The Work of Art

Have you ever wondered how artists, writers or other creative types begin their creative journey? How do they continue from the bare idea to the final product? Most importantly, how do they know they are done? The Work of Art lets forty-three creatives speak in their own words about theirContinue Reading

Supremacy

Everything you want to know about the new AI chatbots and the creators behind them are detailed in Supremacy. The book begins with the biographies of OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, and DeepMind CEO, Demis Hassabis. Both begin with altruistic views of saving, or at least, helping, mankind. But the massiveContinue Reading

Nexus

Sometimes you want to read a light humorous cozy mystery or romance. Other times, you want to read a book that makes you think deeply and ponder the future. Nexus fills the second need. This book is intense and thought provoking. We have all heard the arguments both pro andContinue Reading

Capital & Ideology

Capital & Ideology is a graphic novel adaption of the famous non-fiction book of the same name. This version uses a fictional family across centuries to teach basic economics history and theories. It works well for high schoolers and up. However, younger children will be quickly bored by all theContinue Reading

Anime + Chibi Art Class

Anime + Chibi Art Class is a good beginning art guide for drawing anime characters and their Chibi variations. While the techniques shown begin with drawing ovals, the vocabulary and suggested tools seem more oriented toward older readers. It is best suited for people used to drawing that want toContinue Reading

Story and Structure

Story and Structure is a master class in how literature is structured. It is best for the academically minded. It definitely reads like a university textbook. It has a lot of interesting information buried in its over five hundred pages. I can see why it won an award for bestContinue Reading

Under a Rock

I so wanted to like Chris Stein’s, the guitarist from Blondie, autobiography, Under a Rock. Unfortunately, from my perspective, it needed both editing down and fleshing out. The author includes a lot of details about his childhood, 30% of the book, that didn’t add much to his story. When heContinue Reading

The Ex-Human

I have one word for The Ex-Human: boring. The author obviously has several axes to grind. If you are fascinated by science fiction because it shows us a world of wonder and imagination, read some science fiction. If you want to read about academics arguing about the definition of postmodernismContinue Reading

Quick and Easy 400-Calorie Recipes

Quick and Easy 400-Calorie Recipes is filled with comfort food recipes reduced in both sodium and calories. Each recipe comes with full nutritional information. Unfortunately, there are no photos included. I also question some of the directions. In More Like Your Mama’s Tuna Casserole, for example, putting cooked egg noodlesContinue Reading

Kawaii Birdies

Kawaii Birdies are a Japanese artform that is easy to learn, at least with the help of this book. The author begins with two simple circles. Soon, the reader will find pages of details to add from noses to wing shapes. A full-color pictorial of different types of birds isContinue Reading

Death Is No Excuse

I never thought that I would say this but the funniest book I read this month was Death is No Excuse, a book about wills, trusts, and guardianships. It is amazing how fast distributing your assets after death can go horribly, and hilariously, wrong. Each chapter of the book endsContinue Reading

Lies My Teacher Told Me

What you don’t know about American history could fill a book. In fact, the book is here and entitled Lies My Teacher Told Me. This graphic true story tells the rest of the tales not told in traditional history books. It also corrects some frequently repeated outright falsehoods. Some areContinue Reading

Mastery

Mastery is a deep dive into the science of how people learn. It is not a pop science book. It is full of scientific discoveries rather than a straightforward explanation. Unfortunately, there is a reason that most books are not this comprehensive. Most science, or at least reading about science,Continue Reading