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8% complete! Michael Steeves has read 2 of 24 books.
Kraken is a 2010 fantasy novel by British author China Miéville. It is published in …
Billy is a staff member at museum who leads a tour into the museum's star attraction, an immaculately preserved giant squid, only to find that the massive tank has somehow vanished from the locked room.
This sends him off on adventures through London where he learns of its role as a world nexus for all manners of magic and cult activity while also trying to prevent the stolen squid from being used to spark a global apocalypse.
Not terribly deep, but an entertaining light romp.
Kraken is a 2010 fantasy novel by British author China Miéville. It is published in the UK by Macmillan, and …
First book of this year that's on the Penguin Top 100 novels list (sites.prh.com/modern-library-top-100/#top-100-novels).
Half a dozen years ago, anthropologist Gabriella Coleman set out to study the rise of …
A summary of anthropologist Gabriella Coleman's time observing and floating on the surface of Anonymous. It walks through their history coming from places like /b/ to bursting on the scene taking aim at Scientology through times like OpTunisia and Occupy and ending with Stratfor.
The characterization of Anonymous as being the digital version of the trickster gods is apt - the chaos of the extreme decentralization of Anonymous along with their tactics (legal, illegal, and everything in between) resulted in some spectacular wins and some equally spectacular losses.
The book ended with the breaking of Edward Snowden's expose of the NSA's extensive surveillance activitiers, though that wasn't something that involved Anonymous. It attempts to end on a positive note that groups like Anonymous and the other groups might provide some sort of defense against the surveillance state, but in hindsight that hopeful optimism seems to have been rather misplaced.
The …
A summary of anthropologist Gabriella Coleman's time observing and floating on the surface of Anonymous. It walks through their history coming from places like /b/ to bursting on the scene taking aim at Scientology through times like OpTunisia and Occupy and ending with Stratfor.
The characterization of Anonymous as being the digital version of the trickster gods is apt - the chaos of the extreme decentralization of Anonymous along with their tactics (legal, illegal, and everything in between) resulted in some spectacular wins and some equally spectacular losses.
The book ended with the breaking of Edward Snowden's expose of the NSA's extensive surveillance activitiers, though that wasn't something that involved Anonymous. It attempts to end on a positive note that groups like Anonymous and the other groups might provide some sort of defense against the surveillance state, but in hindsight that hopeful optimism seems to have been rather misplaced.
The biggest observation in the book for me was the note that for those years Anonymous was the only group stepping forward in a time when more people needed to throw off the apathy and lend their voice to things like the Occupy movement.
Eine grandiose Kollektion von Storys über den Mitternachtsdetektiv und seinen erbittertsten Erzfeind, den Joker! Neben …
A very quick read - Joker breaks out of Arkham Asylum, causes mayhem and havok, Batman shows up. As part of the graphic novel it also gives an origin story for the Joker (making him more of a tragic character than out-and-out villain) told in flashbacks as part of the story.
Entertaining enough, though ultimately not something that gave me anything other than a fairly bland and blase feeling after reading. The most notable thing about it was that I dug out my old Fire tablet that I had intended to toss into electronic recycling so that I didn't have to read this on the actual Kindle.
Eine grandiose Kollektion von Storys über den Mitternachtsdetektiv und seinen erbittertsten Erzfeind, den Joker! Neben dem neu kolorierten Klassiker The …
Half a dozen years ago, anthropologist Gabriella Coleman set out to study the rise of the global internet phenomenon known …
In this thrilling adventure, a blend of enthralling historical fiction and fantastical horror, Matt Ruff …
The new book picks up a short time after the end of the first book. The new book focuses more on Hippolyta and George, though Montrose and Atticus have a thread as well. They're still being used as pawns in the games of the various sorcerors, though as always they're adept at finding the gaps to maneuver in so that they're not completely powerless (the way they are in society as a whole).
The main threads cover Hippolyta, her son Horace, and Letitia, running an errand for the ghost Witham, Atticus and Montrose taking a trip to the plantation where their ancestor, the slave that would become known as Nat Turner, started his journey to freedom (and where they meet an old friend unexpectedly), Ruby and what became of her after the climax of the last book, and Hippolyta's husband George dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
I wonder if a …
The new book picks up a short time after the end of the first book. The new book focuses more on Hippolyta and George, though Montrose and Atticus have a thread as well. They're still being used as pawns in the games of the various sorcerors, though as always they're adept at finding the gaps to maneuver in so that they're not completely powerless (the way they are in society as a whole).
The main threads cover Hippolyta, her son Horace, and Letitia, running an errand for the ghost Witham, Atticus and Montrose taking a trip to the plantation where their ancestor, the slave that would become known as Nat Turner, started his journey to freedom (and where they meet an old friend unexpectedly), Ruby and what became of her after the climax of the last book, and Hippolyta's husband George dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
I wonder if a third book is planned -- given how this one wrapped up, it certainly seems like some of the groundwork's been laid for that.
In this thrilling adventure, a blend of enthralling historical fiction and fantastical horror, Matt Ruff returns to the world of …
Chapters are organized around themes or topics, and then he presents a number of excerpts from other books that fit. Incredibly well read, but also not really something I'd strongly recommend. Looking forward to reading some of his books on his actual travels.
Not really a book as such, but more a book made up of snippets from other books arranged by themes or topics for each chapter. It wasn't bad, but also not really something that I'd recommend in general. I was hoping for something that's probably more like his other books, which is a narrative around travels that the author has taken.
