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Somehow it's this late in the year already, so here's the list for November:
73. 10-Minute Strength Training Exercises for Seniors by Ed Deboo
OK, let's get this out of the way first: at 54, I do not consider myself a senior! But we're all getting there eventually, and I have definitely reached the point where I'm finding it a lot harder to stand up from the floor. A mostly sedentary life and too many extra pounds certainly aren't helping, and neither is my lifelong aversion to exercise. But, especially as someone who lives alone, the thought of reaching the point where the movements of daily life become too difficult is scary enough to make me think maybe I should actually make some sort of attempt to prevent it.
And so, this book. The exercises here are short, simple, not too taxing, and make no assumptions about one's fitness levels going in, which is exactly the sort of thing I need. Each one comes with instructions, illustrations, and a list of which muscles and abilities they target. In general, they're fairly clear, although I do find I sometimes have trouble getting the technique right. Which may be more my fault than the book's, it's hard to say. Some of them seem a lot more appealing to me than others, but at least some of them are exercises I'll actually do, which are, of course, the most important kind.
Also included are a set of routines incorporating multiple exercises, each aimed at helping improve a particular area of one's body or life. Well, supposedly, anyway. Some of the targeting feels like a bit of a stretch, no pun intended. Exercises for gardeners make a certain amount of sense, but an exercise set for people who like to travel? OK, if you say so. And this section is a little too heavy on the rather condescending-sounding rah-rah encouragement for my taste, too. Still, the routines look fairly reasonable, and I think I'm going to try at least a couple of them, although I haven't done so yet.
How much of any of this will actually stick for me and get incorporated into any sort of routine, it's hard to say, realistically. But any book about exercising that doesn't instantly make me want to run away screaming is useful, so I appreciate the gentle approach here. Even if it's gentle because it's aimed at people older than me, I'll take it.
Rating: 3.5/5
74. False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
Book number eight in the Rivers of London series sees wizard cop Peter Grant going undercover at a tech company, and participating in a little bit of a heist along the way. I have to say, I don't necessarily find the plots in these books all that satisfying, and this one is no exception to that, leaving a lot of things vague and a lot of questions unanswered. It does have some really interesting story elements, though, and blends magic and technology in some creative ways. Mind you, I think aspects of it would have come across a little differently in 2020 when it was published than they do now in the age of rampaging LLMs.
Also, Aaronovitch is having way too much fun with the geeky references this time out. I think there are more Douglas Adams references here than in an actual Douglas Adams novel. I'm not at all sure how I feel about that, but that's probably mostly because the overlap between geek culture (which I love) and tech bro culture (which I do not) makes me uncomfortable, and boy is it portrayed here in all its cringe-worthy glory.
Rating: 3.5/5
75. Physics for Cats by Tom Gauld
A collection of science-themed cartoons whose subject matter ranges from the relatively mundane (a flowchart of the cartoonist's "scientific method" featuring naps and fantasies about the Nobel Prize) to the whimsical (the new director of research is three children in a trench coat, a conference for vampire scientists) to the slightly surreal. It's full of nerdy charm, and it made me laugh multiple times. And though I'd already seen a number of the cartoons online, they all were still just as entertaining the second time. You probably do have to be some level of science nerd to fully appreciate all of them, but for those who are, it's kind of delightful.
Rating: 4/5
76. Wastelands: The New Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams
This is the third of John Joseph Adams' anthologies of post-apocalyptic stories, and I'm pleased to note the the quality across all three seems very consistent. There weren't any pieces here that left me with my jaw hanging open, going "Wow, that was amazing!" (which, I admit, is always something I hope for, especially with this editor), but there were some very good ones, and none I thought were total duds, something that's pretty rare with anthologies, especially ones of this size. Even the stories I didn't love were still well-written or were doing something I found interesting. And although many of the end-of-the-world scenarios are familiar enough -- plagues, climate disaster, zombies, etc -- pretty much every story found at least some clever variation or new perspective to make things feel fresh, without feeling gimmicky.
