What book are you reading now? and Fav. Author(s)?

[Tommen]

For people that read - a lot...
I thought of something today - for which I have a question.


I find...
When I have gone searching for a "book review" in the past...
That...
They are mostly...
"Too positive"

Is it maybe that people have a respect for the "novel"... that dumping 1-2 years of time into a story is such that... it shant be criticized?
It is maybe that publishers send "free books" to their reviewers... and that the reviewers know that the "free books" will keep coming so long as their own published review is "positive"/glowing?

With movies... TV shows... I mean... they are on streaming platforms...
So critics can be a little more... well... critical.
It's not like Searchlight pictures can stop easily having their stuff reviewed by JimCritical.


And I don't read a LOT these days. I used to.
But I was on vacation and tried reading a book called "The Other Valley" - released just this year 2024...
The concept is... pretty cool.
But myself and my mom (who is pretty critical fiction reader)... both thought it was BAD... like... obviously bad... and boring... and trying to obtain a faux-fanciness with unnecessary bombardment of descriptiveness.

And when I went online looking for a review which might agree.
There was none.

And then I thought about past times when I went looking for a RECENT book review...
And I realized...
I don't recall seeing... a proportionally fair amount of NEGATIVE reviews of books.


Does anybody read BOOK REVIEWS enough to know... or link a website that has critical book reviews?
And - don't say "Goodreads"... or "Amazon".
I find that most book readers find their niche... or favourite writer... and just "like" everything if it has their "type" of story or ending.
Book readers themselves... I find... are too supportive of dumping their own time into a book.
Like... people won't read something and say "Not very good".
After dumping that time in... they just want... to recommend it... to show they read (?!?).
[btw - this is no criticism of anybody here... hopefully nobody interprets it as such.]
IDK. I find it strange - the amount of POSITIVE compared to NEGATIVE... among book reviews.


Does that make sense?

I'm sort of feeling like... maybe... there is NOT a truly solid critical book review site out there.
Maybe there is.
So grateful to have found such a talented and knowledgeable nursing writer Their work has been a huge help, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Highly recommend!

???

I totally get where you’re coming from. It’s frustrating when you’re looking for an honest, critical review and all you find are glowing praises that don’t match your experience. I’ve noticed the same trend—too much positivity, not enough real critique. I’ve had better luck with niche forums or smaller, independent blogs where the reviewers seem less influenced by the publishers. It’s a bit of a hunt, but worth it when you find that rare, truly honest review.

[Wonko]

I enjoy reading immensely. All genres.

For light fun reading I like the short stories of David Rakoff and David Sedaris. The quick action packed reads of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child are great for travelling etc.

For a little deeper fare I like Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Jared Diamond, etc. Big Sam Harris fan. Love his podcast too called "making sense".

Too many good authors and books to list really.

Some of the books I read recently that I would recommend:

The Book Thief -Markus Zusak.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime - Mark Haddon

10% Happier - Dan Harris

[ross10019]

I enjoy reading immensely. All genres.

For light fun reading I like the short stories of David Rakoff and David Sedaris. The quick action packed reads of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child are great for travelling etc.

For a little deeper fare I like Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Jared Diamond, etc. Big Sam Harris fan. Love his podcast too called "making sense".

Too many good authors and books to list really.

Some of the books I read recently that I would recommend:

The Book Thief -Markus Zusak.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime - Mark Haddon

10% Happier - Dan Harris

Sam Harris is awesome

[PenguinHunter]

Has anyone read Game Change by Ken Dryden?

[finnys_fanatsy]

Has anyone read Game Change by Ken Dryden?

Yes. A long time ago but i do recall it being a pretty good read.


Just finished Mats Sundins book Home and Away. Very good, I forgot how good he actually was and he was a Nordique.

Mike Keenan’s book was also quite good. He totally admits many times he was way to difficult and hard on his guys.

On a different level I read a book on Enzo Ferrari, The Definitive biography of an icon. Long book but worth it if you’re any kind of auto guy.

Next up is Nazem Kadri's book.

