Take a photo of a barcode or cover
joemkl's Reviews (193)
A short brief look into extreme debauchery in Ancient Rome. If you dislike reading dialogue, this probably isn’t one for you, but otherwise it’s perfectly acceptable.
I read this as part of Book Riot's 2020 Read Harder challenge for the category 'Read a horror book published by an indie press.'
I didn't care for this. Some of the poems were excellent, but a lot were utter self-indulgent rubbish. Various ones referenced other poems in the volume, and others outside, and overall it made this book feel like they were trying to gatekeep horror poetry. Coupled with a couple of formatting errors on the Kindle eBook version I read, I just felt like a milked cash cow.
Two stars because the good poems were good, and it'd be unfair to punish them for being situated with less good ones.
I didn't care for this. Some of the poems were excellent, but a lot were utter self-indulgent rubbish. Various ones referenced other poems in the volume, and others outside, and overall it made this book feel like they were trying to gatekeep horror poetry. Coupled with a couple of formatting errors on the Kindle eBook version I read, I just felt like a milked cash cow.
Two stars because the good poems were good, and it'd be unfair to punish them for being situated with less good ones.
An enjoyable book, you'll like this if you liked [b:This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor|35235302|This Is Going to Hurt Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor|Adam Kay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495900231l/35235302._SX50_SY75_.jpg|56583337]. I burned through this very quickly as it's written in a series of short chapters all about the author's experiences in the field. The only reason it's got four stars is that some of the chapters I felt could do with being a tad longer. But otherwise, a fantastic book and highly recommended.
This book had the same problems as the first one. Still a good book, but just not quite as good.
I was told once that one of the worst things you can think about a book is "I don't care what happens to these people."
Well, that was the case for this book. The writing style etc is okay, but I can't understand why I subjected myself to reading hundreds of pages of spoiled brats acting like spoiled brats. Perhaps I expected something different, but this book isn't for me. Two and a half stars.
Well, that was the case for this book. The writing style etc is okay, but I can't understand why I subjected myself to reading hundreds of pages of spoiled brats acting like spoiled brats. Perhaps I expected something different, but this book isn't for me. Two and a half stars.
Waste of time. I’ve read a lot of medical non fiction recently, so when I saw this I was hopeful. My first indication that I wouldn’t care for it was the opening chapter being a detailed description of abusing drugs, almost to the point of romanticising it. I don’t care for how it’s written, and instead of being a coherent book it comes across like the author has slapped together a bunch of stuff he’s previously written to try and make a bit of money from it.
It also doesn’t help that he’s snide, arrogant, and egotistical. Don’t waste your time unless you hate yourself.
It also doesn’t help that he’s snide, arrogant, and egotistical. Don’t waste your time unless you hate yourself.
I enjoyed this book as it gave a taste of the medical profession’s opinions on New Labour. Being born in 1994, I lack perspective on what it was like on the front line.
The problems with this book is that it sometimes comes across a tad moralistic, and in a book like this it feels like a bit of a problem.
I’d give it three and a half stars, but that isn’t possible, so three it’ll have to be as to me, it’s missing something to make it four.
The problems with this book is that it sometimes comes across a tad moralistic, and in a book like this it feels like a bit of a problem.
I’d give it three and a half stars, but that isn’t possible, so three it’ll have to be as to me, it’s missing something to make it four.
Doctor memoirs are an oversaturated category these days. I’ve read quite a few and this is one of the better ones. It does have its issues, which include the entries varying wildly in length from a few sentences to pages, the book showing its age due to changes in the NHS (though that isn’t the book’s fault of course!), and wanting to slap Ruby a fair few times.
But it’s a good book in spite of this. I’ve laughed, smiled, and felt emotional. My husband asked what was wrong when I squealed about the razors. I wept an internal tear for Maurice. The book’s merits outweigh its negatives. As I can’t give it a three-and-a-half star rating, the merits to me are enough to round it up to four stars.
But it’s a good book in spite of this. I’ve laughed, smiled, and felt emotional. My husband asked what was wrong when I squealed about the razors. I wept an internal tear for Maurice. The book’s merits outweigh its negatives. As I can’t give it a three-and-a-half star rating, the merits to me are enough to round it up to four stars.
A strong start with a weak end. This book is really funny. The author is highly cynical but clearly passionate about medicine and it comes through. Weaknesses include ending on a glossary of acronyms, and the regular use of Latin abbreviations and dated language.
I read this book as part of the Book Riot 2020 Read Harder challenge for the category "Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community".
In this book, Harriet is a person of colour with two dads. But unlike those who oppose books like this claim, it plays no factor in the story at all. It goes as deep as "Harriet saw her dads". Anyway, this aside, I loved the whimsical storyline, and I could see so many of the children I used to work with in Harriet. I enjoyed this thoroughly and as a picture book goes, this is a good one.
In this book, Harriet is a person of colour with two dads. But unlike those who oppose books like this claim, it plays no factor in the story at all. It goes as deep as "Harriet saw her dads". Anyway, this aside, I loved the whimsical storyline, and I could see so many of the children I used to work with in Harriet. I enjoyed this thoroughly and as a picture book goes, this is a good one.