In other words, it's just a good, solid anthology, once again, and I recommend this entire series to anyone who likes short stories and post-apocalyptic fiction. Just don't let Adams' introduction to this one -- basically, "hey, we're all doomed in reality, might as well enjoy some fantasies about surviving it, I guess" -- bring you down too much.
Rating: 4/5
77. Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach
Mary Roach's latest book is all about replacing human body parts: with mechanical prostheses, with tissue from other parts of one's body, with parts from other people or from animals, or with artificially grown organic parts, perhaps cultured from your own stem cells. Some of these technologies, of course, are considerably further advanced than others.
If you're familiar with any of Roach's other books, you probably know what to expect from this one. If you're not, well, then this is anything but a dry, academic approach to the subject or a piece of meticulous and exhaustive journalism. It is, rather, an irrepressibly enthusiastic person taking us along on a slightly wild ride through a subject she finds fascinating, picking the brains of anyone in the field who will talk to her or let her watch them work. Or harvest hair follicles from her head and implant them on her leg, just to see what happens.
As usual, she's wonderfully funny, uninhibited even with subject matter other people shy away from, and great at making whatever she's talking about interesting and engaging. Although I will say that one thing she wasn't quite as successful at here as in previous books was bypassing my usual reactions to things that squick me out. I discovered while reading this one that it can, in fact, be too early in the morning to read about skin grafts, and that all the matter-of-fact wonder-and-excitement-filled good humor in the world can't keep me from flinching while reading about eye surgery. But, then, few authors could make me willing to read about that at all, or make me feel glad I'd done so afterward, so, honestly, kudos on that, too.
Rating: 4/5
78. Doctor Who and the War Games by Malcolm Hulke
Another of the old Target Books Doctor Who novelizations, this one for the Second Doctor's final story. And a very significant story it is, too, full of important firsts. It's also a really good one, and it's honestly amazing to me, given the 1960s sense of pacing and its frankly rather ridiculous length, just how utterly watchable and engaging it is all the way through. It's not, of course, anywhere near the same experience in print, where we're deprived of Patrick Troughton's inimitable performance. But while this isn't exactly winning any literary awards, it reads much less like someone did a light editing pass over an episode transcript than most of Terrance Dicks' efforts do, and Malcolm Hulke does a reasonable job of capturing some of the feel of the original, especially its very unglamorous depiction of war.
Rating: 3.5/5
79. Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
In the early 1970s, a young woman has an affair with an older man who once worked in intelligence and who encourages her to get a job with MI5 before cruelly breaking up with her. Once there, she's given an assignment for a project code-named Sweet Tooth, a hearts-and-minds operation that involves channeling money towards writers the department believes are likely to produce works with anti-communist themes. But then she falls in love with the writer she's been lying to about her job and the source of his funding.
Honestly, I'm not remotely sure what to make of this one. I get the impression it's not one of the more well-regarded of McEwan's novels, and I would rank it last out of the ones I've read -- the others being Amsterdam, Atonement, The Comfort of Strangers, Enduring Love, On Chesil Beach, and Solar -- but, y'know, that's some pretty stiff competition and a hell of a list even to come last on. As always, I love McEwan's smooth prose and his precise grasp of human psychology. And there's some stories-within-stories stuff going on here that I generally enjoyed.
I'm less sure how I feel about his handling of the Cold War and the troubled state of the UK in the 70s, as it often feels like he's on the verge of actually having something to say about politics or history but never quite does so. Probably deliberately, but still. And I don't love the way the protagonist is so passively shaped by the men in her life, and so incapable of having any kind of meaningful relationship with a man without immediately wanting to sleep with him. Again, there are probably narrative or thematic reasons for at least some of that, but I'm not sure if those make me feel all that much better about it.
And I cannot for the life of me decide whether the ending is really clever and full of fascinating thematic resonance, or just utterly irritating. On reflection, I think the answer is both. Which is interesting, and it definitely says something that I was still thinking about it and what McEwan was doing with it after I read the last page and closed the book, but that doesn't mean I'm not also annoyed by it.
