Unsettling life story of a sad jerk who disappoints everyone, except his mother. Reminds me a bit of a more pedestrian version of Artemio Cruz. As with other Chris Ware works, I have to wonder where this is all coming from. Rewards multiple reads.

If it ain't super disturbing, it ain't Ballard. Envisions the utter disintegration of society & de-evolution of individuals in a high-tech state-of-the-art-of-1975 residential high rise. Perhaps also intended to lampoon the Arcology concept that was appearing in sci-fi & futuristic literature of the time. The images of the complete social breakdown of an luxury condo tower can possibly be seen as a parody of the pathologization of low-income housing projects. Reading in the high tech dystopia of 2019, feels very prophetic. Also anticipates the images of the civil war in Beirut. Few Ballard novels are really about the main characters featured in them; rather they are about the to technological & psychological forces that control them & High Rise is no exception. High Rise is also "Super Special", in that there are multiple perspectives. I found High Rise more emotionally intense & visceral than other Ballard novels I've read. It worked better than Millenium People on all of these levels.

Overview of the entire Manhattan Project, and how it led directly into the beginning of the Cold War. Did a good job of explaining who the main personages of the A-Bomb project were, and of depicting the massive resources and effort that went into the project. Also explained well the logic of the massive costs of developing the Bomb guaranteeing that the Bomb would be used on a civilian target (since there were no purely military targets large enough to use the bomb on). Finally, Trinity made a good case that the regime of secrecy surrounding the Manhattan Project fed the distrust and paranoia of the Cold War, and sabotaged any prospect of nuclear arms control from the very start.

Panorama of the 1st day of the Battle of the Somme, in the sector where the British Army was the most heavily defeated. Depicts the logistical effort and bombardments leading up to the battle, as well as the attack itself, along with the casualty stations and graveyards overflowing in the aftermath of the failed assaults. The background and annotation booklet contains background & captioning for the wordless illustration. Very detailed and hard to look at for too long.

Page-turning fantasy novel set in post revolutionary Mexico, drawing on Mayan folklore and mythology, as set down in the Popol Vuh. Not sure if it is considered YA, but it's appropriate for young readers. Makes many Mexican history references, without incorporating them too deeply into the story. Some elements reminded me of Stephen King (evil hotel, quests, Maine=Yucatan, Middleworld). There were also some rom-com elements. The ending was very silly.

Another page-turnin' mystery from the Galbraith. Rowling should tweet less & write more of these novels (via tweet, if necessary). Not sure if I should have been able to solve the mystery myself, but I didn't. Apart from the story, I enjoyed Rowling's writing. Looking forward to the next one!

Fun graphic biography of PKD. Touched on many facets of his life, but did not go very deeply into any of them. Makes me want to read a more in-depth biography, or at least read more of his short stories (which read in order together, seem to serve as his autobiography). All in all a good read, and a good summary of his life. The parts about his psychedelic/ psychotic visions & experiences, & his mystical/ metaphisical freak-outs were really fun to read. I was sad the incident where he tried to drive his car (and his wife?) off a cliff was not included.

Maybe my favorite PKD novel. Visionary, philosophical, humorous, page-turning, and all probably banged out in a matter of days, while on speed! I was especially amused by the Rick & Iran's constant fretting over what mood settings to use on themselves via the "mood organ". I liked the way the digressions, and side-plots combined with the main plot. So much of this book is very relevant even in 2019, especially Isadore's musings about "kipple" and "kipplization". I feel the "mercerist" attitude towards the animals of the world is still a little ways off into our future. Finally, it's hard to imagine how they got to Blade Runner from this source material.

Surprisingly page-turning read. Novel consists of 6 different stories, and 4 of them are thrillers (in a general sense). All of the stories are full of humor (usually dark). Cloud Atlas seems to be trying to tell us that we make the future, for the better or the worse. The different stories and how they interact might tempt some readers to ask "which of the stories were real"? to which I'm sure the author would cackle "this whole time you've been reading a novel!! ha-HA!!!". The letters from Zedelgem part made me want to visit Belgium & France, & the Cavendish part made me want to see Scotland. For me, the only big question I'm left with is: where is "Prescience Island"? Is it Prince of Wales Island? Somewhere else?

3rd and most bonkers mystery in the Cormorant Shrike series by Robbie Galbraith. The 1st two mysteries were much more straightforward; Cuckoo's Calling was about a murder (cunningly disguised) for the purposes of getting an inheritance, the Silkworm was a murder for revenge & publicity. Career of Evil had multiple bizarrely sexual murders by an insane serial killer mastermind whose head we get into, & who's got it in for Strike, and who also likes Blue Oyster Cult. Strangely, I found Career of Evil the mystery I had the best chance at figuring out before the end; I still didn't, but I felt I could have, and that's probably deliberate. The clues were all out there for me to figure out, if only I had been able to see past all the red herrings! I would class Career of Evil as a variant of the Locked Room Mystery, the "Locked Memory Palace Mystery", in that instead of all the suspects being locked in a well-appointed room with the detective, they are all from somewhere in the Detective's past. I was pleased that the Blue Oyster Cult references were not limited to BOC's classic 70s albums (e.g. Agents of Fortune), but also included references to their 1980s "Album-Oriented-Rock" phase (see Club Ninja), and to Heaven Forbid, their final album of the 90s.