Month: March 2018

My Favourite Podcasts: Science and Productivity

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It’s time for my favourite kind of podcasts, science and productivity. I love listening to passionate people talking about science from a perspective you don’t get in class, with more humour. Here’s a post with the general, two-dudes-talking type podcasts I like.

 

– productivity –

Cortex

  • Youtuber CGP Grey and relay-founder Myke Hurley dicuss their work as independent content creators

The College Info Geek Podcast

  • A productivity podcast for students, discussing all kinds of decisions, troubles and tips students might need.

 

– science –

Ologies

  • Alie Ward interviews one expert in a field about what they do, and proves no questions are stupid. It makes me want to work with a new thing each episode when I hear about what these awesome people do. Personal favourites are cosmology, horology, volcanology, gizmology and mythology. Lots of ologies.

Holy Fucking Science

  • By the CrashCourse/vlogbrothers/Hank Green team
  • Four people get together with the goal to amaze each other with facts about the universe and how they found out about them. Usually lots of laughs.

No Dumb Questions

  • By youtubers Destin Sandlin and Matt Whittman
  • Science and politics and all the dumb questions

Showmakers

 

Do you have any podcast recommendations?

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder | Review

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Pages: 390
Genre: young adult, fantasy

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Summary

In hiding Avry struggles not to use her healing gifts and invietably she breaks. Her conscience gets the best of her, but she underestimates the villager’s fear and brutality. She ends up in the hands of a band of rogues who have other uses for her than the bounty on her head. They’re taking her to her enemy’s leader, the prince who’s frozen in the last state of the plague, to use her gifts to cure him. Only then she might die herself.

My thoughts

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A healer who instead on healing the wounds transfer them to herself. How can that be a bad idea (cue nervous grimaces). 

Most people seem to love this book. I have no idea why. I really liked the (Poison) Study series by Snyder and still wish to read her other series Insider and Glass. But where I found the Poison Study entertaining and original enough, this book just felt chaotic and dull. The healer idea could have been brilliant, but it wasn’t developed enough. The dilemma between where the line goes as to which people Avry should heal felt non-existent. Avry is brought up to see carrying others’ pain as normal and even her purpose.

I feel like I’ve seen this before; Here’s a kind of people who can heal, but the ignorant narrow-mided citizens see their magic as unnatural and lays the blame on them so their only hope is to run for their lives. It’s used as an almost “ironic” turn of events, but it’s just adding unecessary hate, not to talk about growing quite boring. I just read another story that fell through in the same way: Finnikin on the rock by Melina Marchetta. To quote my Finnikin review; “If only they hadn’t killed all their healers…” Who knows, maybe the healers are hiding in a cave somewhere as a twist, but I won’t read the next books to find out.

Most of the book is written around what Avry will do when she gets to the dying prince, after the (way too) long journey. But Avry is a very mild person, which isn’t a bad thing, but I never doubted for a second she wouldn’t sacrifice herself for the prince. Everything else seemed out of character. That takes away a quite bit of the suspense. And I didn’t really care if she died because things were bad for her already. Which says an awful lot about my feelings for this book. Leave the girl alone and stop using her selflessness against her or just kill her, I’m over this.

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli | Review

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Pages: 90

Genre: science, physics

okay, I’ll admit I chose this book because of its beautiful cover. I mean look at it:

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In this book you get basic concepts and breakthroughs in physics described in a poetic way. It’s a short book with seven brief lessons (who would’ve guessed), well-written and focused on keeping the reader interested. At points the explanation is overly simplified, even for someone who’s about to take (basically) her first physics class, but I understand how more information might’ve destroyed the flow of the writing. It would’ve been better with footnotes (or something similiar) leading to more in-depth sources so you can actually understand the thing being explained.

The book got better the further into it I got, and lesson five on heat was perhaps the most interesting. Maybe because that was the one I knew the least about beforehand? Rovelli’s explanations was mostly good, but I was frustrated more than once at the tendency to mention a concept or name and never explain it further. I basically had wikipedia open, which I don’t feel should be this necessary.