Anyway. Not sorry I read this. Not sure I'd recommend it. No idea how I'll feel looking back on it a month from now.
Rating: 3.5/5
80. Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV by Ariel Waldman
This book looks at real science topics in the context of science fiction movies and TV shows, although pretty much entirely ones involving space travel or aliens. Each section is only a few pages long, so it's really just very briefly touching on any of its topics. Meaning that if you're looking for thorough scientific explanations or deep, thoughtful engagement with fictional worlds, this is going to be very unsatisfying. But for what it is -- a quick, dipping in-and-out tour through its subject matter -- it's interesting and pleasant enough. The author has talked to a lot of people with a lot of expertise, and although the quotes from and short interviews with them clearly barely scratch the surface of their knowledge, what's here is worth reading. And, despite the focus on space representing only a subset (albeit a large subset) of science fiction, there is an interesting range of topics. I appreciate the fact that social sciences are included, so that we take a few moments to consider questions of the psychology of living in isolated space settlements or of what interplanetary politics might look like in between contemplating black holes and artificial gravity and such.
I also absolutely have to mention the artwork that open each section, which is just terrific: bold, original, whimsical, and wonderfully appealing.
Rating: 3.5/5
73. 10-Minute Strength Training Exercises for Seniors by Ed Deboo
OK, let's get this out of the way first: at 54, I do not consider myself a senior! But we're all getting there eventually, and I have definitely reached the point where I'm finding it a lot harder to stand up from the floor. A mostly sedentary life and too many extra pounds certainly aren't helping, and neither is my lifelong aversion to exercise. But, especially as someone who lives alone, the thought of reaching the point where the movements of daily life become too difficult is scary enough to make me think maybe I should actually make some sort of attempt to prevent it.
And so, this book. The exercises here are short, simple, not too taxing, and make no assumptions about one's fitness levels going in, which is exactly the sort of thing I need. Each one comes with instructions, illustrations, and a list of which muscles and abilities they target. In general, they're fairly clear, although I do find I sometimes have trouble getting the technique right. Which may be more my fault than the book's, it's hard to say. Some of them seem a lot more appealing to me than others, but at least some of them are exercises I'll actually do, which are, of course, the most important kind.
Also included are a set of routines incorporating multiple exercises, each aimed at helping improve a particular area of one's body or life. Well, supposedly, anyway. Some of the targeting feels like a bit of a stretch, no pun intended. Exercises for gardeners make a certain amount of sense, but an exercise set for people who like to travel? OK, if you say so. And this section is a little too heavy on the rather condescending-sounding rah-rah encouragement for my taste, too. Still, the routines look fairly reasonable, and I think I'm going to try at least a couple of them, although I haven't done so yet.
How much of any of this will actually stick for me and get incorporated into any sort of routine, it's hard to say, realistically. But any book about exercising that doesn't instantly make me want to run away screaming is useful, so I appreciate the gentle approach here. Even if it's gentle because it's aimed at people older than me, I'll take it.
Rating: 3.5/5
74. False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
Book number eight in the Rivers of London series sees wizard cop Peter Grant going undercover at a tech company, and participating in a little bit of a heist along the way. I have to say, I don't necessarily find the plots in these books all that satisfying, and this one is no exception to that, leaving a lot of things vague and a lot of questions unanswered. It does have some really interesting story elements, though, and blends magic and technology in some creative ways. Mind you, I think aspects of it would have come across a little differently in 2020 when it was published than they do now in the age of rampaging LLMs.
Also, Aaronovitch is having way too much fun with the geeky references this time out. I think there are more Douglas Adams references here than in an actual Douglas Adams novel. I'm not at all sure how I feel about that, but that's probably mostly because the overlap between geek culture (which I love) and tech bro culture (which I do not) makes me uncomfortable, and boy is it portrayed here in all its cringe-worthy glory.
