sunn_bleach's Reviews (249)

More interesting from the historiographic perspective of what an 80s economist with deep ties to the IMF saw as a potential world catastrophe and how modern warfare might be conducted. On that last point he was prescient if not correct.

As good as a 250-page book on mountaineering can get. You won’t learn how to do glacial crevasse rescues effectively from the chapter, and the book reads like it’s having that information out of courtesy rather than instruction. Ideally this is the kind of book to be reviewed after having significant experience in the field just as a reminder and reflection rather than uses by novices or students. For that, it’s Freedom Of The Hills.

I love nonfiction that weaves narrative. While climate change books can be really depressing and hard to get into, I liked how this one really inspired reflection on polar exploration in addition to science.

While I found the Hoax itself to be less interesting and even a bit lost in the weeds of the prose, I am utterly fascinated by Ives' comments on mountains of the mind - to borrow a Macfarlane phrase. A significant book to reflect upon why someone climbs, and all of the possible permutations to "why".

A good but somewhat frustrating book. Pheby excels in writing about the small things and the nuances, as with a dog’s perspective or the sarcastic glossary. He loses it at the bombastic action and “big magic” scenes, in which destruction and decay feel Michael Bay-ish. Still, I’d read the sequel.

A solid primer on hearing - and one that could easily be double the length. I do wish that the author spent a little more time on Deaf/deaf culture, especially in the controversy within the community concerning cochlear implants. I also wish that information on dBa and attenuation went a little more in-depth, but perhaps that's my own experience in the epidemiology of hearing loss talking! Still, a good primer on hearing loss and sound for non-specialists, even if it occasionally dips into a paternalistic writing tone.

Great example of a book like PKD’s where the concept is more interesting than the prose or execution. I’m fascinated by this world - less fascinated by Vandermeer’s fear the reader won’t pick up on the right questions.

Oof owie my heart.

Not Vonnegut’s most consistent book, but such a strong start. And a definite entry into the canon of funny books with poignant and sad endings.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is a mix of both technical and nontechnical (even philosophical) perspectives on maths as published in 2020. Some articles I have disagreements with, but all were stimulating.