It’s a good book for the person who’s not into physics and don’t usually think about the concepts on how tiny/big the world are and so on. It’s clear that the author knows what he’s talking about, both in the subject and the writing. Not to mention the beautiful cover and marketing. Personally the book was a nice read, but I didn’t feel I got much out of it. Made me realize I might as well open my actual physics textbook, if only I remember where I’ve buried it.

My Favourite Podcasts: General

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I listen to so many podcasts. It’s probably eaten into my reading time, but I’m more often available to listen to things while doing chores or getting ready, even eating.

Apparently the whole list of my favourite podcast was a lot for one post, which is probably a sign I should cut down on them. To start out, here’s the general/two people talking type of podcasts I listen to. Also narrowing down what these podcasts are about is difficult, because they’re mostly a mix of the hosts interests. Check them out for yourself! I would recommend listening to one of the latest episodes. Podcasts with more special interests like books or science will come later.

– two dudes* talking type – 

*not always two dudes, or even just two people

 

Hello Internet

  • Youtubers CGP Grey and Brady Haran
  • Nerdy. I have no idea how to sell this, but it’s probably my consistently favourite one.

Two Tims Talking

  • A fan podcast of Hello Internet, it was started by
  • listeners who talk about their lives and topics that interest them

Dear Hank and John

  • Youtubers and authors Hank and John Green from vlogbrothers. It’s great.

Do By Friday

  • Alex Cox, Max Temkin and Merlin Mann. First two are from the Cards Against Humanity team and Mann an experienced podcaster.
  • Has a new challenge each week, along with weird internet news and humor

The Wikicast

  • Youtuber and newly phd in physics Simon Clark and Dan Maw
  • Talks about a random wikipedia page each week, mostly about everything else

 

 

TBR for the near future

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Here’s books I hope to read for the next two weeks. I never actually follow tbr lists, but let’s give it a shot. 

 

My fight / your fight by Ronda Rousey (audiobook)

Bruised by Sarah Skilton

Imogen has always believed that her black belt in Tae Kwon Do made her stronger than everyone else–more responsible, more capable. But when she witnesses a holdup in a diner, she freezes. The gunman is shot and killed by the police. And it’s all her fault.

Now she’s got to rebuild her life without the talent that made her special and the beliefs that made her strong. If only she could prove herself in a fight–a real fight–she might be able to let go of the guilt and shock. She’s drawn to Ricky, another witness to the holdup, both romantically and because she believes he might be able to give her the fight she’s been waiting for.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.

Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television ‘family’. But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people did not live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television.

When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.

Mary Oliver’s New and Selected Poems vol. 2

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

For almost as long as she can remember, Carey has lived in a camper van in the heart of the woods with her drug-addicted mother and six-year-old sister, Jenessa. Her mother routinely disappears for weeks at a time, leaving the girls to cope alone. Survival is Carey’s only priority – until strangers arrive and everything changes

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour | Review

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Pages: 312

Genre: young adult, contemporary, lgbt

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“There is a calm in this room that assures me that we are exactly where we are meant to”

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This book was a whole lot more than I thought it would be. It’s a lovely story of a girl who works with decorating movie sets falling in love with a mystery and then the girl underneath it. It’s weird how this book can be summarized in one sentence, while I sat there with a shocked, comical expression after finishing it. There’s nothing life-changing, wow-factor about the story. But it got to me anyway. How dare this book mask itself as an innocent contemporary book and then ruin me like this?

It has a sweet relationship, if perhaps not the full-blown romance some people might be expecting. I expected it too, but I found myself pleasantly suprised by what we got. The only thing I was itching my head over, was how I usually like these kickass, strong-willed girls. And this is rather the contrary. But while the main character wouldn’t be my pick, her sole-focusness and (perhaps wrong) feeling of being superior in what she does, that her way is the right one, really fits with the story. It would be completely different if she hadn’t had her head in the skies, for example she might have never meddled with someone else’s life. And then there would be no story. It’s a different kind of romance than most young adult books I’ve read. Perhaps it’s because of the wonderful writing and pacing, perhaps because of the slowness of the characters and the mystery.