Rating: 3.5/5
75. Physics for Cats by Tom Gauld
A collection of science-themed cartoons whose subject matter ranges from the relatively mundane (a flowchart of the cartoonist's "scientific method" featuring naps and fantasies about the Nobel Prize) to the whimsical (the new director of research is three children in a trench coat, a conference for vampire scientists) to the slightly surreal. It's full of nerdy charm, and it made me laugh multiple times. And though I'd already seen a number of the cartoons online, they all were still just as entertaining the second time. You probably do have to be some level of science nerd to fully appreciate all of them, but for those who are, it's kind of delightful.
Rating: 4/5
76. Wastelands: The New Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams
This is the third of John Joseph Adams' anthologies of post-apocalyptic stories, and I'm pleased to note the the quality across all three seems very consistent. There weren't any pieces here that left me with my jaw hanging open, going "Wow, that was amazing!" (which, I admit, is always something I hope for, especially with this editor), but there were some very good ones, and none I thought were total duds, something that's pretty rare with anthologies, especially ones of this size. Even the stories I didn't love were still well-written or were doing something I found interesting. And although many of the end-of-the-world scenarios are familiar enough -- plagues, climate disaster, zombies, etc -- pretty much every story found at least some clever variation or new perspective to make things feel fresh, without feeling gimmicky.
In other words, it's just a good, solid anthology, once again, and I recommend this entire series to anyone who likes short stories and post-apocalyptic fiction. Just don't let Adams' introduction to this one -- basically, "hey, we're all doomed in reality, might as well enjoy some fantasies about surviving it, I guess" -- bring you down too much.
Rating: 4/5
77. Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach
Mary Roach's latest book is all about replacing human body parts: with mechanical prostheses, with tissue from other parts of one's body, with parts from other people or from animals, or with artificially grown organic parts, perhaps cultured from your own stem cells. Some of these technologies, of course, are considerably further advanced than others.
If you're familiar with any of Roach's other books, you probably know what to expect from this one. If you're not, well, then this is anything but a dry, academic approach to the subject or a piece of meticulous and exhaustive journalism. It is, rather, an irrepressibly enthusiastic person taking us along on a slightly wild ride through a subject she finds fascinating, picking the brains of anyone in the field who will talk to her or let her watch them work. Or harvest hair follicles from her head and implant them on her leg, just to see what happens.
As usual, she's wonderfully funny, uninhibited even with subject matter other people shy away from, and great at making whatever she's talking about interesting and engaging. Although I will say that one thing she wasn't quite as successful at here as in previous books was bypassing my usual reactions to things that squick me out. I discovered while reading this one that it can, in fact, be too early in the morning to read about skin grafts, and that all the matter-of-fact wonder-and-excitement-filled good humor in the world can't keep me from flinching while reading about eye surgery. But, then, few authors could make me willing to read about that at all, or make me feel glad I'd done so afterward, so, honestly, kudos on that, too.
Rating: 4/5
78. Doctor Who and the War Games by Malcolm Hulke
Another of the old Target Books Doctor Who novelizations, this one for the Second Doctor's final story. And a very significant story it is, too, full of important firsts. It's also a really good one, and it's honestly amazing to me, given the 1960s sense of pacing and its frankly rather ridiculous length, just how utterly watchable and engaging it is all the way through. It's not, of course, anywhere near the same experience in print, where we're deprived of Patrick Troughton's inimitable performance. But while this isn't exactly winning any literary awards, it reads much less like someone did a light editing pass over an episode transcript than most of Terrance Dicks' efforts do, and Malcolm Hulke does a reasonable job of capturing some of the feel of the original, especially its very unglamorous depiction of war.
Rating: 3.5/5
79. Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
In the early 1970s, a young woman has an affair with an older man who once worked in intelligence and who encourages her to get a job with MI5 before cruelly breaking up with her. Once there, she's given an assignment for a project code-named Sweet Tooth, a hearts-and-minds operation that involves channeling money towards writers the department believes are likely to produce works with anti-communist themes. But then she falls in love with the writer she's been lying to about her job and the source of his funding.
