or anything of that nature as I find I disagree with them too much. This book was no different. It consists of a collection of essays from something like 27 authors which are generally about why they write. Some of them weren't bad, hence the reason it got 2 stars, but others were downright awful. As a whole, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer (628 pages): 4 1/2 Stars, Great
As with the first two books in the series, I really enjoyed this one. I loved all the bits surrounding the vampire aspect of the storyline and quite enjoyed much of the werewolf side as well. I particularly liked seening how the pack had evolved and the way the situation forced them together.
The reason... it lost the half star is because the whole love triangle thing was stupid. Yes, I get Jacob's side, but Bella's? After New Moon? Nope, sorry, not at all believable.
Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives by Richard Wiseman (299 pages): 5 Stars, Excellent: a favorite!
A fantastic book about the stranger side of psychology. Like how people can be made to remember things that never happened. Why some people seem to be lucky or unlucky when there's really no such thing as luck. The funniest joke in the world. The science behind some hauntings...
I'd recommend this book to absolutely everyone!
Hell is Too Crowded by Jack Higgins (159 pages): 3 Stars, Good
One of Higgins' earlier books, originally published under his real name, I think. Not bad, but nowhere near the level of his later works. A quick read, though, finished in a day.
So, the books finished this month brings my book count up to 12 for this year. Despite this, I think I still have close to 100 books lying around here that I haven't read, not to mention books people keep telling me I should read.
I was gonna be good and not get any new ones until I'd made a serious dent in the pile I have, but then I saw all 8 True Blood books for just 9 quid and well... yeah, I couldn't resist.
Bad me.
Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science from the Babylonians to the Maya by Dick Teresi (452 pages): 4 Stars, Great
A really interesting read. It challenges a lot of commonly held beliefs about scientific discoveries, showing how a lot of them were made long before those credited with them today and then reinvented/discovered later. Like how the Babylonians had Pythagorian triplets or how what we call Arabic numerals are actually Indian and so much more!
Why I Write edited by Will Blythe (226 pages): 2 Stars, Okay
This books was one given to me by someone once and not something I'd chose for myself. I don't tend to get books on how to write or anything of that nature as I find I disagree with them too much. This book was no different. It consists of a collection of essays from something like 27 authors which are generally about why they write. Some of them weren't bad, hence the reason it got 2 stars, but others were downright awful. As a whole, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer (628 pages): 4 1/2 Stars, Great
As with the first two books in the series, I really enjoyed this one. I loved all the bits surrounding the vampire aspect of the storyline and quite enjoyed much of the werewolf side as well. I particularly liked seening how the pack had evolved and the way the situation forced them together.
The reason... it lost the half star is because the whole love triangle thing was stupid. Yes, I get Jacob's side, but Bella's? After New Moon? Nope, sorry, not at all believable.
Quirkology: The Curious Science of Everyday Lives by Richard Wiseman (299 pages): 5 Stars, Excellent: a favorite!
A fantastic book about the stranger side of psychology. Like how people can be made to remember things that never happened. Why some people seem to be lucky or unlucky when there's really no such thing as luck. The funniest joke in the world. The science behind some hauntings...
I'd recommend this book to absolutely everyone!
Hell is Too Crowded by Jack Higgins (159 pages): 3 Stars, Good
One of Higgins' earlier books, originally published under his real name, I think. Not bad, but nowhere near the level of his later works. A quick read, though, finished in a day.
So, the books finished this month brings my book count up to 12 for this year. Despite this, I think I still have close to 100 books lying around here that I haven't read, not to mention books people keep telling me I should read.
I was gonna be good and not get any new ones until I'd made a serious dent in the pile I have, but then I saw all 8 True Blood books for just 9 quid and well... yeah, I couldn't resist.
Bad me.