aaronj21's Reviews (912)

The well written and informative writing style in this book more than makes up for the somewhat vague and meandering thrust of the narrative. This book was less about the Toba eruption specifically and more about volcanism and human evolution in general than I would have liked but it was still compelling and I definitely learned something.

The occasional bit of extra insight or context gathered from this book can't quite make up for the repetitive, oddly flat delivery of these timeless stories.

You know what you're getting yourself into with a Dickens book usually, humor, melodrama, intricate plots and absurd characters, and this was all that and more. There's a reason Dickens was such a celebrity in his day, he can tell quite an entertaining story. For me this book faltered a bit towards the end and I got the impression the author killed off Smike (poor Smike!) because he didn't quite know what to do with him, but it was still a very enjoyable read .

You know that feeling when you're going down the first drop on a roller coaster? Where you feel like it's going too fast and it's too steep and that surely you're about to lift up and off the rails? Reading this book gave me that same feeling the entire time. I did not know a single moment of peace from the moment I started until I finished.

Fantastic writing and a phenomenal book. I'll be feverishly seeking out anything else this author choses to write in the future.

Accessible and informative, the recipes were a neat addition as well.

A powerful, difficult, and necessary book exploring how to make informed choices on a topic we normally actively avoid thinking about, the end of our lives.

Almost no one says they want their end to be in a hospital room, surrounded by strangers and in great suffering or a medicated haze, or both. But all too often this is what happens. The reason, according to this author, is modern medicine’s inability to grapple with larger questions of patient well-being. Doctors are very good at tackling specific medical problems, but when it comes to things like aging or the final stages of life there is ultimately no “fix” or “cure”. So doctors often fall back on what they know, treatment, medication or surgery, anything that may prolong life, even though these steps sometimes end up reducing the quality or even duration of a patient’s life.
The author advocates for a new approach to these and other issues, one that involves asking tough questions, having difficult conversations, and ultimately giving autonomy back to people at their end of life. The answer this author presents is certainly not “giving up” by any means, but an approach that prioritizes what people value most with the time they have left and defers to their sincere wishes.

This book was full of great information, remarkable insights, and of course while it dealt with challenging topics, maintained a hopeful and optimistic tone throughout.

A quick, entertaining read, by turns wryly hilarious and moving, and extremely relatable if you're a gay man of a certain age who grew up with Southern Baptist parents.

Meticulous, expansive, insightful, and above all read able, this book well deserves the Pulitzer Prize it won and its less formal accolade as “the best single volume history of the American Civil War”. This book managed to make a subject I initially had very little interest in (due in large part to tedious high school history classes) feel vital, immediate, and keenly fascinating. Because of this book I think I’ll read more about this period in American history, maybe more volumes from this very talented and experienced author.