Book Reviews
First published: 14th August 2025
In April this year, I started keeping a record of all the books I read. I thought that this would allow me to measure how much I was reading, motivate me to read more, and allow me to try out different things and see if they resulted in me reading more. I did not learn what I expected to learn.
First, the list of books:
Ich wünsche mir, daß irgendwo jemand auf mich wartet
Author: Anna Gavalda
Time to read: 5 days
I didn't realise until after I had started that this is in translation from French. I generally avoid reading in translation where possible, but decided to finish the book anyway. It was a collection of short stories, and as with most collections, it was a bit hit and miss. Some stories were funny, some were sad, some seemed kind of pointless.
Alias Alisa
Author: Rose Pernot
Time to read: 5 days
I was on holiday the week where I read this, and it might have taken me longer if I wasn't. It's a coming-of-age story about a teenager with emotionally distant/abusive parents who volunteers at a summer camp for kids. All the usual things happen, she falls in love, discovers herself, comes to terms with her past, etc. I found some of it cringey but overall enjoyed it and the pace picked up towards the end.
The Time Ships
Author: Steven Baxter
Time to read: 42 days
Yes, it's a long book, but not that long. This is an (officially endorsed by his estate) sequel to H.G Wells' The Time Machine , an absolute classic. What surprised me the first time I read The Time Machine was that it focusses almost exclusively on the question of "where might society be in the far future" with no messing around in the practicalities of time paradoxes. The Time Ships is an incredibly ambitious whistle-stop tour through all the common philosophical and physical problems with time travel, encompasssing many different takes on "where might society be in the far future" at the same time. A lot happens in this book. I loved the scale of the author's vision. The main character was quite passive and mostly just let himself be carried along by events while making comments on their meaning. Somewhat reminiscent of Arthur Dent, but with a bit more of a lecturing style. I think the reason this one took me so long is that while I was interested in what would happen, I just didn't enjoy the writing style. I wanted to know what was in the next chapter, but not was in the next paragraph.
Même pas morte
Author: Geneviève Rioux
Didn't finish
I got less than 10 pages into this one, decided it wasn't for me. I'm glad I stopped there.
Nine Lives - Inner Lives on the Spectrum
Author: Daniel Tamnet
Time to read: 9 days
As I write this post, I am surprised to find that this is the only non-fiction book I have read "since records began". I think of myself as the kind of person who reads fiction more often, but still regularly reads non-fiction. I guess this isn't the case. I wouldn't say this book is good enough to deserve "if you only read one non-fiction book, make it this one". It was okay. It lacked narrative cohesion. I didn't feel like it delivered on the promise of insight into people's inner lives. It felt like it focussed on their externally visible lives. Hard to say how one could deliver on this promise, but one could not make the promise in the first place.
Son odeur après la pluie
Author: Cédric Sapin-Defour
Not finished
I really wanted to like this book. I wanted to be reading a touching book about a man and his dog, in French, and enjoying it. But I just slowly noticed that I wasn't reading it. I would find myself with free time, think about doing some reading, and decide to do something else. I didn't consciously notice that I wasn't enjoying the book, I just noticed that I repeatedly avoided picking it up, and repeatedly put it down after less than half an hour. I regret not giving up sooner. I wish I had moved onto a different book that I might have enjoyed, rather than a different activity that wasn't reading.
Stories of Your Life and Others
Author: Ted Chiang
Time to read: 6 days
This is another collection of short stories. It was a present from my Dad, who has great taste in science fiction. I like almost all of the stories, which as I noted earlier, is not typical of a collection. I wished that most of them could be full length books, so that I could read them for longer, and so that the author could explore the scenarios in more depth. One of these stories was the basis for the film Arrival, which I liked, but I did feel like the story was more revealing about the points it was making. Apart from that, my favourite story of the collection was Seventy Two Letters. I want a full book in this universe . (side note: some similarities with Unsong, but, sorry, Ted Chiang is a better writer).
Galatea 2.2
Author: Richard Powers
Not finished
Having learnt my lesson, I gave up on this one quickly when I noticed it wasn't calling me to read more of it.
A Perfect Vacuum
Author: Stanislaw Lem
Not finished
This is, rather bizarrely, a collection of reviews of books that don't exist. The reviews describe the main themes and plots of the books they are about. Another exception to my translation rule, I read this translated into English. The translator has won awards for his work on Lem's writing, and I loved The Cyberiad , but this one just didn't click with me. I found it a lot of effort for no reward. Maybe the jokes weren't translated well, or maybe I just missed them.
Masters of Deception
Authors: Mechelle Slatalla and Joshua Quittner
Time to read: 1 day
This is a based-on-a-true-story account of some hackers in the 80s who break into various systems, mostly out of pure intellectual curiosity, mess around, do the cyber equivalent of trespassing and graffiti, and eventually get caught. I found it really good fun. The writing was very engaging. The story-telling was good. I wasn't sure for quite a while if it was pure fiction or not, but I looked it up afterwards and it is a true story. Has some nice surprises, some relatable characters, and plenty of humour.
Astounding Science Fact and Fiction, Vol XIV, No 2
Authors: Various
Time to read: 3 days
Technically, this calls itself a magazine, not a book. But it is bound in the way a modern paperback would be. A little over a year ago, I bought about 10 issues at once. I don't think they're contiguous, but I haven't checked and I certainly am making no effort to read them in order. The stories are again hit-and-miss. The science fact is always good. The adverts are a surprisingly fascinating window in the past. This issue is from February 1958. The first story was cringefully claiming that all across time and space, 1950s stereotypes of the roles of housewife, rebellious teenage boy, etc. must perpetuate throughout human society, and that this is necessary and good. Interesting to read, not for the reasons the author intended. This issue's fact section was by Isaac Asimov. It was an account of how chemists were despairing about the number of elements that appeared to have been found during radioactive decay chains, and how this problem was solved by the theory of isotopes. An extra historical tidbit is that the name created for (what we now know to be) isotopes of various elements were still in use at the time of writing! That is, chemists would still use the name "Uranium Y" for the substance sensible people now call thorium-231. (Let me know if you are a chemist and this practice still hasn't died).
Exhalation
Author: Ted Chiang
Time to read: 2 days
Really wonderful, thoughtful stories. Together with Stories of Your Life and Others , I have now read the entire works of Ted Chiang, and how I wish there was more . I really like his approach to science fiction, of framing the unusual situations he thinks up within scientific enquiry or public debate. There is one of these stories that I think failed to realise the scope of the changes the premise would bring about, but only one. One of my favourite authors, even though I have only just discovered him.
Conclusion
That sums up the list. 8 books in just over 4 months is an amount of reading that I'm happy with. The biggest lesson for me here is, if I actually like reading a book, I will make time to read it. I will stay up two hours later than usual to read it. I will read it in my lunch break. I will tell people "I don't want to watch a series today, I want to read this book." And if I'm not doing those things, I should let that book go. Life is short. You can't read everything. Only read what brings you joy. And I recommend Ted Chiang.
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