shetef's reviews
79 reviews

Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy by Talia Lavin

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dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Vital reading for antifascists everywhere. Talia Lavin's work here is both heartfelt and brave. Very excited for her next book to come out in October.
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The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

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dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This book started out fairly interesting but just fell apart catastrophically around the end of the first chapter. Lots of interesting ideas raised and then abandoned. I was pretty excited to have some masc non-binary rep but the author whiffed it on this one.
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Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott

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challenging funny informative reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while. Star rating is knocked down a bit because although Abbott's florid prose is an artifact of the time period, it does make as abstract a story as this that much harder for me to grok. The satire of social hierarchy in this is quite interesting - I wish the book was a bit longer so it could be explored a bit more.
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The Business of Research by Margaret B. W. Graham

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informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Really interesting read, but not something I would recommend to people who aren't interested in this specific story. (Most folks would probably have a better time with the condensed telling of this story on the Technology Connections YouTube channel.) Graham provides a capable and at times cutting analysis of RCA's attempts to recapture their former status and ultimate downfall. Interesting to think about how things might have panned out differently if RCA's management had been more capable.
When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s by John Ganz

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dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

I found this book really enlightening. I was born toward the end of the time period this book describes and it was really enlightening to have an explanation for why everything seemed to have this miasma of fear surrounding it.
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Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 8%.
Just wanting to prioritize other books right now. This one deserves more attention than I can give it at the moment. Also, apparently the audiobook on Libby isn't the updated version? That's annoying.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

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adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Bit of a slow start to this one but once it gets going it's a really fun ride! The dinosaurs in this book feel very real and very frightening.
Count Zero by William Gibson

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.
Too many other things I'm enjoying more right now. This feels really unfocused in comparison to its predecessor. May revisit.
Diaspora Boy: Comics on Crisis in America and Israel by Eli Valley

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challenging dark funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Eli Valley's cartoons are vital for any Jew who is concerned by the corruption of American Jewish institutions and hopes for a renewal of the old social activist Yiddishkeit.
10 Dance, Vol. 1 by Inouesatoh

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funny lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This is the first BL manga I've read. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected! The art conveys movement and emotion very effectively. They're also a very cute couple.