[tweetdrivr]

FFS

[metaldude26]

Currently working on Outlive by Peter Attia. This book is right up my alley as a workout/health/genetics enthusiast. I was worried that this would be like a Tim Ferriss book where every chapter gives you one or more habits to incorporate. So far it hasn't been like that, though I do think I'll get to some of the chapters like on sleep where there will be habits that would be advisable to pickup. I wouldn't say this dense book is for everyone, but Attia is always a compelling podcast guest and it shows in the writing. It is not some dense, impossible to grasp, overly technical textbook.

I recently finished Factfulness by Hans Rosling. It's all about highlighting the progress that humankind has made and provides some tools or questions to ask when confronted with data suggesting that everything is terrible (or great) in order to provide some context. Some of the data in the book is no doubt dated as this was published in 2018 (what a long time ago that feels) but a lot of the lessons apply and may be especially valuable since it seems catastrophism has only risen in the years since.

I am excited to pickup Malcolm Gladwell's latest Revenge of the Tipping Point where he revisits some of the stuff he got wrong in the original The Tipping Point. I love when a writer goes back and updates their ideas. Also, Gladwell is always a good read even when he isn't always correct. Hoping I can get this one read before the holidays so there will be some interesting family discussions at the dinner table.

[4T2]

I am excited to pickup Malcolm Gladwell's latest Revenge of the Tipping Point where he revisits some of the stuff he got wrong in the original The Tipping Point. I love when a writer goes back and updates their ideas. Also, Gladwell is always a good read even when he isn't always correct. Hoping I can get this one read before the holidays so there will be some interesting family discussions at the dinner table.

OOh I didn't know this was a thing. Definitely adding it to my queue. Love Malcom Gladwell, he always makes you think even when he gets it wrong.

[senryu]

Just finished Mats Sundins book Home and Away. Very good, I forgot how good he actually was and he was a Nordique.

I feel my ears burning...

[SeaDawg]

For people that read - a lot...
I thought of something today - for which I have a question.


I find...
When I have gone searching for a "book review" in the past...
That...
They are mostly...
"Too positive"

Is it maybe that people have a respect for the "novel"... that dumping 1-2 years of time into a story is such that... it shant be criticized?
It is maybe that publishers send "free books" to their reviewers... and that the reviewers know that the "free books" will keep coming so long as their own published review is "positive"/glowing?

With movies... TV shows... I mean... they are on streaming platforms...
So critics can be a little more... well... critical.
It's not like Searchlight pictures can stop easily having their stuff reviewed by JimCritical.


And I don't read a LOT these days. I used to.
But I was on vacation and tried reading a book called "The Other Valley" - released just this year 2024...
The concept is... pretty cool.
But myself and my mom (who is pretty critical fiction reader)... both thought it was BAD... like... obviously bad... and boring... and trying to obtain a faux-fanciness with unnecessary bombardment of descriptiveness.

And when I went online looking for a review which might agree.
There was none.

And then I thought about past times when I went looking for a RECENT book review...
And I realized...
I don't recall seeing... a proportionally fair amount of NEGATIVE reviews of books.


Does anybody read BOOK REVIEWS enough to know... or link a website that has critical book reviews?
And - don't say "Goodreads"... or "Amazon".
I find that most book readers find their niche... or favourite writer... and just "like" everything if it has their "type" of story or ending.
Book readers themselves... I find... are too supportive of dumping their own time into a book.
Like... people won't read something and say "Not very good".
After dumping that time in... they just want... to recommend it... to show they read (?!?).
[btw - this is no criticism of anybody here... hopefully nobody interprets it as such.]
IDK. I find it strange - the amount of POSITIVE compared to NEGATIVE... among book reviews.


Does that make sense?

I'm sort of feeling like... maybe... there is NOT a truly solid critical book review site out there.
Maybe there is.


???

I know this is from a while back but I'm only discovering this thread now. This is a huge annoyance of mine. I studied English Literature in University and used to read 3-4 novels a week. Nowadays, I read 3 or 4 novels a year. My life is just too busy to have much time to read, sadly. My point is that I read so sparingly that when I do, I hate it when I picked a crappy book, and there are a lot of crappy books out there. I've tried looking for reviews like I do for tv shows or movies, but they've proven worthless. And there's no point in picking a book because it's on some sort of best sellers list...that's also useless. Now I only read a book if it has been recommended to me by someone I know, or if the book won or was nominated for an award.