This is the story the author wanted to convey. Simple as that. As Emi with her movie sets, every detail is the perfect backdrop for having two girls slowly fall in love with each other. This book is filled with special moments, but it’s the in-passing ones that really count. I think that focus is what makes this book stand out.

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This next quote gives me “Looking for Alaska” vibes:

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A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver | Review

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Genre: poetry

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A collection of contemporary poems, the first one I read by Mary Oliver. And it’s fantastic, bringing out the magic in everyday things and small moments.

I’ve seen reviews saying that they wish this was how they lived their life, noticing details and the world this way. But you can? Take this for a normally stressed, pessimistic (I call it realistic) person who, while reading the poem about the white heron, remembered the grey heron I was chasing down a danish river in a canoe the week before. Everytime I gave up, the damn heron flew out from the bushes and the chase was on again. It was probably not the intention of the poem, which probably has some hidden symbolism, but a nice coincidence.

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I got a bit sidetracket – Anyway, I love the sea and the quietness of mornings. So I was bound to love this collection, even though some poems was a better fit for me than others.

Here’s “I go down to the shore” which I’ve memorized by now. Lastly, let me say I’m not an usual poetry reader, but the simplicity of some of the poems (some are longer and more intricate, and I adore them as well) makes it makes it easier for someone new to pick this up. It’s similiar to “milk and honey” in how easy it is to read, but so many levels better.

WWW Wednesday 7. March 2018

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It’s wednesday again and time to give an update! If you would like to know more about www wednesday, where you answer three questions every wednesday, it’s hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

What did you recently finish reading?

I started and finished Jade City by Fonda Lee this weekend, it was a good read and kept me turning the pages. Afterwards there were some things that irked me, but in all it was an exciting urban fantasy gang drama. With lots of action. I have a lot of thoughts, which will come in a later review (of course).

I’ve also read “Hver gang du forlater meg” (translation: everytime you leave me) by Linnéa Myhre, and it was okay. Kind of. The writing wasn’t horrible, at least, but I’m really glad I’m not in that character’s head. The plot was boring, even if it dealt with eating disorder which is important. Basically the girl was only waiting for the guy to return and sometimes tried to dig her way out, to gain some confidence. It included too little insight in her thoughts, and some weird elements like calling her hypnosis/therapist “Den vise” (translated The Wise One). I just didn’t understand most choices that were made. 

What are you currently reading?

Not a lot of progress on the spanish Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale since last week. Jade city took all my reading time. On the other side I’m 13% through with 60 highlights for translation or just to mark funny words and great sentence structures, so there’s that. And I wondered why it took so long time to gain progress.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Continue on hp and read some of Emily Dickinson’s poems. I’m looking for books with martial arts, maybe I’ll start Bruised by Sarah Skilton.

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Quotes

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl to bring bookish friends together. A new topic is posted each week. 

Here’s at least some of my favourite book quotes. Enjoy.

 

“I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.” 

― Katja Millay, The Sea of Tranquility

 

“Dawn was coming. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.”

– Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

 

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

– J. K. Rowling, The Prisoner of Azkaban  

 

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”

– Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

 

“I swear, my dear. Sometimes our conversations remind me of a broken sword.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Sharp as hell,” Lightsong said, “but lacking a point.” 
― Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker

 

“I liked the idea of living in a city — any city, especially a strange one — liked the thought of traffic and crowds, of working in a bookstore, waiting tables in a coffee shop, who knew what kind of solitary life I might slip into? Meals alone, walking the dogs in the evenings; and nobody knowing who I was.”

– Donna Tartt, The Secret History

 

“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.”

– Donna Tartt, The Secret History

 

“I need to stop fantasizing about running away to some other life and start figure out the one I have.”

– Holly Black, The Darkest Part of the Forest

 

“She laughed and broke into a run, racing out to grab handfuls of raindrops from the air, all alone in a world of diamonds.” 