Honestly, I'm not remotely sure what to make of this one. I get the impression it's not one of the more well-regarded of McEwan's novels, and I would rank it last out of the ones I've read -- the others being Amsterdam, Atonement, The Comfort of Strangers, Enduring Love, On Chesil Beach, and Solar -- but, y'know, that's some pretty stiff competition and a hell of a list even to come last on. As always, I love McEwan's smooth prose and his precise grasp of human psychology. And there's some stories-within-stories stuff going on here that I generally enjoyed.
I'm less sure how I feel about his handling of the Cold War and the troubled state of the UK in the 70s, as it often feels like he's on the verge of actually having something to say about politics or history but never quite does so. Probably deliberately, but still. And I don't love the way the protagonist is so passively shaped by the men in her life, and so incapable of having any kind of meaningful relationship with a man without immediately wanting to sleep with him. Again, there are probably narrative or thematic reasons for at least some of that, but I'm not sure if those make me feel all that much better about it.
And I cannot for the life of me decide whether the ending is really clever and full of fascinating thematic resonance, or just utterly irritating. On reflection, I think the answer is both. Which is interesting, and it definitely says something that I was still thinking about it and what McEwan was doing with it after I read the last page and closed the book, but that doesn't mean I'm not also annoyed by it.
Anyway. Not sorry I read this. Not sure I'd recommend it. No idea how I'll feel looking back on it a month from now.
Rating: 3.5/5
80. Out There: The Science Behind Sci-Fi Film and TV by Ariel Waldman
This book looks at real science topics in the context of science fiction movies and TV shows, although pretty much entirely ones involving space travel or aliens. Each section is only a few pages long, so it's really just very briefly touching on any of its topics. Meaning that if you're looking for thorough scientific explanations or deep, thoughtful engagement with fictional worlds, this is going to be very unsatisfying. But for what it is -- a quick, dipping in-and-out tour through its subject matter -- it's interesting and pleasant enough. The author has talked to a lot of people with a lot of expertise, and although the quotes from and short interviews with them clearly barely scratch the surface of their knowledge, what's here is worth reading. And, despite the focus on space representing only a subset (albeit a large subset) of science fiction, there is an interesting range of topics. I appreciate the fact that social sciences are included, so that we take a few moments to consider questions of the psychology of living in isolated space settlements or of what interplanetary politics might look like in between contemplating black holes and artificial gravity and such.
I also absolutely have to mention the artwork that open each section, which is just terrific: bold, original, whimsical, and wonderfully appealing.
Rating: 3.5/5
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From:
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I definitely recommend Tom Gauld's cartoons to you. He also posts some of them online. A lot of the ones that aren't about science are about books.
I've seen at least some Wallnce and Gromit, although I didn't remember Gromit's reading material, As for the cats, I bet they wouldn't bother telling us what they know even if they could. :)
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[Edit] Oh, I know the book cartoons with the black silhouettes!
From: (Anonymous)
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As for the "Exercises for Seniors.." - I am ashamed that I have already seen and read plenty of similar exercise projects...these are great and attractive and all; but there is me, unable to make myself to it regularly. And if you don´t do it regularly....oh yes.
Anyway. Many thanks for your great project, always happy to come and read!
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I should do some Christmas baking. I sometimes make cookies, and I used to make fruitcake, but I haven't done in in a while. Knowing me, I'll probably keep telling myself I should do it and never actually get around to it.
I usually love Aaronovich's geeky references, but it might be possible to go a little too far with them, even for me. :)
but there is me, unable to make myself to it regularly. And if you don´t do it regularly....oh yes.
Oh, yeah. I try to tell myself that even doing a little bit occasionally might be helpful, but I'm not at all sure that's even true.
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Physics for Cats might make a good present for someone for whom it is very difficult to shop! Thanks for that idea!
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And funny you should say that, because I decided on of Gauld's other books would also make a good present for someone I was having trouble shopping for.