This book was good, for the most part. However, I believe it is better suited towards beginners who may be interested in genetics but don’t currently have much knowledge on the subject. I found that well I enjoyed the book, I already knew the majority of information that was given to me just based off of the few genetics classes I have taken in the past, despite not having been a genetics major in college. If you are someone who’s been interested in genetics for a while and has done even cursory research into the field of genetics, this may have a lot of information you’re already familiar with and I would pass it up for something more in depth. However, if you’ve never read a book exclusively on genetics and you would like a good introduction, this may be the book for you.

Interesting overall. However, if you are someone who is interested in the mind and if you have looked into it before then some of the anecdotes presented in this book may seem repetitive to you (the story of Phineas Gage, for example).

Paced much better than Lirael imho. Has an excellent plot flow and plot arc. A clearly defined climax and falling action, albeit short. Took many of the classic characters from the previous books and expanded upon them, while adding interesting, new characters to supplement. Overall, I feel that this ties with the first book in the series for my favorite. The ending feels extremely satisfying. I am very glad that the author went so much into the lawyer in order to provide not only world building but also conflict.

This short story collection is extremely short, only coming in at about 100 pages including illustrations. If you take into account page breaks and illustrations, this collection is probably closer to 80 pages and the font is pretty big too. However, all of the stories inside this collection are horror classics. I highly recommend reading this collection if you want an introductory look at classic horror writing, but you aren’t interested in reading longer works by writers from 100 or more years ago that may write in a way that is a little bit cumbersome for modern readers. For me, I had already read the E. a. Poe story, as well as the Washington Irving story, and even the Henry James story, so not all of the stories were new to me. However, they are all quite enjoyable, Some more than others. They all have a traditional horror outline that involves a shocking reveal towards the end of the story. So, don’t expect anything new and different here. However, you can expect quality, classic writing.

Honestly one of the most beautiful short story collections I’ve ever read. The writing is poetic without coming off as cheesy or too purple. The topics are varied but gently intertwined and the characters’ emotions are raw and vivid. It helps to have a basic knowledge of Pakistani/ Indian culture or history. It also helps to know basic words like saree, roti, dal, etc. If you’re even moderately interested in topics in India, Pakistan, marriage, intimacy, childbirth, gender, etc it’s an excellent choice. As a general warning- the topics are heavy and there’s mention of violence, rape, and death.

Read it in one sitting. Short, simple poems. Nothing inherently wrong with them but they weren’t the style of poetry I prefer. I’m partial to longer narrative works while these were short, simplistic and full of haiku-like imagery.

Wow. What an experience. And honestly, I think “experience” is a better word than simply referring to this as “reading a book”. This book is famous for having an unusual style similar to stream of consciousness. The writing skips around, the narrator becomes distracted, and there’s no obvious plot. For that reason, it’s not a “book” in the normal sense. In fact, considering it was based off of real events in the authors life, it reads more like an experimental journal of sorts. The story, or lack there of, revolves around a narrator who does drugs and moves from city to city trying new drugs and making new friends. The style of writing is very trippy and gives you a slight feeling of doing drugs yourself. However, while this book broke record ground with some of the things that it said in its time (including descriptions of gay sex and violence and drug use) and the way in which it was written, I think it is honestly overrated. It was revolutionary in its time but it strikes me as very experimental and lacking deep substance beyond the obvious trippy quality. It is unsurprising to me that there is an existing stereotype of seemingly literary men that discount feminist writing or minority viewpoints and lean towards the writings of certain men, including Bukowski and this writer, William Burroughs. There is a definite similarity between the poetry of Bukowski and Naked Lunch. Both pieces of writing seem unafraid to say what they want to say and seem to discount the viewpoints of others in favor of focusing solely on their own experiences. Both also rely on experiences or feelings provided by a particular substance or the influence of said substance-in Bukowski‘s case it was alcohol, and William Burroughs case it is drugs. If you are interested in stream of consciousness writing or, alternatively, if you are interested in writing that involves drug use, I think this is a good choice for you. However, if you are someone who might be disturbed by extremely offensive language, including slurs against gay people and racial slurs, then I would avoid this book. Overall, I’m glad I read it so that I have knowledge of it and can use it as a point of reference, but I will probably never read it again as it is just not for me.

Fascinating. Very interesting if you’d like to try some stream of consciousness reading or are interested in Southern Gothic literature. At times the odd grammar and spelling can make it difficult to read.