― Scott Westerfeld, The Secret Hour

 

“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.” 

― Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black | Review

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Pages: 380

Genre: fantasy

“I don’t think he realizes just how angry I am or how good it feels, for once, to give up on regrets.”

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Synopsis

At seven years old Jude is watching her parents getting murdered and is, along with her two sisters, kidnapped by the murderer Madoc to live in the High Court of Faerie. At seventeen she’s used to the life among the faeries, the murderer is also the fairy father of her half-sister Vivi and he’s provided for them, even if they don’t fit in. Some fairies enjoys pointing it out, especially a group of friends with prince Cardan in the middle of them. Jude wants to claim her place in the Court, but the intrigues are bigger than imagined and as a human she needs to become the best. Soon they’re on the brink of bloodshed and civil war.

 

My thoughts

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Everyone down to little kid Oak is morally grey, even Jude comments on it. They’re all traumatized, it seems like, for different reasons. Jude and her sisters watched their parents get murdered by the Madoc, which they currently live with and has a father role for them. But the Faerie Court is also troubled by violence and conflicts and the faeries are affected as well. But that isn’t used as excuse, which was great, because after this plot there is none.

The character development was above all hope. Here you got dimensional, untypical characters. It’s also not a typical young adult fantasy, I wouldn’t even call it ya, because there’s so much blood and civil war. I did not expect it, but I’m definitely here for it. It still has the obvious heroine Jude, but even kids are involved in the intrigues to get to power. I love Jude, she’s terrifying and a new favourite character. Someone seems to think of her as unlikable, but you don’t have to agree with her decisions, or any character’s, to think they’re well-written and awesome. What a darling.

“Little did Prince Dain know that my real skill lies in pissing people off.”

Bullying was real problem and something Jude had to deal with. It’s a good thing to portray, it also gave some legitimacy to Jude and the idea that she could fight the prince and his friends, but at a cost. She could tell her “father” Madoc and send him at them, but blood would be spilled and she would risk chaos. And later she has to get to know them as people, and they her, as the plot unfolds and it’s still not a redemption story.

“There is a pleasure in being with them,” he says. “Taking what we wish, indulging in every terrible thought. There’s safety in being awful.”

It’s a book playing with power dynamics and politics, everyone wants to gain power and it’s a conflict towards who will take the throne. It shows how there’s different ways to wield power, where the strongest isn’t necessarily the most powerful. I like how Jude needs to be smart as an underdog in that struggle, and the moral dilemmas she has at the beginning, but there’s also a few times too many that the solutions fall into her hands too easily.

“She’s looking around the forest, as though if she can prove it isn’t magic, then nothing else is, either. Which is stupid. All forests are magic.”

– more negative thoughts – 

  • Sister relationship between the twins Taryn and Jude was pretty much sacrificed for the sake of the plot. At the same time it’s understandable, if a bit predictable.
  • Sometimes I wonder if a book or tv series is smart or if it’s “fake smart”, where the writer is throwing something in your face to distract you, instead of having an actual twist or clever plot. I think this book had both, but it was apparant that it sometimes relied too much on diverting focus with romance and side quests, then tying it back in. I also think that’s the reason of a complaint I’ve seen from others –
  • Lack of structure in the story. Personally I usually don’t have a problem with this. But it made the book longer than needed to, with a lot of action in some parts and long stretches with planning and trying to distract the reader, as mentioned above.
  • I know Holly Black has a long history with faeries, but this book seemed different than the rest. It felt more Cassandra Clare inspired, and actually less unique than usual in how the world and its creatures are like. The world-building in general seemed bad, and lacking.

– all in all –

If there’s something I haven’t said enough in this review, it’s how great I think Holly Black’s books are. She writes fantasy and young adult books incredibly well in that she follows trends, but in her own way. That is maybe some of what this book lacked, though the plot was enjoyable and the whole book overall. Would recommend it if you’re looking for a character-driven story, with a good plot.

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– a few more thoughts *spoilers below* –

Continue reading →